So It's Settled

The temporarily built meeting room was sparsely furnished.

Hitoshi Hyuga followed local custom and simply greeted the worried-looking elderly man with, "Hello, Old Village Chief," before casually finding a seat and waiting for the meeting to begin.

But the words "Old Village Chief" clearly made Sarutobi Hiruzen frown.

To be fair, he seemed never to have heard this man say the words "Hokage-sama."

The Hyuga Clan.

The Old Village Chief narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering slightly as he looked at Clan Head Hitoshi.

Ever since this man had taken office, the Hyuga Clan's stance within the village had begun to waver.

The importance of a meeting after a disaster went without saying.

Thus, aside from the Old Village Chief and his old partners, the clan heads of the other clans and every prominent shinobi in the village had all arrived.

Even so, the room still felt somewhat empty.

Besides the departure of the Legendary Sannin, the main reason was that last night's Nine-Tails Attack had also caused a minor reshuffling among the upper ranks. What had once been the First Shinobi Village now looked somewhat strong on the outside but weak within.

"I trust everyone knows the cause of this incident."

The first to speak was not the Third Hokage, the Old Village Chief, but Utatane Koharu, the village advisor with whom he shared a close relationship.

After listening for a while, Hitoshi Hyuga understood.

These words had most likely been spoken under the Third's instruction.

There was no other reason.

This woman had already set her sights on the innocent-looking Brother Fugaku.

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki gave birth, weakening herself and loosening the seal, which allowed someone with ill intent to exploit the situation and cause this disaster."

Utatane Koharu's tone was cold, carrying the implication that Kushina, as a Jinchuriki, had failed to recognize her own circumstances and insisted on having a child, thereby bringing disaster upon the village.

A Jinchuriki should just hold it in. Why insist on having a child?

Would it kill her to endure it?

If you hadn't insisted on having a child, Konoha would never have suffered such a catastrophe!

That was probably the village advisor's true thinking, and her resentment would likely extend to the infant as well.

She might even deliberately spread rumors, publicly declaring what the child's existence represented.

She might well have had a hand in Naruto's unhappy childhood.

But.

Who had insisted on making Kushina a Jinchuriki in the first place?

It seemed no one in the village had asked for her opinion, either.

Hitoshi Hyuga sneered and performed a tactical lean back, treating the previous words as nothing more than an old dog farting.

His action made Utatane Koharu frown slightly.

But she said nothing. Compared to the Hyuga Clan, there was a more pressing target before her.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Uchiha Fugaku.

"According to several witnesses, tomoe appeared in the Nine-Tails' eyes during the early stages of its descent."

"And in the Shinobi World, the only ones capable of such a thing..."

Were the Uchiha!

The Sharingan's ocular powers could control the Nine-Tails!

Quite a few people present had lived through That Era. Even if they had not experienced it themselves, their clans had records of the battle at the Valley of the End.

Uchiha Madara had once used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and fought Hashirama Senju in a battle that redrew the map!

At this moment.

As everyone turned their eyes toward Uchiha Fugaku, Brother Fugaku instantly understood Utatane Koharu's unspoken meaning.

The Uchiha had been unwilling to submit to the village, so they had controlled the Nine-Tails last night in retaliation. They were the masterminds behind this disaster!

It was not hard to imagine that once the meeting ended, such rumors would surely spread throughout the village.

This was blatant blame-shifting!

And the Uchiha would be the ones saddled with the blame and forced to bear the villagers' anger!

After suffering such a calamity, everyone needed someone to blame.

The Uchiha were the most suitable choice.

All of this had been destined.

His expression shifting repeatedly, Brother Fugaku's intelligence reclaimed the high ground, and he abruptly awoke from his dream of competing for the Hokage Position.

With a simple analysis, he understood the true purpose of this meeting.

The Hokage Position?

It had nothing to do with the Uchiha anymore.

The Ultimate Goal of this meeting was probably to share the blame!

Even if everyone present understood that this matter likely had little to do with Konoha's Uchiha Clan, after all, from the guards to those in the know, everything concerning the Jinchuriki's delivery had been handled by the Hokage Lineage.

The Uchiha Clan had not even known that the Jinchuriki was giving birth yesterday.

The one responsible for caring for Kushina had been Biwako, the Old Village Chief's wife. After delivering the baby last night, the village chief's wife had gotten angry and died as well.

More ridiculously, the entire Uchiha Clan had been ordered not to approach the center of the battle at the time. They had been assigned to protect noncombatants and had been unable to interfere throughout the entire incident. Didn't Fugaku only now realize that the Nine-Tails had gone berserk because it was controlled by the Sharingan?

