Several days later.
Konoha Ninja Village.
The war had ended completely, but only on the surface.
The Five Great Shinobi Villages all knew that hidden enemies had yet to be rooted out.
Kumogakure had mobilized almost every ninja in the village, yet still failed to locate Akatsuki's hideout.
They did not even know how many members Akatsuki had.
All they knew was that the Five Great Shinobi Villages had been considerably weakened by the war, while Akatsuki had successfully captured Chomei, the Seven-Tails.
The Uchiha Compound.
Uchiha Fugaku sat with his eyes half closed, seemingly weighing something.
Before him sat the three clansmen who had contributed the most during the war.
Uchiha Yu, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi.
The room was dimly lit.
"You should all know that an extremely dangerous force is still lurking in the Ninja World," Uchiha Fugaku said gravely. "Their targets are the eight remaining Tailed Beasts in the Five Great Shinobi Villages! That includes our Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Having witnessed the cruelty of war firsthand, Uzumaki Naruto had grown considerably in both maturity and strength.
He was still developing, however, and could not yet perfectly control the Nine-Tails inside him.
"Father, what should we do?" Uchiha Shisui asked.
"What we should do isn't something for me alone to consider. You should be thinking about it too." Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Shisui, his eyes filled with expectation.
"The future of the Uchiha Clan rests in your hands. This war showed me your progress and your strength. Perhaps it really is time for me to step down as Hokage and let someone more capable take over," Uchiha Fugaku said with a faint smile.
His strength had originally been only at the Jonin level. Even after becoming Hokage, he had never ranked among the strongest of