Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

At the crucial moment when the battle broke out, a white-haired ANBU ninja arrived with two subordinates.

Although the white-haired man was wearing a mask, all the Konoha ninjas present knew that he was Kakashi Hatake.

There are only a handful of white-haired ninjas in the entire Hidden Leaf Village. He is a Jonin, and he is the only ninja serving in the Anbu.

Kakashi wearing a mask only serves to uphold the rules of the Anbu.

Kakashi Hatake is one of the few ninjas who can see the Third Hokage at any time and often receives special missions issued by the Hokage. In a sense, he can represent the authority of the Third Hokage.

After Kakashi Hatake appeared, neither the Root ninjas nor the Uchiha ninjas dared to continue their recklessness.

Kakashi was silent for a few seconds, then said in a deep voice, "No one is allowed to leave or attack each other before the Third Hokage arrives, otherwise they will be considered rogue ninja."

With a leader in mind, the Anbu ninjas quickly stood beside Kakashi Hatake, separating the Root ninjas from the Uchiha ninjas.

After Shimura Danzo arrived, he quickly figured out the problem and immediately started hurling insults at the Uchiha ninjas.

"You restless Uchiha ninjas, you really do have ill intentions towards the village."

"If it weren't for your interference tonight, the Root and Anbu ninjas would definitely have caught the troublesome enemy."

"I know, you're the ones covering for him! You Uchiha have betrayed Konoha, colluding with spies from other villages!"

Danzo Shimura perfectly exemplified what it means to lie through one's teeth. Whenever a ninja tried to refute him, he would use his status as the Hokage's assistant to suppress them.

"You're just a lowly Jonin, you have no right to contradict the Hokage's words."

"Anbu ninja, I don't need your testimony. What I see and what I understand is the truth!"

Just as Shimura Danzo was shamelessly suppressing the Uchiha ninja, Uchiha Fugaku arrived and unceremoniously blocked Shimura Danzo's path.

Fugaku's eyes blazed with fury: "Am I not qualified to question you, Shimura Danzo?!"

Danzo Shimura retorted, "Hmph! You can't either. I'm the Hokage's assistant; only the Third Hokage can refute me!"

Fugaku Uchiha fell silent, deciding not to dwell on the matter with Danzo Shimura: "Danzo Shimura, hand over Katsuto Uchiha's teammates."

Danzo Shimura sneered, "I don't know what nonsense you're spouting. There's no such person in my Root organization; he's been confirmed dead long ago!"

Fugaku Uchiha turned around and ordered, "Point him out! I want to see if the Hokage's assistant dares to stop the head of the security forces from personally arresting someone!"

The Uchiha ninja glanced at the weapons and immediately exclaimed angrily, "Lord Captain, that Root ninja has already escaped! Now there are only 19 Root ninjas left!"

Fugaku Uchiha: "What?"

He looked at Danzo Shimura: "You hid him?"

Danzo Shimura scoffed, "What a lying Uchiha! Even if you're the head of the security detail, don't even think about slandering me. I'm just an assistant to the Hokage!"

Fugaku Uchiha was absolutely furious: "You bastard!"

He and Danzo Shimura engaged in a heated exchange, their words teetering on the edge, but ultimately they did not come to blows.

When the Third Hokage arrived, Fugaku Uchiha complained, but was persuaded by Hiruzen Sarutobi's gentle smile and decided to leave everything to the Hokage.

So he said to the Uchiha ninjas, "Let's go back!"

Unlike Fugaku Uchiha, who hadn't seen the evidence with his own eyes, the other Uchiha ninjas had seen the "dead man" with their own eyes, so they were unwilling to give up now.

They all spoke up: "We can't let him get away like this, Chieftain!"

"Clan leader, Danzo is already in such a state. If we still back down, how can we expect to be treated fairly?"

"Shut up, all of you!"

Fugaku Uchiha adopted the air of a superior and gave a firm command.

"Didn't you hear my command?"

"Do you intend to disobey my orders as the clan chief?"

"If you still consider yourselves Uchiha clan ninjas, then come back with me!"

"I believe in the Third Hokage, and you must believe in me too!"

Seemingly relying on his Mangekyou Sharingan-level ocular power, Fugaku Uchiha ultimately suppressed his clansmen and led them away.

Standing in the Forest of Death, Xia Zuo, who was spying on the scene from afar using the [Ninja Art: Lens], couldn't help but laugh in anger.

"Holy crap! Fugaku Uchiha's behavior is just like something out of a female-oriented palace intrigue novel!"

"Are the rules of Konoha Village really that strict? Do they even need evidence for political struggles? This is the first time I've ever seen Konoha ninjas like this."

"Hmm, that's not right either. Fugaku Uchiha was very domineering towards his clansmen. He was completely unreasonable and relied entirely on his power to crush them."

"He's not so assertive with outsiders, but he's extremely timid and hesitant when facing Danzo Shimura. When facing the Third Hokage, he's practically groveling, like a submissive daughter-in-law meeting her mother-in-law."

"Who trained this guy?"

"Fawning over superiors, cowering before enemies, and tyrannical towards subordinates—a complete fool."

Xia Zuo didn't intentionally stay to watch the show. After entering the Death Forest, his heart was already overwhelmed by the pressure of the two Emperor Engines.

He felt a distinct tightness in his chest and his heart pounding wildly.

Xia Zuo could only stop, let his body catch its breath, and let his heart rest.

Under the relentless pursuit of Konoha ninjas, Anbu ninjas, Security ninjas, Hyuga ninjas, and Root ninjas, he finally tested the limits of Swift Release.

Once Swiftness is activated, the duration of full-speed running cannot exceed 50 minutes, and with both engines running at full power, it can only last for a maximum of 3 minutes.

If he drinks too much, he will face the risk of an excessively high heart rate, which could even lead to cardiac arrest.

After sighing, Xia Zuo said to himself, "I still need to keep training. Once I get used to it, I'll be able to extend the duration."

"For now, we'll set the duration of Swift Escape mode at 10 minutes and Dual Engine mode at 1 minute. We need to leave ourselves enough leeway to avoid danger."

Xia Zuo silently turned into a gray shadow and disappeared from the Forest of Death.

The ghost ninja incident did not escalate significantly.

Although the Uchiha, Hyuga, Anbu, and Root were all disgraced, they never appeared again after the Ghost, so the ninjas stopped paying attention to them.

The increasingly fierce conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village is the biggest focus of Konoha.

However, the Ghost Ninja incident strongly agitated the higher-ups of Konoha.

The Third Hokage was clearly old, but his imposing presence remained.

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, coldly staring at Danzo Shimura. His imposing presence silenced everyone in the office, and even Danzo avoided the Hokage's gaze.

After finishing a pipe of cigarettes, the Hokage finally spoke, asking, "It's been three days since we dispatched Jonin to hunt down the Ghost Ninja, and Danzo, you still haven't made any progress?"

The oppressive atmosphere eased as soon as the Third Hokage spoke.

Danzo Shimura shook his head and said, "Except for the Uchiha clan, all the Konoha ninjas have been checked, and none of them meet the criteria."

The Third Hokage said, "Fugaku has already investigated the Uchiha clan; they are not one of them."

Danzo Shimura: "Hmph, even if they aren't Uchiha, it's because they've tied up the village's resources that all sorts of monsters and demons dare to run rampant in Konoha."

"In short, it's all the fault of the evil Uchiha clan!"