Hatake Sakumo had suspected something ever since Danzo defected, but too much had happened in Konoha since then.
He had never seriously considered the matter. This time, despite his suspicions, Danzo had appeared in the Land of Rivers. Konoha had to send someone to investigate.
The ANBU mobilized quickly. Five four-person squads set out for the Land of Rivers in succession, while other ninja headed straight for the Land of Rain and the Land of Birds. Sakumo intended to surround Danzo in the Land of Rivers.
As the ANBU moved, Fugaku began to act as well. One reason he had arranged for Danzo to reappear in the Shinobi World was to weaken Hatake Sakumo's strength within the ANBU.
More precisely, he wanted to diminish Sakumo's standing in Konoha. It was already Konoha Year 36, and Fugaku believed it was time to lay the groundwork for the contest over the Hokage position.
Fugaku intended to back Minato as a transitional Hokage. By the following generation, the Uchiha would have produced several true prodigies.
Obito Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha were both promising candidates. Fugaku did not mind that Shisui always put the village before the clan.
As long as Shisui treated the Uchiha fairly, the clan could rise. Both he and Obito possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Once they matured, both would become pillars of the village. If neither worked out, Itachi Uchiha could succeed them.
The generation after that would have Naruto and Sasuke. Those two could compete for the position. That was how Fugaku envisioned the future.
Give the Uchiha a fair chance to compete, and the clan would gradually grow stronger even without Fugaku's involvement.
If the transition succeeded, the plans and climate of suppression that the Second and Third Hokage had built around the Uchiha clan would vanish.
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