Rewriting fate was never just about saving one night

The day after the secret report was sealed away, Fugaku summoned Uchiha Gen and Shisui to the Clan Head's Residence again.

This time, no clan elders were present.

Nor were any conservatives there to listen in.

The room held only a low table, three sets of records, and a lamp that had not been fully lit.

The light was dim.

But the writing on the table was clear.

The falsified accounts case records.

The logistics authorization timeline.

The secret report on the spatial anomaly outside the Clan District.

The three documents lay spread out like lines running in three different directions.

Fugaku studied them for a long time before speaking.

"You said Root and the unknown enemy used different methods."

Uchiha Gen nodded.

"Root's peripheral network wants to strip the Uchiha of their right to investigate."

He pointed to the first set of records.

"The falsified accounts were meant to make the village believe the Konoha Military Police Force was withholding medicine."

Then he pointed to the second.

"The authorization slips were meant to drag the Logistics System into this and turn the investigation into departments tearing at one another. If we rush to arrest anyone, Danzo can claim the Uchiha abused their authority."

Finally, his finger came to rest on the third document, the secret report.

"But the spatial anomaly and the Provocation Letter serve a different purpose."

Shisui picked up the thread.

"That person doesn't seem to be fabricating evidence."

"He's watching to see whether the Uchiha will collapse on their own."

Uchiha Gen said, "Root wants the Uchiha to be guilty in the village's eyes. The person behind the mask wants the Uchiha to believe they have no future."

Fugaku fell silent.

Those words carried more weight than any evidence.

Because they struck at the Uchiha's deepest wound.

The village's suspicion after the Night of the Nine-Tails was real.

The pressure of relocation and surveillance was real.

The resentment left by the clan's dead and wounded was real, too.

The enemy did not need to invent everything.

He only had to lay that genuine suffering before the Uchiha and tell them: Look, you have no way forward anymore.

After a moment, Fugaku said quietly, "I used to think the Night of the Nine-Tails was the greatest turning point."

Uchiha Gen looked at him.

Fugaku's gaze settled beside the lamplight.

"If nothing had gone wrong that night, or if we had explained what happened clearly, the Uchiha's fate could have taken a gentler course."

He paused there.

"Now it seems that wasn't true."

Shisui said nothing.

Uchiha Gen did not interrupt, either.

Fugaku raised his head, his voice heavier than before.

"The Night of the Nine-Tails was only the first cut."

"Every meeting after that, every record, every clansman who held back from drawing a blade or refused to let despair drive them forward-all of those were new turning points."

This was not praise.

It was more like a belated acknowledgment.

Yet Uchiha Gen felt no relief.

Because the more clearly Fugaku saw things, the less likely the road ahead was to be simple.

"So rewriting fate was never just about saving one night."

Fugaku spoke slowly.

The room fell quiet.

Those words seemed to tie everything that had happened back together.

What they had saved on the Night of the Nine-Tails was more than a few clansmen's lives.

It was the first time the Uchiha had not been forced into silence.

What the Resettlement Zone records had saved was more than the Konoha Military Police Force's reputation.

It was the first time the villagers had seen the Uchiha prove their innocence through proper procedure.

What the clan meeting records had saved was more than a single argument.

It was the first time the Uchiha had not left their internal disagreements for someone in the shadows to distort.

Looking at the three sets of records on the table, Shisui suddenly said, "What if their next move isn't aimed only at the Uchiha?"

Fugaku looked at him.

Shisui continued, "Root wants the Uchiha to be guilty, and the unknown enemy wants the Uchiha to despair. But if they discover that both paths have been partly blocked, might they go after something else that could frighten the village more easily?"

Faint footsteps sounded outside.

Fugaku frowned.

The guard outside the door announced quietly, "Young Master Itachi requests an audience."

Fugaku glanced at Uchiha Gen.

Uchiha Gen did not object.

