We must act against the Uchiha

Danzo was quite displeased with Hiruzen's behavior. After all, it was only midnight, prime working hours.

Ryoma, standing nearby, quietly stifled a yawn, unsure what to say.

At their age, why push themselves so hard?

Working yourself to death every day—aren't you afraid of dropping dead?

Danzo continued venting. "Can Hiruzen even handle being Hokage or not? If he can't, there are plenty who can."

"Back then, Lord Tobirama shouldn't have made him Hokage. If he'd chosen me, the entire shinobi world would have been unified by now."

Ryoma lowered his head. Damn, he'd overheard something he shouldn't have again.

As a high-level guard of Root Organization, Ryoma was constantly at Danzo's side.

Naturally, he'd heard plenty of things he was meant to hear—and plenty he wasn't.

For instance, when the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, died and Konoha was left leaderless.

Lord Danzo thought his chance had finally come. Who could have guessed that the retired Hiruzen would be rehired and sit in that seat for another four or five years?

Who knew that old monkey had such an addiction to power...

What was even more infuriating was that his health was still good—he wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

How much longer would he have to wait before it was his turn to become the Fifth Hokage?

Or take Hiruzen being a spineless coward—he should have just killed all the Uchiha and been done with it.

Watching the agitated Danzo, Ryoma felt quite helpless.

This lord usually showed little emotion, but whenever the Uchiha were mentioned, he became extremely worked up.

If he was sent to carry out any plans targeting the Uchiha, he could stay awake for three days and nights in excitement.

Like today.

Ryoma knew that Lord Danzo was now itching to uproot the Uchiha completely.

But this was clearly not the right time.

You don't sleep, but you expect the Hokage to sleep?

"Lord Danzo, I believe we should first formulate a proper plan before presenting it to the Hokage."

Danzo thought for a moment and found it acceptable.

"Hmm, do it that way."

Late at night, the entire village was silent.

Inside Root Organization, Danzo was drafting a Report Concerning the Uchiha's Unauthorized Contact with the Jinchuriki—a Heinous, Unforgivable Crime That Must Be Severely Dealt With.

He only had to wait until tomorrow to lodge a fierce complaint in front of Hiruzen, then strike hard.

After that, he would annihilate the Uchiha in one fell swoop and take several dozen Sharingan for himself.

At Naruto's home, little Naruto was already fast asleep.

He was having a dream, one where he was no longer the outcast everyone isolated, but had made many good friends.

A white-haired shinobi even taught him many powerful jutsu.

"Hehe," Naruto grinned wide, "I'm the Hokage, I'm the Hokage!"

At the hospital, Itachi lay on his bed, staring at the moon in the sky. He didn't seem to be in a good mood.

Even though he had successfully been promoted to Chunin, Itachi still felt some guilt.

He felt he hadn't completed his father's instructions.

More importantly, he had let down his younger brother Sasuke's hopes.

Sasuke, who had come to keep him company, had long since succumbed to sleep and even taken over half of Itachi's bed.

Itachi patted Sasuke's little head. "Sasuke, this is the last time."

At Kakashi's home, the lights were still blazing.

He had finally finished today's work summary.

He thought about reporting to the Hokage first thing in the morning, then tackling the endless pile of work that never seemed to finish.

He also thought about finding a chance to buy the latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise.

At the Uchiha Clan Compound, inside Eiji's home.

He gently wiped his blade, looking lost in thought.

Ever since he had activated Tobirama's perception ability, few people could tail him without his knowledge.

Not even the famous Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake, could manage it.

Beyond that, he could also feel that from the tall buildings surrounding the Uchiha Clan Compound, scrutinizing gazes were occasionally cast his way.

Forget the so-called evil Uchiha natives—even he was getting a bit irritated under that kind of surveillance.

Could you blame the Uchiha for rebelling? If he were the clan head, he would have flipped the table long ago.

As for Naruto, their contact would definitely stir up dissatisfaction among many people.

Eiji placed Xiao Er back on the weapon rack.

"In that case, I need to raise my strength as fast as possible, so those rotten old men never dare to scheme against me again."

The next morning, Eiji arrived at the Security Division and found Inaho, who was handling complaints from villagers.

The reasons for their complaints were bizarre—they accused the Security Division of not enforcing the law with a smile.

Inaho was grinding his teeth in anger. You idiots are brawling in the street, and I'm supposed to smile while enforcing the law?

Are you asking to die?

If this were outside the village, I'd have beaten you so badly your own mothers wouldn't recognize you.

But Inaho couldn't say that. If he didn't resolve their issues, these troublemakers would take it all the way to the Hokage.

And then Fugaku, the clan head, would get dragged into the scolding too.

