Just as Shimura Danzō had said before.
Throughout the history of the Shinobi World.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were the only two people who could control the Nine-Tails at will.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki who came after them, such as Mito Uzumaki, Kushina Uzumaki, and the current Naruto Uzumaki, all used sealing jutsu to suppress the Nine-Tails and then draw on its power.
Those were two entirely different concepts!
It was somewhat like the gap between an "ordinary Jinchūriki" and a "Perfect Jinchuriki."
The weaker ordinary Jinchūriki might not even be able to handle an Elite Jonin.
A Perfect Jinchuriki, however, was a terrifying existence that even an average Kage-level fighter could not match!
In the minds of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, and the others.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were existences akin to "Perfect Jinchuriki."
But as everyone knew.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were both dead.
In theory, no one should have been able to control the Nine-Tails.
Yet the Nine-Tails' Attack had happened all the same.
The hardliners, such as Shimura Danzō, believed the Uchiha were behind the Nine-Tails' Attack, despite having no evidence.
The moderates, such as Hiruzen Sarutobi, believed the Uchiha might have been behind the Nine-Tails' Attack, but there was no evidence.
Under normal circumstances.
The Uchiha should have produced evidence proving that they really had not been behind the Nine-Tails' Attack.
But unfortunately...
Most Uchiha were not particularly normal.
At that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help knitting his brows tightly together.
The Second had been absolutely right...
The Uchiha Clan really was a clan of lunatics!
The village wanted the Uchiha to produce evidence proving their innocence.
The Uchiha reacted like cats whose tails had been stepped on, immediately getting triggered and starting to hiss.
And failing to produce evidence was one thing.
But the Uchiha Clan also kept suspecting that the village was deliberately targeting and ostracizing them, and that their clan's reputation had been gravely insulted!
What a joke.
What era did they think this was?
The Warring States Period, when shinobi clans fought for supremacy, had ended long ago!
If Konoha really wanted to go after the Uchiha.
It could wipe out the Uchiha in a single night!
Even the cockroaches in the Uchiha Clan Compound could be hunted down one by one and split lengthwise!
Even in its current, severely weakened state, Konoha was not something a mere Uchiha Clan could stand against!
The gap in strength between a shinobi village and a shinobi clan.
It was not merely visible to the naked eye-even a blind person could see it.
Yet the Uchiha with their [Sharingan] simply could not!
According to the intelligence relayed by Hiruzen Sarutobi's inside man in the Uchiha Clan-Shisui Uchiha.
The Uchiha had already begun openly discussing rebellion at their clan meetings!
Those red-eyed fools truly had never experienced the darkness of the Shinobi World!
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his brow.
The Uchiha were extremely important to Konoha.
But that "importance" did not refer to the Uchiha Clan's strength.
It referred to the very fact that the Uchiha possessed the Sharingan!
It was no exaggeration to say.
This was a strategic issue concerning the village's very survival.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view.
The most important thing about the Uchiha Clan was that they possessed the Sharingan, which could control the Nine-Tails!
Yes!
The Nine-Tails!
Sixty years and three Shinobi World Wars had passed since the shinobi villages were established.
What was the strongest, deadliest, most terrifying weapon on the battlefield?
Not shinobi.
Tailed Beasts!
Minato Namikaze could certainly kill people very quickly.
But could he kill them faster than a Tailed Beast Bomb could blow them up?
A Tailed Beast Bomb was the true superweapon capable of destroying heaven and earth!
If a "Tailed Beast Bomb" was a "nuclear bomb."
Then a "Jinchūriki" was the "nuclear launch button."
Before the Nine-Tails' Attack.
Konoha had possessed two "nuclear launch buttons"-the sealing jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan and the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.
On the road to "weaponizing Tailed Beasts," Konoha had been far ahead of the rest.
Then the Nine-Tails' Attack had happened...
The Fourth Hokage couple had died, leaving behind only an orphan.
The transmission of the Uzumaki Sealing Technique was on the verge of dying out, and there was no telling how many years it would take to recover.
Now the Uchiha Clan was plotting rebellion as well, repeatedly testing the line of actively courting death...
Hiruzen Sarutobi was nearly numb.
Suppose.
The Uzumaki Sealing Technique temporarily lost its line of transmission, and the Uchiha Sharingan were wiped out as well.
Then Konoha would no longer have anything it could rely on to control the Nine-Tails.
Having a "nuclear bomb" but no "launch button."
Would that not be the greatest joke in the world?
Surely they could not wait until the Fourth Shinobi World War broke out and let the Nine-Tails run out to join the fighting on its own?
That was the fundamental reason Hiruzen Sarutobi had always treated the Uchiha mildly!
The Uchiha Clan was not important.
The Nine-Tails was what mattered!
That idiot Shimura Danzō could not see the bigger picture at all.
He kept clamoring about "controlling the Nine-Tails and eliminating the Uchiha."
Without the Uchiha, how would he control the Nine-Tails?
With that right arm of his, cloned and cultivated from the First's body cells?!
The Uchiha are so difficult to deal with...
Go soft on them, and their hackles rise.
Go hard on them, and they like to hiss.
They really are just like cats!
After thinking it over, Hiruzen Sarutobi came up with a three-step strategy.
Stage one: the Third Hokage would declare that nothing had happened.
Stage two: the Uchiha Clan might be up to something, but the Third Hokage believed no action should be taken for the time being.
Stage three: the Third Hokage actually also felt that action should be taken, but the village truly could do nothing right now.
Yes, that was it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long breath.
"Hm? Itachi, why are you still kneeling here?"
Chapter 14: Sasuke Uchiha: My brother can kill a hundred Missing-nin in one night!
"A beautiful day starts with a good deed~"
"Days without cats aren't much fun either~"
Early morning, in the kitchen.
In an excellent mood, Uchiha Minamoto hummed a tune as he prepared to make Krabby Patties.
Sesame buns, fried meat patties, tomatoes, cheese slices, pickles...
The rich, overpowering aroma woke the other three little gluttonous cats in the house straight away.
"Minamoto, good morning~"
"Meow, meow~"
"Mrow~"
Shamisen jumped onto the dining table with Ruri and Yukino, and they began enjoying the premium canned tuna Uchiha Minamoto had prepared in advance for the mother and her two daughters.
Contented meows rang out without end.
Just last night.
Uchiha Minamoto had returned from the Empty District, bringing all three Ninja Cats-Shamisen, Ruri, and Yukino-home with him.
Unexpectedly, this had triggered a reward from the [Great Love System].
[You helped take in orphaned daughters and their widowed mother!] [You received 1,000 Great Love Points!] [You received the [C-Rank Reverse Summoning Technique]!]
What, exactly, did you call a pleasant surprise?!
Uchiha Minamoto had planned to wait until he saved up a thousand points before deriving the [Reverse Summoning Technique].
He had never expected this ninjutsu to make such a spectacular appearance just like that!
Uchiha Minamoto called up the [Heart of Great Love].
Combine data and materials from "Electromagnetic Fields and Electromagnetic Waves" and related areas to derive a Sensory-Type C-Rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu that can be used in conjunction with [Thunder Breathing].
[Derivation in progress...] [You received...]
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