Itachi should not have been allowed to hear too much of this discussion.

But some questions were ones he would ask sooner or later.

The door slid open.

Itachi entered and bowed to Fugaku first.

"Father."

Fugaku asked, "What is it?"

Itachi glanced at the records on the table without lingering on the secret report, then fixed his gaze on Uchiha Gen.

"I'd like to ask a question."

"Go ahead," Uchiha Gen said.

Itachi's voice was calm.

"If the enemy doesn't merely want the Uchiha to fall under suspicion, but wants the village to fear the Uchiha again, might they turn their attention to the Nine-Tails?"

The atmosphere in the room abruptly grew heavy.

Fugaku's gaze sharpened instantly.

Shisui also turned to Itachi.

Itachi did not back down.

"After the Night of the Nine-Tails, the village's greatest fear wasn't a clan arguing among itself."

He said, "It was the Nine-Tails losing control again."

His words were quiet.

Yet they seemed to push a door open a crack.

Uchiha Gen felt a slight tightening inside.

Itachi did not know the future.

But his perceptiveness had already touched the most dangerous point.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Naruto Uzumaki.

For now, that name could not be mentioned casually.

And the Uchiha certainly could not approach him of their own accord.

One wrong step, and Danzo would immediately turn "the Uchiha making contact with the Nine-Tails" into a new charge.

Fugaku said gravely, "Itachi, this is not an issue you should be touching right now."

Itachi lowered his head.

"I know."

He paused for a moment.

"That's why I'm only asking whether an enemy trying to create despair would choose the place most capable of frightening everyone."

No one in the room answered immediately.

Because the answer was too obvious.

He would.

He certainly would.

Uchiha Gen looked at Fugaku.

"We cannot approach the Jinchūriki himself."

Fugaku's eyes darkened.

"Of course we cannot."

"Nor can we let our clansmen ask about him in private."

"Absolutely not."

Uchiha Gen said slowly, "But we can examine records."

Shisui asked, "What records?"

"We don't investigate the Jinchūriki's location, his guard arrangements, or his security classification."

Uchiha Gen enunciated each word.

"We only check whether the resettlement records and sealed records in the Hokage Building's Classified Archives Room have been disturbed in any unusual way since the Night of the Nine-Tails."

Fugaku understood.

This was not making contact with the Nine-Tails.

It was checking whether anyone had attempted to access "records concerning the Nine-Tails."

The distinction was slight.

Yet it was enough to determine whether the Uchiha were guarding against a risk or violating a prohibition.

Fugaku asked, "Who will investigate?"

"The Konoha Military Police Force cannot do it alone."

Uchiha Gen said, "Under the pretext of follow-up checks on the falsified accounts case, we ask the Hokage Building's recorder to confirm whether the Classified Archives Room's Access Log is complete. We request only a check for irregular access, not permission to view the classified files themselves."

Shisui nodded.

"That won't violate the prohibition."

As Itachi listened, a flicker of understanding crossed his eyes.

Wanting to investigate something did not mean reaching straight for it.

The more dangerous something was, the more clearly the boundaries had to be put in writing.

Otherwise, the enemy would not need to stop you.

They would only need to wait for you to cross the line.

Fugaku finally nodded.

"This matter stays between the four of us."

He looked at Itachi.

"Especially you."

Itachi lowered his head.

"Yes, Father."

That evening, in the Hokage Building's Classified Archives Room.

The middle-aged ninja responsible for maintaining the Access Log opened the ledger, expecting nothing more than a routine check.

But when his finger reached the entry for the third day after the Night of the Nine-Tails, he suddenly stopped.

The seal impression on that page was very shallow.

As though someone had opened it and then pressed it back into place.

There was no signature in the access field.

Only a trace of ink that had been rubbed almost completely away.

The middle-aged ninja's expression slowly changed.

Deep in the Classified Archives Room, someone had accessed a confidential record concerning the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki ahead of time.