The premise for war was that Jinghuo Uchiha posed a threat.
Now that both his eyes were ruined, he was no threat no matter how one looked at it.
Such a perfect opportunity had just slipped away!
The Fourth Raikage was so furious he panted heavily.
He could pretend not to have heard anything and shamelessly choose to wage war against Konoha anyway.
But without a legitimate reason for war, Konoha would not believe that Jinghuo Uchiha had caused it. Instead, they would think Kumogakure simply looked down on Konoha and was deliberately stirring up trouble.
Then they would be even less likely to hand over Jinghuo Uchiha.
Kumogakure might even become a common enemy that reunited Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, reconciling them.
"Damn it! Investigate this! Confirm that that Uchiha little brat has absolutely no chance of recovering!" The Fourth Raikage was still unwilling to give up.
As long as there was even the slightest chance of recovery, he could invade with justification.
"Yes!" The intelligence ninja promptly withdrew.
Holding a stack of documents, Mabui adjusted her secretary's small suit and casually returned to stand beside the Fourth Raikage.
Fourth Raikage: "..."
Outside Konoha, at a backup Root Base.
The base was pitifully small. Nearly thirty Root Members stood shoulder to shoulder, packed tightly together.
Shimura Danzō's expression was corpse-like, dark and bluish with rage, utterly dreadful.
Over the past two days, he had gone to see Sarutobi Hiruzen more than once.
The Uchiha Clan had already caused a scene in the Village Center with Susanoo. If they were not made an example of, who would submit to him as Hokage? Who would respect him as Root's leader? Who would still hand over their clan members to Root? Who would willingly die for him? How was he supposed to command respect and become Hokage?
But every time, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave him the same reply: "Have you figured out how to handle the matter of you digging out Uchiha Shisui's eye and the other six Sharingan?"
It infuriated Shimura Danzō.
Did digging out the Uchiha Clan's eyes even require handling?
He could just stall as before and ignore it!
The compensation for relocating the clan grounds that he had verbally promised Fugaku was the same;
The Police Force's funding was the same;
The matter of Uchiha war merit was even more so.
It had always been like this, so why would he refuse this time?
"I think you're targeting me, Danzo!"
Over the past two days, he had shouted, "Hiruzen! You'll regret this!" at least five times.
When he finally came to his senses, he discovered that even his Root Base was gone. He wanted Sarutobi Hiruzen to allocate funds for rebuilding it, but Sarutobi Hiruzen only said, "Danzo, you should take a rest."
It made him want nothing more than to use Kotoamatsukami to control Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But forget Kotoamatsukami—even his other Sharingan had been dug out by Uchiha Shisui.
Whenever he recalled the humiliation of having his eyes gouged out that day, his face looked as foul as if he had eaten shit.
Now, looking at the nearly thirty Root Members before him, Shimura Danzō issued an order.
"Kill Jinghuo Uchiha the moment an opportunity arises!"
It was all because of his rampage that Danzo had been reduced to this state!
Such an Uchiha was absolutely a scourge upon Konoha!
"Yes!" The Root Members immediately sprang into action.
The Uchiha Clan was divided into Hawks and Conservatives.
The Hawks' belief was—launch the coup already!
The Conservatives' belief was—wait and see a little longer...
These past few days, the Conservatives had been deeply unsettled, constantly criticizing Jinghuo Uchiha's recklessness behind his back.
How could he cause a scene in the Village Center with Susanoo?
That was the Village Center, the most crucial part of the village!
But no one dared say it to his face. They only dared mutter about it in private.
After all, Jinghuo Uchiha had caused that scene because his brother's eyes had been dug out.
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An elder brother was like a father. That was filial piety.
As members of the Uchiha Clan, no one dared accuse Jinghuo Uchiha of doing anything wrong.
They only dared call him reckless.
Just as they hoped Sarutobi Hiruzen would deal with Jinghuo Uchiha leniently, they instead learned first about what Shimura Danzō had done—digging out the eyes of other Uchiha.
Thinking back on the previous events—the Nine-Tailed Night, the rumors about the Nine-Tails, the war with Kumogakure and Iwagakure, the Kumogakure agreement...
It was as though they had seen hope. They hurried out of the clan grounds and told the villagers the "truth" they knew, hoping to clear up the villagers' misunderstandings about the Uchiha Clan.
"During the Nine-Tailed Night, it wasn't that we Uchiha refused to go. We were stopped and ordered to protect the villagers."
"The Nine-Tails' rampage had nothing to do with us Uchiha. If our Sharingan could control tailed beasts, why wouldn't we control tailed beasts weaker than the Nine-Tails?"
"In Konoha's wars against Kumogakure and Iwagakure, we Uchiha were the first to bear the brunt as the front line. We suffered tremendous losses, yet no one knew."
"The Kumogakure Armistice Agreement and the Kumogakure Envoy Leader's disappearance had nothing to do with us Uchiha."
"Shimura Danzō did all of this! He deceived the villagers and concealed the Uchiha Clan's war merit just to isolate the Uchiha Clan, so he could dig out our Sharingan!"
The villagers were shocked.
Under the expectant gazes of the Uchiha Conservatives, they asked questions that left them stunned.
"Who is Danzo?"
"Shimura Danzō? Is he from the Shimura Clan?"
"Is there even someone like that?"
"What does he look like?"
The Uchiha Conservatives stood frozen in place.
No one... actually knew who Shimura Danzō was?
The villagers, who were hostile toward the Uchiha, sneered disdainfully.
"The Uchiha are trying to fool people again."
"Violent law enforcement didn't work, so now they're trying something softer?"
"If you're making things up, at least make them believable."
"Exactly! They even made up someone who doesn't exist!"
"They're obviously feeling guilty. You can tell it's fake at a glance!"
The Uchiha Conservatives refused to accept this and split into three groups.
The first group continued explaining things to the villagers while seeking out the village elders to ask whether Shimura Danzō existed.
An old man scratched his head. "There should have been such a person. He was the Second Hokage's guard, wasn't he dead?"
The Uchiha Conservatives panicked.
"How do you know he's dead?"
"We haven't seen him in so many years. If he isn't dead, then what is he?" the old man asked in return.
"Hahahahaha!" The villagers pointed at them and laughed so hard they clutched their stomachs.
The Uchiha Conservatives were mocked by the villagers, but they still refused to give up. They wanted to find proof that Shimura Danzō had existed.
But as an organization even more secretive than the Anbu, Root was hidden in Konoha's deepest shadows. How could it possibly have left behind evidence of its existence?
The second group went to clans such as the Nara and Aburame, hoping they would help confirm that Shimura Danzō existed.
The Clan Heads of the Nara, Aburame, and other clans naturally declined politely.
What kind of joke was this? If the Uchiha Clan wanted to quarrel with Shimura Danzō, then let them quarrel. Why drag their clans into it?
But the Uchiha Conservatives had finally glimpsed a sliver of hope, and they were unwilling to give up just like that.
So after visiting every clan and being politely turned down by all of them, they went back again, intending to make a second attempt.
They refused to believe they could not persuade even one.
But before they could begin a third attempt, they believed that they truly could not persuade a single one.
Because some clans simply shut their doors, while others directly told them to get lost.
It left the Uchiha Conservatives looking grim and feeling lost, unsure what purpose their existence even served.
In the end, they could only place their hopes on the other two groups.
But when they found the first group and learned that they had made no progress either, they grew even more uneasy.
They could only go look for the third group together.
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