False Submission! The Rats Strike Back

"That is-the color of fire!"

Chiya's feverish declaration of war echoed through the Hokage Building's conference room like a verdict from hell.

Only after the figure in Uchiha Attire, Ryūjin Jakka at his waist, vanished completely down the corridor did the terrifying reiatsu weighing on everyone's souls ease slightly.

"Whew..."

Someone finally let out a long breath, and a chorus of heavy breathing followed throughout the conference room.

The clan heads slumped in their chairs, their clothes already soaked through with cold sweat.

"A madman... a complete and utter madman!"

Tsume Inuzuka hugged her arms, still trembling uncontrollably. The ninja dog beside her lay on the floor with its tail tucked between its legs, whimpering. "Declaring war on all Four Great Nations at once? Who does he think he is? The Sage of Six Paths?!"

"He's more terrifying than the Sage of Six Paths."

Shibi Aburame adjusted his sunglasses, his voice low. "The Sage of Six Paths believed in order. He... believes only in destruction."

Everyone's gaze eventually settled on the man seated in the front row-Shikaku Nara.

Konoha's chief strategist, and the man Chiya had just appointed Administrative Director, Shikaku now wore a thunderous expression.

He stared fixedly at the order for "first-level combat readiness" Chiya had left on the table, a fierce struggle flickering in his eyes.

"Shikaku, are we really going to..." Akimichi Chōza swallowed, his face grim. "Are we really going to die alongside this madman?"

"Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure... if the four great Shinobi Villages join forces, they'll outnumber us more than ten to one! And Chiya Uchiha just purged the village's strongest fighters. Konoha is nothing but an empty shell now!"

"Fighting this war means sending our clansmen to their deaths! It means wiping Konoha off the map!"

Inoichi Yamanaka also lowered his voice, his tone urgent.

"I know."

Shikaku Nara closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. When he opened them again, his earlier submission was gone, replaced by an all-or-nothing resolve.

"If it's to protect the village, dying on the battlefield is a ninja's fate."

"But dying to satisfy a tyrant's lust for slaughter... that's stupidity!"

Shikaku abruptly stood, planting both hands on the table as his gaze swept over every clan head present.

"Everyone, Konoha isn't Chiya Uchiha's personal playground. It's the home we've protected for generations."

"We can't just sit here and wait to die."

"If he wants to destroy Konoha..." Shikaku's voice dropped to a whisper, but every word struck like thunder. "Then we must remove him before he destroys everything!"

"How?" Hyuga Hiashi frowned. "Even the Third Hokage and Danzo are dead. Even a monster like Obito was driven off. What can we possibly do?"

"We have justice on our side!"

A sharp gleam flashed in Shikaku Nara's eyes. "Chiya may be powerful, but he has no legitimate authority! He killed the Hokage and the Advisors. That's treason! If we can obtain the daimyo's Edict to Suppress the Rebellion, ally with the Land of Fire's Twelve Guardian Ninja, and even join forces with other Shinobi Villages, we can legally brand him a rogue ninja!"

"But... where do we find someone who can represent Konoha's legitimate authority?"

"There are still people alive."

Shikaku looked out the window, toward the Anbu prison.

"Advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura may have been crippled by Chiya, but they're not dead. They hold the highest credentials for contacting the daimyo, and they're the only witnesses who can attest to Chiya's atrocities."

"Tonight is our last chance."

"While that madman Chiya is at the Uchiha Clan Compound dealing with the boy named Sasuke, we need to..."

Shikaku made a cutting gesture, his eyes cold.

"Take the Advisors, escape Konoha, and head straight for the Daimyo's Residence!"

Late that night, in Konoha.

What should have been a quiet night was now seething with hidden currents.

Although Chiya had seized control of Konoha, he had only held it for a short time. Beyond ruling the leadership through fear, the lower-level defenses remained riddled with holes. Coupled with his arrogant attitude of "I can't be bothered with you," this gave the "rats" their opening.

The third basement level of Konoha's Anbu prison.

Once a place for holding serious offenders, it now confined two elderly advisers who had once wielded immense power.

"That damned Uchiha brat... damn him... damn him..."

Utatane Koharu huddled in a dark corner of her cell, her hair disheveled. Not a trace remained of her usual dignified bearing as an adviser. She cursed incessantly, her eyes venomous.

Beside her, Mitokado Homura looked even more despondent, leaning against the wall with lifeless eyes.

"Stop cursing." Mitokado Homura gave a bitter laugh. "What good will it do? That man is a monster. Even Hiruzen..."

Click.

Just then, a faint sound came from the cell's heavy iron door.

Several masked ninja dressed in black slipped inside without a sound.

"Who's there?!" Mitokado Homura raised his head warily.

"Advisors, it's me."

Their leader removed his mask, revealing a serious face beneath pineapple-shaped hair.

"Shikaku?!"

Like someone clutching at a lifeline, Utatane Koharu lunged toward the bars, her bony fingers gripping the iron tightly. "You finally came! Hurry! Get us out of here! Chiya Uchiha has gone mad! He's going to destroy Konoha!"

"Shh-"

Shikaku gestured for silence. While signaling the Yamanaka Clan ninja under his command to dismantle the barrier, he spoke quickly:

"We don't have much time. Chiya has gone to the Uchiha Clan Compound. This is our only opening."

"We've assembled the remaining elite of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, along with the Aburame and Inuzuka Clans. About three hundred people are waiting in a secret passage near the village entrance."

"Please come with us immediately. Bring the seal the daimyo granted you, and we'll go to the Daimyo's Residence to seek aid!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Tears of excitement streamed down Mitokado Homura's aged face. "Shikaku, I knew you were still loyal to Konoha! Once we meet the daimyo, I can mobilize all the Land of Fire's forces and declare Chiya an S-Rank Rogue Ninja! The whole world will hunt him down!"

