I, Uchiha: Split Konoha

Chapter 150 The Roar of the Whetstone

In a secluded mine behind the Konoha camp in the Land of Whirlpools.

The dimly lit mine was filled with an unpleasant odor, but as a ninja, he could immediately tell what it was.

The smell was a mixture of blood, sweat, alcohol, and feces and urine—a foul and pungent odor.

"Captain Kakashi, where is this?"

The two who led them into this unfamiliar pit were Kakashi Hatake and Shisui Uchiha, and Genma Shiranui couldn't help but show a solemn expression.

Kurenai Yuhi, Yugao Uzuki, Anko Mitarashi, Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, and two teams led by Iwashi, along with Might Guy and Itachi Uchiha, who was only seven years old and had just arrived at the front lines, were brought into this unfamiliar mine tunnel.

Kakashi Hatake, walking at the front, revealed a detached gaze. Facing the questioning look, he glanced back at the crowd behind him and said calmly, "This is the front-line prison, a prison for imprisoning and interrogating the enemy."

Genma Shiranui suddenly realized something, and his expression turned rather unpleasant. Might Guy, who was acting alongside him, also showed a rare seriousness.

"I believe in Kakashi, and I believe even more that anyone who betrays the Will of Fire will not have a good end."

In comparison, Might Guy's heart was purer. Genma Shiranui, standing to the side, fell silent. As ninjas, the others' observational skills were naturally beyond question. Looking at the eyes of Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and Kakashi, they knew that the others must know something.

As spies secretly sent by the Third Hokage from the Anbu, Kurenai Yuhi and Yugao Uzuki were clearly on edge. As they walked along the road and looked at the bloodstains left on the ground, although their faces remained unchanged, their hearts were filled with complex emotions, even torment!

"Lord Yoru, have you discovered my identity?" At this moment, Uzuki Yugao realized that her identity had been exposed, and a faint sadness appeared in her heart. But she felt more relieved and relieved of the guilt of no longer having to bear the torment.

Beneath her calm and composed exterior, Kurenai's heart was in turmoil. Night! Don't you want to see me anymore? Thinking this, she gave a self-deprecating laugh. Yes, she was just a spy; what right did she have to talk about past feelings?

Only Mitarashi Anko showed a resentful look, muttering in dissatisfaction, "Everyone who wants to harm Yoru deserves to die."

Mitarashi Anko, with her equally pure personality, believes that all the enemies here are Yoru's enemies, since Yoru is currently the supreme commander here.

"Itachi, you'll see everything soon. Sometimes the enemy isn't from another country; it could be one of our own."

Walking at the back, Uchiha Shisui lowered his voice and spoke as if he were instructing Uchiha Itachi. However, when these words reached the ears of Yuhi Kurenai and Uzuki Yugao, it was as if they had been exposed, and the two of them immediately showed a relieved smile.

The precocious Itachi Uchiha seemed to have thought of something, and he nodded firmly and said in a deep voice, "I understand what you are saying, Shisui-nii."

Orochimaru's defeat was caused by his own people, not by any conspiracy orchestrated by enemy ninjas. Rather, it was a trap set by his own people that he couldn't escape.

Ta-da~

The slow footsteps sounded like a heartbeat. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, and Kakashi Hatake, who was walking at the front, stopped, turned around, looked at the group, and said calmly, "We've arrived."

As the sound of footsteps pounding against their hearts abruptly ceased, Kurenai Yuhi and Yugao Uzuki's hearts clenched even tighter. In their final moments, they stared at the wooden prison door with a palpable sense of dread, fearing that the figure that would appear when they opened it was someone they didn't know how to face.

crunch~

When the heavy door opened and the spacious cell did not contain the person they had expected, Kurenai Yuhi and Yugao Uzuki breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt a sense of disappointment. Did they not even want to see them one last time?

Were they so hurt that I was completely disappointed?

"Kakashi, you're here."

Inside the dry cell, only a Konoha ninja with his chakra sealed sat cross-legged on a pile of grass. When he saw the newcomers, he showed a look of relief and even smiled. However, when he saw so many people coming in, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Indeed, it's only fair that a sinner like me has lived this long; Lord Ye has been merciful."

When the group entered and saw the figure, those who were unaware of the situation, such as Kurenai Yuhi, Yugao Uzuki, and Anko Mitarashi, immediately showed surprise. They recognized Ueki as a special Jonin, since those who could hold the title of Jonin were considered to be of high combat strength.

