The Fourth Hokage Position Will Inevitably Belong to Clan Head Fugaku

"The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan can generally only be awakened when one's life is in danger, or when one feels grief and despair."

Uchiha Sanpo's voice echoed through the conference room, every word like a poisoned Senbon piercing deeply into everyone's hearts.

He paused for a moment, allowing the weight of those words to settle before continuing. "Just how much grief and despair must an eight-year-old child endure to evolve a Three-Tomoe Sharingan?"

Uchiha Fugaku's voice was so low it was nearly inaudible. The furrows between his brows were deep enough to crush a fly. "Eight years old... Three-Tomoe... Yes, what kind of hardship would it take...?"

Clan Head Kurama clenched his fist until it cracked, his nails digging deep into his palm and drawing thin trails of blood.

Clan Head Kazami's face turned livid, his lips trembling constantly as though he wanted to say something but could not make a sound.

Even Uchiha Yashiro, who was known for his composure, now resembled a volcano on the verge of erupting. The rage in his eyes was nearly tangible. He slammed the table, and a crack immediately split the solid wooden surface.

His voice was as cold as ice. "Sanpo, say what you're thinking. If you keep beating around the bush, I'll beat you up."

Uchiha Sanpo swept his gaze over the room, then calmly walked to the Ninja World map on the wall.

His long finger precisely pointed to Kirigakure.

"Kirigakure is the weakest of the five great ninja villages, with roughly ten thousand ninja. Karatachi Yagura was dissatisfied with the Blood Mist policy and launched a coup. Only after killing the Third Mizukage did he become the Fourth Mizukage. The new and old factions of Kirigakure fought one another, killing an estimated two thousand people. Then Sunagakure attacked Kirigakure, killing roughly another two thousand. In other words, Kirigakure has just over six thousand ninja left."

Clan Head Kurama impatiently interrupted, "Sanpo, we already know all that. Get to the point."

"Because of those events, Kirigakure could only send three thousand men to attack the Land of Fire. Sarutobi Hiruzen seems to have underestimated them, so he appointed Hyuga Hiyori, an elder of the Hyuga Main Branch, as the supreme commander of the Kirigakure front. I heard that Ao, a Kirigakure jonin, dug out her right eye. As a result, the Hyuga Clan has issued a gold-level bounty for Ao."

Several cold snorts immediately rang out in the high-level conference room.

Uchiha Yashiro cursed loudly, "That trash from the Hyuga Main Branch, pampered in peacetime and embarrassing themselves abroad in war!"

Unhurried, Uchiha Sanpo moved his finger to the area near the Kumogakure front.

"The Kumogakure front is close to the Kirigakure front. Konoha's higher-ups signed a peace agreement with Kumogakure, so the Konoha ninja withdrawn from that front should have been dispatched to the Kirigakure front. I've learned that Orochimaru seems to be in trouble on the Sunagakure front and has already retreated to the area around Mount Kikyo within the Land of Fire."

After a moment of silence, Clan Head Kazami said, "Since our ninja at the Kumogakure front have already gone to reinforce the Kirigakure front, why don't we reinforce Mount Kikyo instead? We could earn some more merit, which would help Clan Head Fugaku compete for the Fourth Hokage position."

Everyone turned to look at Uchiha Fugaku, their commander-in-chief.

Uchiha Fugaku raised a hand for silence. "Sanpo, your intelligence is very detailed. Clan Head Kazami suggests reinforcing Mount Kikyo. What do you think?"

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Uchiha Sanpo swiftly moved his finger to Mount Kikyo.

"No. Namikaze Minato has the Flying Thunder God. He may use it to return to Konoha ahead of time. He has already headed for Mount Kikyo. Once Sunagakure sees Namikaze Minato, they will certainly realize that the Kumogakure front has ended and may choose to withdraw. So if we head to Mount Kikyo, it will be difficult to gain any merit."

Clan Head Kurama asked unwillingly, "Then are we just supposed to wait?"

Uchiha Sanpo suddenly smiled—the smile of a hunter watching prey fall into a trap.

He raised three fingers and said in a firm, powerful voice, "No. We will do three things. First, withdraw all four thousand ninja from the outpost back to Konoha. Second, distribute the full compensation payments. Third, extensively publicize our achievements on the Iwagakure front."

Uchiha Yashiro understood at once. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "You're trying to win people over!"

Uchiha Sanpo deliberately lowered his voice, like a devil whispering. "More than that. Once the four thousand-plus people from our outpost return to Konoha, they will naturally learn that Sarutobi Hiruzen had ninja academy students graduate early and scraped together three thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled people to fight Kirigakure. Then we can 'accidentally' leak some details—for instance, the heavy casualties on the Kirigakure front, or how the Hyuga commander had her right eye dug out..."

Clan Head Kurama sucked in a cold breath. "That's ruthless. Konoha's citizens will riot."

Uchiha Sanpo turned his gaze toward Fugaku. "At that point, Clan Head, you can take the initiative and request to reinforce the Kirigakure front. Given your current military achievements, the higher-ups can either refuse or delay—either choice would be equivalent to digging their own graves and losing the people's support."

The conference room fell deathly silent. Even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

Everyone's eyes focused on Uchiha Sanpo, as though they were seeing for the first time just how terrifying this young Uchiha was.

After a long silence, Uchiha Fugaku finally spoke. "And then?"

Uchiha Sanpo's smile gradually widened as his finger shifted to the Kirigakure front.

"Then Clan Head Fugaku raises his arm, and followers will gather like clouds. We lead our forces directly to the Kirigakure front. Once we defeat Kirigakure, the Fourth Hokage position will inevitably belong to Clan Head Fugaku!"

(Uchiha Sanpo's true thoughts: Push Uchiha Fugaku into the Fourth Hokage position and let him take the bullets for me. Meanwhile, I'll develop quietly and lie low until I become invincible.)

Clan Head Kazami abruptly rose to his feet, knocking his chair over with a crash. "A brilliant plan! This way, we neither disobey orders nor let Sarutobi Hiruzen escape the consequences of his own actions. Sanpo, how is your brain built to come up with such a good idea?"

Once they reinforced the Kirigakure front, there would inevitably be casualties among the clansmen. Therefore, as clan head, Uchiha Fugaku did not state his position immediately. He walked to the window and looked toward the Uchiha clansmen training in the distant practice grounds.

"Sanpo, on the Iwagakure front, we lost 1,227 clansmen. If we fight Kirigakure, how many more do you think we will lose?"

Hearing that, Uchiha Sanpo inwardly complained.

Back then, Sarutobi Hiruzen had used the widely circulated saying in the Ninja World—"Against Uchiha with Sharingan, the usual tactic is two against one from behind; in a one-on-one fight, escape is the priority"—and similar remarks to kill them with praise. The prideful Uchiha Fugaku naturally fell for it.

Thus, he accepted the arduous task of leading eight thousand Konoha ninja against eleven thousand Iwagakure ninja. After more than a year of war, 3,226 of the eight thousand ninja had died, and Uchiha Fugaku had also been beaten into a cowardly fool who hesitated at every turn.