"Nature is no joke."
Uchiha Fugaku took out a sealed scroll and broke its seal.
Instantly, the corpse of Tsuchidai, the advisor of the Hidden Cloud Village, appeared in the meeting room.
"The Hidden Cloud Village advisor, Tsuchidai?"
Hyuga Hizashi stared at the body in shock.
He had seen countless portraits of Tsuchidai before, so he immediately recognized the corpse as that of the Hidden Cloud Village's advisor.
Unable to resist, he stepped forward to examine the body and found no signs of disguise or alteration. It was highly likely that this was truly Tsuchidai's corpse.
But Fugaku Uchiha had never left the village — so how could he have assassinated Tsuchidai and brought the body back?
"I'm sure by now you can confirm whether this body is genuine. If you still have doubts, you can discreetly gather intelligence from the Hidden Cloud Village. You should be able to find reports of Tsuchidai's disappearance," Fugaku said.
Since this was indeed Tsuchidai's corpse, he had no fear of the Hyuga clan verifying its authenticity.
"Finally, revenge has been served!"
Hyuga Hizashi's expression grew emotional.
The Third Hokage was the mastermind behind his younger brother's death in Konoha, and Tsuchidai was the mastermind behind the same tragedy in the Hidden Cloud Village.
He had previously issued bounties and attempted assassinations to kill Tsuchidai — all had failed.
He had placed great hopes in this deal with Uchiha Fugaku, but even so, he hadn't expected Fugaku to complete it so quickly.
And as far as he knew, Fugaku had never left Konoha.
He lifted his head and looked toward Fugaku.
"Clan Head Fugaku, how did you manage it? As far as I know, you haven't left Konoha these past few days."
"It wasn't me who carried out the assassination," Fugaku replied.
"Not you?" Hizashi was stunned but quickly formed a theory and smiled.
"Rumors say your relationship with Uchiha Shisui isn't good, but it seems that's not true after all."
Within the Uchiha clan, aside from Fugaku, there was another Anbu-level elite — Uchiha Shisui.
Hizashi had heard that Fugaku and Shisui didn't get along, and that Shisui was more aligned with the Third Hokage. This was one reason Hizashi hesitated to side fully with the Uchiha clan.
But now it seemed that wasn't the case.
Someone willing to take orders from Fugaku and risk infiltrating the Hidden Cloud Village to assassinate their advisor could only mean Fugaku and Shisui were on good terms.
"Rumors are the least reliable thing there is," Fugaku said with a smile, understanding Hizashi's misunderstanding, and didn't explain further.
Hizashi's words gave Fugaku an idea.
The Third Hokage had never found Shisui's body — which explained why he hadn't publicly announced Shisui's death.
If the news of Shisui's death was made public, the powerful deterrent of having two Anbu-level elites in one clan would vanish.
If they could use a clone to impersonate Shisui, they could maintain the Uchiha clan's formidable presence.
"I envy the Uchiha clan — to have two Anbu-level elites in one family."
Hizashi said with admiration.
The Hyuga clan didn't even have one Anbu-level elite, while the Uchiha boasted two. It was impossible not to be envious.
"The Hyuga clan, like the Uchiha, is an ancient family with exceptional bloodlines and has the potential to reach that level," Fugaku said.
He wasn't just being polite — the Hyuga bloodline truly had the potential to produce Anbu-level elites. After all, in the future, a figure with Six Paths-level power would emerge, whose eyes were an evolved form of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.
"I hope so," Hizashi smiled.
As head of the Hyuga clan and knowing their bloodline's origins, he was confident.
He believed the current decline in talent was temporary — sooner or later, the Hyuga would shine as brightly as the Uchiha, and having two Anbu-level elites in one family was not impossible.
What he didn't know was that even now, the Uchiha clan had more than just two Anbu-level elites.
If all Uchiha united, the clan could boast four or more Anbu-level elites at the same time.
If you counted the resurrected Uchiha Madara, the number of Anbu-level and above fighters could reach five.
"Hizashi clan head, I have fulfilled your request. What about the promise you made?" Fugaku asked, looking at Hizashi.
"Rest assured, Clan Head Fugaku. Since I promised, I won't go back on my word," Hizashi assured him.
The Uchiha clan had two Anbu-level elites, both on good terms.
With such formidable strength, overthrowing the Third Hokage's faction was highly likely.
Given the grudge between the Hyuga clan and the Third Hokage's faction, Hizashi didn't hesitate to side with the Uchiha to trouble their enemies.
If the Uchiha defeated the Third Hokage faction, the Hyuga clan would surely benefit.
After some conversation, Fugaku left the Hyuga clan, leaving Tsuchidai's corpse temporarily with them.
Although Hizashi was the clan head, the Hyuga also had influential elders he needed to convince.
He had to persuade them to spread the news — and Tsuchidai's corpse was a powerful tool for that.
Once the elders agreed, he would return the body to Fugaku.
Back at the Uchiha clan, Fugaku immediately convened a clan meeting.
Present were the three elders, elite Jonin-level ninjas, and other Jonin-level Uchiha.
During the meeting, Fugaku revealed his plan against the Third Hokage faction and the scheme to impersonate Uchiha Shisui.
"Clan Head, you plan to impersonate Shisui to maintain the Uchiha clan's deterrence with two Anbu-level elites?" asked Second Elder Uchiha Mamoru.
"Yes, that is my plan," Fugaku nodded.
"With your clones' disguising ability, no one will detect the deception," Mamoru added.
"But Shisui is an Anbu member who must execute missions, making it easy to expose the ruse," Uchiha Atsuko noted.
"Then Shisui must leave the Anbu," Fugaku said.
"The Third Hokage would never agree to that," Uchiha Hoshi frowned.
"I'll go with 'Shisui.' Even if the Third Hokage disagrees, he will have to accept it," Fugaku said with a cold smile.
Resigning from Anbu requires no Hokage approval.
Visiting the Hokage to submit a resignation is merely a formality, just to show that Shisui isn't dead.
Once the Third Hokage learns Shisui is alive and intends to quit Anbu, Fugaku looked forward to seeing his reaction.