They all stood in a row, stunned. When Kurenai Yuhi and Yugao Uzuki realized that what wasn't their doing had been exposed, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but their guilt only intensified.

The person in front of them had clearly been reported dead, yet he was here. Based on what had happened along the way, they could tell that Zhi Shu was either a traitor or a suspect.

Namiashi Raido and Deivashi stared in astonishment at the people in the cell, and began to ask their captain, Shiranui Genma, in low voices.

It was clear that they were also quite surprised by the people here.

The tree planter, a special Jonin of Konoha, is now sitting cross-legged in front of a pile of grass, completely clean. There are clear sealing runes on his forehead, indicating that his chakra has been sealed.

His clean and tidy clothes indicated that he had not been tortured, but his eyes were filled with weariness, which was caused by self-blame, and his whole body exuded an air of old age.

"This is a letter from your wife in the village; your death report has not yet been issued."

Kakashi calmly handed a crumpled letter to the person sitting on the haystack. Upon seeing the letter, the lifeless eyes of the person sitting on the haystack instantly lit up with hope. He trembled as he took the letter and shed tears of sorrow and regret.

Tick ​​tick

Tears streamed down his cheeks. As his trembling hands opened the letter, he saw the somewhat messy handwriting and some misspellings on the clean paper. His wife didn't know many characters; after all, she was just an ordinary person, and he had personally taught her many of them, so her handwriting wasn't exactly neat and elegant.

The handwriting, crooked and messy like a child's scribbles, made Zhi Shu burst into laughter upon seeing it. It was the first time he had ever smiled from the bottom of his heart since then. He had often laughed at his wife's handwriting, but now he found it incredibly precious.

His wife is doing well, and his children have grown taller. They have even passed the ninja academy's entrance exam and officially become students, proving that his children have inherited his ninja genes.

The letter first briefly mentions that she is doing well, and then goes on to talk about how hard her child worked, how she passed the test, and how she ranked in the top 20 among ordinary students, which means she has a chance to enter the elite class.

The entire letter describes how the child's happiness almost overflows from it.

Finally, there's a photo of his wife and children smiling sincerely as they pass their exams at the ninja academy, as if he were the only one missing.

"Hehe, that's great."

Gently and carefully arranging the letters neatly into envelopes, Mitarashi Anko, witnessing this, frowned and coldly snorted, "Didn't you think of your family when you were a traitor?!"

The straightforward Hongdou retorted directly. This scene was clearly heartwarming, but if you hadn't done this, how would things have come to this? That's what the simple-minded Hongdou thought.

However, upon hearing this, Zhi Shu, whose eyes were filled with tears, was enraged, and glared at everyone with reddened eyes.

"I know you. You are Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru-sama's disciple. And you, Yuhi Kurenai, your father was an elite Jonin, and the Genma Squad was once the Fourth Hokage's bodyguard. And..."

Ueki watched as everyone spoke one by one, and finally, when he saw Mitarashi Anko's blatantly disdainful gaze, he seemed to be provoked and pressed the letter tightly to his chest, beginning to vent his anger.

"You, Mitarashi Anko, are treated like this even as Orochimaru-sama's disciple. If it weren't for Lord Yoru's intervention, do you think you could be any better off than me?"

"And you guys! I'm just an ordinary person, do you think I wanted to betray you?!"

At this moment, Zhishu's eyes were bloodshot, and he frantically vented, "I have no one backing me! No one helped me when I was most desperate! My wife! My children! They are innocent, what can I do! Tell me!"

Everyone was startled by the sudden outburst of fury from the tree that was glaring at them. However, Mitarashi Anko was no gentle kitten; she was a wild little cat and immediately bristled.

Mitarashi Anko glared defiantly and retorted, "Ninja rules dictate what to do when your teammates or family are threatened by the enemy. Haven't you learned that?!"

They are ninjas! Ninjas are cruel, and they learned all sorts of ninja rules at the ninja academy.

However, when faced with Mitarashi Anko's accusations, Ueki stared at everyone with bloodshot eyes, as if he had been hit where it hurt.

Just then, Kakashi Hatake said in a low voice, "It's the villagers who are threatening his family!"

One sentence immediately stirred up a huge wave of discussion. Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they all showed expressions of disbelief. Even Might Guy was silent. As one of the people who personally captured the other party, he naturally knew some of the inside story.

