Two Corpses

The next day, the jonin meeting convened as scheduled.

But this time was different from before.

Fugaku, the clan head of the Uchiha Clan, Konoha's largest clan, attended the jonin meeting with two corpses.

In the eyes of the clan heads of shinobi clans such as the Hyuga Clan, Kurama Clan, Inuzuka Clan, and Aburame Clan, this was a complete breach of protocol.

But considering the recent friction between the Uchiha Clan and the Konoha Higher-Ups, along with the news they had heard that morning...

The rational choice for these major clan heads was to ignore it. More than anything, they intended to watch the spectacle unfold and take it as a warning to themselves.

Before the Nine-Tails Attack, aside from clans like the Sarutobi and Shimura, which had been at odds with the Uchiha Clan since the Warring States era, the other shinobi clans had trusted the Uchiha Clan quite a bit.

This was not simply because the Uchiha controlled Konoha's security.

In missions and even in war, the Uchiha had likewise been trustworthy comrades.

After awakening the Sharingan, Uchiha were immensely powerful and always charged at the forefront.

Over the years, the shinobi clans' actual attitude toward the Uchiha had not been particularly bad.

After all, who could dislike a companion who was dependable in strength, fought shoulder to shoulder with you at crucial moments, and could even save your life?

But on Nine-Tails Night, that sense of trust collapsed.

The shinobi clans recalled Uchiha Madara, the peerless genius in the Uchiha Clan's history.

The Sharingan could control tailed beasts!

From that day onward, the major shinobi clans began to reevaluate the Uchiha Clan.

If their reliability had merely been an act meant to deceive others into trusting them, then just how terrifying would the Uchiha, hidden among them as enemies, be?

In truth, the shinobi clans within Konoha were also divided into tiers of strength.

After the Senju Clan branched out and fully integrated into the Konoha Hidden Village, becoming a clan in name only...

The Uchiha and Hyuga Clan were Konoha's strongest clans at present, while the Kurama Clan, which also possessed a bloodline inheritance, ranked slightly below them.

This was the first tier of Konoha's shinobi clans.

As for the Nara Clan, Akimichi Clan, Yamanaka Clan, Aburame Clan, and Inuzuka Clan, which inherited secret techniques, they belonged to the third tier.

The Sarutobi and Shimura clans, which had joined after the Senju and Uchiha founded the village, had developed rapidly over the years and firmly occupied the second tier.

Those obscure shinobi clans belonged to the fourth tier.

Because the vast majority of shinobi clans had excellent inheritances, more than half of Konoha's jonin came from shinobi clans.

The rest were outstanding civilian jonin like Orochimaru.

For this reason, the shinobi clans' votes of confidence were especially important in selecting a Hokage.

Of course, since the village's founding, Konoha had not actually held many confidence votes.

After all, from the founding of the village until after the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha had only had four Hokage in total.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu took their seats, they immediately noticed the corpses beside Uchiha Fugaku.

Both corpses were covered with funeral banners. One had a blood-red head and gave off a pungent stench of blood.

"Third Hokage, esteemed advisors. Before the meeting officially begins, may I report something to everyone present?"

Uchiha Fugaku stood.

"We originally gathered everyone to recommend candidates for the next Hokage for the daimyo's consideration. Since you have something to say, Fugaku, everyone may as well hear you out first."

After receiving ANBU's report last night, the Third Hokage had not immediately summoned Fugaku to learn the details, nor had he sent ANBU to retrieve the corpses.

The jonin present vaguely sensed that this was a signal.

In truth, the many shinobi clans had been watching ANBU's investigation into the Uchiha Clan during this period.

If the Uchiha Clan truly had controlled the Nine-Tails, deliberately damaged the village, and even implicated the Fourth Hokage...

They were prepared to take action against the Uchiha Clan.

The survival and growth of their clans were at stake. The village's safety could not be treated carelessly.

