Three Parties Stir, The Night of Extermination Approaches

Hokage's Office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was exceptionally grim.

This was the first time he had been humiliated by an Uchiha clansman in front of countless Konoha ninja.

But that was not the most important part.

The most important thing was...

Uchiha Mirai had become the clan head.

The Uchiha clansmen followed his lead completely, the entire clan united as one.

Even Uchiha Fugaku, the former head of the Uchiha Clan, deferred to Uchiha Mirai.

This was absolutely not a good thing!

Uchiha Mirai was a thoroughgoing rebel.

Three years ago, they had gone to great lengths to force Uchiha Mirai into retirement.

Three years later, the moment he returned, he stirred up a bloody storm in Konoha.

And now, he had become the clan head.

The Uchiha Clan was entirely in his hands.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could already foresee it.

The bloodshed to come.

Knowing this full well, the Konoha F4 once again gathered in the Hokage's Office.

"Hiruzen, we need to make a decision soon!"

It was Utatane Koharu speaking, her stern gaze fixed on Sarutobi Hiruzen behind the Hokage's desk.

"You and I both know that Uchiha Mirai will not let this rest. He will definitely settle the matter from three years ago. Rather than wait for him to make a move, we should strike first..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was solemn.

He would not have been surprised if those words had come from Danzo.

But Koharu had never been in favor of war. Using political maneuvers to suppress and weaken the Uchiha had always been her usual position.

One could well imagine just how deeply Uchiha Mirai becoming clan head had shaken them!

"Hiruzen, this is clearly no time for hesitation. Didn't you give Training Ground Three to the Uchiha with this very plan in mind?"

Mitokado Homura spoke in a deep voice.

"The Uchiha and the village can no longer be reconciled."

"Only one path remains now. The Uchiha must be exterminated!"

Danzo stood with his arms crossed, smiling without a word.

Usually, he was the one urging Sarutobi and the others to deal with the Uchiha, only to receive ridicule in return.

But now, the situation had completely reversed.

It was his turn to watch the show, while Utatane Koharu and the others looked like ants on a hot pan, frantic with urgency.

This feeling was truly wonderful.

It would be even better if Uchiha Mirai's head were placed before him to add to the occasion.

Danzo thought with satisfaction.

"Danzo, you still have the nerve to smile?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at him coldly.

Danzo's expression stiffened.

"Don't forget that this mess was caused by you! If you hadn't stubbornly gone your own way, how could the situation have reached this point?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's icy voice made Danzo's face turn extremely ugly.

"Hiruzen, don't forget that you personally approved the plan to deal with Uchiha Mirai."

"If I bear responsibility, what about you? Shouldn't you bear part of it as well?"

"Enough! Stop arguing!"

Utatane Koharu shouted angrily!

"What kind of situation are we in now? And you're still fighting among yourselves? Do you have to wait until those Uchiha attack the Hokage Building before you understand the seriousness of this?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.

Danzo merely snorted and said nothing.

The Hokage's Office fell quiet in an instant.

A few seconds later, a long sigh broke the silence.

"Koharu, you're right. We must completely resolve the Uchiha problem now."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze was incredibly conflicted.

He had never wished for things to reach this point.

But the matter was no longer within his control.

Under Uchiha Mirai's leadership, the Uchiha Clan had grown increasingly powerful.

Sooner or later, they would possess the strength to overthrow all of Konoha.

Better a short pain than a long one. This threat had to be eliminated immediately!

"But before that, we need to learn more about the Uchiha's internal intelligence..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly.

Several minutes later.

An ANBU wearing a mask appeared in the Hokage's office and dropped to one knee.

Before him, Konoha's four leaders sat around the Hokage's desk in turn, their expressions grim.

It was as though the sky beyond the window behind them was likewise covered in dark clouds.

"Shisui, how much do you know about Uchiha Mirai becoming clan head?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze swept over him with a trace of chill.

Uchiha Shisui's heart skipped a beat.

Sure enough, just as Mirai had said.

"I was unaware of this matter. It should have happened only recently. Otherwise, I certainly would have reported it to the Third Hokage."

Half-kneeling on the ground, Uchiha Shisui spoke calmly and without panic.

"Is that true?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.

"It is!"

The sternness on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face eased slightly as he drawled, "Even if it happened recently, Shisui, as a jonin of the Uchiha Clan and the representative of the doves, it would have been impossible for them not to notify you in advance of a change in clan head, wouldn't it?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen still harbored suspicions.

Uchiha Mirai becoming clan head was far too important.

They had been caught almost completely off guard.

Yet Shisui, the informant he had planted within the Uchiha Clan, had not reported even the slightest hint of it.

That made him faintly suspicious.

"I don't know..."

Uchiha Shisui's voice was bitter.

"Just as you said, Third Hokage, I should have had the right to know about this, but..."

He did not continue.

Yet the resentment in his eyes revealed his emotions, and his fingers unconsciously clenched.

The gloom in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes dispersed slightly, while an imperceptible cold smile surfaced in their depths.

