A Small Leak

A Small Leak

"True enough! Danzo was a great man!"

Setsuna reacted the fastest. With a sigh, he said, "Danzo knew Kazuki had his eyes gouged out and felt bad about it, so he came."

"He sacrificed his Root ninja and offered up his own face to cheer Kazuki up."

"He diverted everyone's attention and bore the village's resentment."

"He compensated us with the tournament money."

"He burned himself to light our way!"

Kazuki felt it was necessary to knock them down a peg and make them understand that there was always someone stronger.

"Endure is your ninja way? I really can't agree with that." Kazuki shrugged and said, "And it's not just me who disagreed. The facts proved it too, didn't they? After all these years, the clan had barely moved forward an inch."

Comfort Kazuki?

If they kept comforting him like this, they might be holding Danzo's funeral tomorrow.

Even the bandages around his face seemed to have taken on a faint reddish tint.

"If you keep shaking me like this, forget calling me Kazuki—even if you call me Uncle, it won't work."

He said blandly, "Muto and Yuto both trusted you deeply, Kazuki. Could someone like you really be just an ordinary clan genius?"

Shisui shouted excitedly, "Elder, what do you mean by that? You actually believed him? Heh, how ridiculous! Three thousand ninja—three thousand ninja! Do you know what that represented? You—"

Setsuna snapped coldly, "We knew exactly what kind of person Hiruzen Sarutobi was. We had considered the Sarutobi Clan's ninja as well, but..."

Fugaku cut Kazuki off with a single sentence.

"Of course!" Kazuki grinned wickedly. "You could find someone to take the blame too, just like the Third Hokage found Danzo."

"You mean you considered everything thoroughly, right?" Kazuki asked with a half-smile. "Including the Three Thousand Sarutobi Army, right?"

Fugaku roared, and his killing intent turned into a sharp blade that stabbed toward Shisui.

"Kazuki, are you sure?"

"The decision I made will never change!"

There was only one possibility!

Shisui refused to believe it!

Hearing Fugaku's words, Kazuki rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

"Muneyoshi, I told you long ago that your methods had stopped working!"

It had only been a few short years.

Uchiha Muneyoshi!

He stared fixedly at Kazuki and said in a deep voice, "Do you think my approach was unacceptable?"

He absolutely could not believe it either!

They had originally intended to comfort Kazuki while warning Setsuna.

"Calm down, Shisui!"

"Not just them—you too!"

The few of them could not help looking horrified.

Danzo's Root had suffered heavy losses, which had also begun to destabilize the Uchiha.

Kazuki's words instantly reminded them of what had happened before.

"We're still laughing at him here. Doesn't that make us worse than beasts?"

Everyone fell silent, digesting the news.

Although Danzo had started the trouble, he had truly suffered a loss as well.

Setsuna said calmly, "Naturally, we will prepare the most thorough plan possible to ensure success."

The icy killing intent made Shisui freeze, and a little clarity returned to his eyes.

His expression was also filled with doubt.

Shisui erupted from the side.

Even Kazuki's tone changed. "You actually accepted his money? How could you do that? That's too much."

Though Kazuki's eyes were covered in bandages, he carried an air of superiority.

"Three thousand!?"

If Fugaku and Muneyoshi had not forcibly suppressed them, and Setsuna had not chosen to stand by without fanning the flames, who knew what those Uchiha might have done.

As for Kurenai, she was clever. She had hidden in the room from the beginning and never came out.

Kazuki's voice trembled from being shaken. "Hey, has your Parkinson's spread through your whole body? Are you trying to infect me too? You're terrible."

Shisui stepped forward, seized Kazuki by the shoulders, and shouted, "You're not allowed to act recklessly, do you hear me?"

Was that even something a human would say?

Fugaku and the others furrowed their brows.

What would several thousand ninja eat?

What would they drink?

Where would their training resources come from?

Well, now they knew.

Shisui nearly fainted from anger.

Setsuna frowned at Kazuki and asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm your brother!"

"Muto!"

Muto was a young jonin with a modest reputation within the clan.

"Just spare him!"

Setsuna's face darkened.

"No!"

This was probably his only weakness.

The Sarutobi Clan having more than three thousand additional ninja—Shisui knew only too well what that represented.

Kazuki had begun cultivating his own influence after becoming a jonin.

There was nothing more to say.

Suddenly, a steady voice rang out.

The Three Thousand Sarutobi Army?

Everyone was stunned.

"How could I be sure?" Kazuki asked in surprise. "I'm not the clan head or an elder. I'm just an ordinary clan genius, though I'm handsome, talented, kind-hearted, and always willing to help others..."

Why had this been dragged back to him again?

Setsuna said word by word, "We merely want to reclaim what belongs to the Uchiha."

"What?"

The three Uchiha leaders, and the three finest members of the new generation.

They already knew almost everything they needed to know, so they might as well lay it all out openly.

Fugaku and Muneyoshi watched the two in silence.

"The Sarutobi Clan!" Kazuki said with a smile. "The Sarutobi Clan now had over three thousand ninja, calling themselves the Three Thousand Sarutobi Army. Your plan must have taken them into account too, right?"

Kazuki smiled. "I can only say that your idea wasn't bad."

How could his revered Hokage possibly do such a thing?

"Even if you dug up my grandfather, it still wouldn't work!"

Fugaku said slowly, "We had our suspicions regarding the Sarutobi Clan, but three thousand..."

Shisui remained silent at the side.

Setsuna sneered, "Even if you and Fugaku suppress this time, what about next time? Or do you think Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others will stop?"

Kazuki's expression turned solemn. "I will definitely thank Danzo. I swear it!"

Shisui seemed not to hear him. "Answer my question. Answer me, Kazuki!"

That was enough!

"I propose!" Kazuki said with a serious expression. "We should all go kowtow to Danzo and thank him for his sacrifice."

He stepped forward, grabbed Kazuki by the shoulders, and shook him hard. His own body was trembling violently as well.

Yuto was the same.

Because Kazuki had been attacked, the Uchiha within the clan had indeed been furious.

There were six people present in total.

If something like that happened again, Danzo would definitely fight Kazuki to the death. Forget the Third Hokage—even if the Second Hokage crawled out of the ground, he could not stop him.

"I said calm down, Shisui!"

Although the Sarutobi Clan had businesses as well, the money they earned absolutely could not sustain such enormous expenditures.

Fugaku had a headache.

And besides, I don't even know where Grandpa was buried. Where was I supposed to dig him up?

"Kazuki!"

"You're talking nonsense, right?"

"You think an armed coup could save the Uchiha? Are you Uchiha Shisui? How could you be so naive!"

Why were they looking at him?

"Oh, right!" Kazuki seemed to recall something and smiled. "What about the clan? I imagine many Uchiha are about to lose control of their anger. You three have had it pretty rough too."

"Kazuki, stop fooling around!"

"I..."

At least after hearing Kazuki out, he even felt Danzo had gotten the short end of the stick.

Although it was well concealed, anyone who looked closely could still discover that quite a few Uchiha within the clan had advanced by leaps and bounds in strength over just a few years.

During the incident involving the lost Mangekyo, Muto suddenly stepped forward, magnifying this point and turning it into a shared trait that pointed toward Kazuki.