Madara Uchiha

Chapter 17... Madara Uchiha

On the second day after the shoe had finally dropped, an expanded meeting was held in a conference room at the Hokage Tower. Besides Konoha's four senior leaders, the attendees included the heads of three ninja clans—the Ino–Shika–Cho Trio. All of them were staunch supporters of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The topic of the meeting was:

How should they deal with the Uchiha Rebellion?

"How else? Fight! Wasn't the reason we recalled so many ninja and suspended outside commissions to prepare for this mess?"

"Sarutobi, I think we can start making preparations."

The Third Hokage nodded. Peace was nowhere in sight; what came next naturally called for thunderous measures. He looked toward the man beside him.

"Shikaku, report on the progress of the battle plan preparations."

"Yes, Lord Hokage! Please take a look, everyone. This is the contingency plan devised to prevent an Uchiha Rebellion. After confirming news of the rebellion, the relevant actions actually began last night."

"All Jonin in the village have been notified under the pretext of drills. Every ANBU squad has completed its withdrawal and entered deployment status. The entertainers will arrive two days early. Apart from residents drawn to the opera house, the small number remaining at home will also be properly relocated. All traps will be set within two days."

"Based on the comparison of enemy and allied forces, once the Uchiha Rebellion begins, the battle is expected to end within three hours. Two of those hours will likely be street fighting within the Uchiha District, and no damage will be inflicted upon other external facilities."

The people in the room studied the deployment list on the blueprint for a moment. Most nodded in approval, but Utatane Koharu frowned and raised an objection. She felt that relocating the nearby residents might alert the Uchiha Clan in advance and lead to unforeseen circumstances.

For example, they might rebel early and catch everyone in Konoha off guard.

"I think so too." Mitokado Homura nodded.

They were considering the larger picture. Compared to the deaths of a few residents, Konoha's overall safety was clearly more important.

Moreover, those nearby residents already had close ties to the Uchiha Clan. They might suffer casualties then, but ultimately, that would still be caused by the Uchiha Clan's rebellion. This battle had not been started by Konoha, and Konoha did not need to bear moral responsibility for consequences unrelated to its own actions.

Danzo likewise expressed his tacit approval.

Seeing that no one else had any objections, Sarutobi nodded at Shikaku.

"Revise it as they suggested."

Shikaku crossed out the section concerning resident relocation.

Other than that, everyone was fairly satisfied with the battle plan. There were no other apparent oversights.

They had guarded against the Uchiha Clan for so many years that both sides knew each other well. Konoha finally had the chance to bring out its hidden trump cards. The enemy was exposed while they remained concealed; they were prepared while the enemy was not. The Uchiha Clan could not stir up much trouble. The only question was how great a price Konoha was willing to pay for victory.

As the high-level meeting was about to end, the doors opened. Jonin and ANBU captains responsible for carrying out the specific battle plan were permitted to enter. Sarutobi slowly rose to his feet, looked over everyone present, and delivered his final declaration.

"I must state once again that this battle is not about annihilating the enemy, but punishing evil and preserving Konoha's stability. A small number of ambitious individuals have bewitched the Uchiha Clan and driven them toward treason. We must show them Konoha's strength and resolve, so as to warn others."

"However, throughout this process, we must still minimize harm to innocents, especially casualties among women and children. This is the moral principle we must uphold as ninja."

"The Uchiha Clan has, after all, rendered service to Konoha. That things have reached this point is a failure on my part as Hokage. For Konoha, this is also a painful trial. I hope that after this battle, we can find a way to rebuild peace, that they can return from the wrong path, and that together we can make Konoha more united, so that such tragedies never happen again."

His voice echoed through the room, and the young Jonin and ANBU captains wore resolute expressions.

Danzo, however, smiled disdainfully.

When it came to a leader's sanctimonious facade, he truly could not compare to Sarutobi.

As for the deal between him and Itachi Uchiha, Sarutobi had not brought it up for discussion at the meeting. That was only natural. After all, if Konoha's entire leadership expected an Uchiha traitor to single-handedly resolve the Uchiha crisis, that would be both incredibly rash and irresponsible toward Konoha as a whole.

In warfare, there was always the orthodox and the unorthodox. Itachi Uchiha was the unorthodox move. In Sarutobi's view, if it worked, all the better—the overall losses to Konoha could be reduced to a minimum. If it did not, that was fine as well. They could simply decide victory and defeat in an open, honorable battle.

Next came the time for the Third Hokage to discuss specific matters with the Jonin and ANBU captains. Danzo was about to leave when he suddenly paused. He turned to glance at those people, but failed to find the familiar figure he was looking for. Unable to stop himself, he asked:

"Where is Ning Qi?"

Everyone looked at him, but no one answered.

As the Root squad captain tasked with monitoring the Uchiha Clan, he had not appeared among those summoned.

Ning Qi had disappeared.

Danzo quickly realized this.

There had been no explanation. He had vanished since last night.

"Will that Ning Qi leak anything?" Utatane Koharu, who had already reached the doorway, turned back with a frown upon hearing the question.

Disappearing at such a critical moment?

Danzo recalled the moment Ning Qi had proposed framing the Uchiha Clan to him in Root.

No.

He could not possibly be an Uchiha.

Danzo shook his head.

"He probably will not leak anything. He is from the Hyuga Branch Family."

Then it did not matter.

He was just an insignificant member of the branch family.

"Perhaps he was caught by the mastermind who has been specifically targeting the branch family." Even Utatane Koharu had heard a little about the recent misfortunes suffered by the Hyuga Branch Family. The other party's intent in targeting only members of the Hyuga Branch Family was utterly incomprehensible.

After the important figures discussed it for a while, they decided it should have no major impact on the established plan and left.

Informing the Hyuga Main Family and assigning an ANBU agent to investigate his whereabouts were already the greatest importance Ning Qi held in the minds of these senior officials.

The meeting in the room continued.

Shikaku reiterated the precautions for fighting the Uchiha Clan to the leaders of every group.

Kakashi stood among the crowd and withdrew his gaze from the direction Danzo and the others had departed.

Konoha's Twin Prodigies, Itachi Uchiha and Ning Qi Hyuga, were famous throughout the village thanks to their genius and unusual backgrounds. Thus, it was understandable that Itachi was absent due to his identity. But Ning Qi's absence, coupled with the likelihood that he had already met with misfortune, was still rather shocking.

After the battle meeting ended, people left one after another. Kakashi was near the back of the line when a carrier pigeon flew in through the window and landed before the Third Hokage.

When the letter was opened, Kakashi clearly saw Lord Hokage's originally calm expression turn uncertain and alarmed in an instant.

He was curious about what the paper said, but Shikaku directly pushed him out.

As he left, he vaguely heard the usually composed Hokage say:

"Ning Qi found out..."

"...the murderer behind the branch family..."

"Madara Uchiha!"

Has everyone guessed what Ning Qi intended to do?