Uchiha Madara's Attention

When it comes to the "big picture" of "loving Konoha," one must mention the "Will of Fire" promoted by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

This half-baked "pro-village education" has become the most firmly promoted agenda since Sarutobi Hiruzen took office as Hokage.

With a great war on the verge of breaking out, Sarutobi Hiruzen has repeatedly touted this "Will of Fire" patriotism throughout Konoha, specifically mentioning it during large gatherings at the Ninja Academy and the Jonin class.

Where the leaves of Konoha dance, fire shall ignite!

The light of the fire will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout.

Hearing these "clichés," Uchiha Fucheng chuckled to himself.

With Sarutobi Hiruzen's limited repertoire, he's not necessarily as effective as a college-graduate village official from Li Village.

Thus, Uchiha Fucheng gained confidence.

During the Police Force's "Villager Open Day" event, he delivered a public speech to the many villagers of Konoha.

"The name 'Konoha' was first proposed and named by the Uchiha clan. We hold the deepest and most fervent love for this village.

For the Uchiha clan, Konoha is the original intention and source that we can never forget. In the coming wars, the Uchiha clan will certainly never forget our original intention!

The spirit of Konoha!

Is the spirit of the Uchiha!"

The influence of this speech even surpassed Sarutobi Hiruzen's "fire shall ignite" rhetoric.

"Never forget the original intention" and "The Uchiha named Konoha" became high-frequency buzzwords in the heated discussions across Konoha over the past two days.

Uchiha Fucheng was quite cunning; he directly omitted the name of Uchiha Madara.

The name "Konoha" was indeed coined by Uchiha Madara—a fact even Hashirama acknowledged—but how many ordinary villagers could remember Madara's deeds?

He perfectly positioned the Uchiha clan as the leaders and "founders of Konoha."

As the Senju clan hid their names and gradually dispersed into the common populace, his Uchiha clan stood as the true creators and heroic lineage of this village.

"What does it mean to never forget the original intention?"

"What does 'since ancient times' really mean?"

Uchiha Fucheng (leaning back tactically) spoke with eloquence.

After adjusting several key reforms, Fucheng decided to personally handle the "thought-based time bomb" buried within the Uchiha clan.

Naka Shrine.

That "tampered" stone tablet had even managed to deceive Uchiha Madara, thanks to Black Zetsu.

Furthermore, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, who came after, were also deeply misled by the malice guided by this tablet.

Considering that the next Ninja War in the Land of Rain was about to begin, it would be troublesome if someone happened to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and saw that misinformation.

Therefore, following his memory of the manga, Fucheng easily found the mysterious stone tablet hidden beneath the shrine.

The tablet could be read in different layers of text written by the Sage of Six Paths, depending on the level of one's Sharingan.

It recorded many unknown secrets.

The order of viewing was: Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan, Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and Rinnegan.

Although Uchiha Fucheng didn't see much, with the "superpower" of knowing the plot, he could naturally guess the hidden contents of the tablet.

What he needed to do was simple: destroy the tablet directly!

In this way, as the last person to have seen its contents, he would hold the final right of interpretation.

Step one: transcribe the correct content of the first two sections.

Step two: use the crude method of heating and cooling to destroy the internal structure of the tablet through thermal expansion and contraction.

In the end, he sprinkled the powdered remains of the tablet into the small river near Naka Shrine, bit by bit.

His strange behavior soon alerted a White Zetsu tasked with monitoring Naka Shrine.

A piece of special intelligence regarding the Uchiha clan and Naka Shrine was transmitted back to the ears of Uchiha Madara.

The current Uchiha Madara was not yet the miserable figure covered in tubes that he would become over a decade later.

However, his aging, sickly body could no longer support Uchiha Madara in stirring up trouble throughout the ninja world as he once did.

Having obtained the husk of the Ten-Tails, Uchiha Madara was like a pitiful person who had been swindled into buying a second-hand iPhone.

