In Konoha: Starting with Three Choices

"Fugaku! You should know why, shouldn't you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. If the entire village hadn't still needed to rely on the Uchiha, he wouldn't even have wanted to speak to Uchiha Fugaku.

Uchiha Fugaku fell silent. "Is it because of Liuyun? But Liuyun had already left the Uchiha Clan by then!"

"Yes, Uchiha Liuyun left the Uchiha Clan, but he still came from your clan!"

"And with so many Konoha villagers dead, not to mention the ninja who died in battle, do you really think they don't harbor any resentment?"

"They simply don't dare voice it because of Liuyun. They don't want him coming to Konoha again!"

"So you've ended up taking the heat for him!"

Uchiha Fugaku fell silent again. Now he understood why the villagers looked at them with such conflicted expressions.

"Even if someone from your Uchiha Clan successfully becomes the Fifth Hokage, those villagers won't accept it!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi delivered another painful truth.

"Ah..." Uchiha Fugaku sighed, his face filled with dejection and anger. "Because our surname is Uchiha? Because we share Liuyun's name?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and took a deep drag from his pipe. "That's not all. There's also the matter of the Nine-Tails."

"When someone suddenly summoned the Nine-Tails back to Konoha, you don't honestly think the village's clans failed to recognize those eyes, do you?"

"But every member of the Uchiha Clan was in our compound at the time! Not a single one was outside. Our clan absolutely had nothing to do with it!"

Uchiha Fugaku frowned and hurried to explain.

"Except..."

"Except Liuyun, you mean? But with his strength, Liuyun would never resort to something so underhanded!"

"I asked Minato at the time. The person who attacked them wore a spiral mask and had an active Sharingan!"

"Whether that person belongs to