The glue that held them together

The Nine-Tails' Attack had ended. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was dead, as was his wife, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki. Minato Namikaze had sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox inside his own child. Konoha had suffered devastating losses, and the retired Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had no choice but to return to his post as the village's Kage.

For the Uchiha Clan, true darkness had finally arrived.

Under Danzo's plan, the Uchiha Clan was assigned to the outskirts of the village. From Uchiha Fugaku's expression as he announced the news to the clan, he was clearly deeply unhappy with the arrangement. Many conflicting opinions about the relocation arose within the Uchiha Clan as well.

While Uchiha Fugaku informed the Uchiha Clan of the news, Madara Uchiha stood quietly to one side, watching the fury on the clan members' faces.

Good. Very good. The fiercer their anger toward Konoha, the easier it would be for me to rally them around me.

After finally finishing his discussion with the clan about the relocation, Uchiha Fugaku spotted Madara Uchiha standing outside the Meeting Hall.

"Itachi, what do you think about the relocation?"

"Let's go take a look first. At our clan's new home."

In response to Uchiha Fugaku's question, Madara Uchiha smiled faintly and led Fugaku toward their relocation site.

The new site lay on the outskirts of Konoha. No one had lived there before; it was nothing but a broad stretch of wasteland. The moment he stepped into the center of the relocation site, Madara Uchiha could not help letting out a cold laugh.

"Itachi, are you that unhappy with this place?"

It was the first time Uchiha Fugaku had seen his son laugh so coldly, and Madara Uchiha's reaction to the place startled him a little.

"Father, can't you see it?"

Turning around, Madara Uchiha looked Fugaku straight in the eyes, then pointed toward two tall towers outside the settlement.

"Don't those two towers look like watchtowers built for sentries? The slightest movement from the Uchiha Clan would be visible to anyone up there. Now look at the exit. Outside it, Konoha's Nara Clan and Akimichi Clan stand right on our doorstep. They're major fighting clans in Konoha. Beside our training ground, the Aburame Clan watches us like a predator. Father, don't we look like lambs waiting for slaughter?"

Hearing Madara Uchiha's description, Uchiha Fugaku took another careful look around. Cold sweat instantly trickled down his forehead.

Despite the remote location, Uchiha Fugaku had indeed come here with the intention of inspecting their new home. Once he followed Madara Uchiha's reasoning and surveyed the surroundings as a battlefield, he immediately realized that the Uchiha Clan's assigned site truly was a death trap.

The place was not merely remote, but enclosed. Anything that happened inside would be difficult for those outside to notice. Yet if outsiders wished to watch them, all they had to do was occupy the two towers Itachi had mentioned. Any movement by the Uchiha Clan in groups would inevitably fall under enemy observation, with nowhere to hide.

If the Uchiha Clan truly went to war with Konoha in the future, this terrain alone would be enough to get most of the clan's elite killed.

"Itachi, you must never tell anyone..."

"I won't tell anyone. Don't worry, Father."

His son had noticed the unusual features of this place before he had. What an exceptional genius he was! Yet what Madara Uchiha had uncovered was a terrifying truth. If he revealed it, the hardliners within the Uchiha Clan would never let the matter rest. The Third Shinobi World War had only recently ended, and Konoha had just suffered the Nine-Tails' Attack. Danzo and the Third Hokage would never allow the Uchiha Clan to defect at a time like this. If the Uchiha Clan and Konoha fought among themselves, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth would certainly not sit idle. Though the Uchiha Clan had been sent into a death trap, as long as Konoha had yet to act, there was still room to maneuver. Just as Fugaku hurried to warn Madara Uchiha not to disclose his discovery, Madara Uchiha anticipated his reaction.

"I know you still have hope for Konoha High Command, Father. You hope they'll spare the Uchiha Clan for the sake of peace. You hope this hard-won peace can last a little longer. I understand all of that. Don't worry, Father. I'll protect the Uchiha Clan's peace alongside you. But there are a few things I have to warn you about in advance."

Madara Uchiha showed his father the most innocent of smiles. Seeing how intelligent and considerate he was, Uchiha Fugaku's opinion of Madara Uchiha naturally rose even higher.

"After the divisions created under the Second Hokage and the Third Hokage, our Uchiha Clan's ties with the other major clans have already been severed. The proof is this order to relocate here. It must have been proposed at a high command meeting. I'm sure you resisted, Father, but I doubt anyone was willing to challenge the leadership headed by the Third Hokage for the Uchiha Clan's sake. On the other hand, since the Third Hokage has already made us move here, you needn't hope to improve his opinion of us anymore. As the Uchiha Clan's head, there's nothing more you can do. All you can do is suppress the anger of the clan's young people as much as possible. Don't let them do anything rash that forces you to choose between the clan and the village."

The higher Fugaku's opinion of Madara rose, the colder his heart grew as he listened to his analysis. Madara Uchiha had not even attended the high command meeting, yet he had guessed almost everything that had happened that day. Worse still, after hearing Madara say that he could no longer change the village leadership's opinion of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku himself could not help acknowledging that truth.

As the clan head, could I do nothing but watch Konoha ostracize and divide the Uchiha Clan until it finally vanished from the stage of history?

"Don't worry, Father. You can't change the minds of the Third Hokage and the others because their view of you is already fixed. In Konoha, you're the head of the Uchiha Clan first and a village shinobi second. With that impression entrenched, no matter how hard you try, Danzo and the others will see ulterior motives in your actions. There's no need to rush now. What you can't accomplish, I'll accomplish for you."

Seeing that his verbal offensive had made Fugaku increasingly aware of his predicament, Madara Uchiha finally bared his true fangs.

"As the clan head's son, I'm not even old enough to attend the Ninja Academy yet. Let me join Konoha's shinobi system, while you help me build my standing within the clan, Father. Once I've achieved something in both the Uchiha Clan and Konoha, I can become the best glue to bind the Uchiha Clan and Konoha High Command together."