The Hokage's office.
"Remember the first site domain, ."
"Our clan has produced another genius."
Muttering to himself, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke. The crystal ball before him projected the Uchiha dueling grounds.
Telescope Technique!
It was an extremely rare reconnaissance technique in the Ninja World. It allowed the user to observe events in real time without being at the target location, bypassed physical limitations, and offered enough precision to monitor an individual's actions...
Even though Jiraiya had sent him letters time and again, expressing great interest and claiming that he needed the technique to gather intelligence for Konoha while traveling abroad, Hiruzen had never dared teach it to his lecherous student.
Once he learned it, he would absolutely use it to peep into the women's bathhouse or the women's restroom.
It was immoral.
It would bring shame to Konoha.
If he happened to spy on a noble's wife and got caught, it would be a huge headache to deal with. The daimyo might even send someone to look into it.
And the reason the technique had originally been developed was simply to monitor the daily life of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto.
"Itachi, Shisui."
Sarutobi gazed from afar at that far-too-young face, his feelings tangled. "And now there's Uchiha Xiu."
Once upon a time, Konoha had been full of powerful shinobi.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were all young, powerful Kage Level shinobi from their own village, with impeccable backgrounds.
There was no need to mention Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang. His strength surpassed that of the Sannin, and he possessed a keen eye for seeing others' potential!
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
The stable Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina.
Back then, they hadn't feared the Uchiha rising to power. They would have been happy to see it, because they weren't afraid of a rebellion. Even if the worst happened, they could easily suppress it and make the clan fight for the village's interests!
They could even have continued the tradition left by the Second and brought that child named Uchiha Obito into the Hokage's master-and-student succession system.
"Why can't the Uchiha do what the Senju Clan did? Disband the clan and abandon their surname. Why insist on controlling every appointment in the Military Police Force?"
"The Battle of the Valley of the End and the Night of the Nine-Tails were both directly connected to you."
"Since the beginning of this year, the radical faction has been meeting in private more and more often. They're no longer satisfied with the status quo."
What will become of our Konoha in the end?
At the thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen hunched over even more.
" Hiruzen, hand that brat named Uchiha Xiu over to Root." A voice abruptly came from the corner.
Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, straightened his back, and looked over with his old face still clamped around his pipe.
It was his old comrade-in-arms.
A man with bandages wrapped around half his head.
"I looked into it. The brat isn't part of the radical faction. Place the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on him and make him serve the village obediently."
"Danzo, don't take matters into your own hands!"
"Hmph. The Uchiha are evil by nature." Danzo curled his lip and stepped closer. "I've always acted for Konoha's sake, while you've sat in that position too long and grown naive. Besides, Itachi joined Anbu, so now it's Root's turn..."
The Third Hokage bit down on his pipe, his voice hardening as he warned, "That's enough!"
"As Hokage, I have the final say in everything. Remember... Root will always be Konoha's root, not yours."
"I'll find a way to evaluate the boy. If he passes, we'll use a special promotion process to recruit him into Anbu and appoint him squad leader. That will send a stronger positive signal to Fugaku and the moderate faction within the Uchiha."
Narrowing his eyes, Shimura Danzo confirmed that his old partner was utterly resolute. He said coldly:
"Monkey, you'll regret this!"
His figure vanished in an instant.
Just as suddenly as he had appeared.
The office fell quiet again. Sarutobi Hiruzen tapped the ash from his pipe and dismissed the Telescope Technique.
The large glass orb on his desk returned to normal.
The dignified Hokage wasn't so idle that he had nothing better to do than monitor a young Uchiha all day!
Besides, the technique had many limitations. In most situations, it could only monitor places in plain sight or those emitting powerful chakra fluctuations.
Otherwise... how would that mysterious masked man have succeeded on the Night of the Nine-Tails?
The dueling grounds.
Uchiha Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. During his fight with the elder, he had suddenly sensed that someone was spying on him from afar.
The gaze hadn't come from anyone around the grounds.
Most likely, it was the Third Hokage using the crystal ball in his office to peep.
After all, a fierce battle had suddenly erupted in the Uchiha Clan Compound, a powder keg. The old monkey had no reason not to look into it—and the fact that he hadn't sent Anbu in to investigate was already a great concession to Fugaku.
"No big deal. This proves my senses can detect surveillance right away. It won't affect my plans."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
One figure after another leaped down from the high wall.
"Xiu, you must attend next week's clan meeting."
The middle-aged man wore a tight black combat suit beneath the green flak jacket reserved for jonin. The Uchiha Clan Crest was embroidered on both shoulders. He spoke in a commanding tone.
"That's right. You need to recognize the situation our clan is in and join us."
"Stop being foolish. Compromise and weakness will only make Konoha's higher-ups suppress the Uchiha even more!"
Two more jonin chimed in as they drew closer.
Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Inabi, and Uchiha Tekka were the backbone of the radical faction.
The so-called clan meeting was little more than a name. In essence, it was a place for the radical faction to vent their frustrations.
"Ahem. Our clan has two Ultimate Eye Techniques. Each use requires sacrificing one eye, so no one else can demonstrate them firsthand. Their principles are also extremely complicated, and are recorded only in the clan's inheritance scrolls."
An old man with a cane suddenly pushed his way through the crowd.
Rather than offer dry persuasion, Uchiha Setsuna was more seasoned. He went straight to the benefits.
"..." Fugaku, the clan head, couldn't help frowning.
Izanagi could turn anything that happened to the user over a certain period of time, if it was unfavorable, into something that had never happened. It could also turn only favorable events into reality. How long it lasted depended on the user's abilities.
Even death could be reversed during that time. It was a terrifying eye technique that could make its user invincible!
Izanami was the opposite.
The number of people qualified to learn them, let alone master them, could be counted on one hand.
Even veteran jonin like Inabi and Tekka, who had earned merits in battle, had no right to touch them. They didn't even know the techniques existed.
Now, in order to win Xiu over, the soul of the hawkish faction, Elder Setsuna, had chosen to break the rules...
Without even asking him, the clan head, what he thought!
"Go," Elder Shin, the representative of the moderate faction, said slowly. "You should attend the clan meeting. This old man will always support you."
As far as he knew Uchiha Xiu, the boy had a mind of his own and wouldn't be easily brainwashed.
Besides, the strong deserved a greater say.
Were compromise and restraint... really not working?
In his view, Xiu might well be an excellent candidate for Hokage!
Why not take a gamble for the clan's future?
"Fine."
With everyone watching expectantly, Uchiha Xiu nodded and accepted the hawkish faction's invitation.
A fool would turn down a free advantage. He felt no guilt about cashing in on his clan.
In the crowd, Shisui wore a solemn expression.
You once sought me out in private and earnestly discussed the Uchiha's future. Have you submitted for the sake of profit? Have you become narrow-minded?
That mysterious Ultimate Eye Technique the elder spoke of was nothing before my Mangekyō Sharingan!
Shisui Uchiha was the only clear-headed one among them all. He thought himself clever, certain he could move between the village and the clan and keep them in balance...
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