The Coup Ends

Watching the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, Uchiha Fugaku smiled faintly.

Together, the two clans numbered well over a thousand people.

In the martial-minded village of Konoha, they were still a force to be reckoned with.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō could be called the pillars of their respective clans.

But after tonight, both men were dead.

Without their leaders, the remaining members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans had no idea what to do.

Asuma watched the ninjas from the various clans withdraw one after another. After a long silence, he lit a cigarette and drew a deep breath.

"Uchiha Fugaku, our Sarutobi Clan will never submit to your tyranny."

Asuma looked up at Fugaku, making his position perfectly clear.

Kill me or do whatever you want. But there's no way I'll acknowledge you as Hokage.

The members of the Shimura Clan nearby nodded in agreement.

With Danzō gone, both of these once-prestigious clans were little more than names.

Their rise or fall now lay entirely in the hands of the Uchiha Clan.

The feeling of having their lives firmly in someone else's hands made both clans deeply uneasy.

"Do you know that if I hadn't killed Sarutobi Hiruzen today, our Uchiha Clan wouldn't have lasted three days?" Fugaku sneered. "The victor becomes king, and the defeated are branded traitors. It's been that way since ancient times."

Yu leaped down from the Wood Dragon and landed beside Fugaku.

"How about it? Bury them all?" Yu asked.

Although the two clans didn't have any particularly impressive Kekkei Genkai, they were both strong.

Now, they were sure to hold a grudge against the Uchiha.

Why not just bury them in a pit?

As expected, Asuma's face turned green.

Fugaku paused in surprise.

What the hell would be the point of burying them?

"If we wipe out these two clans now, it'll throw Konoha into turmoil. Even though we're in a time of peace, the dangers haven't gone away."

Shisui took a deep breath as he spoke.

The Ninja World had already endured three Shinobi World Wars.

Each of them had been started by the great ninja villages as they fought to claim more resources.

At their core, those wars had been about annexing other ninja villages!

The result had been devastating losses.

Although a brief period of peace had arrived, skirmishes between the great ninja villages had never stopped.

The Uchiha Clan had just seized the leadership of Konoha through a coup. If they went on to commit another atrocity,

the other ninja villages might use it as an excuse to band together and attack!

They'd want to carve up Konoha!

Fugaku nodded. He hadn't wanted to slaughter everyone in the first place.

"Those of you who wish to stay are welcome to. As the Fifth Hokage and the Uchiha Clan Head, I promise I won't persecute you in any way. You can still live here in the Land of Fire with full legal status. If you don't want to stay, leave the Land of Fire," Fugaku said slowly.

His Sharingan swept over the Sarutobi and Shimura clans.

Asuma snorted, tilted his head, and spat his cigarette butt onto the ground.

"Uchiha, I'll be back."

With that, he headed toward the village gates.

After Asuma left, many members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans followed him out.

"These people will be our enemies in the future!" Fugaku said, drawing a deep breath.

Still, this ragtag force of nearly a thousand wouldn't amount to much in the short term.

But if they went to another ninja village and tried to stir up trouble, they could become a nuisance.

"Don't worry. They've lost now, and they'll never get back on their feet."

Yu shook his head.

In his eyes, these nearly thousand ninjas weren't much of a threat.

Besides, they'd be a nuisance to the other ninja villages too.

At least for the next few years, they'd have to keep their heads down.

"Clean up the battlefield! I'll take office as Hokage in a month!" Fugaku said, clenching his fist.

Their losses in this battle had been considerable.

They couldn't let those sacrifices go to waste.

Fugaku was determined to claim the Hokage's seat.

All the wealth left behind by the Sarutobi and Shimura deserters would also go to the Uchiha Clan!

This battle was a great victory for the Uchiha!

Outside Konoha.

At the border of the Land of Fire.

Asuma led the remaining members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

After a full day of tense travel, they were all on edge.

They feared that Uchiha pursuers were right behind them.

"Senior Asuma, where are we going?"

A member of the Sarutobi Clan asked.

Asuma took a deep breath and looked at the border marker for the Land of Wind in the distance.

It had been erected after the Third Shinobi World War, when Konoha and Sunagakure established diplomatic relations.

"The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire have good diplomatic ties. We need Sunagakure's help!" Asuma said through clenched teeth. "As long as the other ninja villages don't recognize Fugaku's position as Hokage, we still have a chance."

Asuma snorted, clearly still believing there was hope.

"If we just go there... what will Sunagakure think of us? We won't have any standing there at all! In their eyes, we're nothing but a rabble!" A member of the Shimura Clan said, looking worried.

"As long as we can avenge Lord Third, what does it matter if we have to live under someone else's roof and work like oxen and horses?" Asuma had already resolved to endure any humiliation.

These six or seven hundred ninjas would be a serious headache for any ninja village.

They were from the Land of Fire, after all. There was no way they would pledge themselves wholeheartedly to another village.

At best, the relationship would be one of mutual exploitation.

But did they really need these six or seven hundred people?

They were bound to be treated unfairly in all sorts of ways.

Asuma knew that very well.

But what he wanted to do was avenge the Third Hokage.

Restore the Sarutobi Clan and reclaim the Hokage's seat.

With the name of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi behind him, Asuma had a just cause.

And he was determined to succeed!

"Land of Wind, here I come."

Asuma headed toward the Land of Wind.

The Land of Wind wasn't particularly strong, but at this moment, it had become Asuma's last lifeline.

Meanwhile, Yu's Ninja Academy had announced a month-long closure because of the coup.

Fortunately, the Uchiha had already convinced the leaders of the other clans.

Through threats and inducements,

the various clans had more or less accepted Fugaku's legitimate claim to the position of Hokage.

There was no helping it. Fugaku had said that if they didn't accept him, he'd plant trees in their homes.

If it were you, wouldn't you be afraid?

The Sarutobi and Shimura clans had been powerful enough, hadn't they? They'd still been driven out.

The news had also been kept under tight control among the ninja cadets and civilians.

Most people only knew that Fugaku had become the new Hokage. The details were all vague.

What Konoha needed now was a group of obedient citizens!

As for Yu...

Fugaku had planned to reward him one million ryo, the standard for an S-rank mission.

But after thinking it over and over,

he'd decided that Yu was still too young. What if getting a million ryo went to his head?

So in the end, he took five hundred thousand ryo for himself.

As he put it, "Dad will save it for you. You can use it when you grow up and get married."

Yu: "???"

Why did that excuse sound so familiar?

Sure enough, what goes around comes around!

Still, at least he'd been left with five hundred thousand ryo!

"What should I do with this five hundred thousand ryo?"

Yu raised an eyebrow.

He'd made himself a tidy little fortune!