The next morning, Uchiha Itachi's headless corpse was finally discovered.
Upon receiving the terrible news, the Uchiha erupted, and the entire Konoha Military Police Force went on strike.
Led by Fugaku, a large crowd marched furiously toward the Hokage Building.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
Uchiha Fugaku addressed the Third Hokage by name, his expression as ugly as it could get.
Uchiha Itachi had been an Anbu subordinate directly under the Hokage, carrying out classified missions. Even his father had not known his whereabouts.
But who could have imagined that, after receiving a mission from the Third, Uchiha Itachi would be attacked and killed shortly after leaving the village?
In Fugaku's eyes, this had certainly been done on Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders.
Although Uchiha Itachi had served in the Anbu, he was his son first.
The bond of more than ten years of raising and teaching him outweighed everything.
Once the village and the Uchiha openly broke with each other, Uchiha Itachi would inevitably stand with his clan.
So Hiruzen Sarutobi had simply killed Uchiha Itachi, eliminating a major threat.
This was the most reasonable explanation Fugaku could think of.
The logic was flawless.
After all, who could have imagined that Uchiha Itachi would actually choose to side with the Hokage's leadership and turn his blade on his clansmen?
"Clan Head Fugaku, I understand how you feel, and I know what you suspect, but this is absolutely not what you think."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took off his hat, his clouded eyes meeting Fugaku's murderous, blood-red gaze.
Only two Anbu ninja stood behind him, yet he showed no fear in the face of a hundred or so red-eyed Uchiha.
Uchiha Fugaku sneered. "Hiruzen Sarutobi, if your son had died, who would you suspect?"
A three-tomoe Uchiha behind him shouted, "Only you knew Uchiha Itachi's route out of the village. Who else could have leaked it?"
"Who would dare ambush and kill the young heir of the Uchiha Clan, the strongest clan in the Shinobi World, right outside Konoha, the strongest village in the Shinobi World?"
"Why waste any more words on him? Everyone, attack! Smash the Hokage Building!"
The Uchiha clansmen seethed with indignation. Several of the more hotheaded ones were even cracking their knuckles, ready to act.
The commotion was enormous, and countless villagers watched from a distance.
Masked Anbu ninja appeared around the Hokage Building. Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders to observe, they did not step forward to confront the enraged Uchiha.
Facing the menacing Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained perfectly composed.
His composure earned the sincere admiration of the two Anbu ninja standing behind him.
"Clan Head Fugaku, Itachi was not only your son. I also regarded him as my own. You must believe me when I say that I am just as grieved as you are."
"But it is precisely at a time like this that we must not let our emotions control us."
"Elites of the Uchiha Clan, you are among the finest ninja in Konoha, and indeed the entire Shinobi World. You should understand how terrible the consequences can be if we rush to a conclusion without sufficient evidence."
"Evidence?"
Uchiha Fugaku smiled and said coldly, "You killed him, and you were the first to find his body. Would you leave any evidence behind?"
Looking at Uchiha Fugaku, who spoke with such conviction, Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face showed a trace of helplessness.
Fugaku had already lost his reason to anger. No matter what anyone said, he would not listen.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself at a loss, one of the Anbu ninja behind him took a few steps forward and slowly removed his mask, revealing a boyish face.
Every Uchiha looked at him with hope.
Shisui Uchiha, the undisputed greatest genius of the Uchiha Clan.
Shisui was an Anbu subordinate directly under the Third, a bridge of communication between the Uchiha and the village.
But to the Uchiha clansmen, Uchiha blood still flowed through Shisui's veins, and he would surely stand with his clan.
"Clan Head Fugaku..."
Shisui was about to say something when Uchiha Fugaku quickly waved a hand. "Whatever you have to say can wait. Come over to my side first."
The other Uchiha might not have known, but Uchiha Fugaku had a feeling that Shisui had most likely already awakened the Mangekyo.
Only with Shisui's assistance would Fugaku have the confidence to break with the Hokage's faction.
Looking at the hope in Fugaku's and his clansmen's eyes, a flicker of conflict passed through Shisui's gaze.
He took a deep breath and said, "Clan Head Fugaku, please calm down. Itachi's death has absolutely nothing to do with Lord Hokage."
At these words, Uchiha Fugaku's eyes widened. His eyes had already been blood-red, but now even the whites were covered in a dense web of blood vessels.
"You, you..."
Fugaku trembled all over with rage. "So you're siding with the village?"
Shisui gritted his teeth and said, "Clan Head Fugaku, I am part of the Uchiha, but I am also part of the village. I do not want to see anyone hurt the Uchiha, nor do I want to see anyone hurt the village."
The members of the Konoha Military Police Force behind Fugaku stared at Shisui Uchiha in disbelief.
At the moment when his clan needed him most, Shisui Uchiha had taken a stand against it.
Even to the dovish Uchiha, such behavior was a betrayal.
They could not believe it, did not want to believe it, yet had no choice but to believe it.
"Why are you betraying the Uchiha?"
"Uchiha Itachi looked up to you as an older brother. How can you do this to him?"
"You were born an Uchiha and raised an Uchiha. Without the Uchiha, you would be nothing!"
"Bastard! Animal! Parasite!"
"..."
The Uchiha's arrogance ran deep in their bones. A traitor emerging within their clan, especially a genius like Shisui Uchiha, was no different from a resounding slap across the face.
Rage filled everyone's chests, their scarlet eyes fixed on Shisui Uchiha.
Shisui clenched his fists, his body beginning to tremble violently.
He lowered his head, not daring to meet his clansmen's eyes.
At that moment, if Shisui had taken back his words and walked over to Fugaku, he would still have been the Uchiha's greatest genius.
But he did not.
"Fine, fine, fine!"
Fugaku's eyes were blood-red. He said "fine" three times in a single breath, showing just how furious he was.
He turned to his clansmen and said with some weariness, "From this day forward, Shisui is no longer an Uchiha. Come, we're returning to the clan compound."
"Yes!"
And so, led by Fugaku, the Uchiha who had come storming over in anger stormed back in anger.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the Uchiha elites leave, then walked over to Shisui and patted his ceaselessly trembling shoulder.
"Shisui, I am deeply ashamed that, as Hokage, I still had to make you step forward in the end."
No one could stop the enraged Uchiha.
Had Shisui not sided with him at the last moment, undermining Uchiha Fugaku's confidence, Hiruzen Sarutobi would not have known how to bring things to an end.
But the Uchiha had only withdrawn temporarily.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could imagine...
Uchiha Itachi's death would unite the ever-divided Uchiha and make the perpetually indecisive Uchiha Fugaku abandon his hopes of peaceful communication and devote himself fully to plotting a coup.
The situation was graver than ever before.
Before you continue