Leaving the Village

"Third Hokage probably won't move against the Uchiha Clan anytime soon!"

After Uchiha Yakumi left, Uchiha Fugaku sat in his office, deep in thought.

By his estimation, although the Third Hokage knew that the Uchiha Clan was planning a coup, he probably would not make a move against them anytime soon.

The fact that he had sent Uchiha Itachi to monitor both him and the Uchiha Clan confirmed this.

If the Third Hokage intended to move against the Uchiha Clan, he would not have sent Uchiha Itachi to keep watch over him and the clan.

Instead, he would have immediately deployed people to surround and wipe out the Uchiha Clan.

"Right now, there are only calls for a coup within the Uchiha Clan, not any actual action. If he moves against the Uchiha Clan now, it will inevitably arouse the suspicion of the other clans."

"The Third Hokage is probably planning to wait until the Uchiha Clan truly launches a coup before acting. That way, he'll have concrete evidence and the moral high ground."

The calls for a coup within the Uchiha Clan were likely within the Third Hokage's expectations—or rather, they may have been orchestrated by the Third Hokage himself.

The Konoha High Command, led by the Third Hokage, had repeatedly suppressed the Uchiha Clan, likely with the aim of forcing them into rebellion and a coup.

That would give them a legitimate reason to purge the Uchiha Clan.

"I won't let you have your way!"

Uchiha Fugaku sneered.

If it had been the original owner of this body, the Third Hokage's plan would likely have succeeded.

Forced into launching a coup in the end, he would have fallen into the net woven by the Third Hokage, only to be exterminated by the Third Hokage, who held the moral high ground.

But he was not the original owner. He would not allow the Konoha High Command's plans to succeed.

"When you finally try to draw in the net, you'll find that the fish inside is far too big for your net to hold!"

The reason the Konoha High Command, led by the Third Hokage, had repeatedly suppressed the Uchiha Clan and forced them toward a coup was because they believed the power in their hands was enough to crush the current Uchiha Clan.

But with him here, the Konoha High Command's plans were destined to fail.

His strength still had room to grow—considerable room.

By the time the Konoha High Command, led by the Third Hokage, prepared to draw in their net around the Uchiha Clan, he would be far stronger than he was now and possess enough power to tear that net apart.

Half a month later, the various teams Konoha had sent out to search for and investigate the deaths of Shimura Ryoma and the other two gradually returned to Konoha.

The search and investigation had yielded no results, because their direction had been wrong from the very beginning.

It was naturally impossible to keep pouring a large amount of manpower into this matter.

After the investigation failed to produce results, the village decided to abandon it, and the case became an unsolved mystery.

Although the Shimura Clan was deeply unwilling to accept this, they had no choice but to agree. After all, there was truly nothing to be found.

One morning, Uchiha Fugaku left the Uchiha compound. However, rather than heading to the Military Police Force, he went to the Hokage Building.

After reporting his arrival at the Hokage Building, Uchiha Fugaku entered the Hokage's office.

"Clan Head Fugaku, what is it?"

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, holding a pipe. He took a puff with a smack of his lips and exhaled a ring of smoke.

His gaze toward Uchiha Fugaku was calm and gentle, carrying both authority and approachability.

It was an extremely deceptive image.

If Uchiha Fugaku had not known the Third Hokage's true nature so well, he might have found himself admiring this charismatic Third Hokage.

"I would like to apply for permission to leave the village for a while, Lord Hokage."

Uchiha Fugaku said.

Half a month of secret observation had confirmed his judgment: the Third Hokage probably would not act against the Uchiha Clan anytime soon.

After confirming that the Third Hokage would not move against the Uchiha Clan in the near future, he decided to carry out the plan he had formulated long ago.

He would leave the village and travel to the Land of Rain to obtain White Zetsu's corpse.

He had considered leaving the village in secret, but given that he would be gone for quite some time and that Uchiha Itachi was watching him, it was simply impossible to leave without anyone noticing.

So, he decided not to hide it. He came directly to the Hokage Building to apply to the Third Hokage and leave the village openly.

"Leave the village? Do you have some matter to attend to?"

Surprise appeared in the Third Hokage's eyes.

He had guessed at the reason for Uchiha Fugaku's visit, but he had not expected Uchiha Fugaku to apply to leave the village.

"I have some personal matters to handle."

Uchiha Fugaku said.

He did not explain his reasons in detail, because there was no need to.

If an ordinary ninja wanted to leave the village without being assigned a mission, they needed an extremely compelling reason.

If their reason was unconvincing, they might even be forbidden from leaving the village.

But for high-ranking figures in the village, such as clan heads, management was quite lax, and they had the privilege of leaving the village.

For example, Jiraiya and Tsunade had been away from the village for years, yet the village had never issued wanted notices for either of them.

"What about the management of the Military Police Force?"

Seeing that Uchiha Fugaku was unwilling to elaborate on why he wanted to leave the village, the Third Hokage did not press further. After all, Uchiha Fugaku had that privilege.

"While I am away, Uchiha Yakumi will manage the Military Police Force in my place. He has assisted me there for many years and has extensive management experience."

Uchiha Fugaku said.

"As long as there are no problems with the Military Police Force, then there is no problem."

The Third Hokage nodded and approved Uchiha Fugaku's request.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

After thanking him, Uchiha Fugaku left the Hokage's office.

He truly did not want to remain in that office for long. The Third Hokage's hypocrisy disgusted him, and being there made him feel uncomfortable all over.

Sooner or later, he would punch that old man's face—the one always wearing that fake smile.

Not long after Uchiha Fugaku left, the door to the Hokage's office was pushed open again.

Shimura Danzō, with bandages wrapped around his right arm and right eye, entered the Hokage's office and said to the Third Hokage,

"Third, Uchiha Fugaku must have some purpose in leaving Konoha."

The moment he learned that Uchiha Fugaku had gone to the Hokage Building, he had immediately rushed over. From outside the office, he had overheard the conversation between Uchiha Fugaku and the Third Hokage.

"I know. But as the head of a clan, Uchiha Fugaku has the right to do this. I have no reason to stop him."

The Third Hokage frowned slightly.

Shimura Danzō could think of it, so naturally he could as well.

"I will send people to follow and monitor him, to find out what his purpose truly is."

Shimura Danzō said.

He did not want any unforeseen changes to arise in the plan against the Uchiha Clan.

"Very well."

After considering it, the Third Hokage ultimately nodded in agreement.

Sending people to follow and monitor a clan head was a serious taboo.

However, considering the calls for a coup within the Uchiha Clan, he still agreed to let Shimura Danzō send people to monitor him.

Of course, the most important thing was that the people being deployed were from Root. Even if Uchiha Fugaku discovered the surveillance, they could shift all the blame onto Shimura Danzō.