That's amazing

Danzo and Fugaku still don't know Minato is dead. I can use this opportunity to define where they stand and rule them out as Hokage.

With that thought, the Third Hokage reorganized his words in his head and continued:

"Fugaku, if you can't even trust your own clansmen, can you trust Konoha's villagers?

You must correct this as soon as possible, so that you may become an adviser and assist the Hokage someday. Understood?"

"Yes!"

"And you, Danzo!"

The Third Hokage was much less polite with Danzo, looking exasperated at his failure to do better:

"Have you spent too long in the Anbu? Do you think everyone you see is a spy?

The Uchiha Clan was one of Konoha's founding clans. Them, spies? How could you even come up with that?

The Hokage exists to protect the villagers, yet you attacked villagers without any evidence.

You even stopped the Uchiha Clan from supporting the Fourth Hokage. Are you still our teacher's disciple or not?

Yan was right. You're an evil man who doesn't even realize it. You can lead Root again when you've recognized your mistakes!"

"Hiruzen, don't forget, you're no longer the Hokage. You have no authority to strip me of my position as Root Leader."

"You think the Fourth Hokage wouldn't do me this favor?"

"Heh... without the Advisory Council's approval, nothing the Fourth Hokage says matters!

Hiruzen, I'll be waiting at Root. Come if you have what it takes!"

With that, Danzo cast a dark look at Fugaku, then turned and left.

The Third Hokage paid him no mind, intent on appeasing the Uchiha Clan:

"Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan's failure to provide support during the Nine-Tails' rampage tonight was Danzo's doing. The Uchiha were not at fault.

However, everyone in the village saw the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes. You still need to produce the most important evidence to prove your case.

The enemy had only one eye, so he was either an Uchiha living outside the village, or someone who stole a Sharingan and, because of his bloodline, could only transplant one."

"Third Hokage, I know what to do! The Uchiha will find the culprit and give Konoha an answer."

"Good! I trust you! Take Yan home first. This child is innocent and guileless. Only Obito back then could compare to him. Treat him well.

Obito's death has always been a source of regret for the village. We must never let anything happen to a second Obito."

"Yes!"

As he walked out of the Hokage Building with Uchiha Yan, Fugaku kept feeling that something was strange. Given the Nine-Tails' rampage, the Third Hokage should never have passed up this opportunity to suppress the Uchiha.

Even if he didn't suppress them, he wouldn't have let the Uchiha off just like that, especially when they had just fought Danzo.

At that thought, Uchiha Fugaku turned to look at Uchiha Yan:

"Yan, don't speak carelessly next time. You and I both know what the Uchiha clan members are like."

"Oh!"

Uchiha Yan couldn't even be bothered to explain. If he hadn't feared Danzo secretly getting him killed, he wouldn't have wanted to say any of that, much less save this foolish clan leader.

Once the Third Hokage spread the Uchiha's reputation for humility, what excuse would the Uchiha have left to rebel? Who would rebel alongside them?

Could the Uchiha rebel all by themselves? Did anyone really think the Uchiha were fools?

It was precisely because they had no allies that Fugaku could keep the Uchiha clan members in check. If they had allies, the Uchiha clan members would have driven that pigheaded Fugaku out of power long ago.

Uchiha Yan believed the Third Hokage would certainly use this opportunity to spread the Uchiha's reputation for humility, using public opinion to leave the Uchiha without a reason to rebel.

He could also use it to win over the Uchiha and have them contend with Danzo.

With the Uchiha contributing their strength, even if the Fourth Hokage died, the other nations wouldn't dare launch a full-scale invasion of Konoha.

Enough thinking! I'll go back and see what that Tianyan System is about, and look into my identity while I'm at it.

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage stood by the window with his pipe between his lips, watching Fugaku and Yan recede into the distance. No one knew what he was thinking.

Beside him, Utatane Koharu frowned and asked:

"Hiruzen, when do you plan to announce that Minato died sealing the Nine-Tails?"

"Tomorrow! Send word to Tsunade and Jiraiya first. Have them come back."

"We've already sent word to them! Is Madara Uchiha really still alive?"

The Third Hokage turned and sighed. "He should be dead, but Madara Uchiha was the first to subdue the Nine-Tails. If it wasn't him, it was his descendant or disciple.

