Naruto: This Uchiha is too innocent.

A few days ago, a figure appeared silently in the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, engrossed in processing the documents in his hands, asked casually without looking up, "How's it going?"

Shinnosuke removed his hood, revealing his square face, and shook his head.

"The Third Hokage shows no signs of having the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Yes, just as Uchiha Sora guessed, this mission was ostensibly to hunt down rogue ninjas, but in reality, it was to test whether Uchiha Sora had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.

And the bait is... the wind of the month of Maoyue.

After Shinnosuke realized that Uzuki Kazunari had developed feelings for Uchiha Sora that were inappropriate for the Anbu, he devised this plan.

Of course, rogue ninjas do exist; they just happened to appear at this particular time and were conveniently exploited by him.

Moreover, the information about Konoha was not leaked. The person from Sunagakure who initially fled with the information was killed by Shinnosuke not long after leaving the hot spring town.

"Nothing?" Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, pushing open a drawer. Inside were several photos of the devastation after the great battle in the mountains behind Takigakure.

He looked at the photo, his gaze deep.

"According to you, only Uchiha Sora from the Anbu went to the back mountain first. After the intense battle, you took these photos on the battlefield."

Then, following the trail of blood, they found the dying Uchiha Sora. Tsunade denied that she was responsible for the battle. If Uchiha Sora had nothing to do with that battle… there's no way to explain it.”

Shinnosuke remained silent. There were no other traces at the scene. According to Eagle, the Takigakure ninja only arrived after hearing the explosion, so the battle was not the work of the Takigakure ninja.

At that time, only Tsunade, Uchiha Sora, and... an unknown enemy were present. The traces at the scene indicated that it was a battle of Kage-level intensity, but Tsunade denied that she was responsible.

Shinnosuke would never believe that Uchiha Sora had no connection to this.

However, let alone the Mangekyou Sharingan, Uchiha Sora didn't even show his Sharingan during this rogue ninja mission. If the Mangekyou Sharingan is worth hiding, then there's no need for the Sharingan.

Therefore, rationally speaking, Shinnosuke personally leans towards the idea that Uchiha Sora never awakened the Sharingan, but the battle marks are undeniable.

"I heard that Uchiha Sora's eyesight deteriorated significantly after he woke up?" Hiruzen Sarutobi added.

"Yes, he said his eye was injured."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered, "Do you know that without the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, every time the Mangekyou Sharingan is used, the user's eyesight will suffer irreversible damage?"

Shinnosuke was startled. Since only a handful of Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan throughout history, this was the first time he had heard such news.

After a moment's hesitation, "But if Uchiha Kujou was going to hide his Mangekyou Sharingan, there's no need for him not to use it at all. When he was fighting the Sunagakure ninjas, he was almost killed, and he even abandoned Uzuki Kazunaka to escape..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time. "I don't know," he said, then his expression turned serious as he thought of something. "There's another possibility: he guessed that this mission was a trap aimed at him."

Shinnosuke chuckled, "How could that be? He's only twelve years old, how could he have such cunning?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave him a cold glance, and the latter shuddered, quickly lowering his head.

quite a while,

"You're the captain of the Dark Guard. You should speak with facts. I don't want to hear this kind of thoughtless talk a second time."

"Yes……"

"Never mind, I'll keep an eye on Uchiha Sora from now on."

"Yes."

"Go down."

After Shinnosuke left, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up from his chair and went to the floor-to-ceiling window. The Hokage's office was in a very good location; from here, one could take in the entire Hidden Leaf Village at a glance.

Outside the window, the village was blanketed in white snow, dressed in a pristine white coat. In the distance, wisps of smoke rose from chimneys, and one could vaguely make out someone practicing palm techniques in the snow—that was the location of the Hyuga clan.

Further on lies the Uchiha clan's territory, a place of great tranquility, as quiet as a cicada lurking in the darkness during spring and autumn. These cicadas are extremely quiet in winter, making no sound at all, but when spring and autumn arrive, that is when they begin to sing.

"Teacher..." A trace of longing appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. Even he, even the Hokage, had sorrows.

Rather, it is precisely because he is the Hokage that he has to think more and think further ahead.

#

Hospital,

"Knock knock knock—"

Uchiha Sora knocked on the VIP ward door, and a hoarse voice came from inside saying, "Come in."

He paused, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door. What greeted his eyes was a pure white and simple decor, which was also the basic color scheme of the hospital.

The blue and white hospital bed stood out perfectly against the pure white walls. Inside the medicine bottle, medicine dripped slowly, flowing along the IV tube.

Finally, Uchiha Sora looked at the familiar face on the hospital bed. He wanted to smile, but thinking about what he had done, he couldn't bring himself to smile.

Although he won his gamble and was right that the mission was a conspiracy against him, he did abandon Kazunari Uzuki, and that was a thorn deeply embedded in his heart.

"You've come." Uzuki Kaze saw Uchiha Sora and was somewhat surprised. She smiled and said, "I'm relieved to see you're alright."

"Oh right, sit down, what are you standing there for?" He pointed to the chair next to the hospital bed.

Uchiha Sora pursed his lips, remained silent, and sat quietly in the chair.

In contrast to his distress, Uzuki Kaze was in a very cheerful mood.

"This hospital is really great. Every day, pretty nurses apply my medicine. Hehe, for the first two days, the nurses even fed me."

Aside from the dangers, the treatment in the Dark Division is really good. They don't have to pay for medical expenses themselves, and they use the best medical equipment.

"Speaking of which, I'm really lucky. I thought I was going to be in big trouble this time. Luckily, the captain arrived in time."

"By the way, Kong, I have to say something to you about this. Obeying orders is the duty of the Anbu. Within the team, my rank is higher than yours, so you have to listen to me. I told you to go back, so you shouldn't have followed me."

Without our captain, we would have died there for nothing.

Besides, I was the one who secretly assigned you to this mission. If anything happens to you, I won't have peace even as a ghost.

You are still young, the future is yours…

The floodgates of conversation in the wind of Mayuki were opened, and she seemed like a completely different person, rambling on and on.

He woke up to find himself in a hospital and immediately inquired about Uchiha Sora. He only breathed a sigh of relief after learning that his life was not in danger.

Listening to Uzuki Kaze's long-winded explanation, Uchiha Sora remained silent, but the guilt in his eyes grew even heavier.

He listened quietly until he caught his breath in the wind of the moon, then he spoke softly.

"I abandoned you and ran away alone."

Time seemed to stand still for a moment. The smile on Uzuki Kaze's face slowly disappeared, and he stared quietly at the "ostrich" in front of him, who seemed to be trying to bury its head in its neck.

"I'm sorry," Uchiha Sora spoke again, "Whatever the reason, I abandoned your life and ran away alone."