Chapter 31: Mission Accomplished

On the other side, Kakashi discovered something similar and immediately shouted, "Stop!"

However, his warning was clearly too late. Most of the team had already found similar things. After gathering together and observing the flickering, uncertain expressions of the others, Kakashi fell into a heavy silence.

"Everyone, just pretend you never saw these things," Uchiha Touhuan said after a long while.

"Clan Leader! This contains..." Uchiha Inabi said urgently. The portion he had discovered was a detailed record of Danzo collaborating with Orochimaru during the Third Shinobi World War to hunt down members of the Uchiha clan to harvest their Sharingan.

"Shut up!" Uchiha Touhuan roared. "Getting involved in this will bring you nothing but trouble!"

After reprimanding Inabi, Uchiha Touhuan looked up at the group and said sternly, "Captain Kakashi and I were the only ones who discovered these things. We will report it to the Third Hokage separately. You saw nothing. Do you understand?"

"Understood, understood," Nagai Seiichi and Kuroki Ryuta nodded hastily. Aside from them, everyone present had the backing of a ninja clan to varying degrees. As two men without any connections, if they were truly dragged into such a matter, they would likely turn up dead under mysterious circumstances by the next day.

"We didn't see anything," Hyuga Keito added. As a member of the branch house, if he were implicated in something of this magnitude, the main house—fearing trouble—would likely dispose of them immediately.

Inuzuka Fu was even more direct, shoving the materials he had collected into Uchiha Touhuan's hands. This was the kind of business that would cost even their Inuzuka clan a layer of skin if they got tangled in it.

Kakashi let out a long sigh. As things stood, handling this according to Uchiha Touhuan’s plan was the safest path.

"Kakashi, let's write the mission report this way: After we discovered Orochimaru's trail and engaged him in a skirmish, everyone except for the two of us sustained injuries from his large-scale destructive ninjutsu... By the way, where are the other two?"

"Mitokado Hayabusa died at the very beginning," Inuzuka Fu said. "As for that guy Utatane Itsuki, he was likely killed in the aftermath of the ninjutsu used by you and Orochimaru."

"That is truly a pity," Uchiha Touhuan remarked on their deaths before continuing, "The two of us, still capable of combat, pursued Orochimaru all the way here, but he escaped using a displacement technique. And here, we discovered these."

"This... is this really okay? We didn't help at all. Wouldn't we be taking credit for your efforts, Clan Leader Touhuan?" Uzuki Yugao asked.

"That is not important," Uchiha Touhuan replied. "I am not lacking in such minor merits, but you cannot afford such massive trouble."

"Fine, I will write the mission report that way. You all must be careful not to let anything slip," Kakashi said, ignoring Uzuki Yugao's question.

The way Kuroki Ryuta and Nagai Seiichi looked at Uchiha Touhuan had completely changed. What kind of leader had they encountered on this mission? He was willing to share credit with them while simultaneously shouldering the greatest burden without hesitation. From this moment on, if anyone spoke ill of the Uchiha, the two of them would fight to the death!

At the same time, Inuzuka Fu studied Uchiha Touhuan, his eyes gleaming with a peculiar light.

"Alright, don't be so solemn. Go outside and bury the remains of those human experiments. Leave this place to me and Captain Kakashi," Uchiha Touhuan said, his expression softening. "Let's finish this quickly and prepare to return to the village. To celebrate the relatively successful completion of this mission, dinner is on me tonight."

The group let out a sigh of relief and headed together toward the outskirts of the laboratory.

Left behind, Kakashi and Uchiha Touhuan began to gather the remaining evidence in the lab.

"What do you intend to do?" Kakashi asked, looking up after most of the items had been collected.

"Naturally, I will report it to the Third Hokage, and then, using the Will of Fire as our guiding principle, we will completely eradicate the evil in the village under the Third Hokage's wise leadership," Uchiha Touhuan said without looking up.

Kakashi: ...

"At this point, can I not hear even a single word of truth?" Kakashi asked coldly.

"You want the truth?" A faint smile appeared on Uchiha Touhuan's face. "So, you have made your choice."

"I only want to know the truth about my father," Kakashi said.

Uchiha Touhuan nodded. "That is enough."

"The truth is that we will use these things to slowly destroy the Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans, and then, we will take their place."

Uchiha Touhuan's words caused Kakashi's pupils to constrict. Kakashi realized that Uchiha Touhuan still wasn't telling him the whole truth. After all, besides those three families, there was one more clan in the village that had flourished alongside them during the Third Hokage's reign. If Uchiha Touhuan intended to destroy those three and take their place, what of the Sarutobi clan?

Noticing Kakashi's expression, Uchiha Touhuan grinned and stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder. "Kakashi, if you want to master the way of the bow, you still have much to learn."

With that, Uchiha Touhuan ignored Kakashi's reaction, gathered the incriminating evidence from Orochimaru's base, and walked out.

Once everything was finished, two Great Fireball Techniques from Uchiha Inabi and Uchiha Saitou reduced Orochimaru's base to ashes amidst a roaring inferno.

After the flames died down, the group began their journey home.

Throughout the trip, everyone remained silent until they returned to town late at night. Uchiha Touhuan took everyone to the place where they had eaten and drunk before, ordered a luxurious feast, and only after a few rounds of drinks did the group finally begin to relax.

Emboldened by a bit of drunkenness, Kuroki Ryuta raised his glass. "Everyone, I say we should toast Clan Leader Touhuan. We only made it back safely this time because of the Clan Leader."

"That's right, that's right!" Nagai Seiichi also raised his glass. "There were always rumors in the village about the Uchiha clan being bad, but on this mission, we finally saw the true character of the Uchiha! Especially Clan Leader Touhuan—he is top-tier!" Nagai Seiichi gave a thumbs-up.

"Nothing more needs to be said! To Clan Leader Touhuan!" Hyuga Keito also raised his glass.

"Eh, didn't I say it already? The mission was only completed smoothly because of everyone's collective effort!" Uchiha Touhuan waved his hand, then raised his glass and downed the drink with the others.

"Touhuan is right; this mission was the result of everyone's hard work," Kakashi said after finishing his drink. "When we return, I will report everyone's contributions to the Hokage."

Seeing this, Uchiha Touhuan showed a gratified smile. Although Kakashi looked a bit clumsy at the moment, he was finally starting to get the hang of things.