Two Paths

The room was quiet.

Inoichi looked down at the documents, the corner of his eye twitching.

Choza rubbed his stomach and said nothing.

On its own, any one of those documents might not have been enough to bring down the Three Clans for good.

But laid out together, they were another matter.

This was more than leverage.

It was a complete chain of evidence, enough to leave the Three Clans with nowhere to stand.

Shikaku closed the file and looked up at the young Hokage behind the desk.

"Lord Hokage, you've put a blade in my hand."

Uchiha En lifted his teacup and gently blew across the steaming surface.

"The blade was always in your hand."

He took a sip of tea.

"I'm just telling you it's time to draw it."

Shikaku did not smile.

He looked at the files, already able to guess how this would play out.

The Three Clans would either submit or be uprooted.

"Where did this intelligence come from?" Shikaku asked.

"The Ninja Cat Intelligence Network and the Bounty Office."

Uchiha En's tone was mild.

"The two networks corroborated each other. We've checked everything three times."

Shikaku's eyelid twitched.

The Ninja Cat Intelligence Network was a covert channel Uchiha En had set up long ago.

The Bounty Office, meanwhile, was the most overlooked source of information Konoha had, despite its reach throughout the Land of Fire.

Between those two networks, one covert and one out in the open, everything the Three Clans thought they had hidden so well had been peeled back layer by layer.

"If they'll negotiate, let them keep their dignity." Uchiha En set down his cup. "If they won't, use the second plan."

Shikaku glanced at him.

No one asked what the second plan was.

Everyone in the room knew it would