The Compromising Hokage

Ten-year-old Uchiha Yansheng argued with Konoha Village's Hokage, the two of them clashing over every conceivable interest.

Beside Uchiha Yansheng stood the Uchiha Clan's current strongest member and its clan head. Both were playing ostrich, wishing they could bury their heads in the sand.

For the two of them, perhaps this was the best possible outcome.

Of course, Danzo Shimura remained silent as well.

Danzo Shimura looked utterly miserable. Not only had he lost his right arm and right eye, but his body was covered in small wounds. Though the bleeding had stopped, the intermittent stabbing pain was still difficult for him to endure.

But what angered Danzo Shimura even more were Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Yansheng.

With just a few words between them, the two had redrawn the entire structure of Konoha Village. From time to time, they even broke into fierce arguments over trivial details.

At that moment, it was as though Uchiha Yansheng had never doubted whether Hiruzen Sarutobi would honor his promise. It was also as though Hiruzen Sarutobi had never doubted whether Uchiha Yansheng could represent the entire Uchiha Clan.

In short, the scene possessed an exceptionally strange sort of harmony.

The discussion continued until late into the night.

Only then did Uchiha Yansheng and the other two finally leave the Hokage's office.

By then, bustling Konoha Village had begun to quiet down. Beneath the dim streetlights, the three of their shadows stretched long behind them.

"I never expected the Hokage to agree to all of your demands."

"Yansheng, with this, the relationship between our clan and the village should improve quite a bit, right?"

Once they had reached a deserted place, Shisui Uchiha could no longer hold himself back and spoke.

Hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha seemed to recall something, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Uchiha Yansheng, meanwhile, cast Fugaku Uchiha a sidelong glance before speaking. "No."

"Our relationship with the village has grown worse. We have practically reached the point of becoming mortal enemies."

"Unless the Uchiha Clan can remain overwhelmingly strong forever, as long as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura are alive, they will continue testing and targeting us until we disappear completely."

Shisui Uchiha could not accept these words, much less believe them.

"No! Impossible. This is just your imagination, isn't it? How could the Hokage possibly...?"

In truth, Shisui Uchiha had vaguely sensed something as well. Otherwise, he would not have awakened such eyes.

Unfortunately, those eyes had appeared to bring about change, yet their owner had set his sights on changing something else.

"Next, Hiruzen Sarutobi will probably try to win over you and Itachi Uchiha. I do not know what he will say to the two of you, but I hope you are not foolish enough to betray your own clan."

"If I find out that you have, I will not show mercy."

Uchiha Yansheng did not explain further. He did not truly know the future, and those so-called plot developments were no longer very useful as a reference.

But it did not matter. So long as he possessed enough strength, every conspiracy would be nothing more than a paper tiger.

"Shisui, leave the clan's affairs to Yansheng. I will announce that Yansheng is becoming a new elder. Once he comes of age, he will succeed me as clan head."

Fugaku Uchiha did not know what he had been thinking about, but he suddenly said this.

Uchiha Yansheng did not refuse.

He did not want to manage affairs, but the status of an elder could save him a great deal of trouble.

After Uchiha Yansheng and the others left, a renovation crew that had been waiting for a long time swiftly began repairing the Hokage's office under ANBU surveillance.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura, after leaving the Hokage Building, they went to an utterly ordinary house in the village and remained there for quite some time.

This seemingly ordinary residence housed two Nine-Tails jinchuriki, as well as the still-unconscious Fourth Hokage.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi obtained enough information from Kushina Uzumaki, his attitude finally became much firmer, and he forced Danzo Shimura to hand over Root's personnel roster and experimental records.

However, after reading only two pages of those cruel human experiments, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer bear to continue.

Because of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura erupted into a fierce argument.

Yet in the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi still chose to keep avoiding the issue, merely restricting some of Root's activities. As for the innocent lives that had died miserably at the hands of Root shinobi, naturally, no one cared.

Root did not merely target ordinary people. Quite a few of Konoha Village's own shinobi were involved as well.

Even Root shinobi who had devoted their entire lives to Konoha would be disposed of without condition if there was even the slightest possibility of betrayal.

Under the banner of noble ideals, it forcibly compelled others to sacrifice themselves.

That was Konoha Village's Root. It believed it was providing nourishment for Konoha's great tree, but in truth, it was ceaselessly devouring the tree's nutrients.

And the Hokage, who should have stopped all of it, chose compromise every single time.

The next day, the entire structure of Konoha Village changed.

The Uchiha Clan's duties were partially reassigned, and the compensation funds that had been withheld for relocating the clan grounds were fully delivered that same day.

At the same time, a large number of idle Uchiha Clan experts dispersed throughout Konoha Village and began carrying out missions.

Before long, the entire shinobi world witnessed the Uchiha Clan's strength once again. The major shinobi villages began dispatching spies to Konoha Village, hoping to discover why the Uchiha Clan's attitude had changed.

Meanwhile, the Uchiha Clan restored a tradition from the Warring States period, establishing a Purge Squad composed of Three-Tomoe Sharingan users.

The Purge Squad's targets were naturally all organizations coveting the power of the Sharingan.

This Purge Squad had only ten members, but with the power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, it feared no organization in the world.

Yes, that was right. Even against the Five Great Shinobi Villages, ten experts with Three-Tomoe Sharingan were enough to pose a certain threat.

On the battlefield, every Uchiha Clan member with a Sharingan required at least three opponents of the same level for victory to be assured.

This squad could be considered a selection of the Uchiha Clan's strongest members. No force dared to overlook its combat strength.

During the Warring States period, this squad, which gathered nearly half of the Uchiha Clan's strength, had been what allowed the clan to dominate the shinobi world.

Now, it had become the confidence with which they could openly keep Konoha Village in check.

For this reason, Uchiha Yansheng deliberately revealed a portion of his strength, becoming the squad's captain and sending it out of Konoha Village to openly carry out various missions.

Ordinary shinobi who accepted missions privately should have been regarded as rogue shinobi.

Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi acted as though he saw nothing of the Uchiha Clan's actions, continuing to work hard to maintain that false peace.

Unfortunately, he could endure it, but some people could not.