The next morning...
An ANBU operative arrived at the Konoha Guest House to inform the Hidden Cloud delegation that breakfast was ready.
The moment he stepped onto the second floor...
He caught the faint scent of blood lingering in the air.
His pupils contracted instantly.
Without hesitation, he flashed toward one of the guest rooms.
The closer he got...
The stronger the smell became.
"Damn it!"
With a loud crash, he kicked the door open.
The instant it burst inward...
The thick stench of blood mixed with alcohol rushed into his face.
Seeing the Cloud envoy lying on the bed...
His head completely severed from his body...
The ANBU felt as though the sky had collapsed.
Ten minutes later...
Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the guest house with a grim expression.
His face had turned slightly pale.
"Lord Hokage."
"One envoy died from a stab wound through the heart."
"The others were all decapitated with a single strike."
An ANBU immediately reported the condition of the bodies.
"...Not a single survivor?"
Although he already knew the answer...
Hiruzen still asked.
"No."
The cold reply shattered his last trace of hope.
The four ANBU assigned to guard the delegation all lowered their heads.
"We have failed in our duty."
Shame.
Guilt.
Filled every one of them.
Looking at them...
Hiruzen’s heart felt unbearably heavy.
One crisis had barely ended...
Only for another to begin.
The peace Konoha had just secured...
Was already slipping away.
"What have you found?"
He desperately hoped they could identify the murderer quickly...
And at least offer the Hidden Cloud an explanation.
More importantly...
He prayed the killer wasn’t a Konoha shinobi.
Whether Kumogakure accepted that explanation was another matter entirely.
After all...
Every envoy had died inside Konoha.
Given the temperament of those Hidden Cloud brutes...
War was probably inevitable.
The ANBU continued.
"The envoy who was stabbed through the heart died with an expression of terror."
"He likely saw the killer before he died."
"The murder weapon appears to have been a standard-issue kunai."
"But the kunai itself hasn’t been been found."
"However..."
"In the final room, we discovered a bloodstained samurai sword."
"It has been confirmed as belonging to the envoy who suffered the stab wound."
"My conclusion is..."
"The killer first entered one room..."
"Used a kunai to stab an envoy through the heart..."
"Then took his sword..."
"And used it to decapitate the remaining envoys."
He hesitated briefly before continuing.
"However..."
"In two of the rooms..."
"There are no signs that the killer entered or exited."
"In another room..."
"There are only footprints leading out."
"And..."
"The storage scroll containing Hyuga Hizashi’s body is missing."
"We cannot determine whether the killer stole it..."
"Or whether it had already been sent elsewhere."
Hiruzen’s eyes narrowed sharply.
"So..."
"The killer likely used a space-time ninjutsu to teleport directly into the first room..."
"Stabbed one envoy through the heart..."
"Took his sword..."
"Then teleported into the second room..."
"Decapitated the target..."
"Teleported into the third room..."
"Beheaded another envoy..."
"Then walked out through the door."
"Afterward..."
"He moved through the remaining rooms, carrying out the assassinations."
"And finally left the bloodstained sword inside the last room."
"During all of this..."
"He may also have taken the scroll containing Hizashi’s body."
"Is that correct?"
"...Yes."
Although the conclusion sounded absurd...
The physical evidence supported it.
Once every impossible explanation had been eliminated...
No matter how unbelievable the remaining answer seemed...
It had to be the truth.
"Investigate everything."
"Summon the head of the Yamanaka Clan."
"Have him search the memories of the Cloud envoys."
"And..."
"Notify Konoha’s senior leadership and every clan head."
"They’re to assemble at the Hokage Tower immediately."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
Hokage Tower
Inside the conference room...
Konoha’s leadership sat together with the heads of every major clan.
The atmosphere was unbearably heavy.
Everyone stared silently at the investigation report.
The mention of a suspected space-time ninjutsu...
Immediately cast a dark shadow over the room.
Throughout shinobi history...
Only two people were officially known to possess true space-time techniques.
The Second Hokage.
The Fourth Hokage.
And the only village known to possess such techniques...
Was Konoha.
The Flying Thunder God Technique.
Koharu Utatane was the first to break the silence.
"It isn’t necessarily the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Perhaps another village has developed its own space-time ninjutsu."
If this truly proved to be the Flying Thunder God Technique...
Konoha would never be able to clear its name.
Danzō snorted.
"As long as we prove we weren’t responsible..."
"That’s enough."
"If Kumogakure still wants war..."
"Then let them come."
"What are we afraid of?"
"Hiruzen."
"Declare a Level One War Alert."
"Recall every shinobi currently out on missions."
"I’ll personally command the front lines."
"I’ll lead Konoha’s forces..."
"And crush the Hidden Cloud."
As always...
The leader of the pro-war faction seized the opportunity immediately.
After surrendering Hizashi’s body...
Hiruzen’s prestige among many shinobi had fallen sharply.
Many now whispered in private...
That the Third Hokage had grown old.
That he had lost the courage he once possessed.
If Danzō could now lead Konoha to victory...
His own prestige would soar.
With that momentum...
He could force Hiruzen to step down.
And finally become Hokage himself.
Naturally...
He volunteered only Konoha’s regular forces.
Not a single word was said about Root.
Just then—
"Report!"
An ANBU appeared inside the conference room.
"Speak."
Recognizing him as a member of the Yamanaka Clan...
Hiruzen nodded.
The ANBU briefly glanced at Danzō.
He seemed hesitant.
Everyone present immediately lowered their eyes.
Hiruzen looked at Danzō...
Quietly let out a sigh...
Then spoke.
"Report."
"Yes."
"We searched the memories of one of the Hidden Cloud envoys."
"The killer was wearing..."
"...A Konoha Root uniform."
Danzō showed almost no reaction.
"It wasn’t my doing."
"A true Root operative wouldn’t leave behind mistakes like these."
Since he truly hadn’t ordered the assassination...
He remained calm.
If anything...
He felt slightly disappointed.
Had the killer disguised himself as a regular ANBU instead...
He could have used the incident to attack Hiruzen politically.
Several people nodded.
They accepted Danzō’s explanation.
At that moment...
Homura Mitokado turned toward Hiashi Hyuga.
"Clan Head Hiashi..."
"What were your clan members doing last night?"
Hiashi answered simply.
"The funeral."
Only two words.
"Clan Head Hiashi."
"Watch your attitude."
Homura frowned.
Hiashi slowly raised his eyes.
"I am willing..."
"To personally lead eighty percent of the Hyuga Clan’s shinobi..."
"To the front lines against the Hidden Cloud."
He didn’t even bother explaining himself.
If you think the Hyuga did it...
Then assume we did.
We’ll simply fight the war ourselves.
"You—!"
Homura pointed at him angrily.
Hiruzen shook his head.
The ANBU had monitored the Hyuga Clan all night.
No one had left the compound.
Of course...
Space-time ninjutsu couldn’t be monitored.
Nor had the Flying Thunder God Technique ever been passed down within the Hyuga Clan.
The killer’s objective was obvious.
To ignite another war.
Even if the scroll containing Hizashi’s body had disappeared...
The Hyuga remained unlikely suspects.
If they truly wanted war...
They would never have sacrificed Hizashi in the first place.
Hours passed.
Yet no one reached a conclusion.
Finally...
Hiruzen ended the meeting.
"Return the envoys’ bodies to Kumogakure."
"Send representatives to explain the situation."
"And..."
"Prepare for war."
"Meeting adjourned."
Several days later...
News that the Hidden Cloud delegation had been assassinated inside Konoha spread throughout the shinobi world.
The entire ninja world was thrown into an uproar.