Opening the Coffin

Danzo's roar was deafening, and he looked ready to raise his blade and strike at Fugaku, who was surrounded by several Uchiha jōnin.

Fugaku's expression shifted slightly; caught off guard by Danzo's extreme reaction, he was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Is this what happens when you talk big—you get sent straight to the crematorium?

"Hiss!"

Why does my leg hurt?

Uchiha Fugaku looked down and saw Uchiha Chen, sitting right beside him, with a small flame flickering on his fingertip, having poked his thigh several times right next to his sheathed blade.

Fugaku stood up abruptly, drew the sword from his waist, and pointed it at Danzo. Three ominous black tomoe swirled in his eyes as he said haughtily:

"Your blade is sharp, but do you think the swords of the Uchiha are any less so!"

The atmosphere in the conference room grew increasingly scorching; the jōnin, each a renowned figure in the Shinobi World, were so terrified they didn't even dare to breathe.

The head of the Shinobi World's premier clan and the Hokage's advisor, Danzo—if these two actually came to blows, wouldn't Konoha be blown to pieces?

The two men standing in a standoff with swords drawn looked cool posing, but both were suffering in silence:

If they didn't fight, the tension had been built up too high; whoever backed down now would never be able to hold their head up in Konoha again. But if they did fight, it would be a sign of disrespect toward the Hokage and a violation of Konoha's discipline.

At this moment, the only one who could provide a way out for both of them was the old Monkey, Sarutobi Hiruzen, draped in his white haori.

Danzo cast a suggestive glance at his intimate old partner, hoping he would cooperate as he always did—scold him a few times first, then "fairly" settle the score with the Uchiha!

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't take the bait, his brow furrowed as he pondered something.

The bond has faded, Monkey!

Danzo had no choice but to signal Mitokado Homura with his eyes.

Mitokado Homura nodded slightly, took off his glasses and put them away, then suddenly erupted with a powerful burst of chakra, glaring coldly at Uchiha Fugaku.

"Clan Head Uchiha, stop this nonsense!"

Equally annoyed that the Uchiha were shifting the blame onto the Second, Mitokado Homura spoke up to define the situation: the Uchiha were "making a scene."

"Back then, I followed the Second's orders and buried Uchiha Madara's tomb deep in the mountains behind the Hokage Rock. How could there be any theft of his eyes? Do not make things up out of thin air!"

Ding!

A crisp metallic ring echoed as Uchiha Chen also slammed his hand on the table and drew his blade.

"Advisor Mitokado, is it true just because you say it is? If you want to clear your name, it's simple: find the original tomb of Uchiha Madara, and we'll open the coffin to verify the body!"

"Slap!"

"Enough!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, sitting at the head of the table, slammed his pipe onto the table and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. Through the wisps of smoke, he scanned the conference room with a detached expression.

Danzo and Fugaku in a standoff, the jōnin with their varied expressions, the suddenly aggressive Uchiha Chen, as well as Orochimaru with his sinister smile and Jiraiya with his bored look.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a wave of exhaustion.

Ever since the Night of the Nine-Tails, when the Uchiha were caught completely unprepared and could be suppressed by Danzo and a few men at the Military Police Force, he knew the release of the Nine-Tails wasn't the Uchiha's doing—even if it were, it would only be the work of a single extremist or a small faction.

Moreover, the Fourth had said before he died that the attacker had a Mangekyō and possessed the Summoning Contract for the Nine-Tails.

These characteristics inevitably made one think of Uchiha Madara.

"Danzo, Fugaku, put your swords away! As partners in the same village, how can you point blades at each other? What kind of behavior is this?"

After scolding them a few times, Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone softened:

"Fugaku, I must criticize you. Your speculation may seem to have some twisted logic, but in reality, it is entirely based on your own subjective assumptions. This is very bad!"

"Madara's body was buried without any damage; there is a complete set of mission records for that, which I can have retrieved for you to see later."

Uchiha Fugaku listened and found himself nodding along like a puppet to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Seeing his own incompetent clan head's attitude softening so quickly, Uchiha Chen knew it was time for him to speak up again.

"Lord Hokage! We Uchiha believe in the village, we believe in the Second, and we believe in you!"

Ignoring the clan head right beside him, Uchiha Chen spoke on behalf of the entire Uchiha clan:

"But since there are mission records, it is entirely possible they were stolen by spies. I ask that the Third send someone to retrieve Madara's remains and verify his identity!"

If it had been Danzo whom Uchiha Chen had interrupted, he would surely be in a fit of rage by now, but Sarutobi Hiruzen, who cherished his reputation, did not lose his temper, though the smile he squeezed out became even stiffer.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a sense of alarm.

The Uchiha were so insistent—could they actually have some evidence?

But I have read all the experimental records left behind by Teacher Tobirama, and there really was no record of an autopsy on Madara!

Forget it, it's easy to deflect and argue about things from decades ago.

If the Teacher really had taken Madara's Sharingan, it could easily be blamed on some rogue ninja—Hiruko would be a perfect fit; he had done things like stealing forbidden techniques and conducting human experiments.

Suppressing the Uchiha was indeed part of Sarutobi Hiruzen's governance, but finding the mastermind behind the Night of the Nine-Tails was what this "Shinobi Hero" craved most right now—

After all, his own wife, Biwako, had died that night!

"The meeting is suspended for two hours." Sarutobi Hiruzen stared coldly at Uchiha Chen for a moment, then turned to instruct Mitokado Homura:

"Homura, make a trip and bring back Madara's coffin."

"Lord Hokage is wise!" Uchiha Chen praised loudly, then arranged for two clansmen with smooth, natural ease:

"Consultant Homura is getting on in years!

Although Madara was a rogue ninja, he is, after all, of Uchiha blood. Inabi, Hiromaru, you two go with Consultant Homura to carry the coffin!"

Once the two acknowledged the order and left with Mitokado Homura, Uchiha Chen pretended to only just realize what he had done, looking at Uchiha Fugaku with a pure and innocent expression as he whispered:

"Clan Head, did I overstep my bounds? I am still too young and ignorant!"

Assigning tasks to Three-Tomoe clansmen was a power reserved only for the Clan Head.

"It is nothing! You did the right thing!"

Fugaku flashed a smile at Uchiha Chen, casting aside the slight displeasure he felt at having his authority encroached upon.

Chen was only sixteen; what kind of ill intentions could he possibly have?

Though they had said two hours, it took just over one hour for a dark-faced Mitokado Homura to return to the Hokage Building with a luxurious mahogany coffin.

The mahogany was as dense as iron, and the seams of the coffin lid showed no signs of craftsmanship, clearly formed by Wood Release. It was covered in various Sealing Technique seals, undoubtedly the tomb of Uchiha Madara.

The seals were perfectly intact, and the coffin appeared no different than it had when buried decades ago.

However, Mitokado Homura's face was frighteningly pale, devoid of any color.

After a long silence, he finally spoke with great difficulty:

"This coffin is wrong! It's too light!"

"What?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer sit still. With a few agile leaps, he landed beside the coffin like a monkey, placing a hand on the lid to begin undoing the seals.

Soon, the seals were fully undone, and the lid slid off with a hissing sound.

Inside the coffin, there was nothing at all.