Reenact the Scene from Three Years Ago

The sole remaining eye of Danzo glinted with a sharp, icy light as he stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen across the Hokage's desk.

The moment he received the news from Root, he had rushed over in a panic.

This matter was far too serious. If mishandled, the ceasefire agreement they had just signed with the Cloud Hidden Village might be torn apart.

"Read this first!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and tossed the investigation scroll submitted by the ANBU to Danzo.

After merely skimming a few lines, furious rage flared in Danzo's lone eye.

"Hmph! Those Uchiha brats have never given up on destroying Konoha! This must be an Uchiha conspiracy! A conspiracy!"

Before he had even finished reading, Danzo slammed the scroll onto the floor, producing a loud crash.

The ANBU agent beside them trembled and took a step back.

"You may leave!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen said to him with a sigh.

"Yes!"

Upon receiving the order, the ANBU agent immediately vanished with the Body Flicker Technique as though he had been granted a reprieve.

"Hiruzen, how do you intend to handle this?"

Danzo asked coldly.

"I have a headache over it as well."

Sarutobi Hiruzen pressed and rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger, his face filled with exhaustion and irritation.

"In my opinion, since Uchiha Mirai killed those Cloud ninja, we might as well use this to force the Uchiha to hand over Uchiha Mirai."

Danzo's left eye curved in a cold sneer.

"If they refuse, we can use that as grounds to pressure them and wipe out those disobedient Uchiha in one stroke."

"Danzo, have you lost your mind?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen glared at him furiously.

"Do you think Uchiha Mirai will obediently surrender? I cannot even see through him now. If we truly provoke him, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Then are we supposed to let the Cloud Hidden Village pressure us for nothing?"

Danzo glared back at him with equal fury.

"Hiruzen, you know better than anyone how hard-won this peace was."

"Minato is dead. Konoha has yet to recover from the Nine-Tails turmoil, and the new Nine-Tails jinchuriki is still a child, completely unable to become combat power."

"But what about the Cloud Hidden Village?"

"The Fourth Raikage is in his prime, and both jinchuriki in the village are perfect jinchuriki. If war truly breaks out again, Hiruzen, how confident are you that you can lead Konoha to victory over them?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.

What Danzo had said was precisely what worried him.

The Cloud Hidden Village was now at the height of its power, while Konoha was declining by the day, with the Uchiha as an unstable factor within its own walls.

If conflict truly broke out with the Cloud Hidden Village, how much chance did they have of winning?

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not want to think about it, nor did he dare to.

His head began to ache again.

Why did Uchiha Mirai have to interfere?

It had originally been a very simple matter. They only needed to shift the blame onto the Hyuga Clan and let them clean up their own mess.

But now, the situation had become countless times more complicated.

"Danzo, rather than complaining, why not think about how to resolve this?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen cast him a cold glance.

Danzo sneered.

"As I see it, this is also an opportunity. As long as we guide public opinion properly and turn Uchiha Mirai into a criminal who endangers the village's safety once more, we can use that to pressure him."

"If he does not resist, as he did three years ago, that would be ideal. If he resists, then we can use that as grounds to detain him."

"At that point, wouldn't his life and death be ours to decide with a single thought?"

Danzo continued laying out his plan, the smug, cold sneer in his eyes nearly impossible to conceal.

Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You mean, make what happened three years ago happen again?"

"That's right!"

Danzo answered decisively, staring straight at him.

"Sarutobi, such a perfect opportunity to eliminate Uchiha Mirai as a threat in one stroke must not be missed."

He deliberately stressed the word, not even calling Sarutobi Hiruzen by his given name, but simply using Sarutobi.

A trace of hesitation appeared on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face as he wavered.

"Sarutobi, you're still the same as before." A flicker of anger appeared on Danzo's face. "Sometimes I wonder where that Ninja Hero who dominated the Second Shinobi War went."

"But don't worry. Leave this matter to me. Everything is for Konoha."

Danzo left.

The Hokage's office fell into dead silence once more.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat alone behind the Hokage's desk.

After a long while, he let out a long, heavy sigh.

Uchiha Clan Compound.

The clan head's residence.

Uchiha Fugaku stared at Uchiha Mirai across from him in shock.

"Mirai, last night, you killed the Cloud Hidden Village ninja sent to sign the ceasefire agreement, and didn't leave a single survivor?"

The matter had already spread throughout Konoha.

The moment he heard the news, Uchiha Fugaku immediately rushed over to find Uchiha Mirai in shock.

"What do you mean, 'didn't leave a single survivor'?"

Uchiha Mirai rolled his eyes at him.

"Clearly, those Cloud ninja kidnapped the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Main House, intending to steal Konoha's bloodline limit. As a member of the Uchiha Police Force and one of Konoha's five exemplary youths, I bravely stepped forward and eradicated those wolves and tigers for Konoha!"

The corners of Uchiha Fugaku's mouth twitched slightly.

How had the whole matter changed the moment it came out of Uchiha Mirai's mouth?

His strength was absurdly overwhelming, yet at times he seemed somewhat... slippery?

Wait!

Uchiha Fugaku suddenly seemed to recall something.

He stared at Uchiha Mirai with utter shock, his pupils trembling slightly.

"Mirai, could the open scheme you mentioned a few days ago have been..."

"You finally remembered."

The playful look in his eyes vanished. Uchiha Mirai gave a soft laugh and looked seriously at Uchiha Fugaku.

His breathing nearly stopped, and Uchiha Fugaku seemed to hear the violent pounding of his own heart.

A few days ago, he had sought out Uchiha Mirai to ask about his plans going forward.

Uchiha Mirai had used the words "open scheme."

When he pressed further, Uchiha Mirai had told him to wait.

A few days later, the Cloud Hidden Village delegation had abducted the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Main House, only to be wiped out by Uchiha Mirai in the middle of the night.

Could it be...

But how could Uchiha Mirai have known that the Cloud Hidden Village delegation would abduct Hinata on the night of her birthday banquet?

Could his eyes, like mine, see the future?

A deep fear appeared in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.

His Mangekyo Sharingan technique allowed him to see brief fragments of the future.

It was precisely because of that ability that he had been unwilling to launch a coup.

Because in the future fragments shown by his Mangekyo Sharingan, the only outcome of a coup was the destruction of the Uchiha clan.

Could Uchiha Mirai's ocular technique possess a similar ability, only far more detailed and precise than his?

After all, even he could never have known of the Cloud Hidden Village's plot, much less the exact time it would be carried out.

"The next few days in Konoha should be quite interesting."

Uchiha Mirai spoke calmly.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Uchiha Fugaku suddenly felt that the Mirai before him was somewhat unfamiliar.

Beneath that young face lay a depth as unfathomable as the ocean floor.

Everyone in Konoha—including Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and even himself—were merely pieces on Uchiha Mirai's chessboard.

Perhaps those three years of silence had only been the beginning of him laying out the board.

"Mirai, Danzo and the others will definitely use this matter to pressure you. Have you prepared yourself?"

Uchiha Fugaku asked in a deep voice.

"It's time for what happened three years ago to have an outcome."

Uchiha Mirai looked out the window, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.