The Traitor Is Dead

Uchiha Izuna watched as the traitor of the Uchiha Clan was executed, feeling no emotion at all.

Then he pried out the man's eyes and placed them in a specially prepared container. Soon afterward, three Uchiha jōnin arrived at the scene and saw three bodies lying on the ground.

What made them frown was Uchiha Izuna standing nearby with one of his own clan's corpses beneath his foot.

"Lord Izuna, may I ask why you attacked one of our own? Did he offend you?" A jōnin instantly activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and fixed his gaze on Uchiha Izuna.

Uchiha Izuna looked at the man leading the group and asked, "What's your name?"

"Lord Izuna, my name is Uchiha Feng." He offered no unnecessary explanations or introductions. Whatever Uchiha Izuna asked, he answered.

Uchiha Izuna nodded. "Go to the Root shinobi wearing the wolf-head mask. Take his storage scroll and check what's inside."

Uchiha Feng nodded. "Yes!" Then he sprang into action and retrieved Gray Wolf's storage scroll.

After inspecting it, Uchiha Feng realized that the slain clansman had actually been a traitor! Alarm bells rang in his mind. He hadn't expected a Uchiha jōnin to be Shimura Danzō's spy.

Once he confirmed the news, he meant to report his findings to Uchiha Izuna, but Izuna shook his head. "Our urgent priority is to inform the clan head. The Uchiha Clan's situation is already hanging by a thread. If we still try to find a way to satisfy everyone, we'll only end up cornered."

Uchiha Izuna's words immediately earned Uchiha Feng's respect. His apt analogy and clear warning both conveyed his unwavering resolve.

The three of them then carried the body of their clansman back to the Uchiha Compound.

After Uchiha Fugaku learned what had happened, he looked at Uchiha Izuna, who met his gaze. Neither father nor son spoke.

A while later, Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath. "Izuna, we owe this to you. Otherwise, once Konoha got word of this and launched a war against our clan without warning, the Uchiha would have suffered a devastating blow before we could prepare."

"Father, as I've said, there's only one path left for us now: rebellion. Even if we can't kill Sarutobi Hiruzen, we have to bring him and the old guard down." A flash of fighting spirit crossed Uchiha Izuna's eyes.

Looking at his son, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The courteous, mild-mannered boy he had once known had become so aggressive and ambitious.

Perhaps, in a crisis like this, staking everything on one desperate gamble was the only way to find a glimmer of hope.

"Izuna, when do you think we should make our move?" Uchiha Fugaku had made up his mind as well. This time, they had to carry out the coup d'état!

Seeing that his father had come around, Uchiha Izuna's lips curled up. "Not yet. If we want to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, you and I could do it together."

"But if we want to take control of Konoha, brute force alone won't win us the people's support. That'd be like drawing water with a bamboo basket—we'd come away with nothing and only make trouble for ourselves." Uchiha Izuna's political insight and awareness far surpassed Uchiha Fugaku's.

"I'll leave this matter to you. Are you confident you can handle it?" Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Izuna solemnly.

Uchiha Izuna held up one hand. "Fifty percent."

"Fifty percent?" Uchiha Fugaku frowned.

"That's right. Either we succeed or we fail. At the end of the day, everything has only a fifty-percent chance of success. Success or failure comes down to a single thought. Those who claim they have a seventy- or eighty-percent chance are just fooling themselves," Uchiha Izuna replied.

In his view, there were only two outcomes: success or failure. So every situation came down to fifty-fifty.

Hearing Uchiha Izuna's words, Uchiha Fugaku raised an eyebrow. He had never heard anyone put it that way before.

"Go ahead. If you need anything from me, just ask," Uchiha Fugaku said.

Uchiha Izuna cupped his hands, then turned and left.

Watching Uchiha Izuna's back, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but sigh.

In the end, the Uchiha Clan still had to rely on Uchiha Izuna to save them.

He'd trained his eldest son into a failure. He'd thought his younger son was a failure too, but then the boy had pulled off something incredible!

That overwhelming, profound chakra made him feel like an ant facing a flood, unable to find anywhere to stand.

Back in his room, Uchiha Izuna drew a diagram. He wrote "Konoha" on it, with the Uchiha Clan on the left and the Hyuga Clan on the right.

The two clans were at odds, yet their relationship was complicated. The three Ino-Shika-Cho clans, meanwhile, sat comfortably on the sidelines, interfering with no one and taking no part. Whoever won in the end, they would throw in their lot with them. They were determined to stay neutral.

Uchiha Izuna had drawn the remaining small clans inside Konoha, since they had no way to control the fate of their own clans.

They were weak, which made them easy to bully. That was why the Third and Shimura Danzō could order them around and manipulate them at will.

The first thing to do was form an alliance with the major clans. The last time Hyuga Hiashi took the lead and invited Uchiha Fugaku to dinner, it had been clear that Hyuga Hiashi had long wanted to overthrow the Third.

They were simply not as strong in combat as the Uchiha. But they had more money and resources. After all, an army marched on its stomach.

What they needed was a powerful clan to serve as a sharp blade, driven into the roots of Konoha's corrupt regime so it could be uprooted and the village given a new lease on life.

No one was better suited to wield that blade than the Uchiha!

But would Uchiha Izuna be content to be a blade in someone else's hand? Of course not. Once your strength reached a certain level, you could flip the table—and the blade and the one wielding it would switch places.

So the next step of the plan was...

Uchiha Izuna's eyes shifted into their Mangekyo Sharingan form. He stared at the words "Hyuga," the corners of his mouth lifting.

Once he had thought it all through, Uchiha Izuna returned to his room, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

The light in the study, however, stayed on from night until morning.

The next morning

Uchiha Izuna opened his eyes and got up. First, he pushed open the window and took a breath of fresh air.

Then he got up, folded his blanket, and headed out into the courtyard.

He couldn't skip his morning training. Although he had fused with Uchiha Madara's template and combat skills, he had never actually used them himself, so he still needed time to get used to them.

So he went to the clan training ground. Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi had already started sparring.

Uchiha Izuna watched with interest. Uchiha Itachi threw eight shuriken, sending them flying at tricky angles. They repeatedly collided in midair, then, by some strange twist of fate, shot toward Uchiha Shisui.

Uchiha Shisui held a katana and turned his wrist. As a series of metallic clangs rang out, every kunai was knocked to the ground.