Negotiations

"Shimura Danzo failed?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a chill run through him.

He hadn't expected not only to fail to kill Uchiha Shisui, but to be killed in turn!

The Uchiha Clan's rebellion could erupt at any moment!

They were the strongest fighting force in Konoha! Even if the village committed all its forces, it would be difficult to suppress them!

"Damn it!" Sarutobi Hiruzen hurriedly called in a Jonin from the doorway.

As soon as the Jonin entered and saw the head on the floor, he froze.

"What are you standing there for? Take my order and urgently summon all the Anbu! Even those on missions must stop immediately! The safety of Konoha is at stake!"

The Jonin hurriedly nodded.

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

Uchiha compound.

Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Shisui, whose chest bore a knife wound, and anger welled up in him.

"Shisui? Who did this?"

Shisui glanced at the clan members beside him, then sat down on a stool.

"Shimura Danzo. He tried to kill me and take my Mangekyo! But luckily, Uchiha Yu saved me."

With that, Shisui looked at Uchiha Yu beside him, his face full of gratitude.

"He killed Shimura Danzo, then threw his body into the Hokage Building. But the operation was covert, so aside from Sarutobi Hiruzen's confidants, no one else should know."

Uchiha Fugaku nodded.

As long as it hadn't caused an uproar, they could still argue their way through the situation.

But...

Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Yu.

Uchiha Yu looked completely composed.

"Yu, you..."

Uchiha Yu snapped his fingers. The ground instantly split open, and a section of wood shot up, twisting into the shape of a chair.

He plopped down in it and raised his head, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan strikingly clear.

"Shimura Danzo was a monster! He actually tried to kill Shisui! I was so scared my Sharingan awakened! My legs are still weak. I need to sit for a while."

Uchiha Fugaku: "???"

Uchiha Mikoto: "???"

Uchiha clansmen: "???"

Uchiha Fugaku's feelings were complicated.

How could you pull off that act so flawlessly? Was it the real deal?

You awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at seven? Even Uchiha Itachi hadn't done anything that outrageous!

And your legs are only weak now? Why weren't they weak when you killed Shimura Danzo and threw his head into the Hokage Building?

And what was that? Wood Release?

What the hell?

Wasn't that Senju Hashirama's technique? How did you learn it?

You couldn't learn this even with talent! It was a Kekkei Genkai! Wood Release!

Aside from Senju Hashirama, you were the second person in history to have it!

After a long moment of astonishment, Uchiha Fugaku burst out laughing.

A seven-year-old with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan who had also mastered the Kekkei Genkai Wood Release!

He had even killed the veteran Shimura Danzo, who was already famous and had fought in the Ninja World Wars!

What was this? A once-in-a-generation genius!

The likes of him might not appear again for a hundred years in the Ninja World!

And he had appeared at this critical moment!

Heaven was on the Uchiha Clan's side!

"The coup is happening ahead of schedule! Shimura Danzo is dead, and Sarutobi Hiruzen has suffered a heavy blow! We must seize this opportunity to take back everything that rightfully belongs to our Uchiha Clan!"

Ever since they'd been forced to move into this godforsaken corner, Uchiha Fugaku had dreamed of restoring the Uchiha Clan to its former glory.

At last, their opportunity had come!

"Tonight, we launch a surprise attack on Sarutobi Hiruzen!" Uchiha Shisui agreed.

He'd come around, too.

If Konoha wanted him dead, why should he keep being a loyal servant?

When those in power forced the people to rebel, the people had no choice but to rebel!

This was all Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen's fault!

"Where's Uchiha Itachi?" Uchiha Yu looked around.

But he couldn't see Uchiha Itachi anywhere.

"Uchiha Itachi is in the Anbu. They've been urgently summoned, and they've already called him in," Uchiha Fugaku said, drawing a deep breath.

Uchiha Itachi was also an indispensable force for the Uchiha Clan.

If Uchiha Itachi didn't support the coup, their chances of failure would be much higher!

Because this time, they were up against all of Konoha!

More precisely, they were up against Sarutobi Hiruzen and the forces under his command!