This enemy possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan, and his ability is Space-Time Ninjutsu. Madara Uchiha didn't have that ability."

"We don't even know whether this information is true..."

"It's true!"

The Third Hokage raised a hand to interrupt. "Flying Thunder God is a Forbidden Jutsu. The Uchiha don't even know its formula can be inscribed on an enemy's body.

There's another point. If the enemy didn't know Space-Time Ninjutsu, he could never have slipped unnoticed into Kushina's location.

The place where Kushina gave birth was classified. Only a handful of people knew, and no Uchiha were among them."

"True!"

Mitokado Homura sighed. "Konoha suffered tremendous losses tonight. Let's leave the Uchiha alone for now.

I'll go talk to Danzo. He was too rash tonight. However wary he is of the Uchiha, he shouldn't go after a child.

And this child had important information. Fortunately, he was a child, or Danzo would have killed him long ago. How would we have learned any of this then?"

"We can discuss Danzo later!"

Utatane Koharu's brow remained tightly furrowed. "The most important issue now is still the Uchiha. If they learn Minato is dead, they may well rebel!"

"Heh!"

The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe, then chuckled:

"Didn't Uchiha Yan just say the Uchiha clan members were the kindest of all? Then let's give the Uchiha that reputation for kindness."

"But our teacher's policy was to isolate the Uchiha, and it's already shown results. Isn't it too late to change policies now?

I think we should keep following our teacher's policy, lest an Uchiha become Hokage someday."

"Alas..."

The Third Hokage sighed. "That was what I thought before, too. But tonight, the Uchiha fought Root. That shows that if we keep pressuring them, the Uchiha may not endure it.

At any other time, that would be one thing. But right now, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Minato aren't here, and the village suffered devastating losses because of the Nine-Tails.

If the Uchiha rebel now, even if we can wipe them out, we won't be able to withstand the other ninja villages.

And there's Danzo. Root didn't help tonight, and they might not help during an Uchiha rebellion either. He's wanted to become Hokage for a long time!"

"I understand!"

Mitokado Homura nodded slightly. "Hiruzen, you want to appease the Uchiha first, then use their reputation for kindness to make them afraid to rebel for fear of losing face."

"Exactly! The Uchiha clan members are extremely proud and care about saving face. As long as we put them on a high pedestal, they'll fall sooner or later.

As people interact with them, they'll naturally come to understand what the Uchiha clan members are like."

"Let's do that! Tomorrow, I'll have people spread word that the Uchiha helped the village!"

"No! Say the Uchiha and the Anbu went to support Minato, and that it was thanks to the Uchiha's help that the intruder was driven off.

I recall there's an Akatsuki in the Land of Rain, isn't there? Identify the culprits as the Land of Rain's Akatsuki and a descendant of Madara Uchiha. Call him Uchiha Zang!"

"..."

"Is that wise? The villagers might not believe it!"

"They will! They just need somewhere to vent their anger! Take on more missions in the Land of Rain from now on and let them vent their anger there."

"All right! That's all we can do!"

The Uchiha's fighting back tonight had truly left the Third Hokage shaken.

Originally, he had thought that since the Sharingan had appeared in the Nine-Tails' eyes, he could direct the villagers' hatred toward the Uchiha, whether they were responsible or not.

Now that the Uchiha clan members had grown more hot-tempered and Fugaku couldn't keep them in check, he could only settle for the next best option.

Fugaku truly couldn't keep the Uchiha in check. Strictly speaking, he couldn't keep the Uchiha Hawk Faction in check. The Dove Faction didn't need him to restrain them.

The day's events had left Fugaku deeply unsettled. After returning to the clan grounds, he had intended to take Yan home first, only to discover upon arrival that Yan's home had been destroyed. He could only put him up at his own house for now.

"Yan, rest here tonight. I'll leave Itachi and Sasuke in your care!"

"Clan leader, where are you going?"

"I'm going to help treat the wounded, and discuss what we should do next with the clansmen."

"Are you going to use Genjutsu to soothe the villagers' emotions? That's amazing! Genjutsu can even treat mental illness.

Clan leader, when I have the Sharingan, I want to be a psychologist too."