Naruto: The Rise Of Uchiha

"Who...?"

There was also a jonin-level ninja guarding the scroll room.

When he saw Spore Clone No. 1 enter, he instinctively tried to shout.

However, just as the jonin opened his mouth, he met the blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan of Spore Clone No. 1 and fell into hypnosis.

He couldn't say a word.

Spore Clone No. 1 had already sensed the presence of someone inside the scroll room, so he destroyed the door at high speed and dashed in without hesitation.

With no one left to interfere, Spore Clone No. 1 quickly searched for the Yin Seal, the S-rank sealing technique.

Before long, he found the scroll that recorded the Yin Seal.

He tucked it into his cloak and turned to leave.

None of the other scrolls in the room were destroyed or taken.

In Uchiha Fugaku's view, all of these scrolls would eventually belong to him. Spore Clone No. 1 was simply retrieving one ahead of time. There was no need to destroy anything.

Everything proceeded smoothly, and Spore Clone No. 1 exited the Hokage Building.

He used the Mayfly Technique to tunnel underground from a remote location and returned to the Uchiha compound.

Some time later, the genjutsu wore off and the four hypnotized Anbu came to their senses.

They had no memory of what had happened and didn't recall anyone entering the scroll room.

However, upon seeing the destroyed door, they immediately realized that someone had broken in.

Shocked, they shouted out:

"The scroll room was robbed! The scroll room was robbed!"

Their shouts caused an uproar among the Anbu guarding the Hokage Building.

They quickly sealed the area, surrounding the entire building to prevent anyone from escaping.

Several Anbu rushed toward the scroll room in hopes of intercepting the intruder.

But by then, Spore Clone No. 1 had already left. Their efforts were in vain.

"Third Hokage, you are no match for me now. Don't humiliate yourself."

Uchiha Fugaku stared at the Third Hokage with contempt.

"Uchiha Fugaku..."

The Third Hokage clenched his teeth in rage.

He could already guess that the heads of various clans were watching the scene from nearby.

And his miserable state had surely been seen by all of them.

A Hokage represents the village's strongest power and its deterrent to other nations.

Now that he'd been wounded so easily by Uchiha Fugaku, his reputation as "The Strongest Hokage" was bound to take a hit.

"Damn it..."

The rage made him feel as though he could vomit blood—but he forced it back down.

He had believed that even if he couldn't defeat Uchiha Fugaku outright, he could buy time for Anbu to rescue Uchiha Itachi.

Then, together with Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan, they could deal with Fugaku.

But Uchiha Fugaku had proven far stronger than anticipated, wounding him in just a few exchanges.

Just then, an Anbu hurried over.

He approached quickly and whispered:

"Hokage-sama, the scroll room has been robbed!"

"What?!"

The Third Hokage's eyes widened in shock. Blood spurted from his mouth.

The double blow was too much—he couldn't suppress the fury anymore.

"Hokage-sama, are you alright?!"

The reporting Anbu panicked. He had only just arrived and didn't realize the Hokage had already been injured.

Seeing him spit blood after hearing the news made him freeze in panic.

"I'm fine. Hurry, back to the Hokage Building!"

The Third Hokage waved it off. He no longer cared about Uchiha Itachi and turned to head back.

The scroll room housed priceless knowledge and jutsu collected by past Hokage—it was too valuable.

He had to respond immediately.

"The scroll room was robbed?!"

The Anbu with him turned pale.

Knowing how serious this was, they followed the Third Hokage back in haste.

Uchiha Fugaku did not stop them.

Spore Clone No. 1 had already retrieved the Yin Seal. Their return was meaningless.

"The scroll room was robbed? What happened?"

Clan heads watching from the shadows voiced their confusion.

"It must have been during the Hokage's visit to the Uchiha compound that someone infiltrated the building and entered the scroll room."

Another patriarch whispered.

"This is a disaster for the Third Hokage. He failed to resolve the Itachi situation and got injured."

"And to top it off, someone took advantage of it to rob the scroll room."

One head shook his head with a sigh.

"Let's get back quickly. The Hokage will probably issue emergency orders soon."

One after another, the clan heads dispersed.

Still, none of them could forget the overwhelming strength Uchiha Fugaku had just shown.

In a different corner, Hatake Nobuhiro and Hatake Kakashi turned to leave as well.

As they walked, Nobuhiro spoke:

"To think he injured the Hokage in just a few moves... Clan Leader Fugaku is really powerful."

He was impressed.

Uchiha Fugaku was undeniably strong, having defeated the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai user.

But Nobuhiro hadn't seen that fight. Now, he finally witnessed Fugaku's power firsthand.

No wonder Uchiha Shisui had been no match.

Kakashi thought silently to himself.

Seeing Fugaku's strength, he finally understood how Shisui had been killed.

"Even if I use the power of my left eye... I still wouldn't stand a chance."

Kakashi raised his hand to touch the eye beneath his eyepatch.

He had long known something had changed—he suspected it had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

But he had told no one. Nor had he used that power.

Elsewhere, Hyuga Hiashi turned his gaze away from Uchiha Fugaku and quietly left.

He had previously been uncertain whether to side with the Uchiha against the Hokage.

But after witnessing Fugaku's overwhelming power, he made up his mind.

He would align with the Uchiha.

He would help overthrow the Third Hokage's faction.

The Hyuga clan's humiliation had to be repaid.

(End of this chapter)