Chapter 220: The Uchiha Hawks!
The mastermind has surfaced?
Far away in the Konoha camp, Nara Keisuke received the message from his "Nara-Raikage" clone. Tobi, a three-tomoe Uchiha, and Old Man Madara... a completely expected result.
He reviewed the memories, sorted through the new information, and put together the entire timeline of events.
First, Iwagakure, having lost its Jinchuriki, refused to accept the loss. Ōnoki secretly contacted the Third Mizukage to apply pressure on Konoha. Next, Uchiha Madara, who already had ties to the Mizukage, used this as an opportunity to drag Kumogakure and the Third Raikage into the fray, paying them with the Tailed Beast Sealing Method. Then, using intelligence likely leaked from inside Konoha, the Raikage located the Konoha camp and launched a devastating night attack, all to lure Keisuke to that front.
If Keisuke's own power hadn't grown so fast, completely exceeding Madara's calculations, the situation right now would be him and Minato, backed by Kokuō, locked in a brutal stalemate against the Third Raikage and the AB Combo. And while the "Shadow of Darkness" and the "Yellow Flash" were tied down, Madara would be free to complete his own objective.
And though Tobi and the masked man hadn't explicitly stated that objective, Keisuke wasn't the Third Raikage; he knew exactly who Madara was after: Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Obito. And it was almost certainly the latter. After all, he had already failed with the "Will of Fire" type (Kagami), and Shisui was cut from the exact same cloth.
But if Madara's target was Obito...
"The Kannabi Bridge incident was completely rewritten. Obito is still just a Chunin who hasn't even awakened his Sharingan. Old Man Madara is interested in that?" Keisuke rubbed his chin. "Or is he planning some new 'love-plan' arrangement for him?"
He was missing too much information to form a conclusion. He stood up and headed for the chief of staff's tent. The mastermind was in the open, but there were still mysteries. For example, the masked man's final claim that "Konoha will cooperate." If he wasn't bluffing, it meant there was a traitor.
Keisuke's mind immediately jumped to Shimura Black-pot—ah, no, Shimura Danzō. He always assumed the worst of him, and it wouldn't be surprising at all if he was involved. But there was also the "One-Eyed Uchiha" to consider. Keisuke was very curious about his true identity. While he looked like the future "Tobi," his power level was all wrong.
As a clan built on a bloodline, Uchiha rarely let their members stray. A three-tomoe Sharingan was practically synonymous with the rank of Jonin. He would start by asking Shikaku.
In the command tent...
"Have any Uchiha Jonin turned up dead or missing recently? Not on the battlefield."
Shikaku, hearing the new Clan Head's question, stroked his goatee. "If you're talking about on the battlefield, the number is quite high..." The Uchiha clan, with their innate talent and Fire Style, were Konoha's sharpest blade. They took heavy losses but also inflicted massive damage. The new Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, had even earned the epithet "Wicked Eye Fugaku" on the battlefield.
"I'm talking about accidental disappearances. Or unexpected deaths," Keisuke clarified.
"In that case, there is one," Shikaku said after a moment's thought. "If I recall, the Uchiha clan delisted a Jonin's records not long ago. His name... was Uchiha Setsuna." As the former Jonin Class Leader, Shikaku knew the files on almost every Jonin, except for those in Root or other hidden reserves.
"Uchiha Setsuna?" The name was unfamiliar to Keisuke.
"He was from your great-uncle's generation," Shikaku explained. "His personality was... let's say, 'radical.' He was the leader of the Uchiha 'Hawks' and was rumored to have inherited some of Uchiha Madara's ideals."
"Madara had ideals?" Keisuke asked.
"Just the 'don't obey the Hokage, don't obey the village' sort of thinking," Shikaku said, looking troubled. "According to rumors, he was extremely disrespectful to Lord Second, and..."
"And what?"
Shikaku sighed, apologizing to the dead man in his head before continuing. "In a drunken stupor, Setsuna once boasted that he would 'take power back from the Senju'."
"Heh," Keisuke scoffed. "So he inherited Madara's hatred of the Second Hokage. Why didn't he just leave with Madara? Instead, he waits until the First is dead to act tough in front of the Second and Third? That's not a 'Hawk.' That's a 'Cowardly Bully'."
"Clan Head, the man is already dead..." Shikaku had no desire to discuss the Uchiha clan's internal politics. "If you don't have anything else to do, you could help me with some of this paperwork. The village has sent a few reinforcements—"
"Shikaku-san," Keisuke suddenly said, his expression grave, "I just remembered I have something urgent I forgot to handle. See you next time!"
Shikaku reached out a hand, but Keisuke had already vanished. Paperwork? Not in this lifetime. I'll just have to be careful not to get cornered by him again.
He reappeared in his own tent, only to find an exhausted-looking but ecstatic Minato bursting in.
"Keisuke, look!" Minato had dark circles under his eyes, but he was beaming. He held up his right hand.
"Ha! Ra-Sen-Gan!"
"Wow, strong, so strong!" Keisuke gave him a round of applause, then immediately took out his own sword, Little Jizō, and handed it to him.
"Minato-san, speaking of which, could you take a look at this? I tried to carve your 'Sword of Ninja Love' FTG mark, but I'm not sure if I got it right..."
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