The Second Move

The seed of betrayal had already been planted. There was no need to worry that it wouldn't sprout.

The second move: a small knight's move beside the corner, securing territory.

The Third Hokage had always held in his hands the very thing the Uchiha desired most. Naturally, he had no fear that they wouldn't take the bait.

Ever since Madara's departure, the Uchiha's standing had plummeted. Returning to the political center of Konoha was therefore what the entire Uchiha Clan desired most.

Since the Uchiha Clan would no longer exist in the future, there was no point in keeping this card in hand.

When a lion fought a rabbit, it gave its all. It was time to play this card.

Let Uchiha Kei taste what it was like to be betrayed, then follow it up with betrayal itself.

The Hokage had made his second move.

The Anbu member delivering the order seemed afraid that the Uchiha wouldn't hear about it. He went along the way, banging gongs and drums and telling everyone he met, then delivered the order to the main hall of Fugaku's home with great fanfare.

The order stated that Konoha would establish a new department, whose administrative authority would rank above Konoha's six departments, the Anbu, Root, Intelligence Department, Medical Department, Barrier Department, and Uchiha Police Force.

It would rank just below the Administration Department, made up of the elders, and the Mission Department, which the Hokage controlled single-handedly.

The new department was called the United Front Department. It would coordinate the power of Konoha's ninja clans, and consist of one representative each from the Akimichi, Yamanaka, Nara, Uchiha, Hyuga, Kurama, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans. The position of department head would remain vacant.

The meaning behind it was obvious.

Fugaku hadn't yet reacted, but the Uchiha elders were already in an uproar.

Fugaku didn't need to summon them as clan head. An informal clan meeting had already begun at his home. The elders, who had been in contact with one another in their respective courtyards, seemed to understand one another without a word and gathered in the clan head's main hall.

The Hokage had given us an excuse good enough. It would be ridiculous not to understand what to do.

Sacrifice one person in exchange for something the entire clan desperately wanted. Everyone knew what had to be done. Surely the clansmen Kei had looked after would understand, too.

"Fugaku, you have to understand what this order from the Hokage means for our Uchiha."

Fugaku was still trying to figure out how to talk to Uchiha Kei about what had happened earlier. Before he could say anything, the elders, unable to sit still, spoke up first.

"That's right, Fugaku. The Uchiha have been away from Konoha's political center for a long time. No matter what it costs us, we can't miss this opportunity!"

The elders' words carried an unspoken implication. They wanted the idea of sacrificing Kei to come from the clan head, so they could explain it to the family members Kei had once favored.

"As long as we return to Konoha's political center, we can reclaim everything we lost because of Madara."

"Exactly. Anything is worth it for the Uchiha."

Fugaku still said nothing.

The elders were so anxious they nearly spoke for him. But each time the words reached their lips, they somehow couldn't bring themselves to say them.

In truth, Fugaku was thinking, What am I supposed to talk about when I meet Kei? Would it be impolite to ask him how he beat Danzo?

The elders were thinking, We've made our hints so obvious. Why hasn't the clan head given the order we want? With our support, what is he hesitating for?

The two groups weren't even on the same wavelength.

The atmosphere remained frozen.

This wasn't a clan meeting called by the clan head. If the clan head didn't preside over it, the meeting couldn't continue.

If they couldn't get a clear answer from the clan head, not one of the elders was willing to stick their neck out.

Seeing that the meeting couldn't go on, Kaku suddenly noticed among the ever-growing crowd some orphans left behind by Uchiha Kei. He began casting hostile looks at the orphans Kei had abandoned.

Ever since Uchiha Kei had risen to prominence, the elders of the Uchiha Clan had never been respected again.

An orphan with both parents dead had actually climbed over their heads and bossed them around. Even the other orphans had brazenly questioned their elders.

Those living in the homes their parents had once occupied—homes now taken over by the elders' relatives.

"Why are you living in my house?"

Could they tolerate that? Absolutely not.

"Those damned bastards are like maggots. They should stay in some corner of the Uchiha Clan and die quietly on a night of blizzards. That's where they belong. How dare they argue with us?"

They even used the Hokage's name to argue with us.

And Uchiha Kei had done nothing to restrain them.

Did that commoner-born brat not know that the elders' status in the Uchiha Clan had been handed down from one generation to the next?

From the moment Lord Madara and that man from the Senju Clan founded Konoha, the ancestors of every elder had already earned all the merit their descendants would ever need.

Enjoying the shade of our ancestors' achievements—that was a privilege our bloodline gave us.

What achievements did your ancestors have, Uchiha Kei, that would put you on equal footing with us?

At the thought, Kaku's face twisted into a grimace.

He had once followed Madara and earned his standing through merit. He wanted to pass that privilege down to his descendants, so they could naturally hold themselves above others.

Not be treated like ordinary Uchiha whom even a bunch of orphans could criticize.

From the moment Kei began favoring the Uchiha in front of outsiders while treating everyone fairly within the clan, he and Kaku had been irreconcilable.

Without class and hierarchy, who would we oppress?

Uchiha Zhaoming, the orphan who was being glared at, trembled. Why was everything happening before him completely different from what he'd imagined?

They had promised that once they embraced the Will of Fire, Konoha would accept the Uchiha, and the villagers would stop targeting them. As heroes who brought the Uchiha back into Konoha, they would be respected by the entire clan.

Everything had been going so well. They had gone to Konoha with Obito to do good deeds, and they had even made friends with ninja from ordinary Konoha families.

They could even rebuke the clansmen who had taken their homes until they were too ashamed to show their faces.

They still hadn't gotten their original homes back.

But everything had been moving in a good direction.

How had it all changed in just one day?

No one treated them like friends. They got beaten for criticizing others and thrown out, and the respect they'd imagined never came.

Only ten years old, he didn't understand why the adults had changed so quickly, but he could clearly feel their hostility.

The young boy clutched Obito's hand, looking for a little comfort.

With Shisui absent, Obito was the oldest man in their branch. The clueless Obito thought this was just a chance to join the crowd. He had no idea what was going on today.

Since everyone else was there, the people of Shisui's branch had naturally sent Obito along, too.

But he couldn't take in a word of what was being said. He was only happy about the Hokage's order.

The Uchiha were finally going to become part of Konoha.

That was Obito's dream.

But after losing his parents, being driven out of their home, and going hungry, Zhaoming had now come to know a life of plenty and been welcomed by Konoha as part of its family. He was much more sensitive than Obito.

He supported the Uchiha's return to Konoha, but not at the cost of sacrificing them.

This wasn't what they'd agreed on.

Grandpa Hokage had clearly said he would protect us—protect everyone in Konoha.

Then why had life changed after Lord Kei left?

"Lord Kei, where are you? Are you abandoning us?"

Zhaoming cried out in his heart. The helplessness and anger he'd felt while fighting stray dogs for food surged through him once again.

Fate, why were you tormenting us again?

Uchiha Zhaoming, lost in self-pity, suddenly felt pain in both shoulders. A moment later, a hideous face loomed before him. The icy hands seemed ready to tear his shoulders apart, but the gentle words that followed sounded almost kindly.

"Hey, kid from Kei's branch. Could you go back to your people? If you can find a way to go back and get your grown-up to return alone, Grandpa Setsuna will give you plenty of rewards."

At Kaku's signal, Setsuna, an advocate of the hard-line faction, made his move.

Fear kept Zhaoming from making a sound. He was so terrified he could barely control his bladder.

Fugaku was still lost in his thoughts, with no energy to pay attention to what was happening before him. The other Uchiha watched with interest as the old man bullied the child.