Friends, Enemies

Naoki could perform Fire Release ninjutsu with ease, but as he flipped through the other elemental techniques, a strange sensation welled up in his heart.

He stood up and formed the hand seals as recorded in the ninjutsu collection.

Xu, Wu, You.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

As his wind-natured chakra surged forth, a gale roared through the training ground...

"Huh?"

Naoki was astonished to discover that he actually possessed Wind Release chakra.

He knew that his predecessor had only possessed Fire and Water chakra natures; Wind, Lightning, and Earth were absent. Yet, he had managed to release a Wind Release technique with almost no practice. Could this mean...

He immediately continued forming seals without pause.

"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!"

"Lightning Release..."

He unleashed two more techniques in quick succession. Whether it was Earth or Lightning, Naoki completed them with ease.

Though he wasn't sure if his predecessor had possessed all five chakra natures all along or if some change had occurred after he arrived in this world, it was good news regardless. After all, one can never have too many skills.

He muttered to himself, "It's just that my chakra reserves are a bit low; I'm afraid it'll be difficult to fully unleash the power of all five elements."

This was, at the very least, a positive development. Naoki didn't bother dwelling on the cause and happily returned to studying the ninjutsu collection in the training ground.

While Naoki was happily practicing his ninjutsu, the situation elsewhere was different: Uchiha Fugaku was looking troubled while attending a meeting at the Hokage office.

After Naoki had left, Uchiha Fugaku had spent a long time alone, thinking about many things.

The more he thought, the more terrified and pained he became.

In another world without Naoki, he had been ignorantly pushed along by the tide of events. It wasn't until he joined forces with the hardliners of the Uchiha clan that he finally realized he had been strapped to a chariot named "Coup d'état," where moving forward or backward would lead to total destruction.

But now, having awakened years in advance, he felt a sense of powerlessness as he looked at the thorny path ahead.

He asked himself, how was he to handle the clan's internal strife and external pressure?

Just as Uchiha Fugaku was lost in thought, Uchiha Yashiro beside him suddenly reached out and nudged him.

Regaining his focus, he looked up and his gaze met that of Akimichi Choza, who was sitting diagonally across from him, glaring at him.

"Fugaku, are you refusing to speak to a brute like me, or do you think the Uchiha clan is so pristine that it doesn't need to offer an explanation?"

Although Uchiha Yashiro didn't know what Uchiha Fugaku was thinking, he had known him for many years and could tell that his mind was in turmoil, so he slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

"Choza's question is reasonable. The appearance of the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes—let alone everyone here, even we in the Uchiha are deeply shocked."

"But precisely because of that, we need to reason calmly. If this were truly the work of the Uchiha, why would we let the Nine-Tails reveal the Sharingan in its eyes? Are you suggesting we orchestrated a catastrophe to destroy the village just to brand ourselves as traitors in plain sight? How is that any different from self-destruction?"

He paused for a moment, his tone becoming more severe.

"What kind of ocular power is required to control the Nine-Tails? Among the dozen or so Uchiha jonin, who could be confident in controlling the Nine-Tails? If we truly had such ability, why would we have fought so bitterly against the enemy during the Third Shinobi World War? Wouldn't it have been more profitable to just control the Tailed Beast and trample the ninja world?"

"Yet, the reality is that the Uchiha clansmen who died in that war still have their names carved on the memorial stone at Naka Shrine!"

Uchiha Yashiro's voice rose even higher as he said this.

"The Sharingan appearing in the Nine-Tails' eyes is nothing more than a deliberate frame-up by someone wanting to use the Nine-Tails Incident to incite internal strife in Konoha!"

"Whatever the truth may be, pointing fingers at the entire Uchiha clan right now is exactly what the mastermind behind this wants to see. If we start suspecting each other here, we've fallen right into that person's trap!"

Akimichi Choza remained silent until Uchiha Yashiro finished speaking, then he slowly shook his head.

"Everything you said is correct, but that's just your speculation, isn't it? Where is the evidence?"

"Is there any proof that such a person even exists?"

Uchiha Yashiro opened his mouth, but no words came out.

This was indeed his "Achilles' heel." He could say anything, but he could not reveal that Uchiha Madara was the "culprit."

Just as Uchiha Yashiro stood speechless, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly spoke.

"There is evidence."

Everyone instantly turned their gaze toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, who sat at the head of the table.

Their eyes held surprise, doubt, anger, and other emotions, but no one dared to openly challenge him.

Ignoring their gazes, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his hand, and Zo, who was beside him, immediately handed over a file.

"Take a look. This is what the Anbu investigation found after the fact..." As he spoke, he passed the file down for everyone to see. "According to the Anbu's inspection of the scene and the in-depth investigation of the killed ninjas, at the moment Uzumaki Kushina was at her weakest during childbirth, someone killed the guards, broke into the room, took her away, and released the Nine-Tails..."

As the file was passed around, everyone basically understood the cause and effect.

After reading it, Hyuga Hiashi frowned deeply: "So, there really is a guy who can use space-time ninjutsu working in the shadows, just to provoke our internal conflicts and weaken us?"

"And Minato." Uchiha Fugaku added after reading the file in his hand. "He also had a great battle with Minato."

Akimichi Choza remarked: "Looking at it this way, this guy has quite the scheme!"

As the crowd buzzed with discussion, Uchiha Fugaku, having regained his composure, glanced unobtrusively at Akimichi Choza and then at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Coming back to his senses and looking around, he noticed that Yamanaka Inoichi, the head of the Yamanaka clan, was not present, and when Akimichi Choza had challenged him earlier, Nara Shikaku hadn't said a word... Perhaps Akimichi Choza's initial attack on him had been a coordinated act with Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Uchiha Fugaku pinched the corners of his eyes.

His distraction just moments ago was precisely because he had seen the true predicament of the Uchiha clan within Konoha.

Looking at it now, perhaps the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had just been putting on a show alongside Sarutobi Hiruzen, but the other mid-to-high-level officials who followed Akimichi Choza in the "charge" couldn't have been acting too, could they? Clearly, the majority of people were not very friendly toward the Uchiha clan.

The situation was quite clear then; whether intentional or accidental, Akimichi Choza's "luring the snake out of its hole" had allowed him to see clearly who the enemies were, and who the friends were...

With Sarutobi Hiruzen stepping in, the suspicions regarding the Uchiha clan in the Nine-Tails Incident were basically cleared, yet the meeting continued; after all, with more than half of Konoha destroyed, there were still many matters that required discussion.

"I will have the Anbu continue to investigate last night's events. Next, let us discuss the reconstruction of the village's core districts..."