Chapter 936

"Quiet! Right now, we need to calm down and then handle these issues in the best possible state!" Sensing the scene was on the verge of collapse, Uchiha Shisui, who had remained silent until now, spoke up to suppress those trying to stoke the flames; faced with Shisui's revealed Sharingan, these people immediately fell silent.

Uchiha Fugaku's tightly clenched hands finally relaxed, but he knew well that if he still failed to give the clan a satisfactory answer next, their pressure on him would no longer be so simple—soon enough, this heavy silence would again be replaced by tense hostility.

So you must catch up, Sasuke!

As he had hoped, Uchiha Itachi never disappointed him; before the clan members could stir again, two dark shadows landed directly in the courtyard—Uchiha Itachi appeared in his Leaf Anbu attire, and the figure who landed beside him was none other than the current Hokage, Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze.

The "Golden Flash" usually wore a warm, approachable smile on his face; many children in the village were drawn to this beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed woman, for Namikaze was a woman like a radiant sunspot.

But now, the Uchiha clan members saw seriousness etched on that lovely face.

"Now that the Fourth Hokage has arrived, surely you can give the Uchiha a satisfactory answer regarding the recent incident?" Uchiha Fugaku exhaled in relief; if the Hokage had come alone at this moment, it meant they at least would not shield Orochimaru.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had originally ordered strict secrecy, but there are no walls without cracks.

Among the Leaf Anbu, the Uchiha could not possibly have only Uchiha Itachi as a mole—more avenues for intelligence lay with non-Uchiha ninja.

The door opened, and those outside wondered what attitude Uchiha Fugaku would take.

But unfortunately, as Minato Namikaze stepped inside, Uchiha Itachi blocked everyone's view, and the door shut again, cutting off all sightlines.

Not every Uchiha knew that the Leaf Anbu before them was Uchiha Itachi; many saw his action as the village's blatant indifference. One man rose to protest, only to suddenly find his body locked rigid, unable to move.

Uchiha Shisui walked slowly to Uchiha Itachi's side, his Sharingan fixed on the man who had tried to rise.

"All of you stay put. Anyone who causes trouble again won't like what happens next." With perfect unspoken coordination, Shisui and Itachi took positions on either side of the door.

The commotion outside subsided; the two inside finally began their dialogue—one representing the entire Uchiha clan, the other representing Konoha.

"Actually, I came here to speak with you about this matter…"

"Say it was deliberately fabricated, say the village has no such research project, say Orochimaru dared to conduct experiments on his own village's ninja under everyone's noses."

Uchiha Fugaku spoke all the words Minato Namikaze had intended to say; Minato still wanted to explain, but seeing Fugaku's calm expression, he stopped—this was not a rebuttal, but because Uchiha Fugaku himself agreed with this view.

"Fujiang was an outstanding ninja…" Thinking of his strong-willed younger sister, Uchiha Fugaku suddenly realized that over the years, while he had never given up searching for the missing Fujiang, he had never once inquired about the progress of any investigation.

Indeed, it was easier not to mention her—but now he had no choice.

Uchiha Fugaku picked up his teacup, staring at the water's surface, his gaze growing increasingly complex.

"Before she disappeared, I argued with her several times over the tensions between the clan and the village; I never imagined that would be the last time I saw her." He paused briefly, then raised his head to look at the silent Minato Namikaze. Before meeting the Fourth Hokage, he had wanted to demand: why? Why were Fujiang's eyes in the hands of the village research institute's director? Why her, of all people?

Until now, he had always believed his sister was still alive—but all of this now seemed to mercilessly shatter his dream. The flames of his former agitation and rage had tried to consume all his reason, yet in the end, he calmed himself, thinking, searching for flaws in these events.

He had immediately launched an investigation into Orochimaru before things spiraled out of control; all the Leaf Anbu's collected materials regarding him were soon laid before him.

Alongside them were all the progress reports he had never read from the time of Fujiang's disappearance; in terms of timeline, he selected only the overlapping period—the time around the Nine-Tails Incident.

Orochimaru's scientific prowess was no empty reputation; from proposing to help the Fourth Hokage and Kushina have their own child to achieving success, it took him less than a year.