"Father… we can't move along this route. There is an ambush up ahead."

Terumi warns Fuji. ​​

"I know…" Fuji nods his head.

"Father…we can't follow… wait…wait, you know about it." Mei's eyes widen as she stares at her father.

"Yes… I know about the ambush and I even know about the identity of the spy or to say… traitor." Fuji folds his hands in front of his chest as he stares at the people in his group.

Tap… tap…

Elder Genji taps his staff on the ground.

Whoosh…

He erects a barrier around the group.

"No one will get away from here."

He clutches the head of his staff. The expression of the escort group turns ugly as they stare at Elder Genji.

"What's the meaning of this… Elder Genji?… Do you question our loyalty?…" One of the shinobi angrily stares at Elder Genji.

"Yes… yes… what's the meaning of this?" Many voices of discontent rings in their ears.

Wakan silently stares at the group of people as clenches his fist.

'What's going on?… did Fuji found the traitor?'

Wakan clenches his fists and looks towards the group of shinobis.

"Calm.. down everyone… no one here doubts your loyalty. But some precautions are always needed… in case things may go south." Fuji calms then down as his gaze falls on Wakan.

"Am I right?… Wakan…"

"Of course… we can't allow the traitor to get scot-free from this such treacherous deed."

Wakan nods his head in agreement.

'Oh!… that's unexpected. Did they figure out the identity of the traitor?' Izuna gets out from his thoughts as his gaze lands on Wakan.

"What father?… you know about the traitor," Mei questions Fuji.

"Yes… it has been a while since I came to know of this matter."

Fuji turns towards Ao.

"It was thanks to Ao's keen observation… we could figure out the identity of the traitor… and this Escort trip was a trap to lure out the enemy and deal with them in one fell swoop."

Fuji chuckles as he waves his hands.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Multiple figures wearing Anbu costumes surround the area.

"Then… who is the traitor?" Mei asks him.

Fuji turns towards Wakan.

"Why don't you turn yourself in… Wakan. Isn't it about time to put an end to that act of yours?"

Fuji walks in front of Wakan and stares him in the eyes.

"WHAT!!"

The eyes of the rest of the people in the group widen as they stare at Wakan in bewilderment.

"WHAT!!… Uncle Wakan was the spy… he was the traitor who revealed the information of our every move to the enemies." Mei looks towards Wakan with disbelief in her eyes.

Izuna silently rolls his eyes.

'Took them long enough to figure this out.'

He activates his Sharingan and stares at Wakan's chakra network.

The flow of Wakan's chakra is turbulent and in disarray.

'That Obito… I wonder how many people is he manipulating this very instance.'

"Wha… what? It's not me. What are you talking about?"

Wakan incredulously looks at the group.

"It must be some sort of misunderstanding…" He frantically shakes his hand in denial.

"Fuji… I have followed you… since the Second Shinobi War… I had your back multiple times during the Third Shinobi War and even before that… how am I a traitor?… If I was a traitor… then I had multiple opportunities to end your life." Wakan argues with Fuji.

"True… Uncle Wakan had the opportunity to kill me or Father during multiple missions." Mei states the facts.

"Well… Ao, why don't you narrate… what you saw a few months ago." Fuji nods to Ao.

"Yes… Fuji-sama…"

Ao nods his head and explains.

"I had my suspicion of someone being a spy…"

Ao turns towards Izuna. Izuna grins at Ao.

"… so I raised the security of the Terumi Mansion and often I would personally oversee the patrol duty."

Elder Genji nods his head in praise. Ao explains the entire series of events to them.

"So… you saw Uncle Wakan sneak out of the Terumi Mansion and communicate with a masked person outside Kiri."

Ao nods his head.

"Yes… I happened to be on patrol duty that night. I would usually survey the entire Terumi compound with my Byakugan before calling it a day. So… I chanced upon Wakan-san secretly moving out of the Terumi compounds one such night. Out of curiosity and suspicion… I followed after him."

"No… he is lying. It wasn't me… my loyalty lies with the Fuji-san… I will never betray him." Wakan shakes his head in a frenzy.