"This shows that your clansmen do not trust you."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke indifferently.

It was obvious. Uchiha Shisui had been personally promoted by him and held an important position in the ANBU.

It was perfectly normal for Uchiha Mirai not to trust him, or even to guard against him.

The more so it was, the more useful Shisui could be.

Shisui's lips moved faintly, but in the end, he remained silent.

Only his tightly clenched fingers revealed the turmoil in his heart.

Sarutobi Hiruzen grew even more satisfied.

The few old foxes beside him also revealed faintly cold smiles in their eyes.

Keeping his expression unchanged, Shisui took in every shift in the expressions of the four people around the Hokage's desk.

Sure enough, it was exactly as Mirai had said.

Sorry to disappoint you, Third Hokage.

Perhaps I had once been lost, suffered, and struggled...

But now.

I had already taken Mirai's form.

"Shisui, your clansmen may have abandoned you, but the village will always be there to support you."

"And now that the village is about to face a threat, it is time for you to put the Will of Fire into practice."

Danzo narrowed his lone eye as he looked down at Shisui.

"For the safety of the village, assassinate Uchiha Mirai!"

Shisui, who was half-kneeling, suddenly trembled.

He raised his head and stared at him in shock.

Outside the Uchiha Clan Compound, in the forest where Uchiha Mirai had fought Root.

After Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others left, the forest returned to silence.

Aside from the few traces left behind by the battle, no one would likely have imagined how terrifying a fight had taken place here.

Suddenly, the space beside a tree trunk twisted violently. A masked figure abruptly emerged from a pitch-black vortex.

"Madara, it seems this is where the battle took place."

White Zetsu swayed as he emerged from the ground nearby, most of his body exposed as he curiously scanned the surroundings.

"This should be the place."

Uchiha Obito nodded grimly.

When that battle had broken out, the White Zetsu monitoring the Uchiha Clan Compound had swiftly relayed the information.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen and a large number of Konoha ninja had been about to arrive at the scene, including many sensory-type ninja.

Uchiha Obito had not dared approach rashly and could only observe quietly from afar.

He had only appeared to investigate after everyone had left and he had confirmed there were no hidden dangers.

"Madara, there's a strange power lingering here. My body is gradually becoming weird..."

White Zetsu twisted his body in the soil. Everything felt itchy, but he could not scratch it.

Obito shot him a cold glance.

"It should be Uchiha Mirai's ability. Have you forgotten? During the Third Shinobi World War, quite a few of your clones mutated into deformities."

White Zetsu suddenly understood.

When the Third Shinobi World War broke out, Uchiha Mirai had risen to prominence, becoming known alongside Namikaze Minato as the Konoha Twin Heroes.

Madara, who had not yet died at the time, had developed an intense curiosity about Uchiha Mirai's abilities.

Thus, he had sent out many White Zetsu to monitor him.

Then something strange happened. Without exception, all those White Zetsu turned into deformities, sprouting all sorts of bizarre things.

This made Madara, in the cavern of the Land of Grass, even more curious about Uchiha Mirai. He had even ordered them to obtain a sample of Uchiha Mirai's poison for research.

For some reason, White Zetsu remembered that from that day onward, Madara's body had suddenly grown much weaker.

He would cough and get nosebleeds from time to time, and his hair fell out in clumps...

After explaining his final arrangements to Obito, he croaked before he even had time to pull out the tubes.

Thinking of that, White Zetsu became fearful. He burrowed into the earth until only his eyes remained above the surface, peeking around furtively.

He did not want a bunch of strange things growing out of his body.

Obito let out a cold laugh.

"Looks like the Uchiha and Konoha have reached the final step."

Although he had not personally witnessed the confrontation between Uchiha Mirai and Sarutobi Hiruzen, it was obvious that after something like this had happened, Konoha and the Uchiha could no longer maintain things as they had before.

A battle was bound to break out.

The current calm was merely the prelude to the coming storm.

"Madara, what do you plan to do?"

White Zetsu remained buried in the earth, looking at him with only his eyes exposed.

Obito had coveted his clansmen's Sharingan for a long time.

He would definitely want a share of this.

"Although the Uchiha are not weak, the gap between them and Konoha is still far too great. If a battle truly breaks out, the Uchiha Clan will not escape destruction."

"I originally thought this outcome would be delayed for quite some time. I never expected it to come so soon."

Obito's visible eye was profound beneath his mask.

If he wanted a share, he would need the support of an Uchiha insider.

He had originally chosen Fugaku's eldest son, Uchiha Itachi.

With his talent, a little guidance would have made awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan no difficult task.

His personality also made him an easy target to control.

But Uchiha Mirai had disrupted that plan. The current Itachi was no longer someone he could control.

That left...

Only Uchiha Shisui.

Obito's gaze deepened.

Shisui was undoubtedly a double agent for both Konoha and the Uchiha. Caught between the village and his clan, he was bound to be utterly lost.

This might be an opportunity.

As long as he could draw him to his side...

Obito sneered.