A day earlier. At the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the crystal ball in front of him and spoke to the subordinate beside him.
"So that's how it is. I understand. You may go."
The masked ninja kneeling on the floor acknowledged the order. He rose and left with the Body Flicker Technique.
Hiruzen took a long drag on his pipe, savored it, then exhaled.
"Uchiha. Fugaku, was it you? What are you plotting this time?" Hiruzen murmured, lowering his head.
Suddenly, the door was shoved open, and a man with bandages covering half his face strode straight inside. It was Shimura Danzō.
"Hiruzen, why is the Demon Fox Brat so close to those two evil Uchiha? They're even practicing ninjutsu together!"
"Do you know what the other clans will think if they see this? I told you long ago to hand him over to me. I'll raise him into a perfect ninja, loyal to the village." Danzō prattled on at Hiruzen.
Hiruzen took another deep drag on his pipe. He savored it for a long moment, then exhaled. Smoke filled the entire room.
"He's the Fourth Hokage's child, the son of a hero. He's not the Demon Fox Brat," Hiruzen said gravely.
"Hiruzen, you're still as softhearted as ever. Have you forgotten what our teacher said? The Uchiha are an evil clan. They're surely plotting something by doing this. If only I'd known sooner, I would've—" Danzō continued, speaking without pause.
But Hiruzen cut him off.
"Enough, Danzō. Remember, I'm the Hokage."
"Hmph. You'll regret this, Hiruzen!"
Then Danzō slammed the door behind him and left.
Hiruzen was alone in the room. He kept smoking, as though savoring the taste.
Uchiha... Uchiha. When did it all begin?
Two years before the Nine-Tails Rebellion, that Chuanhe moved into the Uchiha Compound with a woman named Uchiha Yuki. He hadn't come out since.
He'd hidden himself well. How had I never noticed his talent for developing ninjutsu?
If I'd known sooner, I wouldn't have let him leave.
Danzō, it's not that I don't want to act. It's just not the right time.
The Flame Explosion Technique... How could a prodigy like this appear in Konoha?
At first glance, this jutsu seemed incredibly difficult: S-rank, with a full sixty-four hand seals. Heh. If I believed that, I'd have fallen right into your trap. I never knew you had such a calculating side, Fugaku.
Even if that were true, this jutsu could turn every Uchiha with Three Tomoe into a human Tailed Beast weapon. If even one Uchiha with Three Tomoe survived, they'd become a great threat to all of Konoha.
Danzō, Danzō. Why can't you understand?
So be it. Go test the waters first. Find out what the Uchiha Clan is plotting behind the scenes.
Shimura Danzō returned to the Root Base.
The Hokage... Every time, Hiruzen, you use your title to keep me in check. Just wait, Hiruzen. Once this Uchiha civil strife is over, I'll be Hokage!
Danzō ordered the group nearby, "Shin, come here."
"Yes, Lord Danzō."
The man wore an animal mask and had short hair and vacant eyes. A scroll nearly as long as his torso was strapped to his back. This was Shin. He had a younger brother with no blood relation to him, named Sai.
"Lead a team and kill the man named Chuanhe. While you're at it, kill his son, Uchiha Hui, too. Leave no survivors," Danzō said viciously.
"Before you kill him, make sure you get the ninjutsu scroll for the Flame Explosion Talisman. If you can't find it, use his son to threaten him." Danzō gave his clever little brain a rare workout and came up with what he considered a flawless plan.
"Yes, sir." Shin acknowledged the order, then left with two other Root ninja.
Danzō returned to his room, dreaming of the future that would be his.
The Flame Explosion Technique? What use was such a long casting time? That wasn't what mattered. He needed the Flame Explosion Talismans. Even if they weren't as powerful as the jutsu when cast by the user himself, their strength wouldn't diminish by much once he had enough of them.
Damn Uchiha. They released fewer than three hundred Flame Explosion Talismans each year. They claimed they were difficult to make and only Chuanhe could produce them, so they could supply only that many to help the ninja of their own village.
Even fewer made their way into Root's hands. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once he got the ninjutsu scroll for the Flame Explosion Talisman, he could order his men to make them day and night.
Help the ninja of their own village? As ninja of Konoha, they should be prepared to sacrifice everything for the village. Any ninja without that resolve might as well die.
Uchiha residence.
Fugaku frowned as he listened to Itachi's report.
"You're saying Sasuke and Hui have befriended the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and are training together? Do the other clans know about this?"
"All their classmates know. Lord Third and the three advisors have also been informed," Itachi answered honestly.
Fugaku had sent his son to Anbu as a spy, so he could provide the clan with timely intelligence.
Fugaku understood that Itachi would have a hard time obtaining classified information. But why hadn't he stopped something this obvious beforehand? Never mind. He'd probably done it all for Sasuke's sake. Hiruzen Sarutobi shouldn't be so petty.
Hearing Hui's name reminded Fugaku of Chuanhe.
When Chuanhe and Yuki had asked for his blessing to marry, they'd presented him with a ninjutsu scroll: Fire Release: Flame Explosion Technique. It had also come with a plan. The Flame Explosion Technique had shocked him, but the plan had impressed him even more.
Reveal the existence of the Flame Explosion Technique, but let only a select few Uchiha learn its A-rank version. Then inform Konoha's High Command about it, and provide them with the S-rank version.
The plan was called "information asymmetry." Both sides would know that the Uchiha had a trump card called the Flame Explosion Technique. But the other side would believe that very few people could learn it.
Meanwhile, their own side would be able to teach the technique to every clan member with chakra in a short time, if necessary. After all, the original version of the technique was only D-rank.
It would give Konoha's High Command pause without being an overwhelming threat. At the same time, it would ensure the technique could serve as a trump card if they ever needed to break with the village.
Although he couldn't understand why Chuanhe was so confident no one could counter the technique, he hadn't agreed to the plan right away. At the time, the Uchiha Clan and the village's leadership, under the Fourth Hokage, were enjoying a honeymoon period. Still, he had approved Chuanhe's marriage to Yuki.
It wasn't until after the Nine-Tails Rebellion that Fugaku suddenly wondered whether Chuanhe had known something. But by then, Yuki had already died. Chuanhe's grief had been unmistakably genuine. No Uchiha whose Sharingan had awakened could mistake that kind of emotion. So Fugaku let down his guard and accepted the proposal.
Just as Chuanhe had predicted, Konoha's High Command stopped making things difficult for the Uchiha Clan. Fugaku didn't care about minor friction. As long as the Uchiha could keep living in peace, he could feel a little more at ease as clan head.
The Nine-Tails Rebellion... Without it, perhaps the Uchiha wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
Though Chuanhe was a civilian, his talent for developing ninjutsu was truly astonishing. He reminded Fugaku of what his father had told him in detail about the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju.
He decided to give Chuanhe's research his full support, in the hope of securing a future for the Uchiha.
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