"Good! Well said! We should've done this ages ago."
"I knew that kid was a talent!"
"Kill Sarutobi, seize the Hokage's seat!"
"..."
Before Uchiha Fugaku could say a word, the Radical Faction members were already cheering like they'd been pumped full of adrenaline, raising their arms again and again.
Judging by the way they were acting, they were ready to storm the Hokage Building and kill the Third Hokage right then and there.
Shisui, seated beside Yan, was stunned when he heard the suggestion.
The clan head had said he wanted to hear a more radical idea.
But this was way too radical!
It was sending the Uchiha Clan straight into a pit of fire.
Just as Shisui was about to stand up and stop them, Uchiha Fugaku gave another loud shout.
"Quiet! Are you trying to start a rebellion?"
The noise gradually died down.
Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath.
"Yan, your idea is too extreme. How about you suggest something more conservative?"
"Something more conservative?" Yan yawned. "That's simple."
"Starting now, we give up every position in the Konoha Military Police Force. We send every clan child old enough to attend the Ninja Academy to school, and we don't bring up early graduation unless the Third Hokage says so. They stay in school for all six years."
"We open our clan compound to everyone and let them do whatever they want inside."
"And the Uchiha Clan pledges absolute obedience to Sarutobi Hiruzen. We do whatever he says. Even if he tells us to die on the spot, we do it."
"..."
This plan simply took them from one extreme to the other.
From staking everything on one desperate gamble to making the whole clan into dogs.
The clan members present objected, including the Radical Faction members who had supported Yan earlier.
The Conservative Faction objected too.
After all, if they went through with this plan, the Uchiha Clan would no longer be a shinobi clan. That was the last thing they wanted.
Some of the Neutral Faction—in short, the Wait-to-Die Faction—had already started cursing him out.
"You bastard! Your idea is to make us Sarutobi's dogs—and loyal ones at that!"
"I say he's the biggest traitor our clan has ever had."
"What kind of dogshit idea is this? I thought he was a talent!"
"Bullshit!"
"..."
Faced with the furious clan members, Yan didn't speak or argue back.
He simply stood there, his expression calm as he watched Uchiha Fugaku on the platform, seemingly waiting for his response.
"Yan, I don't think this idea will work either. Don't forget about him."
Uchiha Fugaku didn't say who he meant, but everyone present knew.
Yan shook his head helplessly.
It was just a name. Why treat it like Voldemort?
This reaction made it hard for him to see any hope of success.
"You mean Shimura Danzō, right?"
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes narrowed. He clearly hadn't expected Yan to say that name outright.
"We don't need to worry about him. We're pledging ourselves to the Third Hokage. We're his dogs. As for Danzō, we can hit him or curse him as we please."
"But the moment the Third Hokage gives the order, we stop—even if Shimura Danzō is one breath away from death."
Then Yan emphasized it again.
"We do whatever he says. Even if he hands us over to Shimura Danzō to be killed, we won't fight back. But he has to be the one to give the order."
Uchiha Fugaku furrowed his brow.
He thought he was beginning to understand what Yan meant.
But he still couldn't accept an Uchiha Clan like that, and neither would the clan.
At the same time, he could see that Yan really was different from the other Uchiha.
That gave him some hope that Yan had another idea.
Something that wasn't too radical or too conservative.
"Tell us your other ideas. I still don't think this one will work."
"I've got a moderate one too!" Yan smacked his lips. "Would you rather hear an expensive idea or a cheap one?"
"Tell us both."
"Then I'll start with the cheap one!" Yan stroked his chin, carefully considering how to put it.
"Marriage alliances."
"The timing's a little awkward, since the Nine-Tails Incident has made the other shinobi clans keep their distance from us. But where there's a will, there's a way."
"And if the shinobi clans won't do, there are still civilians."
"The point is to spread our bloodline. One day, everyone in Konoha could have Uchiha blood. Then even if the future Hokage isn't from the Uchiha Clan, he'll still have Uchiha blood."
"That would strengthen Konoha overall too."
"Everyone wins!"
"..."
At the suggestion, some of the clan members frowned, thinking the idea was complete nonsense.
But others thought it wasn't bad.
If they lost their struggle against the Hokage faction, at least they'd leave behind some descendants and have something to build on in the future.
Uchiha Fugaku looked around at the clan members' reactions, unable to make up his mind.
"Then tell us the expensive idea."
Yan's lips curled into a smile.
The earlier ideas had all been a prelude.
With the Uchiha Clan's pride, they'd never agree to become dogs or spread their bloodline. And although many supported storming the Hokage Building, they wouldn't choose that unless they were on the brink of death.
The next idea was the real point.
"I'd split the expensive plan into two parts, and we could start both at once."
"First, make a god."
"The Uchiha Clan is one of Konoha's great families, and most of us are exceptionally good-looking."
"Konoha's entertainment scene is also pretty underdeveloped. We could take advantage of that and form an idol group made up of clan members, using it to shape public opinion while introducing our ideas to the villagers."
"We could write all kinds of scripts, for example, or criticize the Military Police Force's violent enforcement. Anything would work!"
"The key is that the group's public activities would be considered the members' personal actions, unrelated to the Uchiha Clan. That way, even if the plan goes off course, we can keep our distance."
"Would that even make a difference?" Uchiha Fugaku asked, puzzled.
Wouldn't making a god mean saying good things about the Uchiha Clan? Why criticize the clan instead?
"Of course it would." Yan rolled his eyes. "You all know what kind of reputation our Uchiha Clan has."
"To put it bluntly, even dogs can't stand us."
"We have to find a way to change the villagers' personal impression of the Uchiha first, then gradually extend that goodwill to the clan as a whole."
At this point, Yan's lips slowly curled upward.
"Once the time is right, we can use the idol group's reputation and influence among the villagers to gradually establish a religious faith centered on the Uchiha Clan."
"By then, we'll have complete control of public opinion in Konoha, and we'll have a huge number of villagers on our side. Even if the Hokage faction wants to turn against us, they'll have to think twice about the price they'll pay."
At the idea, the Uchiha clan members' eyes lit up.
That was a pretty good plan.
Once the religion was established, wouldn't the Uchiha Clan become the gods of Konoha?
Uchiha Fugaku, up on the platform, seemed tempted too.
The plan was obviously going to cost a lot, but there was an upside.
If it failed in the end, they could just say, "Those were their personal actions," and distance themselves from it.
Whether anyone else believed that was irrelevant. The Uchiha Clan had been saying that ever since the idol group debuted.
At worst, their reputation would get even worse. Who cared!
Before you continue