It was utterly frustrating and unjust!

But even so, the Uchiha had no choice but to shoulder this blame.

Because the entire village had seen the scarlet, spinning Three Tomoe within the Nine-Tails' pupils.

Shouldering this blame also meant that the Uchiha Clan had already withdrawn from the competition for the Hokage Position.

In addition, once the contents of the high-level meeting spread, even worse consequences would follow the Uchiha Clan.

Just as expected of you.

Third Hokage.

Having figured everything out, fury blazed in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes as he stared fixedly at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Fine.

After Namikaze Minato took office, the conciliatory measures he had used to win over the Uchiha had made Fugaku forget the Third Village Chief and Konoha's upper ranks' attitude toward the Uchiha!

No wonder he had smelled that familiar stench of ruthlessly cracking down on one's own people the moment he entered.

The smell was foul and rancid, no different from the meetings held during the Third's reign!

Earlier, he had wondered whether this meeting room had been built over a cesspit. Thinking about it now, he really had been slow!

In short, the Uchiha could not escape this blame.

But Brother Fugaku clearly still wanted to struggle. His expression turned solemn as he slapped the table, interrupting Utatane Koharu before she could continue, then stood up.

He had no choice but to struggle. That old hag had just mentioned relocating the Uchiha Clan!

If they really moved to the new clan grounds, the clansmen would never accept it. It was already difficult enough for him to suppress those crazy people who wanted to rebel. Wasn't the upper brass just adding fuel to the fire?

"The Uchiha have never had any intention of retaliating against the village. Using the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails is even more absurd!"

"Last night, our clan did not even participate in surrounding the Nine-Tails. From beginning to end, we..."

He argued his case with reason.

But his isolated and helpless appearance made everyone except Hitoshi Hyuga sneer inwardly.

Yes.

They all watched coldly as Uchiha Fugaku took the blame.

But Hitoshi was thinking of something else.

If the Third lived a long life and refused to die, the Uchiha's fate would be everyone present's tomorrow.

It was laughable that these people watched coldly, never realizing that.

But as someone familiar with the original work, Hitoshi Hyuga instead felt a sense of sorrow at the fate shared by the rabbit and the fox.

Just like in the original work, when Hizashi Hyuga had been forced to commit suicide, no one had stepped forward. The people in this village were cold to the extreme.

And the cause of that incident had been even more absurd, one that called even more for everyone to unite against an external enemy. Sadly...

At that thought.

Hitoshi Hyuga let out a breath. He raised his head and looked at Brother Fugaku, whose face had turned red as he struggled to hold back what looked like an urge to curse.

"The Uchiha have rendered countless services to the village. Their efforts in the recent war are even clearer for all to see."

"I believe this disaster has nothing to do with Konoha's Uchiha Clan."

Mm, the key phrase was Konoha's Uchiha Clan.

There was nothing wrong with what he said. As for Mr. Obito, who could ruthlessly attack his master and mistress, he was not included~

Good brother!

Fugaku was deeply moved. If there had not been outsiders present, he would have gone over and given Brother Hitoshi a warm embrace.

But compared to his own embrace, Brother Hitoshi seemed to prefer the cream puffs made by his sister-in-law, didn't he? He would definitely have Mikoto personally visit later to express their gratitude!

"Hmph! Since Clan Head Hitoshi Hyuga trusts the Uchiha so much, why not relocate the Hyuga Clan's new clan grounds and keep the Uchiha company?"

The Old Village Chief's advisor spoke with a strong note of threat in her voice.

The Uchiha had already been thoroughly kicked out of the Center of Power, and their clan grounds were even to be relocated to the Edge of Konoha. Did the Hyuga Clan want to go there as well?

The words were unpleasant, but the Old Village Chief did not stop her. His gaze flickered slightly as he looked at Hitoshi Hyuga.

Based on the Hyuga Clan's usual habit of preserving itself, this brat should have known better and turned his spear toward the Uchiha.

Unfortunately.

When the shinobi looked at Hitoshi Hyuga, the man froze on the spot. Then, wearing an extremely awkward expression, he nodded with all his strength before rising and rushing toward Mitokado Homura.

Just as Mitokado Homura recoiled in terror, afraid that the Hyuga Clan Head would lash out and hit someone in anger, the fellow directly snatched Konoha's reconstruction planning map and pointed at the blank area beside the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

"Then it's settled!"

Whoever tried to take this auspicious place from him, Hitoshi Hyuga would fight them!

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