"Exactly! That vile brat must die!" The hunger for power rekindled in Utatane Koharu's eyes.

As long as they escaped and secured the daimyo's support, they could make their comeback! Then they would slaughter every last member of the Uchiha Clan, sparing not even that boy named Sasuke!

The cell door opened.

The group moved like ghosts through Konoha's labyrinthine Underground Waterway.

Their journey was remarkably smooth.

So smooth that a faint unease stirred in Shikaku Nara's heart.

"It's too quiet..."

Shikaku ran while warily sensing his surroundings. "Since Chiya took over the Anbu, surveillance shouldn't be this lax."

"Hmph. That brat is arrogant beyond belief. Just as you said, he probably doesn't consider us worth his attention." Mitokado Homura snorted, though he dared not slow his steps.

"Let's hope so."

Shikaku suppressed his unease and picked up his pace.

Half an hour later.

A concealed forest exit on Konoha's outskirts.

This was an emergency evacuation route left by successive Hokage as a precaution, known only to a handful of senior officials.

Hundreds of ninja crowded around the exit.

They were diehard loyalists of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, along with Konoha elites unwilling to submit to Uchiha tyranny. Their faces tense, they gripped their kunai and awaited the judgment of fate.

"They're out! Lord Shikaku has brought the Advisors out!"

Inoichi Yamanaka breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Shikaku.

"Hurry! Don't linger! Scatter and break out immediately! Head for the Capital of the Land of Fire!"

The instant Shikaku emerged from the secret passage, he shouted his orders.

Once they crossed the river ahead, they would be beyond Konoha's barrier, free to go wherever they wished!

"Finally... we're finally out..."

Utatane Koharu gazed at the bright moon overhead and breathed the free air. Ecstasy at surviving the ordeal spread across her face, then twisted into vicious delight.

"Chiya Uchiha! Just you wait! I'll be back!"

"When I return, I'll tear you to pieces and skin you to make a war drum!!"

Mitokado Homura straightened his back as well, seemingly regaining his authority as an adviser. "Everyone, heed my command! Protect me as we break out! This is for Konoha's future! This is the Will of..."

But then.

Before he could finish saying "Fire," an abrupt chuckle, brimming with mockery, cut him off.

"Heh..."

"The Will of Fire?"

"Tell me, you old fossils, do you know how to say anything sensible besides those same tired phrases?"

BOOM!!!

With that voice, an immense surge of reiatsu descended from the sky without warning, terrifying enough to freeze their souls!

The pressure was so crushing that the knees of all three hundred elite ninja, poised to move, buckled in an instant. Some even spat blood and collapsed to their knees!

"Wh... who's there?!"

Shikaku Nara's face turned deathly pale. That familiar, hopeless terror gripped his heart like a giant hand.

Everyone stiffly raised their heads and looked ahead.

On the path they had to take to escape.

Atop the enormous red torii marking Konoha's entrance.

A figure sat casually on the crossbeam.

Moonlight fell over him, outlining his black Uchiha Attire and the long sword propped at an angle beside him, radiating searing heat even within its sheath.

Chiya Uchiha!

He even held a half-eaten apple, his languid gaze resting on the panicked "rats" below.

"Ch... Chiya..."

Utatane Koharu's earlier arrogance vanished instantly. She crumpled to the ground as though her bones had been removed, her teeth chattering violently with a clacking sound.

"How is this possible... weren't you at the Uchiha Clan Compound..." Mitokado Homura's face filled with despair.

"Yes, I went there."

Chiya took a bite of the apple and chewed, his words muffled but clearly audible:

"Dealing with a few pieces of trash doesn't take long."

"Besides..."

Chiya swallowed and casually tossed the apple core down.

It traced an arc through the air and struck the forehead of an Akimichi Clan jonin who was trying to form hand seals.

Thud!

As though struck by a bullet, the jonin fell flat on his back without so much as a grunt, a bloody hole in his forehead.

Dead silence fell.

No one dared move.

"Besides, if I didn't give you a little hope, how would you all gather together so neatly?"

Chiya stood and brushed the crumbs from his hands.

From above, he looked down at Shikaku Nara, at the two Advisors, at Konoha's last remaining resistance.

His gaze was that of someone watching a pack of clowns who thought themselves clever.

"Shikaku, I gave you a chance."

"I put you in charge of administration and logistics. I gave you authority second only to mine."

"And what did you do?"

Chiya shook his head, his voice tinged with regret, but even more with cold cruelty.

"At a time like this, you just had to fish these two old fossils out of the trash heap."

"And take them off to report me?"

"Do you really think this sword of mine..."

Shing!

Ryūjin Jakka slid an inch from its sheath.

Golden flames instantly lit up the night sky, illuminating everyone's ashen faces.

"...won't kill people from Konoha?"

"No! Lord Chiya! Please let me explain!" Shikaku Nara was drenched in cold sweat, desperately searching for a way out.

But before absolute power, all strategy was futile.

Chiya ignored Shikaku's excuses.

His gaze settled on the two trembling Advisors, and the smile on his lips widened, turning savage and cruel.

"You want to escape?"

"You want to go to the daimyo?"

"You want to strike back?"

Chiya chuckled. His Susanoo erupted, and an enormous red skeletal hand appeared out of thin air, seizing Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura as they tried to burrow into the crowd.

"Aaah! Let me go!!"

"Shikaku! Save me! Hurry, save me!!"

Susanoo lifted the pair like chicks, leaving them dangling in midair beyond the Konoha Gate.

Watching their ugly struggles, Chiya shook his head and delivered the verdict that sealed their fate:

"Just as I thought."

"A dog will never stop eating shit."