Yet during this period, the scattered intelligence the shinobi clans had heard only indicated that the Nine-Tails Attack might have been connected to the Uchiha Clan.

Even ANBU, who was responsible for the investigation, had yet to give a definitive conclusion.

That made Clan Head Fugaku's explanation especially critical.

"Last night, a dispute involving rogue ninja occurred at the training grounds. Two Uchiha chunin, Uchiha Yuan and Uchiha Shisui, intervened and attempted to drive the seven men out of the Hidden Leaf Village to safeguard the village."

"A dispute? Fugaku, ANBU's report says that rogue ninja ambushed Uchiha clansmen within the village. What exactly happened?"

Mitokado Homura asked in surprise.

"No. The ambush was the initial conclusion reached by those two younger members of the clan. The methods used by the seven rogue ninja were far too horrifying, so in their urgency, they assumed the rogue ninja intended an ambush."

With that, Fugaku removed the funeral banner from one corpse.

Everyone present saw the youthful face beneath it, as well as the Sealing Technique formula carved into the frail body.

"It is the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique, a high-level Sealing Technique meant for mutual destruction."

Fugaku glanced at the four people seated at the head of the room and spoke heavily.

The jonin present could no longer remain quiet. Had public security deteriorated so badly after the Nine-Tails Attack that rogue ninja were causing disputes within the village?

They had even resorted to a Sealing Technique meant for mutual destruction. Did they think Konoha was made of paper?

In the past, the heads of the major shinobi clans would surely have joined forces to impeach Uchiha Fugaku, commander of the Police Force.

But during this period, village security had temporarily been under ANBU's control.

The shinobi clan heads chose to remain silent and wait for an explanation from the four people on the platform.

The Hidden Leaf Village needed a peaceful and stable environment, even in wartime. This was the bottom line for every shinobi clan in Konoha.

Otherwise, what had they joined Konoha for in the first place?

Besides, rogue ninja? Since when did rogue ninja understand such profound Sealing Techniques?

That style of operation, that extreme attitude.

Perhaps the less experienced jonin had not realized anything yet, but which of the shinobi clan heads present was a fool?

The Third Hokage shot Shimura Danzō a sidelong glance, while the two Hokage advisors focused on the documents before them, seemingly considering the next Hokage nomination.

"This was ANBU's dereliction of duty, as well as this old man's oversight."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

"However, the two chunin of your clan were indeed commendably brave. As for the Uchiha Clan during this time..."

"Third Hokage!"

Fugaku shouted, cutting Hiruzen Sarutobi off.

"I propose that we investigate the origins of these rogue ninja! They possess such profound Sealing Techniques and suddenly appeared within the village. If we do not resolve this problem at its source, the village may very well suffer losses again in the future!"

With that, Fugaku turned to face the assembled jonin.

By this point, even the civilian jonin realized that something was wrong.

After a brief period of thought, some shinobi clan heads chose to support Fugaku's proposal, while others simply remained silent.

As for their previous distrust of the Uchiha Clan, two chunin from the clan had dared to drive out rogue ninja willing to die together with them.

With the Uchiha displaying such resolve, who would dare accuse them to their faces?

Of course, some jonin also considered the possibility that the rogue ninja's attempt at mutual destruction had been staged by the Uchiha Clan themselves.

But after looking at the attitudes of the four people on the platform, they simply chose to ignore that possibility.

After all, they had come today to cast votes of confidence for the future Hokage.

"Oh my, how very interesting. Clan Head Fugaku, I understand your painstaking intentions. After all, my adorable student, Uchiha Yuan, came to me overnight with an intact brain and asked whether his teacher could help!"

Orochimaru, who had been observing all along, said with a chuckle.

Like Jiraiya, he was among the elite civilian jonin and naturally had the right to speak.

At the mention of brain tissue, every jonin present turned their gaze toward the other corpse.

They vaguely felt that this was about to become a major incident!