A father-son talk (1)

"I am willing to serve you, Lord Hokage. From where I stand, I certainly do not want the Uchiha Clan and Konoha to come to blows."

Seeing that he had persuaded the Third Hokage to speak with Uchiha Fugaku, Madara Uchiha breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The first step of his plan was complete.

"Itachi, would you be interested in joining the ANBU and working for me?"

The Third Hokage looked at Madara Uchiha, who stood before him neither servile nor arrogant. Considering the boy's potential as well, he found himself liking Itachi more and more. If he could keep Uchiha Itachi close, perhaps he could better shape Madara Uchiha's development. After all, in the Third Hokage's eyes, Madara Uchiha was only an eight-year-old child.

"Thank you for your favor, Lord Hokage, but I would still prefer to be an ordinary ninja. If I joined the ANBU, the Uchiha Clan's Hardliners would see me as having sided entirely with Konoha. As things stand, I belong to neither the ANBU nor the Police Force. As an ordinary ninja, I am someone both sides will try to win over. That status will also let me increase my influence among the Hardliners more effectively. If my plan goes smoothly, perhaps once I have grown up, even the Uchiha Clan's Hardliners can peacefully return to the village's embrace."

When dealing with the Third Hokage, Madara Uchiha continued to follow his principle of never lying. He sincerely shared some of his actual plans with Konoha's Hokage, and after hearing them, the Third Hokage could not help inwardly applauding his ideas.

The Uchiha Clan's Hardliners had always been proud and arrogant. Only someone from their own clan could truly win their allegiance, and what Madara Uchiha had proposed really was the only potentially peaceful way