The Advantage Is Mine

Everything that happened within the Uchiha Clan was beyond the Third Hokage's direct observation, but he could still get the news firsthand. That was the confidence behind his plan to defeat Uchiha Kei.

Events were unfolding just as the Third Hokage had arranged.

Uchiha Kei, wait and see what fate has in store for you!

The betrayal of the clan's leadership, the treachery of the entire clan, and then the scorn of the people he had once cared for—that was the Third Hokage's plan.

These tactics seemed to cause no real harm, but they often had an effect no one expected.

No matter how arrogant someone was, repeated betrayals would make him doubt himself. And when a person stopped standing firm, that was the best time to break him.

It was time to start a war of public opinion. Even the mighty White Fang of the Leaf had died because of rumors. Was it really impossible that Uchiha Kei would be unable to endure the pressure and take his own life?

Even if he didn't, so what? Controlling public opinion would let Konoha wave the banner of justice.

And justice could naturally draw passionate young people together into a force that could not be ignored.

As for whether it was really justice, who would think about that?

The only people who thought about such things were those waving the banner and sending others to their deaths. They were the ones most skilled at convincing themselves of their own righteousness.

Sarutobi believed that the prestige he had earned from leading Konoha for decades would make everyone believe whatever he said.

All that remained was to find a way to pin a crime on Kei.

Cowardice?

That wouldn't work. Kei had already explained why the war wasn't justified. The Third Hokage had only just managed to tamp down that discussion. Bringing it up again now would invite debate, and once people started debating, they might actually figure out whether the war was justified.

Because although Kei had tried to defend himself against the accusation of cowardice, he hadn't lied.

Konoha really had no need to fight on behalf of the Daimyo. This war was nothing more than a way for the villages to demand more military funding.

But though the funding looked substantial, it couldn't all go directly to the shinobi who fought. The village still had to spend money on construction and other needs. If all the funds went to the shinobi, how could the village be developed?

But would the shinobi accept that reasoning?

Of course not! So he couldn't bring up the subject again for now. It could backfire.

Then what about accusing him of defecting?

That wouldn't work either. The Uchiha had only moved, leaving Konoha for their ancestral home. After Kei's speech, no one had the right to declare the Uchiha defectors. The Senju Clan had been able to move away as a whole, so why couldn't the Uchiha?

Besides, they had only split off from the village.

The Third Hokage racked his brains until his head hurt. Kei seemed reckless, but when it came time to deal with him, he was slippery as an eel.

It seemed he had underestimated Danzo. Framing someone wasn't easy work!

Should he ask Danzo for advice? This was Danzo's area of expertise! The Third Hokage felt that Danzo should handle this after all. He wasn't a professional!

Professional work should be left to the professionals!

But there was no need to rush. He still had one more move to make.

It was time to set those Uchiha orphans in motion. They had probably been through a lot after losing Kei's protection. Children who were spoiled rotten never knew their place.

They might act timid around outsiders, but they could always lash out at the people who doted on them.

Because they knew outsiders wouldn't indulge them, while the people who did would keep doing so.

It was time to get those greedy Uchiha elders moving and drive the children out.

If Uchiha Kei took pity on them once more and took them in, the Third Hokage would have another trump card to shake Kei's resolve at a crucial moment.

All he had to do was make the orphans misunderstand what was happening.

For example, he could make them believe Konoha was targeting the Uchiha because Kei had long favored the clan.

Once the children accepted this and decided Uchiha Kei was to blame, they would then have to face injustice—being driven from their home, refused shelter by Konoha, and even denied the chance to buy anything.

When they came to him for help, he would show them the helpless regret of a Hokage who could do nothing. It was all because of Uchiha Kei.

That would make it impossible for them to survive in Konoha, forcing them to seek Kei's protection, while leading them to blame their own plight on the consequences of his misdeeds.

If even one of those dozens of orphans stood behind Uchiha Kei, harboring hatred, that would be the end of him.

The Third Hokage longed to see the moment Uchiha Kei faced off against him with his people, only to be stabbed in the back.

What authority could a leader killed by his own people have?

Perhaps there wouldn't even be a need to start a civil war then.

That was the Third Hokage's third move.

Each step locked into the next, each link connected to another.

First, exploit the weakness of the Uchiha elders and make the clan's leadership abandon Uchiha Kei. Without the leaders' support, Kei would have no natural allies.

Then, offer benefits substantial enough to make the Uchiha clan members tolerate it.

Sacrificing others to secure benefits for the majority, including oneself, could make a person feel guilty, but they could still accept it. People could always find enough excuses to justify their own wrongdoing.

That would leave Kei without popular support.

Finally, stir up hatred among the Uchiha who had once been his people, planting danger in the place Kei believed safest.

And that was only the plan against the Uchiha themselves.

Sarutobi had made arrangements on the outside, too.

Outside the clan, he would stir up public opinion among Konoha's residents and gather enough forces to minimize the losses involved in eliminating Uchiha Kei.

He would pin the blame for his student Orochimaru's human experiments on Kei, clearing his beloved pupil's name.

That unfilial student of his—grown so old, yet still making his teacher clean up after him. He really had gone backward in life.

The Third Hokage even thought that, if the opportunity arose, he could use the momentum of a great victory to force the surviving Uchiha to go to the battlefield and atone for the harm Uchiha Kei had brought to Konoha.

Six elite fighters against one branch of a clan. The advantage was his—how could he lose? At least, the Third Hokage couldn't imagine it.

With that lineup, they could even wipe out the Land of Wind, let alone one Uchiha faction.

Lately, the Third Hokage had developed a new hobby: playing Go in the Hokage Building while facing Naka Shrine, as if he were confronting Uchiha Kei from afar.

The lush, vibrant scenery of the Uchiha ancestral grounds beyond the village, Naka Shrine, was still vivid in his mind.

He had to admit, if Uchiha Kei hadn't been an Uchiha, the Third Hokage would have admired him. Perhaps under Kei's leadership, Konoha might have prospered even more.

But fate was fate. Some people chose the wrong side at a crucial moment in life, and some never even got the chance to atone for the Uchiha.

That included Kei, and the Uchiha who were still consorting with him at a time like this.

Certain of victory, the Third Hokage kept watch on the road leading to Naka Shrine. Seeing one Uchiha after another come to visit Uchiha Kei, he sneered inwardly.

Sarutobi had made his position unmistakable and offered so many benefits. He looked down on anyone who still couldn't see which way the wind was blowing.

That contempt lasted until the Third Hokage spotted Orochimaru among the comings and goings.

The Third Hokage, who had thought everything was under his control, finally lost his composure.

"What is that unfilial student up to?"