That included most of the Jonin, as well as the major clans—the Hyuga, Shimura, and Sarutobi.

The difficulty was obvious!

"Forget it. We're fighting tonight!"

Uchiha Yu planted his hands on his hips.

Looking at the Uchiha clansmen around him, all fired up, Uchiha Yu could feel what it meant to have sky-high morale.

At this critical moment, one of the Uchiha Clan's greatest enemies, Shimura Danzo, had died.

And a genius like himself had appeared.

They all felt that the heavens, the land, and the people were on their side!

"Should we come up with a slogan?" Uchiha Yu rubbed his chin. "The blue sky is dead; the yellow sky shall rise? Do kings and nobles have some special bloodline?"

What kind of nonsense was that?

Forget it. They'd figure it out later!

First, they had to get ready to fight!

"Huh?" Uchiha Yu suddenly remembered something. "Where's Sasuke?"

Uchiha Fugaku froze. "Right. Where's Sasuke?"

Hokage Building, Konoha.

Uchiha Itachi had just returned from the compound when he saw two Jonin approaching with Sasuke.

"Brother!" Sasuke looked thrilled. "I heard the Hokage has a mission for me! I'm so excited! It's a special mission!"

Uchiha Itachi's heart sank. He had a bad feeling about this.

Still, he took a deep breath and forced a smile. "That's good, little Sasuke. Make sure you complete the mission properly. It'll be a good test for you."

Uchiha Itachi saw right through it.

What mission? Nonsense!

A seven-year-old who wasn't even a Genin yet—what kind of mission could he possibly complete?

It wasn't wartime, when anyone who could pick up a Kunai could be sent into battle!

Watching Uchiha Sasuke being led into a nearby room, Uchiha Itachi's expression darkened. He pushed open the door and entered.

There was only one person inside.

Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Lord Hokage, what is the mission?"

Uchiha Itachi stood to one side.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and gestured. "Itachi, have a seat."

Uchiha Itachi frowned and sat down nearby.

"You're a member of the Uchiha Clan. You must understand that the Uchiha have been planning a coup."

Sarutobi Hiruzen got straight to the point.

Uchiha Itachi was silent for a moment. "Lord Hokage, what do you need me to do? I'll do my best to talk Uchiha Fugaku out of it."

"No, no."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. "It's too late for that. I need you to do something else."

As he spoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze turned cold.

"Tonight, you will kill every member of the Uchiha Clan! This is for the sake of the village!" Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth. "The only one who can stop you is Uchiha Shisui. Don't worry. Even if Shisui survives, he won't be able to cause much trouble! Afterward, I'll assign you a new mission—a more secret one!"

"If you refuse..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked toward the room beside them.

After Shimura Danzo's death, Sarutobi Hiruzen had realized that his own way of doing things wasn't enough.

He had to learn some of Danzo's strengths.

Ruthlessness, for example.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had once been Konoha's White, while Shimura Danzo had been Konoha's Black.

Now that Danzo was dead, Sarutobi Hiruzen had to be both White and Black!

"You're threatening me with Sasuke?"

After a long silence, Uchiha Itachi finally spoke.

The idea of wiping out the Uchiha Clan was too much for him to take.

"If you won't do it, I'll have someone else do it. Better to let you preserve the Uchiha Clan's good name than have them perish under a cloud of infamy!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gave Uchiha Itachi no chance to refuse.

"Otherwise, I'll kill Sasuke." Sarutobi Hiruzen took out a Kunai and drove it into the table.

Uchiha Itachi's pupils trembled violently.

He didn't know why, but Sarutobi Hiruzen had changed so much today.

Was this Sarutobi Hiruzen's true nature?

"Promise me you'll spare Uchiha Yu and Uchiha Sasuke. None of this has anything to do with them," Uchiha Itachi said through gritted teeth.

"Fine," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a cold laugh.

He still didn't know that Uchiha Yu had been the one who killed Danzo.

Just then, the Hokage Building suddenly shuddered.

Sarutobi Hiruzen froze and looked up. A green light shone through the room.

"Fine? Fine, my ass!"

Uchiha Shisui's Susanoo smashed through the wall with a single punch!