Naruto: I am Uchiha Fugaku

In the forest, three shinobi wearing the Shimura Clan crest were hurrying along the road.

"This is our lucky day! We actually landed such an easy mission!"

"Good thing we grabbed it right away. Otherwise, someone else would've taken it."

The three were in high spirits.

They had taken on a beast-clearing mission in a small village within the Land of Fire—tasked with eliminating wild animals that had been destroying the villagers' medicinal herb fields.

It was a relatively low-risk mission but came with a generous reward, so they had accepted it immediately.

What they didn't know was they were already being used as bait.

Unbeknownst to them, more than a dozen ANBU shinobi were secretly tailing them.

lying in wait for any hostile force that might target the Shimura Clan.

As bait, their mission was far more dangerous than they realized.

In truth, the Shimura Clan had already written them off.

When they were sent out as bait, the clan never expected them to return alive.

If they survived, great. If they died, it would simply be a sacrifice for the clan.

Several hours later, the three arrived at the village of Miezawa, where they met the village chief—an elderly man, well-respected but frail, leaning heavily on a walking stick.

"Honorable shinobi, please help us rid the village of those wild beasts destroying our herb fields!" the chief pleaded.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of it," they promised.

After learning about the beasts' habits from the village chief, the three began patrolling the surrounding forests, hunting and eliminating the wild animals.

A few hours later, the mission was complete—the surrounding area was cleared of beasts.

As night fell, the three decided to stay overnight in the village.

Outside the village, more than a dozen figures hid among the trees, closely watching the village.

Among them, the weakest were Special Jonin, while the strongest included two Elite Jonin.

This was a trap—a trap meant for Uchiha Fugaku and his allies.

If Fugaku and his group attacked the Shimura shinobi, they would instantly be caught in the trap.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, the three Shimura shinobi left Miezawa and began their return journey to Konoha.

Once again, the ANBU team silently followed them from a distance.

"Poor guys," said a bird-masked ANBU with a sigh.

"They've been abandoned by their clan, used as bait without even knowing it."

Then, turning to a dog-masked comrade beside him, he asked,

"You think anyone will really attack them?"

The dog-masked shinobi paused, then said,

"Probably. If this hidden force really has been targeting Shimura clansmen on missions, there's no reason they'd let these three go."

"But we're keeping our distance to avoid detection," he added grimly.

"If they're attacked, we might not reach them in time."

"That's assuming there's even an enemy out there," said a bear-masked shinobi nearby, shaking his head skeptically.

"The Shimura Clan thinks someone's after them, but there's no solid proof."

He had read the mission details himself and knew there was no concrete evidence that anyone was targeting the Shimura Clan.

It was all based on speculation.

"Then how do you explain the deaths of so many Shimura shinobi lately—even an elite jonin like Shimura Tomohisa, who was killed by a rogue ninja from Kirigakure?" the bird-masked ANBU challenged.

He had read the mission reports. And while it was just a theory, it didn't sound far-fetched.

"Maybe they're just having a run of bad luck. Karma, perhaps," the bear-masked ANBU chuckled.

He held little sympathy for the Shimura Clan—largely because of Danzo. In fact, his impression of them was downright negative.

Years ago, he himself had almost been forcibly recruited into Root, but the Third Hokage had intervened just in time to stop it.

"Could be," the dog-masked shinobi laughed softly.

As an ANBU member, he knew some of the Shimura Clan's dirty secrets—and he wasn't fond of them, either.

But at that moment, one of the Elite Jonin—the squad captain—frowned and barked,

"Silence. No talking during the mission!"

"Yes, Captain!" the three quickly replied, falling silent.

Elsewhere, in a barren clearing, a man whose true face was hidden by a transformation jutsu sat on a boulder, calmly basking in the sunlight—or perhaps waiting for something.

A red-eyed bird circled overhead, letting out a sharp cry.

The man raised his right hand, and the bird descended, landing gently on his arm.

Tied to its leg was a tiny message tube.

He took the note from the tube and unfolded it. The message contained a few cryptic symbols unintelligible to most.

Using the Uchiha Clan's code, he translated the message:

"Three Shimura clan members have taken a beast-clearing mission and departed for Miezawa Village in the western region of the Land of Fire..."

After reading it, he burned the note with a flint spark and stood, heading west across the barren land.

One day later, he reached the summit of a mountain.

There, with a wide, clear view and the aid of his Sharingan, he stopped to rest, eating some dried food and drinking water.

This vantage point allowed him to see far across the landscape.

He waited.

"Found them."

Hours later, his gaze suddenly locked onto a distant spot.

In that direction, three figures were running along the road.

With the Sharingan's clarity, he could even make out the Shimura Clan crests on their clothing.

These were definitely Shimura shinobi—very likely the same three mentioned in the message.

Even if they weren't, the fact they belonged to the Shimura Clan was reason enough to act.

He left the mountaintop and began stealthily closing in on them.

"Three targets... How do I make their deaths look like accidents?"

As he approached, he pondered how to eliminate them without raising suspicion.

"Ah... there's a nearby town often visited by rogue shinobi. That'll do."

After a brief moment of thought, a plan formed in his mind.

He would hypnotize the three, lure them into the town, provoke a fight with the rogue ninjas—and let them die at their hands.

That way, their deaths would seem like nothing more than an unfortunate accident.

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