The youngest, Itachi Uchiha, calmly asked in a low voice, "Are the villagers such powerful figures that even a Special Jonin couldn't withstand them?"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise, no one had expected this situation. Even Mitarashi Anko was stunned after hearing this. Her straightforward personality did not mean she was stupid. In fact, she seemed to have thought of something and her face turned extremely ugly.

Kurenai and Yugao had gloomy faces, while Ueki, seeing the incredulous looks in everyone's eyes, laughed self-deprecatingly.

"What, you're afraid to speak now? Then tell me, what should you do if you encounter this kind of situation? Did the ninja academy ever teach this?"

"I'm risking my life on the front lines, but people in the village are threatening me with my wife and children! What would you do in my shoes?"

Looking at everyone, before they could even speak, Zhishu chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Yes, some of you will surely say that the Will of Fire forbids compromise. Do you know what I chose back then?"

Under the intense gaze of everyone, he roared, "I fucking didn't compromise! I abandoned my wife and children, and what was the result? When the person behind it all surfaced and came after me, I knew what a load of bull! And this bullshit Will of Fire!"

"Come here! Might Guy, I know you. Your father was a hero of the Third Shinobi World War, but for what purpose in stabilizing the situation in the village, how can your father's heroic deeds be known in the village? Haha, only we Jonin level ninjas know anything about it."

"And Kakashi, your father, White Fang, would you call him a hero or a disgrace? Your father chose his comrades over the mission, becoming a disgrace to Konoha. Between my family and the village, I chose the village. Am I a hero?"

Pointing at his own nose, Ueki laughed self-deprecatingly, then a complex self-mocking smile appeared on his face. "Haha, for the sake of the village, I'm a fucking idiot, it's all bullshit. When the Jonin of the Sarutobi clan found me, I knew that the so-called Will of Fire was full of ugly and disgusting people."

"It was a Jonin from the Sarutobi clan who ordered me to leak information to the Kirigakure. This is the Third Hokage's clan. Do you think I betrayed them? Am I a traitor? Did I sell out the village's interests? No, I was just following the teachings of the Ninja Academy and obeying orders. I steadfastly carried out my mission and leaked information to the Kirigakure."

As the tree planter revealed the ugly and dark face of the village, everyone was shocked. Mitarashi Anko was so shocked that she involuntarily took a few steps back. This time, when she looked at the other person, she no longer had the domineering aura she had at the beginning.

As the civilian who had been most severely brainwashed, Uzuki Yugao directly rebuked, "You're talking nonsense! You must be making things up. Even if it's true, someone is hiding it from the Hokage."

Kurenai was the calmest of them all. This incident had a huge impact on her. Although she knew that the village had a dark side, she never thought it would be this dark.

Kurenai lowered her voice and said solemnly, "There must be a reason why the Jonin of the Sarutobi clan would let you leak information!"

Faced with everyone's doubts, Zhi Shu, upon receiving the letter from home, seemed to have eaten his last meal and was already content. He laughed loudly, tears streaming down his face, and shook his head at everyone, as if they were looking at a fool.

"What if this person is the Third Hokage's eldest son? Oh right, you should know, he's the former head of the Anbu, the Third Hokage's eldest daughter-in-law. Tsk tsk, how impressive."

"Do you even need to ask why? Are you all stupid? After Orochimaru was expelled from the Land of Fire, his old crew should have dissipated. But now that Lord Yoru has arrived, not only has he reunited everyone, but more importantly, he's a threat! Lord Yoru led us to a great victory as soon as he arrived."

At this point, Zhishu laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "One is a powerful ninja who is not even seventeen years old, and the other is almost thirty. When the village selects the Fifth Hokage, people will immediately say, 'Look at him, he can't even beat a seventeen-year-old boy, yet he's running for the Fifth Hokage.'"

"Tsk tsk, isn't this a joke?" The Konoha ninja retorted, then went even further, pointing at the crowd and saying, "If you were in my position, what would you do?"

"Your families are now under threat, and the eldest daughter-in-law of the former Anbu leader, the Third Hokage, has also threatened you, using a superior's orders to leak information about your current base to the Mist Ninja, and then seize the opportunity to expose the commander's location. Ninjas are there to complete missions. Now tell me! If you were in that situation, what would you do?!"

The powerless roar of the tree planter echoed in the cell, and disbelief filled the faces of everyone present. It seemed that the ugly truth about the village had been revealed was something they could not believe.

(End of this chapter)