Danzō Shimura sat in the darkness, but his mind was as bright as day. He had re-analyzed every detail of his failed plan. The Uchiha Military Police's intervention, the timing of the informant's confession, the "clumsily" altered ledgers... It all pointed to a master strategist.
"He used my enemies against me," Danzō murmured. He no longer saw this "ghost" as a mere saboteur. This was a worthy opponent. And to deal with such an opponent, one must use a more venomous strike.
"You," Danzō called to a Root member kneeling in the corner. "I have a mission for you. 'Leak' a document. A forged Anbu report, stating that Kageyama Kenji's death had many questionable details and shows signs of a cover-up by his superiors. Make sure it reaches the hands of an Uchiha. A talkative one."
The Root member nodded and vanished.
Danzō smiled coldly. He couldn't find the wolf hiding in the shadows. So, he would borrow a pride of lions to hunt it for him. He would direct the full fury and formidable investigative power of the Uchiha clan toward that very "ghost." Whatever the outcome, he would be the one to benefit.
Kenji had no idea that he had become the target of the two most powerful forces in the village. He was focused on his mission: finding a lead on Kabuto.
He dispatched his clones, operating with double the caution, to the village's archives. The Academy, the hospital, the shinobi records room. But everything led to a dead end. The file on "Yakushi Kabuto" was extremely sparse. An orphan found after the battle at Kikyo Pass, adopted by a medical-nin, with nothing noteworthy thereafter. It was too perfect, too clean, to the point of being suspicious.
The file has been scrubbed, Kenji concluded. Danzō erased all traces of his past in Root.
He felt a wave of frustration. He was chasing another ghost, a ghost that had been prepared never to be found.
Meanwhile, he began to feel a change.
The shadows following him had changed. They no longer kept their distance. They grew bolder. They weren't just observing; they were tightening the circle. The way they moved, the way they coordinated—it was no longer for surveillance, but for cornering, for capturing.
One evening, as he was heading back to his secret apartment, he realized it. He had been herded into a dead-end alley.
From both ends of the alley and on the surrounding rooftops, six figures appeared simultaneously, blocking all escape routes. They all wore the uniform of the Military Police Force. In the lead was a man with a scarred face, Uchiha Tekka, one of Fugaku's most talented and ruthless captains.
"Kageyama Kenji," Tekka said, his Sharingan and those of the other five already activated, six pairs of blazing red eyes staring him down. "Or should we call you 'the ghost'?"
Kenji stood still, his hand ready at his kunai pouch. He knew Danzō's forged report had worked.
"Fugaku-sama wants to see you," Tekka continued, his tone allowing no refusal. "This time, you won't get away. Come with us peacefully, or we will be forced to use violence."
Kenji knew he had no other choice. He couldn't surrender. Going with them meant falling into Uchiha hands, all secrets would be exposed, and the civil war would ignite.
He couldn't fight normally either. One man against six elite Uchiha with their Sharingan was suicide.
He looked at the spinning red eyes, eyes that could see through all movement.
He took a deep breath.
Very well then. I'll have to create so much movement that they can't see through all of it.
He formed a hand seal.
Not one, not ten, but one hundred Shadow Clones appeared at once, filling the entire narrow alley in the blink of an eye.
"If you want me," the voices of a hundred Kenjis rang out in unison, creating a powerful, echoing sound. "Then come and get me."
The inevitable battle had begun, not in the shadows, but right in the heart of the Leaf Village.