Cruel Sacrifice

Kushina Uzumaki's Sealing Space.

After sealing Minato Namikaze's Chakra Body within the Adamantine Sealing Chains, she looked at the empty Small Wooden House.

Before meeting Fugaku, her husband and pet Anju had been sitting on the sofa, Minato happily looking at the books on the shelf.

Anju had yawned, his eyelids drooping as though he had not woken up yet.

But what about now?

The light in Minato and Kushina's Love Shack was still as bright as ever, but there was no one left inside.

Feeling the Nine-Tails Chakra within her body, now freely at her command, Kushina felt a blaze rising in her heart. That wicked fire, coupled with the overwhelming malice that came with completely controlling the Nine-Tails Chakra—

Made Kushina want to destroy everything. Yet she wanted to vent her anger but could find no target for it, leaving her utterly miserable.

After leaving the Sealing Space, Kushina opened her eyes.

Uchiha Fugaku, standing beside her, wore an astonished expression.

What had he just seen?

Nine-Tailed Enchantress Kushina had closed her eyes before him, and then two clear streams of tears had run down her cheeks.

When she opened her eyes again, the immense oppressive presence of her Chakra made Fugaku's heart tremble.

It was as though the one standing before him was not a person, but a calamitous Nine-Tails.

How had Kushina changed so drastically in less than a minute? It felt as if she had become an entirely different person.

"Lady Kushina...?"

"Fugaku, I have something to do. I'll be leaving first." Kushina did not say much more to Fugaku. Golden Chakra appeared around her body, and she vanished in an instant.

After Kushina left, Fugaku was dumbfounded. This... they had not even reached a conclusion yet. Why had she suddenly left because she had something to do? What could not wait until after they had finished discussing things?

Fugaku did not make wild guesses. Since he could not figure out what Kushina had meant earlier, he would gather everyone's wisdom.

Fugaku summoned an Uchiha Clan member.

"Notify all the clan elders to come to Naka Shrine. I have something to ask them."

"Yes!"

At this time, Kushina found Naruto, then brought him back to their home in Konoha and silently held him.

Naruto was somewhat at a loss.

He had just been playing ninja games with several Uchiha children when his mother took him home. She did not say anything, only held him tightly.

Gradually, Kushina's prolonged silence made the active Naruto a little unhappy.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Naruto, you're all I have left."

"I'll always be here, Mom."

Only then did Naruto notice the tear tracks on his mother's face.

Quick-witted, Naruto did not say anything else. He simply hugged Kushina back, showing remarkable understanding.

Naka Shrine.

Uchiha Fugaku and several clan elders analyzed the words Kushina had just said to Fugaku.

"Clan Head, does Lady Kushina really want us to start a war?"

One clan elder could not quite grasp what the phrase, "How do we start a war without making the Uchiha Clan the party that started it?" truly meant.

"Lady Kushina's wording is a little awkward, but the meaning is obvious. Our Uchiha Clan absolutely cannot become the party that starts the war."

"But if we do not start the war, the Third Hokage will not start one either. Then how are we supposed to start a war?"

After saying that, the clan elder looked at Fugaku.

"Clan Head? Have the enemy nation start the war?"

Fugaku's heart tightened. "Damn it! Lady Kushina is forcing us to send our own clan members to their deaths."

"Clan Head, you said that after Lady Kushina said those words, she did not speak another word, and in the end, she closed her eyes and wept. Is that right?"

At that moment, one clan elder suddenly sought confirmation from Fugaku.

The other clan elders all turned to look at Fugaku as well.

Fugaku then slapped himself.

"I should not have complained about Lady Kushina! To help our Uchiha Clan out of this predicament, Lady Kushina voluntarily offered me a strategy that even she could not bear to carry out. In the end, she was so distressed that she cried, yet I was slow enough to blame Lady Kushina!"

The Uchiha clan elders were somewhat moved as well. The strategy was indeed vicious, but Kushina had wept because the strategy she proposed would cause Uchiha Clan members to sacrifice themselves. What did that mean?

It meant that Kushina truly recognized the Uchiha Clan!

"Clan Head! We cannot let Lady Kushina's good intentions go to waste. I will send a letter to my grandson immediately. I believe he will know what to do."

"No, your grandson's line of defense is Sunagakure. Sunagakure has been weak for years and does not seem like the type to provoke trouble. Let my nephew do it instead. He is already forty years old and will understand the clan's difficulties."

Fugaku's eyes brimmed with tears as well. "The righteous devotion of all the clan elders puts me, the Clan Head, to shame."

"Clan Head! You should prepare for mobilization. When the time comes, you will need to step forward and persuade the leaders of the various ninja clans."

"Mm!"

Fugaku's stern expression became even sterner.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage Office.

"Danzo, how are things going?"

"Hiruzen, rest assured. In three days, 'Uchiha Clan members' will attack the Kumogakure border."

"Danzo, you must understand that to frame the Uchiha Clan this time, we are preparing to start a war. You need to keep a close eye on the other ninja villages!"

"Rest assured, Hiruzen. This time, the Kumogakure Ninja will pay for their arrogance."

The next day, at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water.

A baffling thunderstorm struck Konoha's Border Command Garrison.

All fifty-one Uchiha ninja and more than a hundred Konoha Ninja inside were killed. None survived.

Only traces left behind by Lightning Release Chakra remained at the scene.

The enemy headbands left behind bore the symbol of Kirigakure.

After the incident, the Uchiha Clan immediately went to the Hokage Building.

The heads of the various ninja clans arrived at the Hokage Office at the same time. Fugaku had already persuaded them.

This time was different from all previous incidents.

The enemy had attacked a Konoha command garrison. This was deep in the rear of the border garrisons, meaning the enemy had already bypassed those border garrisons and driven straight into the interior of the Land of Fire.

This was unquestionably war, not some warning or declaration.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked grimly at the leaders of the various ninja clans present.

"The Land of Lightning has attacked our Land of Fire Border Command Garrison.

Konoha has lost two hundred ninja, including four jonin, seventy-five chunin, and more than a hundred genin.

This is unquestionably war. Therefore, I am issuing a War Mobilization Order. Clan Heads, please dispatch the elites of your clans to join the ninja forces."

After the leaders of the various ninja clans left, Shimura Danzō entered the office.

"Hiruzen! I didn't do this!"

"What? It wasn't you? Could Kumogakure really have done it?" Sarutobi Hiruzen felt stifled. The plan had not even been put into action yet; they were still making preparations.

To be honest, Sarutobi Hiruzen had not wanted to issue a War Mobilization Order now at all, since it had not been part of the plan.

But he was the Hokage. Now that it had happened, he could only issue the mobilization order ahead of schedule.

"Hiruzen! This incident is Uchiha's conspiracy! It must have been the Uchiha Clan!"

"Danzo! Would Fugaku really be willing to pay such a tremendous price? Two of the four jonin in that command garrison were Uchiha Clan jonin. If the Uchiha Clan did this, then they are truly terrifying!"

"Hiruzen! The Uchiha Clan are all madmen!"

"But Fugaku isn't! And not every member of the Uchiha Clan is a madman!"

After saying that, Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke from his pipe. He was extremely agitated as well.

He had issued three mobilization orders during his tenure as Hokage! This was the third one.

"Hmph, Hiruzen. You will regret this!"

Shimura Danzō's intuition this time—no, his habitual suspicion—had actually guessed correctly. But he had no evidence. Besides, the Uchiha Clan's sacrifice this time had been far too great.