Operation Annihilation

Given the relationship between Uchiha Fugaku and Shimura Ryoma, there was naturally no possibility of stopping for a "friendly chat." The two groups passed each other.

Uchiha Fugaku and his two companions headed toward the Military Police Force, while Shimura Ryoma and his two companions headed toward the Shimura Clan.

"He really knows how to endure!"

On the way back to the Shimura Clan, Shimura Ryoma sneered inwardly.

His encounter with Uchiha Fugaku had not been a coincidence. He had arranged it deliberately, calculating that Uchiha Fugaku would appear on that street at that time and intentionally showing up there himself.

His purpose had been to test Uchiha Fugaku.

He wanted to see whether, after the Uchiha Clan had suffered one round of suppression after another, Uchiha Fugaku could still endure.

The result disappointed him. Uchiha Fugaku had not been easily provoked and remained as skilled at enduring as ever.

"I wonder if you'll still be able to endure what comes next?"

Thinking of his clan's upcoming plan, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

As long as the Uchiha Clan continued to exist, Konoha High Command's suppression of the Uchiha Clan would not stop.

Not long ago, acting on Advisor Danzo's orders, the Shimura Clan had secretly contacted other clans and prepared to strip the Uchiha Clan of its duty of overseeing the village entrances and exits, further suppressing the Uchiha Clan.

By overseeing the village's entrances and exits, the Uchiha Clan held considerable authority over the merchant caravans entering and leaving the village.

For a long time, the Uchiha Clan had used that authority over the merchant caravans entering and leaving the village to obtain quite a few "dividends" from them.

Once the Uchiha Clan lost its duty of overseeing the village entrances and exits, it would naturally no longer be able to obtain such "dividends." The Shimura Clan and several other clans would replace the Uchiha Clan and divide those "dividends" among themselves.

"If their duty of overseeing the village entrances and exits is stripped away as well, the Uchiha Clan will lose most of its source of income. I refuse to believe you can still endure under those circumstances."

He was already looking forward to the next village meeting.

At the next village meeting, the Shimura Clan would join forces with several other clans to strip the Uchiha Clan of its duty of overseeing the village entrances and exits.

He very much wanted to see the expression on Uchiha Fugaku's face after the proposal passed.

Would he be unable to suppress his anger and erupt, or would he continue to endure?

The previous few times, Uchiha Fugaku had chosen to endure.

But this time, their fundamental interests had been touched. He did not believe the other man could continue to endure.

And once he could no longer endure, the Shimura Clan—and even Konoha High Command—would have achieved their goal.

For Konoha, the Uchiha Clan, which had once produced the rogue ninja Uchiha Madara, was an extremely dangerous hidden threat that needed to be removed.

The occurrence of the Nine-Tails' Calamity had made Konoha High Command even more convinced of this.

However, it was certainly impossible to act against a clan that had done nothing wrong.

If they truly did so, it would inevitably arouse the suspicions of the village's other clans. After all, no clan could guarantee that it would not be next.

Thus, a plan was devised to suppress the Uchiha Clan and force it into rebellion.

Once the Uchiha Clan could no longer bear the suppression and chose to rebel, the village would have a reason to act against it.

It had to be said that Uchiha Fugaku was truly good at enduring.

Faced with the village's repeated suppression, he had endured every time and had even suppressed the voices calling for rebellion within the clan.

That was right. Konoha High Command had long known of the calls for rebellion within the Uchiha Clan—or rather, Konoha High Command had been waiting for them all along.

He believed that this time, the Uchiha Clan would surely be unable to withstand the suppression and erupt.

Even if Uchiha Fugaku could endure, the Uchiha Clan's members certainly would not. They would force Uchiha Fugaku into rebellion.

From the moment this plan was initiated, the Uchiha Clan's fate had already been decided.

"Shimura Ryoma?"

As he walked toward the Military Police Force, an imperceptible cold gleam flashed through Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.

To change the Uchiha Clan's current situation of being suppressed and ostracized, he had to deal with those in Konoha who held high positions and harbored hostility toward the Uchiha Clan.

Shimura Ryoma was clearly one such person.

Moreover, although this man held a high position within the Shimura Clan, his status was ultimately inferior to Shimura Danzō's. The protection around him was limited, making him an ideal target.

He made up his mind. Shimura Ryoma would be his first target.

"How should I make my move?"

There were two ways to deal with Shimura Ryoma.

The first was to place a bounty on Shimura Ryoma in the Underground Black Market, using a high reward to drive rogue ninja and Wandering Ninja to assassinate him.

This method was discreet and could completely dissociate Shimura Ryoma's death from the Uchiha Clan. Its only drawback was that it cost money.

Shimura Ryoma was an Elite Jonin. Placing a bounty on a ninja of his caliber would certainly cost a great deal.

Sarutobi Asuma's bounty could serve as a reference. In the original work, Sarutobi Asuma, who was also an Elite Jonin, had a bounty as high as thirty-five million ryō.

Of course, Sarutobi Asuma also had the special identities of being one of the Twelve Ninja Guardians and the Third Hokage's son, so his bounty was higher than that of an ordinary Elite Jonin.

Even so, placing a bounty on Shimura Ryoma would cost no less than twenty million ryō.

The second method was to secretly mobilize the Uchiha Clan's elite ninja and assassinate Shimura Ryoma.

This method saved money, but its drawback was that it was not discreet enough.

If the assassination failed, or if it left behind traces during the attempt that allowed the Konoha ANBU to find clues, the assassination might very well be exposed.

And once the assassination was exposed, it would inevitably lead to extremely serious consequences. The Konoha High Command would have more than enough reason to move against the Uchiha Clan.

"Bounties may be discreet, but the cost is too high. Assassination carries the risk of exposure, but as long as it is handled discreetly enough, that can be avoided."

In the end, he decided to adopt an assassination strategy against Shimura Ryoma.

Offering a bounty of twenty million ryo for Shimura Ryoma was naturally no problem given the Uchiha Clan's wealth.

However, Shimura Ryoma was not the only person he needed to deal with.

Within Konoha, quite a few people harbored hostility toward the Uchiha Clan. After dealing with Shimura Ryoma, he would inevitably have to act against those people one by one. Only then could he resolve the Uchiha Clan's current crisis.

If he used bounties against so many people, then even with the Uchiha Clan's considerable wealth, they would find it difficult to afford it.

In the end, they would inevitably have to mobilize the Uchiha Clan's elite to assassinate the targets.

Since they would have to resort to assassination sooner or later, it would be better to use assassination from the very beginning.

Assassination carried the risk of exposure, but as long as it was handled discreetly enough, exposure could be avoided.

Moreover, he had already decided that he would personally carry out the assassinations.

With someone of Kage-level strength like him taking action, the chances of failure would be lower, and the chances of exposure lower as well.