With the Fourth's sacrifice and the Third returning to power, the Uchiha Clan, which had gone all in on the Fourth Hokage, would become a complete thorn in the Third Hokage's side.
That was why, only a few years after the Fourth Hokage's death, the Uchiha Clan was exterminated.
Uchiha Shisui's death was merely the fuse.
Uchiha Kyu could have chosen to ensure the Fourth Hokage survived, but the Fourth Hokage himself belonged to the Hokage faction.
After all, Minato Namikaze was the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's grand-disciple and Jiraiya's most valued personal student.
It was precisely because of this that Uchiha Kyu had nothing but contempt for Fugaku Uchiha's decision.
So what made Fugaku Uchiha naïvely believe that the direct grand-disciple of the esteemed Hokage faction would wholeheartedly help the Uchiha Clan change its current situation?
In the end, they would merely climb out of one pit with great difficulty, only to jump into another.
Their positions had been determined from the very beginning. Even if Minato Namikaze had not died, Fugaku Uchiha's investment was destined to end in failure.
Now that he had the Flying Thunder God Technique, even if Minato Namikaze personally made a move, he could remain undefeated.
There were simply too few ways in the Naruto World to counter spatial ninjutsu.
Other than spatial ninjutsu itself, the only forbidden technique capable of countering spatial ninjutsu was Sealing Jutsu.
The Uzumaki Clan, the Shinobi World's greatest experts in Sealing Jutsu, had already been wiped out. Kushina Uzumaki was also about to enter the Death God's embrace, and the few remaining stragglers were nothing to worry about.
Once he mastered the Five Elements Seal, even if he completely fell out with Konoha's higher-ups, he would have the ability to flip the board. At worst, he could release the Nine-Tails and purge Konoha all over again.
As for the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, it was a forbidden Death God sealing technique that meant mutual destruction. Not only did it take far too long to prepare, but it also forcibly traded one life for one life. There was no need to learn it.
In the scroll's description, Orochimaru had specifically annotated several important points. The Flying Thunder God valued aptitude above all else.
It was not difficult to see from those annotations how regretful and unwilling Orochimaru had been when he discovered that his aptitude was insufficient while learning the Flying Thunder God.
But for Uchiha Kyu, there was no such threshold.
He only needed a beginning. After reading the complete version of the Flying Thunder God, he immediately unlocked the Flying Thunder God skill progress bar and sensed the spatial fluctuations that countless people yearned for.
With no one interfering, Uchiha Kyu trained in the Flying Thunder God Technique as its progress bar slowly increased.
Meanwhile, at the Uchiha Police Force.
The civilians Uchiha Kyu had ordered forcibly imprisoned in the cells were released by Uchiha Kanta, Fugaku Uchiha's confidant.
Fugaku Uchiha was the clan head, after all. Even if Huo Uchiha had wanted to stop him, he could only obey the clan head's authoritative orders.
Huo Uchiha stood quietly in an unnoticed corner, watching Uchiha Kanta politely see off the civilians and even promise them compensation. A trace of helplessness arose in his heart.
Even if those civilians received compensation, they would only be grateful to the Hokage they spoke of, not the Uchiha Clan. On the contrary, their attitude toward the Uchiha would only grow worse.
It was a textbook case of offering a warm face to a cold shoulder—putting in effort only to gain nothing.
The moment Uchiha Kanta arrived, Huo Uchiha had sent someone to notify Uchiha Kyu, only to receive four words in reply: do not interfere.
Uchiha Kyu's target had never been those so-called civilians. Whether they were released or not would not affect the bigger picture in the slightest.
Everything Fugaku Uchiha did was completely pointless.
Hokage Office.
Bang!
Shimura Danzō forcibly pushed the door open, unable to hide the anger on his face.
"Hiruzen, this matter is definitely connected to the Uchiha Clan."
Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly smoked with a deeply furrowed brow. Smoke filled the room, obscuring the expression on his aged face.
Faced with his old friend Danzo's questioning, Hiruzen Sarutobi chose silence.
