On the other side, Kakashi had also discovered similar items and immediately shouted sternly, "Everyone, stop!"
But his warning was a little too late. In the whole team, most people had already found similar things. After regrouping, and seeing the flickering expressions in everyone's eyes, Kakashi also fell silent.
"Everyone, just pretend you didn't see these things." After a long time, Seiryu finally spoke.
"Clan Head! But in here there's…" Uchiha Zaito said anxiously. What he had found was a detailed record of Orochimaru and Danzo working together during the Third Ninja War to hunt down members of the Uchiha clan and steal their Sharingan.
"Enough!" Seiryu shouted angrily. "Getting involved in these things is of no benefit to you!"
After reprimanding Zaito, Seiryu looked up at everyone seriously and said, "These things were discovered by Captain Kakashi and me. The two of us will report to the Third Hokage alone. You saw nothing, understood?"
"Understood, understood." Nagai Seiichi and Kuroki Ryuta nodded hurriedly. Unlike the others, who had ninja clans backing them, the two of them had no support. If they got dragged into this kind of mess, they might end up dead for no reason the very next day.
"We didn't see anything." Hyuga Ken also said. As a branch member, if he got involved in such a huge matter, the main family might get rid of them immediately to avoid trouble.
Inuzuka Kaze was even more direct; he shoved all the items he'd collected into Seiryu's hands. Even their Inuzuka clan could end up in deep trouble if they got dragged into this.
Kakashi sighed deeply. For now, handling it as Seiryu suggested was indeed the safest approach.
"Kakashi, write the mission report like this: After we discovered traces of Orochimaru, we engaged him in a skirmish. Under his large-scale destructive ninjutsu, everyone but the two of us sustained injuries… By the way, what about the other two?"
"Mitokado Hayato died at the beginning. As for Koharu Taki, he probably died in the aftermath of your and Orochimaru's ninjutsu clash," Inuzuka Kaze said.
"That's truly regrettable," Seiryu commented briefly on their deaths before continuing, "The two of us with remaining combat ability chased Orochimaru here, but he escaped using an escape jutsu. Here, we found these things."
"Isn't that a bit much? Didn't we basically contribute nothing? Wouldn't that mean we're taking credit for your work?" Uzuki Yugao said.
"That's not important," Seiryu replied. "I don't need this much merit, but you can't shoulder such a big trouble."
"All right, I'll write the mission report this way. Be careful not to let anything slip," Kakashi said, ignoring Yugao's doubts and nodding.
Kuroki Ryuta and Nagai Seiichi now looked at Seiryu with completely different eyes. What kind of leader had they encountered on this mission? Someone willing to share the credit and also shoulder the biggest blame? From this moment on, if anyone dared badmouth the Uchiha, they'd fight them to the death!
Meanwhile, Inuzuka Kaze also sized up Seiryu, his eyes shining with a special light.
"All right, no need to be so tense. Go outside and bury the bodies from the experiments. Leave the rest to me and Captain Kakashi," Seiryu relaxed his expression and said. "Finish up early, get ready to return to the village. To celebrate the mission's relative success, dinner's on me tonight."
The group finally relaxed and headed together toward the outside of the lab.
Kakashi and Seiryu stayed behind to collect evidence from the laboratory.
"What do you plan to do?" When they had almost finished, Kakashi looked up and asked.
"Of course, report to Lord Third, and under the Will of Fire, completely eradicate the village's evil under his wise leadership," Seiryu replied without looking up.
Kakashi: ...
"Even now, you can't tell me the truth?" Kakashi said coldly.
"Want to hear the truth?" Seiryu smiled slightly. "Then, you've made your choice, huh?"
"I just want to know the truth about my father's incident," Kakashi said.
Seiryu nodded. "That's enough."
"The truth is, I'll use these things to slowly take down the Shimura, Koharu, and Mitokado clans, and then take their place."
Kakashi's pupils contracted at Seiryu's words. He realized that Seiryu wasn't telling the full truth. After all, besides these three, there was still the Sarutobi clan, which had grown rapidly alongside them during the Third Hokage's reign. If Seiryu planned to take down these three, what about the Sarutobi in the end?
Noticing Kakashi's look, Seiryu grinned and patted his shoulder. "Kakashi, if you want to master archery, you still have a lot to learn."
With that, Seiryu ignored Kakashi's reaction, gathered the evidence from Orochimaru's base, and left.
Once everything was finished, under the twin Great Fire Dragon jutsu of Seiryu and Zaito, Orochimaru's base was reduced to ashes in a blazing fire.
When the flames finally died down, the group set off on their return journey.
Along the way, everyone remained silent until they returned to town late at night. Seiryu took everyone to the restaurant where they'd previously eaten and drank, ordered a lavish meal, and after a few rounds of drinks, everyone finally relaxed.
Kuroki Ryuta, a little tipsy, raised his glass. "Everyone, we should toast Clan Head Seiryu. We only made it back smoothly thanks to him."
"That's right!" Nagai Seiichi also raised his glass. "There are always rumors about the Uchiha, but on this mission, we saw their true spirit! Especially Clan Head Seiryu—that's really something!"
He gave a big thumbs up.
"No more words! A toast to Clan Head Seiryu!" Hyuga Ken also raised his glass.
"Didn't I say? It was everyone's effort that let us complete the mission smoothly!" Seiryu waved his hand, then raised his glass and drained it with everyone.
"Seiryu's right. It was a team effort," Kakashi said after his drink. "When we return, I'll recommend everyone to Lord Hokage."
Seiryu smiled with satisfaction. Though Kakashi still seemed a little awkward, he was finally learning.