The Third Hokage's Schemes

Root Base.

Danzo, the darkness of Konoha, had always hidden underground.

Originally an ANBU training camp, Root had gradually become Danzo's private claws.

Konoha needed to handle certain unsavory matters as well, so the Third Hokage had tacitly permitted all of this.

Amid the flickering candlelight, Danzo groaned and woke up.

Feeling the surging ocular power in his right eye, he revealed a satisfied smile.

It wasn't for nothing that I acted first. With this eye, there is much more I can do.

"Someone."

"Yes, Lord Danzo." A Root member in a gray robe appeared at the door.

"Has there been any movement from the Uchiha?"

"Reporting to you, sir, the Uchiha held their gathering as usual, but made no other moves."

"Mm..." Danzo paused.

"Have you found Uchiha Shisui?"

"Not yet. However, we have set up surveillance around the Uchiha Clan Compound. Shisui has not returned to the clan."

Danzo snapped, "Useless fools! Keep looking! I want to see him dead or alive!"

"Yes!"

Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage, wearing his Hokage hat, stood by the window, the ember in his pipe flickering uncertainly.

"Phew..." The Third Hokage slowly exhaled a mouthful of smoke. Through the swirling white haze, his face shifted between light and shadow.

When he had placed Minato in the position of Hokage, he had hoped Minato would inherit the Will of Fire while balancing the various forces within the village.

Unfortunately, Minato had died too soon, disrupting all his plans.

To keep the position of Hokage from falling into the hands of someone as dangerous as Orochimaru, he had no choice but to return.

Fortunately, though Danzo and Fugaku each had their own calculations, both remained under his control.

"Lord Hokage, the Uchiha held their gathering as usual, but Itachi and Shisui are still missing."

"Root's people are continuously searching for them."

An ANBU wearing a fox mask flashed into the Hokage's Office and reported in a low voice.

The Third Hokage removed his pipe and tapped it twice against the window frame.

"Danzo apparently clashed with Shisui today. We must find out what happened between them."

"Itachi and Shisui should not have returned to the clan compound yet. Find them before Root does and bring them here."

"Yes!"

"Yes, this subordinate takes his leave."

With that, the ANBU flashed away and vanished from the Hokage's Office.

Although Danzo was a blade in the Third Hokage's hand, the Third Hokage would not directly give him orders.

Instead, he would use hints or guidance to make Danzo act.

That way, he could perfectly distance himself as Hokage from the matter. If necessary afterward, he could even reap some prestige from it.

The Third Hokage walked around to the Hokage's desk and picked up a stack of documents.

They contained the personal files of every Uchiha hardliner.

His gaze swept over the files of Uchiha Yashiro, Tekka, and Inabi one by one before finally landing on the last young face.

"Uchiha Zhengye..."

The Third Hokage spoke the name, gently turning his pipe between his fingers.

"Two months ago, Fugaku stripped him of his clan position, yet his reputation among the radicals rose greatly because of it."

He paused. "Interesting."

"I need to keep an eye on this person."

Seeing Shisui in such agony, Inabi and Tekka, who had originally disliked him, no longer blamed him.

"Painful? I have gone through this kind of pain far too many times."

Zhengye pointed toward the clan compound, where corpses lay strewn everywhere.

"To learn more information, I watched my clansmen die before my eyes again and again."

Shisui's remaining eye was bloodshot as he looked toward Zhengye. He had never expected Zhengye to have experienced this so many times already.

"Who gave the order to destroy our Uchiha Clan?"

Inabi asked in a deep voice.

Zhengye pointed at the Root members advancing from outside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"The Third Hokage permitted it, Danzo gave the order, and Itachi even found himself a helper. Oh, right—Izumi was also killed by the helper you found."

Eleven-year-old Itachi shuddered. Ignoring his future self's continued slaughter, he ran toward the Uchiha Police Force.

Zhengye and the others followed behind him.

Very soon, the five of them saw Obito, wearing a tiger-striped mask and posing as Uchiha Madara, slaughtering people freely inside the Police Force building as though entering an empty space.

Then Izumi arrived and ran straight into Obito.

Obito bound Izumi with chains, her hands cinched until they turned purple. Her face was covered in tears, but she screamed herself hoarse.

