"...The Fourth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village has disappeared."
Looking at the urgent intelligence report delivered that morning, the Third Hokage frowned deeply as he spoke in a heavy voice.
"Last year, the Land of Water already sent an official notice to the daimyō, claiming that Kirigakure had suffered infiltration and sabotage by Konoha spies, resulting in massive casualties among their shinobi."
"They demanded we hand over the culprit and directly accused the Uchiha clan."
Inside the Hokage's office, Nara Shikaku—wearing his wild-looking cloak and the signature upright ponytail of the Nara clan, fad throughout Konoha as its military strategist—rubbed his forehead in frustration while reading the report.
Even soone as intelligent as him, a man who made his living with his brain, had to admit that the current situation was rapidly approaching an unsolvable dead end.
"They provided a portrait."
"There are so slight differences, but it really is Shisui Uchiha."
"... We can't rule out the possibility that soone used a Transformation Technique to deliberately provoke conflict between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water."
The Third Hokage took a long drag from his pipe.
The smoke drifting through the room resembled the uncertainty clouding his thoughts, lingering without dispersing.
"Kirigakure understands that possibility too, which is why they've only issued a formal warning through the daimyō for now, but…"
"But the dōjutsu capable of controlling a Tailed Beast through genjutsu could only be the Sharingan."
Shikaku finished the thought grimly.
"That alone is enough to prevent Konoha from escaping bla. Damn it…"
The Uchiha.
Just hearing that na now gave Hiruzen a headache.
Ever since the Uchiha rebellion had been temporarily suppressed, Danzō and the others had begun arresting the clan's radicals under countless fabricated charges.
Of course, the reasons they presented in front of the Third Hokage sounded perfectly justified.
Why should conspirators plotting rebellion be spared?
And to suppress the Uchiha clan's influence, those arrests had all been conducted publicly throughout the village.
Naturally, the villagers' views toward the Uchiha gradually changed.
The fear born from the Nine-Tails Incident had slowly transford into disgust.
As Hokage, Hiruzen understood even more clearly that the Uchiha taken away by Root would never be released again.
But when the families of those captured clan mbers saw that their loved ones never returned…
How could they possibly accept it quietly?
Thus, the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha clan only continued escalating without end.
And now—
The very person who should have been Konoha's greatest asset for stabilizing the Uchiha clan had suddenly appeared on an international bingo book.
His cri:
Assassinating the Mizukage and destabilizing the Hidden Mist Village.
Naturally, Konoha could never publicly admit to a cri of that magnitude.
But Shisui Uchiha's death itself was already an unspoken darkness within Konoha.
As long as the Uchiha clan still remained publicly affiliated with the village, Konoha would remain trapped in an extrely passive position.
And while internal conflict intensified, outside pressure continued mounting as well.
Under the crushing weight of both—
Neither Hiruzen Sarutobi nor the Uchiha clan could avoid making a decision soon.
Both sides understood it perfectly.
Konoha now resembled an enormous barrel of explosives covered entirely in paper bombs.
All it needed was a single spark.
And the entire village would explode.
For the Third Hokage, who pursued peace and stable developnt above all else—
Such an outco was absolutely unacceptable.
"...I'll go speak with Fugaku at the Uchiha compound again."
Seeing the expression on Hiruzen's face, Shikaku inwardly sensed danger and attempted one final effort to salvage the situation.
"There's no need."
At that mont, a cold, hoarse voice echoed from outside the office.
The door opened.
Danzō Shimura walked in slowly.
Half his arm and face were wrapped in bandages, yet the oppressive aura surrounding him resembled a predator entering its territory.
"Shikaku, leave us."
The mont he saw Danzō, the silent Third Hokage finally spoke.
Shikaku paused briefly.
Though he clearly wanted to say sothing more, once the Hokage gave an order, he could only bow helplessly and withdraw from the office.
After stepping outside, Shikaku leaned against the door and casually ford hand seals.
A soundproof barrier spread across the office entrance, isolating even himself from the interior.
Then he stood guard personally, preventing anyone from approaching.
He understood perfectly well—
The conversation taking place inside that room would determine the fate of the Uchiha clan.
And whatever was said there…
No third person in the village could be allowed to hear it.
"How did Shisui die?"
The Third Hokage stared at Danzō standing before him and spoke coldly.
"That doesn't matter, Hiruzen. You already know why I'm here."
Danzō completely ignored the question and spoke calmly.
"The Second Hokage was never wrong."
"The Uchiha clan is inherently evil."
"They not only plotted the Nine-Tails Incident within the village, but even attempted to manipulate Tailed Beasts and seize power in foreign villages."
"The ambitions of that clan are exactly the sa as their ancestor, Madara Uchiha—"
"Enough, Danzō!"
The Third Hokage suddenly rose to his feet.
"There's no sufficient evidence for any of this!"
But Hiruzen's anger ant nothing to the old comrade who understood him better than anyone.
Danzō continued speaking as though uninterrupted.
"Evidence?"
He sneered.
"Hiruzen… you're still as naive as ever."
"You are the Hokage of Konoha. You stand within the light."
"And I…"
Danzō's visible eye narrowed coldly.
"My roots lie buried in darkness."
"In the darkness, nobody sees what we do."
"And nobody cares."
"The only thing people care about…"
"Is the result."
"..."
The Third Hokage fell silent.
He understood exactly what Danzō ant.
And he also understood—
From a purely rational standpoint—
This truly was the most effective solution available.
Shinobi…
Had never been creatures of honesty and light.
"What do you intend to do?"
At last, the Third Hokage made his decision.
"Uchiha…"
Danzō slowly spoke the na.
"Itachi."
...
The Hokage office door slowly opened from the inside.
Shikaku instinctively turned toward it.
Inside the office, only Hiruzen Sarutobi remained, standing by the window in his Hokage robes while quietly smoking his pipe.
Shikaku stepped forward.
He made no attempt to determine where Danzō had gone or how he had left.
He simply waited silently for the Third Hokage to speak.
Because whatever Hiruzen said next—
Would represent his final decision.
"Shikaku…"
The Third Hokage suddenly asked:
"Your son Shikamaru is entering the Academy next year, correct?"
"... Yes."
Shikaku fell silent briefly before answering.
"What a pity."
Hiruzen turned around slowly.
"Looks like he'll miss Naruto's class by one year."
"I always thought Shikamaru's personality would get along well with Naruto."
"Perhaps I shouldn't have rushed Naruto into enrollnt so early."
"It's fine."
Shikaku calmly picked up the conversation.
"Sooner or later he'd have to enroll anyway."
"And even if it's next year, they'll still attend the sa Academy."
"This isn't warti anymore. Over six years, children naturally beco acquainted with one another."
"Yes…"
The Third Hokage murmured softly.
"This isn't warti anymore."
"By next year…"
"Everything will already be over."
On the surface, they seed to be discussing children entering school.
But both of them understood perfectly well what they truly ant.
At that mont—
The fate of the Uchiha clan had already been decided.
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