Crack…

Hmm…

Izuna raises his head and looks towards Wakan.

'Was it my imagination… or did I hear the sound of something shattering in pieces?'

Izuna looks around to spot the faint sound.

Aah…

Wakan clutches his head and shouts in agony.

"Aah… No…"

He draws a kunai from his holster and dashes towards Fuji.

"Stop him… he has gone mad."

Elder Genji orders the Anbu units.

"Lava Release: Sealing Ash Technique "

Fuji makes some hand signs and slams his palm on the ground.

Whoosh…

Molten Ash erupts from the ground and seals Wakan in his place.

Hmm…

Izuna frowns as he activates his Mangekyo Sharingan to inspect Wakan's mind.

'There is a tiny sealing formula around his brain. This sealing pattern… it was sealing his memories. So… this Wakan guy was a sleeper agent hidden in the Kiri.

But how could that be… he was present in Kiri during the Second Shinobi War? Obito was a newborn child at that time.. so it couldn't be him… unless…"

Izuna's eyes widen as he speculates.

'… it must be grandfather…'

Izuna inspects Wakan's mind again. He notices a tiny black rod inserted in Wakan's brain.

'…black rod… so it is a Rinnegan technique… no wonder… I couldn't figure out the nature of the jutsu. I just noticed the disturbance in his chakra and speculated it to be the work of genjutsu… but it was beyond my imagination. I wonder… how strong was grandfather in his prime.'

A grin appears on Izuna's face as he thinks of a showdown with his grandfather.

"What's going on?…"

Fuji question Elder Genji.

Ao frowns and activates his Byakugan.

"He… he seems to be under the effect of a powerful genjutsu." Ao notices the disruption in Wakan's chakra flow.

"Can you dispel it?… I don't want one of my close subordinates and friend to fall under someone's scheme." Fuji asks Ao.

"I will give it a try…"

Ao approaches Wakan and places his hand on Wakan's forehead. He infuses a little chakra in Wakan's chakra system to disrupt his chakra flow.

"Aaah…"

Wakan clutches his forehead as it bloats out.

"Get back… he is about to explode." Elder Genji warns Ao.

Boom…

Wakan's body explodes violently. The explosion covers a large area and blows away the barrier.

Ao barely manages to avoid the explosion as he stares at the explosion with wide-eyes.

"What kind of jutsu was this?" Fuji turns towards Elder Genji in bewilderment.

"I have never seen or heard of such a technique before." Elder Genji shakes his head in denial.

Crack… crack…

Fuji clenches his fists tightly as he stares at the remains of Wakan.

"He was under a very powerful genjutsu and when Ao tried to dispel the genjutsu… it triggered the explosion." Elder Genji mutters.

Sigh…

Fuji closes his eyes as he mourns the death of his friend.

"Yet… I lost another friend during such cruel times."

His back hunches a little as he takes supports against a tree while staring at the remains of his friend.

Mei comforts Fuji as she hugs him tightly.

Izuna stares at the crater as he thinks to himself.

'That sealing formula was a Fuinjutsu technique… if I remember correctly… it was based on 'Memory Concealing Manipulative Mind Technique'… but it seems like grandfather modified the jutsu with his Rinnegan.'

Wheeze…

Izuna takes a deep breath.

'I wonder how my Grandfather learned 'Fuinjutsu'. Now I curious to know the extent of powers of Rinnegan. The original Naruto never truly revealed the full potential of Rinnegan… except the Seven Paths and some unique jutsu. All Otsutsuki's had their version of Rinnegan with unique powers. I wonder when would I awaken my Rinnegan.'

Izuna touches his eyes.

'It has been ten years since I injected Hashirama cells in my body.'

------------------

Inside a secret hideout,

Hmm…

Black Zetsu raises his head as he gazes in a direction.

"Looks like the sleeper did its job…"

He enters underground and a giant tree with a figure protruding out from its trunk appears in his vision.

"The body of this incarnation of Asura was truly unique." Black Zetsu stares at the figure of Hashirama protruding out from the Chakra tree.

"'Sage Body'… so that's what it is called. The memories passed by the mother have some information about it."