"Save me... Itachi... save me!"

Eleven-year-old Itachi suddenly reached out—but his arm passed through her, unable to grasp anything.

Obito's blade fell.

Izumi's cries stopped abruptly.

Blood splattered across the wall as her body slowly slid down, her eyes still open as they gazed in Itachi's direction.

Eleven-year-old Itachi froze.

He stared at those lifeless eyes, his lips moving twice, yet he could not say a single word.

"Damn it! Who is this guy!?"

Inabi and Tekka glared furiously at Obito as he slaughtered without restraint.

Zhengye shook his head. "I don't know his true identity, but every time I saw this, he was impersonating Uchiha Madara."

Inabi and Tekka both looked stunned. Uchiha Madara had been dead for so many years, yet someone actually wanted to impersonate him.

Tekka looked around. "Where is Clan Head Fugaku? With the clan facing such a disaster, he should be organizing people to resist, shouldn't he?"

"Why haven't we seen him at all?"

"Fugaku?" A strange smile appeared on Zhengye's face.

"Come on. Let's see what our dear clan head is doing."

Though they found Zhengye's expression mocking, they immediately followed him toward Uchiha Fugaku's residence.

Along the way, they saw Root purging other clansmen, while some ANBU encircled the clan compound from farther outside.

Their expressions were grim, but none of them spoke.

Because they could pass through walls, they moved extremely quickly.

When they arrived,

they happened to see thirteen-year-old Itachi walk in through the door.

"Could Itachi have stopped Clan Head Fugaku!?" Tekka asked doubtfully.

Zhengye said nothing, merely leading them through the wall and into the bedroom.

Then...

they saw Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto in their sleepwear.

"...I don't want to kill each other with my son."

"Father, Mother..."

"I understand, Itachi."

"Itachi, promise me one last thing. Sasuke is in your hands."

Thirteen-year-old Itachi raised his blade with tears in his eyes.

Tekka was nearly driven mad with rage!

"What are you doing!? Clan Head Fugaku! Your clansmen are still being slaughtered, yet you're just waiting to die!?"

"Damn it!"

Inabi reached out, but his hand merely passed through them in vain.

Tekka hurriedly grabbed Inabi. "Inabi, calm down!"

Veins bulged on Inabi's forehead as he struggled desperately and kept roaring.

"How am I supposed to calm down!? Our clansmen are being slaughtered, and he is actually killing himself like such a coward."

Fugaku knelt in the shadows, with no anger on his face—only an almost numb calm.

Seeing that Itachi could not bring himself to act for a long time, Fugaku comforted him.

"Don't be afraid. This is the path you chose, isn't it?"

"Compared to yours, our suffering will end in an instant."

"Though we think differently, you are still my pride. You truly are a kind child."

Inabi could no longer endure it. He punched through the illusory wall.

Tekka held him tightly, his own eyes red as well.

"Bastard! Coward! Your clansmen are still being slaughtered, and you're actually praising him as 'a good child'!?"

Watching this absurd scene, Inabi's eyes turned crimson. The bloodshot veins in them spread continuously as his three tomoe spun rapidly.

"Fugaku! You damned bastard! You don't deserve to be clan head!"

"AAAAAH—!"

Inabi's roar echoed through the illusory space.

His eyes seemed scorched by flames as the three tomoe spun faster and faster—until they could no longer be distinguished from one another.

Ocular power surged from his body like a flood, forcing even Tekka beside him back a step beneath the pressure.

The paths of the tomoe gradually changed. The three linked end to end, finally solidifying into three intersecting rings.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

Amid ultimate rage and despair, it awakened.

Zhengye stared fixedly at the pattern in Inabi's eyes, his heartbeat suddenly accelerating.

Just as I thought... just as I thought!

Three intersecting rings slowly rotated in Inabi's eyes, radiating an ominous red glow.

Tekka stared at him blankly. "Inabi... you..."

Shisui also turned his head. Inabi's Mangekyō pattern was reflected in his lone eye. His lips moved, but he said nothing.

Zhengye took a deep breath and patted Inabi on the shoulder.

"Calm down. Your eyes... will still be useful later."

Inabi's breathing gradually steadied, but the three rings did not disappear.

In his eyes, an unextinguished fury still burned.