The main life-sustaining tube connected to the Ten-Tails had become a "life-bond" that Uchiha Madara had to "recharge" every few hours.

Every so often, Uchiha Madara needed to plug in the tube to recharge and recover for a while.

Poor signal, rapid battery drain, no high-power fast charging, and frequent lag.

This "elderly Madara" body, drained of nutrients by the Rinnegan and now in tatters, seemed to have become the daily retirement routine for him and Black Zetsu.

"Of the three White Zetsu sent to monitor, why did only one return?"

Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu, having heard the White Zetsu's report, both felt that something was amiss.

The White Zetsu's train of thought was somewhat abnormal, but there shouldn't have been any issues with routine surveillance and relaying information.

The White Zetsu replied, "I saw Uchiha Fucheng, that new Uchiha clan head. He entered Naka Shrine, and when he came back out, he threw a lot of dirt into the river.

I suspected he was excavating beneath the shrine, but I checked the ground under the shrine and found no traces of man-made tunnels."

Uchiha Madara was taken aback.

He thought of Naka Shrine, and he also thought of the Mysterious Stone Tablet that could only be deciphered using the Sharingan.

Uchiha Madara pressed, "What about the stone tablet placed underground? Hasn't this Uchiha Fucheng awakened his Mangekyo? Did he look at that tablet?"

The White Zetsu scratched his head, thought foolishly for a moment, and then nodded in response, "I didn't notice him looking at the tablet, but it seems that the tablet is already gone."

"What? G-gone?!"

This time, it wasn't just Uchiha Madara who was shocked; Black Zetsu, standing to the side, also had a head full of question marks.

"What do you mean by 'gone'? Was it stolen by someone?"

The White Zetsu shook his head, "The stone tablet is huge and not easy to move. If a group of Uchiha had come to move it, I definitely would have noticed, but I didn't see anyone carrying a stone tablet outside."

Uchiha Madara narrowed his eyes, his gaze fierce, "It seems this new clan head is the one who made the tablet disappear."

Black Zetsu nodded secretly, and he also questioned, "What about the other two White Zetsu in the vicinity? Did you see them?"

The White Zetsu shook his head, "I saw one a few days ago, the one on the outskirts of Konoha. It seems he was blown up by someone testing bombs outside Konoha village.

In a large crater at an explosion test site, I found some White Zetsu remains that had turned into wood fragments. It was a sand pit larger than this cave, and other than the White Zetsu remains, I didn't find anything else.

That White Zetsu was a fool who liked to pick up stones; I reckon he ran into the Konoha explosion test site and was accidentally blown up underground. From what I saw, he must have been shattered into pieces."

Black Zetsu looked at the White Zetsu's foolish appearance with helpless disdain, his face full of disgust.

The White Zetsu's answer nearly made Uchiha Madara's nose crooked with rage.

However, Madara felt that this White Zetsu's intelligence report was actually quite detailed.

It not only explained the situation at Naka Shrine clearly but also relayed a lot of information he had overheard about the Uchiha clan.

In particular, the information about the Uchiha clan holding meetings at Naka Shrine was especially important to Madara.

Someone who could awaken the second or third stage of Susanoo?

He could make all the clansmen abandon factional strife and unite around him.

He could even push for internal reforms within the Uchiha?

Interesting. This Uchiha Fucheng is almost as capable as I am, Madara muttered to himself.

"This Uchiha Fucheng is even claiming that the name of Konoha was coined by the Uchiha ancestors?"

The more information he heard, the more intense Uchiha Madara's curiosity became regarding this mysteriously rising Uchiha Fucheng.

"Black Zetsu, dispatch some extra, sharper White Zetsu—at least ten or more. Ensure the surveillance of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fucheng, and even those around Uchiha Fucheng.

I need more detailed information. Perhaps some of our future plans will require such a talented Uchiha who can awaken the Mangekyo?"