"Patriarch!"
Six black-clad figures approached, respectfully addressing Uchiha Fugaku.
"Hmm."
Uchiha Fugaku responded.
These individuals were absolutely loyal to his predecessor, and each possessed at least the strength of a Jonin.
Uchiha Hoshi and Uchiha Min, who led the group and had previously besieged Shimura Ryoma, were even Elite Jonin.
Had Shimura Sosuke not sacrificed his life to create an escape opportunity for Shimura Ryoma, he wouldn't even have needed to act; those two alone could have surrounded and killed Shimura Ryoma.
"Fortunately, the Patriarch intervened, otherwise, Shimura Ryoma might have escaped this time!"
Upon seeing Shimura Ryoma's corpse, Uchiha Min breathed a sigh of relief and said apologetically.
"The opponent is, after all, an Elite Jonin, and he also had someone assisting him in creating an escape opportunity."
Uchiha Fugaku shook his head, not blaming them.
As the strongest Ninja below the Hokage-level, an Elite Jonin's ability to preserve his life is inherently extremely strong.
It was only natural for him to escape the encirclement and killing of two Ninja of the same level when he had assistance.
He had considered the possibility of such an unexpected situation, which was why he chose to personally lead the ambush.
"There are severe burn marks on the corpse, but no burn marks around it. Is this the Patriarch's Mangekyo Sharingan ability?"
Observing Shimura Ryoma's charred corpse closely, Uchiha Hoshi felt envious.
As a trusted subordinate, he knew that the Patriarch had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
However, he did not know what specific abilities resided within the Patriarch's eyes.
Judging from this charred corpse, the Patriarch's Mangekyo Sharingan should have the characteristic of not damaging the surroundings, directly affecting the target, and only causing the target to burn.
Combining these, it was not difficult to deduce that this must be a very mysterious and powerful Eye Technique.
This filled him with envy, longing to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan like the Patriarch.
"Clear the corpse and the battle traces. Don't leave any trace behind!"
Uchiha Fugaku commanded.
"Yes."
The six responded.
Some knelt down to clear the surrounding traces, while others stepped forward, took out a container with liquid, and poured the liquid onto Shimura Ryoma's corpse.
Sizzle, sizzle —
As the liquid was poured onto Shimura Ryoma's corpse, Shimura Ryoma's corpse melted and disappeared rapidly, like ice and snow encountering sunlight.
In the end, not even the hardest bones remained, only a dark, human-shaped trace.
In a short while, all battle traces were erased, and even residual smells were masked with special potions.
Even Ninja dogs could not track them by scent.
After confirming that no traces that would expose them were left, Uchiha Fugaku then led the six back to Konoha.
Upon returning to Konoha, it was already evening.
In the early days, the Garrison Force's duties included patrolling outside the Village, so they knew how to bypass the Village's barrier and infiltrate the Village.
Without alerting anyone, they infiltrated the Village, returned to the Uchiha compound, and swapped with their Shadow Clone.
No one knew that they had ever left the Village, and even less did they know that Shimura Ryoma and the other two had already died at their hands.
...
In a dark underground room, a candle burned, casting a dim, yellow light.
Inside the room, a scrawny old man sat cross-legged.
The old man's right hand and right eye were both wrapped in bandages.
He had a crisscross scar on his chin and an eerie aura about him, making him look quite chilling.
He was Danzo Shimura, one of Konoha's three Advisors.
In addition, he was also the former leader of Root.
Although Root had been forcibly disbanded by the Third Hokage, in reality, Root was still under his control.
He used the Tongue Cutting Seal to firmly bind all Root members, making them serve him.
"Danzo, the Shimura Clan Head says he has an urgent matter to report!"
A Root Ninja wearing a leopard mask entered the room and knelt on one knee.
"Bring him in."
Danzo Shimura commanded.
A moment later, led by the leopard-masked Root Ninja, a man of about forty years old entered the room.
The man wore wooden clogs on his feet and a brown kimono.
He was quite tall but not burly, with a generally slender build.
He was Shimura Daisuke, the current Clan Head of the Shimura Clan.
Upon entering the room, Shimura Daisuke took off his wooden clogs and knelt down.
"Danzo, Shimura Ryoma has been out of contact for a day."
"Out of contact?"
Danzo Shimura frowned slightly.
Shimura Ryoma was an Elite Jonin; the fact that an Elite Jonin could be out of contact immediately made him realize the seriousness of the matter.
"Yes, yesterday he left the Village with Shimura Ichiro and Shimura Sosuke to go to Shirakawa Town in the Land of Fire."
"But since then, the three of them have lost contact and have not reported their whereabouts at regular intervals as planned."
Shimura Daisuke said.
"What was their mission to Shirakawa Town?"
"To persuade the Land of Fire's largest merchant caravan in Shirakawa Town to postpone their arrival in Konoha until after the Village Council meeting."
Shimura Daisuke replied.
The Shimura Clan naturally coveted the profits from the Land of Fire's largest merchant caravan, so upon learning of Shimura Ryoma's plan, he immediately agreed.
"Leopard."
After listening to Shimura Daisuke, Danzo Shimura pondered for a moment and called out from outside the room.
Soon, the leopard-masked Root Ninja who had appeared before entered the room and knelt on one knee.
"Danzo."
"Take a team and search for Shimura Ryoma, Shimura Ichiro, and Shimura Sosuke along the route to Shirakawa Town."
"Yes."
The leopard-masked Root Ninja responded and flashed out of the room.
A moment later, he led three Root Ninja out of the Root base and exited Konoha Village.
Without being detected by the Village, as Root members, they, like the Uchiha Clan, also possessed methods to bypass the Village's barrier and enter and exit the Village.
A few hours later, they appeared at the location where Uchiha Fugaku and the others had fought Shimura Ryoma and his two companions.
"There was a battle here!"
Touching a scratch on a tree, the leopard-masked Root Ninja determined.
Although the battle traces had been erased, it was impossible to completely erase all traces.
For example, the scratch on this tree could not be erased, unless the entire tree was dug up.
But in that case, it would also leave an abnormal empty space and traces of overturned soil.
He turned his head to a Root Ninja wearing an insect mask and said.
"Insect, try to see if you can track the scent."
"I've already tried, the scents are mixed, and it's impossible to track them now."
The insect-masked Root Ninja said.
"There are traces of dissolving liquid here."
A female Root Ninja wearing a butterfly mask dug up the soil and found a charred human-shaped trace.
She was very familiar with this type of trace, as Root would leave such traces when destroying corpses.
"A battle must have taken place here, and then they were killed, and their bodies were dissolved."
The leopard-masked Root Ninja stepped forward, staring at the charred human-shaped trace.
"Captain, what do we do now?"
The insect-masked Root Ninja asked.
"Shimura Ryoma and the two others are likely dead, and the enemy cannot be tracked. We'll return and report this to Danzo!"
The group of four quickly departed.
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