In fact, it was not only Shimura Danzō. Even the Ino–Shika–Cho, Hyuga Clan, Aburame Clan, and Inuzuka Clan had many young clan members go missing.
Not even the clans of the senior advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had been spared.
It was easy to see from this that Konoha's major clans had basically all been targeted. The disappearances had occurred at nearly the same time, suggesting a group operation. This was undoubtedly a premeditated, targeted missing-persons case.
Who dared provoke the tiger within Konoha Village? Were they truly unafraid of death?
Could it really be as Elder Danzo said, the work of the Uchiha Clan? If they had people missing as well, then why had they not reported it?
The clan heads whose households had suffered misfortune were all present. Every one of them wore a troubled expression, unsure how to explain things to the relatives of their missing clansmen.
"Elder Danzo, before the matter has been investigated, please do not casually slander our own people."
Minato Namikaze rested his crossed hands beneath his chin, and a shadow had fallen over his normally sunny, smiling face.
Before this matter was cleared up, he did not want to accuse anyone, not even the Uchiha Clan.
"Hmph, what is there to investigate? It is obvious that the Uchiha Clan secretly attacked us."
"Hiruzen, issue the order immediately and have Fugaku Uchiha brought here."
Shimura Danzō coldly glanced at the Fourth Hokage, then turned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi. His tone was gloomy, with suppressed fury beneath it.
In his eyes, the Fourth Hokage was nothing more than a puppet Hiruzen Sarutobi had put forward.
If the Third Shinobi World War had not severely damaged the village's fighting strength, and if he and Orochimaru had not secretly added fuel to the flames, Hiruzen Sarutobi would probably still be sitting in the Hokage's seat and would never have stepped down.
The Fourth Hokage could sit in the Hokage's position only because of him. He ought to be grateful, rather than opposing him time and again.
Although the clan heads of the other ninja families did not openly declare that the Uchiha were responsible, someone had taken the lead. Thus, everyone's gaze tacitly turned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Danzo, the Uchiha Clan is still Konoha's foremost clan. Do not casually suspect our own comrades."
"How about this? Minato, issue the order and have the Anbu invite Fugaku Uchiha here."
Seeing everyone's silent attitude, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally spoke.
If the Uchiha Clan had truly done this, did that mean they had already made up their minds to break with the village?
It was as though an unseen mastermind loomed over all of Konoha, manipulating everything that had happened.
Minato Namikaze obediently acknowledged the order and instructed Anbu members to deliver the summons.
Even at this point, the foolish Fugaku Uchiha was still fantasizing about how to ease the relationship between himself and Konoha's higher-ups, unaware that the relationship between the two sides could never be reconciled.
The Uchiha wanted to reclaim the status and authority that originally belonged to them, while Konoha's higher-ups refused to relinquish the power in their hands and feared that the Uchiha wanted even more—enough to threaten them.
Within a vast courtyard, beneath a cherry blossom tree, a respectful figure was reporting the situation at the Hokage Building to the calm young man before him.
When Uchiha Kyu heard that Fugaku Uchiha had obediently been invited to the Hokage Building, a triumphant smile appeared on his face.
"Pass down my order. Tell them to prepare themselves. The plan we have plotted for so long can now be carried out."
"Yes, sir."
A trace of barely suppressed excitement appeared in Uchiha Kage's respectful eyes.
Sitting cross-legged, Uchiha Kyu dipped a brush into ink and slowly set it upon a blank sheet of paper, venting the restlessness in his heart and making himself calmer and more composed.
Since arriving in this world, he had never worried about his own strength. He spent his idle moments cultivating his mind and character.
To deal with external threats, one must first settle internal affairs. Fugaku Uchiha had sat in the clan head's seat long enough. He was unworthy of the position, so it was time to replace him.
Beneath the cherry blossom tree, dancing petals swayed and rose with the wind.
As time passed, one Uchiha clansman after another appeared there. They stood respectfully, their Sharingan filled with fervent admiration as they looked at the figure ahead.
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