Several ninjas from the Security Division were berated for half the day. After barely managing to send those two villagers off, Inaho felt utterly exhausted.

Looking up and seeing Eiji approach, a smile spread across Inaho's face.

"Eiji, what's up?"

Eiji didn't stand on ceremony and said bluntly, "Brother Inaho, I want to borrow some clan jutsu scrolls."

"Alright, come with me."

Yesterday, Inaho had returned to the clan and reported to the elders about his conversation with Eiji.

When they heard that Eiji had sworn eternal loyalty to the Uchiha, the elders were beside themselves with excitement.

They all declared that Eiji was a promising talent and didn't care what jutsu he used.

As long as it could defeat the enemy, it was a good jutsu.

Furthermore, if Eiji made any requests, Inaho was to do his best to fulfill them.

So Inaho agreed without hesitation.

It wasn't his stuff anyway—if Eiji wanted to learn, let him learn.

The two soon arrived at the Storage Room, where Inaho acted as a guide.

"Eiji, as you know, the Uchiha clan is especially skilled in Fire Release, so we have quite a few scrolls on that."

"Over here is Swordsmanship, here is Taijutsu, and Genjutsu Basics."

"This last row is for other jutsu. Take a look and grab whatever you need. Just remember to return them when you're done."

"If you need help, you can ask the seniors in the clan to teach you."

Under Inaho's enthusiastic gaze, Eiji picked out two scrolls—one on Genjutsu and one on Fire Release.

"I'll start with these. Once I've learned them, I'll look at the others."

"Alright," Inaho nodded and led Eiji out of the Storage Room.

"I still have some work to finish at the Security Division. I'll head off now."

"Wait," Eiji called out to Inaho. "I need to request some more Explosive Tags."

Inaho agreed readily. "Just a few Explosive Tags? Go ahead and get them."

Eiji grinned slyly. "Really? It might be a little more than a few."

A bad feeling suddenly crept into Inaho's heart...

Sure enough, Inaho was proven right.

Eiji grabbed several empty scrolls and came back with them stuffed full.

He also found a few familiar clansmen to help carry a pile of weapons back to his home.

The already cramped little house now had barely any room to stand.

The clansman from the Logistics Office nearly cried. "Eiji, what are the other clansmen supposed to do?"

Eiji patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Times are special. Ask them to make do."

"But—you—I—"

Eiji didn't care what anyone else thought. Who told them not to give me what I asked for before?

Now that I have the chance, I'm definitely taking back double.

Inaho went off to handle Security Division business, while Eiji cheerfully returned home to organize his ninja tools.

After being poor for so many years, suddenly coming into a little fortune felt strange to him.

Shoving a bunch of miscellaneous items under the bed, Eiji sat on the sofa to study the borrowed scrolls.

Let me see... what simple and useful Genjutsu are there?

Hokage's Office.

Kakashi waited for a long time on the side before Hiruzen finally found the time to hear his report.

As required, the Anbu needed to report all major and minor events in the village daily, so the Hokage could make corresponding arrangements.

Kakashi was long familiar with this routine; once he stood still, he began a detailed report.

Hiruzen listened while smoking, his face expressionless.

Some simple minor incidents could be handled by the Anbu themselves.

But when he heard Kakashi report that an Uchiha clan member had contacted Naruto, his eyes flew wide open on the spot.

And the one who contacted Naruto was none other than Eiji, who had shone brilliantly in the Chunin Exams.

Hiruzen's mind raced, connecting all sorts of strange possibilities.

Was the Uchiha about to rebel?

"What did Eiji say to Naruto?"

"He treated Naruto to a bowl of premium Ramen."

Hiruzen pressed further, "And then?"

"Then Eiji told Naruto that the Hokage must bear the expectations and recognition of everyone in the village, and must gain the acknowledgment of all."

"That's it?"

Kakashi nodded. "Then the two parted ways. Tenzo and I followed them separately to ensure they had no further contact."

Hiruzen's agitated mood calmed slightly.

He had originally thought Eiji was dissatisfied with the village and planning to incite Naruto to rebel alongside him.

But hearing the meaning of those words, it didn't seem connected to rebellion.

Rather, it was like back when Kagami had said to Lord Tobirama—that he needed to earn the trust of the villagers.

Thinking again that Eiji might have inherited Kagami's will, a complex feeling surged in Hiruzen's heart.

"Kagami... I failed to take care of the Uchiha clan members. Please forgive me."

At the same time, Hiruzen had a bold idea.

If it was just eating a bowl of Ramen, there should be no need to bring Eiji back to the Anbu for a talk, right?

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the door.

With a bang, Danzo burst the door open.

"Hiruzen! We must take action against the Uchiha!"