Upon hearing Uchiha Fugaku's words, the room erupted in an uproar.
"Chieftain! Have you gone mad?"
"He's clearly an informant for the Anbu!"
"Letting him get involved is worse than just surrendering to that Sarutobi!"
Uchiha Itachi stood still, his gaze shifting from his father's face to the angry clansmen, finally settling on the scattered photographs in the center of the shrine.
Those are the records of the unfair treatment suffered by the Uchiha clan.
"Father..." Uchiha Itachi's voice was soft, "You know the consequences of doing this."
Fugaku slowly rose to his feet and said in a deep voice, "All I know is that if we don't do something soon, the Uchiha will be erased from Konoha's history."
He looked directly into his son's eyes. "Tell me, Itachi, which side will you be on?"
The shrine was so quiet that you could hear the crackling of the candlelight.
More than fifty Sharingan stared intently at Uchiha Itachi, awaiting his answer.
Uchiha Itachi's gaze shifted between his father and the clan members before he finally said in a low voice, "I need time to think."
"Consider?" Inabi laughed sarcastically. "You mean go ask your superior in the Anbu service?"
"Get out!"
"A traitor from the Uchiha!"
You don't deserve the Uchiha surname!
Curses erupted again, and some even pulled out Kunai, intending to leave Uchiha Itachi there.
Fugaku raised a hand to stop the potential violence, his disappointment no longer concealed. "Go, think it over carefully. Remember, your surname Uchiha!"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Itachi glanced one last time at his clansmen, who were glaring at him angrily, before turning and leaving.
In the days that followed, a strange sense of excitement permeated the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The user of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan no longer conceals his strength; his practice of Fire Style and Shurikenjutsu is imbued with genuine killing intent.
A morbid fanaticism gleamed in the young ninja's eyes, as if he were about to undergo some kind of sacred ritual.
In the dense forest near the Naka Shrine, Uchiha Jonin came and went.
The bulletin board in the center of the clan's territory was covered with old newspapers from the Nine-Tails Attack's rampage.
On those yellowed papers, the words "Uchiha suspected" were heavily circled in red pen.
When the passing tribespeople stopped to watch, the Tomoe in their eyes unconsciously swirled.
Faced with this situation, the Anbu's surveillance went from covert to overt, but the Uchiha clansmen no longer bowed their heads in avoidance; instead, they glared back directly.
All these circumstances indicate that the peace of Konoha will never be the same again.
The Hokage's office.
The sparks from the pipe dangling from Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth flickered intermittently.
The unusual commotion at the Uchiha Clan Compound was clearly visible through the crystal ball in front of them.
Those undisguised hostile glances and the deliberately displayed martial arts training all spoke of an impending crisis.
"The situation is worse than expected..."
Fortunately, the Uchiha Clan members are generally straightforward, so with such a commotion, it would be hard for them not to know.
Of course, this could also be a signal sent by Uchiha Fugaku.
He didn't want to rebel, but he couldn't suppress the unrest, so he could only use this method to send a final warning to the Konoha High Command.
After so many tests, Hiruzen Sarutobi had a thorough understanding of the Uchiha Clan Head.
This man, who always shoulders the responsibility of his family, is actually quite soft-hearted and lacks his own opinions.
If it were placed during a transitional period, it would be fine, but at this time when storms are brewing, it seems quite inadequate.
Bang--
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was pondering how to deal with the Uchiha, the office door was suddenly pushed open.
A man with a bandage wrapped around his left eye and a sinister look walked in.
" Danzo, I've told you so many times, knock before you come in!" Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke and said helplessly, "This door has a handle, don't make such a fuss every time you come in."
Shimura Danzō ignored him, walked straight to the Hokage's desk, and slammed his hands down.
" Hiruzen, what kind of time is this to be worrying about these things! Look at those Uchiha guys, if we don't act now, it'll be too late!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, took the pipe away from his mouth, and said, " Danzo, now is not the time!"
"Then tell me when is the right time, when they're ready to fight us?" Shimura Danzō roared.
Why!
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, took a file from the pile on the table, and tossed it in front of Shimura Danzō.
"See? Don't tell me you didn't know these things!"
Shimura Danzō frowned slightly, picked up the file on the table, and glanced at it.
The above records the recent turmoil that has occurred in Sunagakure.
This includes events such as the annihilation of the Red Sand, Black Scorpion, and Night Sand clans, Hoshino's rise to fame, the establishment of the Reform Society, and the launch of prosthetic shops.
Its level of detail is so impressive that even Hoshino would have to admit it's amazing; it's like experiencing it firsthand, with every detail perfectly presented.
"Hmph, so what if I know!" Shimura Danzō casually tossed the file aside. "That's precisely why we need to hurry up and take action against the Uchiha Clan."
He already knew those puppet ninja clans had been wiped out, but it didn't matter to him; they were just pawns.
He didn't take the emergence of the Sunagakure genius Hoshino seriously either.
A genius born in Sunagakure is utterly worthless; he can be easily killed on any pretext.
What's truly enviable is prosthetic technology.
This is a technology that can enable the large-scale development of military power.
He even went so far as to hire a spy to buy a copy of each of the three versions of the prosthetic body.
It turned out that without the Chakra Crystal, it was just a relatively hard prosthesis.
As everyone knows, Taijutsu ninjas have no future in the Shinobi World. What good is it if you have strong hands? One Ninjutsu will cripple you.
Furthermore, no one knows whether Hoshino left a backdoor in the prosthetic body.
If it were him, he would definitely keep them, and not just one.
As for the technology for manufacturing Chakra Crystal, it was heavily guarded and the defenses were very strong, so there was really no chance to steal it.
Finally, having no other choice, they had to set their sights on the Uchiha Clan.
"Once we wipe out the Uchiha and intimidate the other ninja clans in the village, we can quickly mobilize our ninja army to invade the Land of Wind and force them to hand over their prosthetic technology and Chakra Crystal technology."
Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to Danzo's insane words, the wrinkles on his face deepened with anger and helplessness.
He took a deep drag on his pipe, slowly exhaled smoke, and said, " Danzo, you're oversimplifying things."
"If we were to Uchiha clan, Konoha would be thrown into chaos. What would we use to attack the Land of Wind then? And who would be willing to fight for this unjust cause?"
"Furthermore, once a war begins, whether it can be stopped is not up to us."
"I will never agree to take the initiative to attack Sunagakure."
Despite Hiruzen Sarutobi's opposition, Shimura Danzō seemed blinded by his own obsession and remained unmoved.
As expected, Hiruzen has become so weak after Hokage for so long.
If we don't take action against Sunagakure now and cripple them outright, are we just waiting for Sunagakure to grow stronger and then attack Konoha in the future?
How foolish! So incredibly foolish!
" Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi blurted out, " Danzo, I am the Hokage."