The days of splitting time between home and school, running back and forth between the Uchiha clan and the Hokage Tower, dragged on as usual.
Months had passed without much notice, and the calendar now marked the 58th year of Konoha.
Sakura Haruno's integration into the Uchiha clan had indeed created a small buffer between the village and the clan. But, thanks to a certain scheming Hokage stirring the pot behind the scenes, the villagers' resentment toward the Uchiha—and the Uchiha's bitterness toward the village—continued to tear at the fragile emotions of this easily swayed clan.
This tangled mess was too much even for Sakura to handle. Her voice carried little weight, and she couldn't undo the momentum built up by the combined forces of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, the Uchiha, and the villagers.
The Uchiha's resentment was aimed squarely at Konoha's current leader—the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Anger continued to simmer, and the outlines of a bloody tragedy were already taking shape.
Against this backdrop, a secret clan meeting, held in an unusual way, quietly came to a close.
---
Meanwhile, in an underground facility on the outskirts of the village, four towering red pillars held up the vast space.
Two wooden paths intersected at a stone platform in the center, forming a crossroad.
The sound of a cane tapping the ground echoed through the dim underground chamber.
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"You're here, Itachi Uchiha!"
Danzo Shimura opened his tightly shut right eye, gazing at the ninja kneeling on one knee at the center of the crossroad.
A faint flicker of disdain passed through his eyes, quickly concealed.
The Uchiha—a clan brimming with geniuses, yet cursed all the same.
From Madara, Izuna, Kagami, Shisui, to the Itachi Uchiha kneeling before him now, these prodigies were a source of immense instability. Especially once those wretched Sharingan eyes awakened, they posed a grave threat to Konoha's order.
Such power couldn't be left in private hands. The Uchiha clan had to be eliminated!
With that thought, Danzo tightened his grip on his cane.
"Teacher Tobirama, I'll prove to you that I'm the one who's truly worthy!"
"Lord Danzo, the clan has held another meeting," Itachi reported, still kneeling, relaying the Uchiha's plans in full.
"Well done," Danzo replied. "I'll pass this along to Hiruzen."
"And don't worry—these reports will help the Uchiha 'integrate' better into the village."
Danzo stepped forward, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder.
A faint rustle came from his wide sleeve as a signal flare slipped out, landing in Itachi's hand.
"Lord Danzo, what's this?" Itachi asked, catching the flare with a puzzled expression.
"Just a small precaution," Danzo said, his eye closing again, half his face obscured by bandages, making his expression unreadable.
"If the Uchiha do stage a rebellion, for the sake of the village…"
"Itachi, you know what to do."
With that, the sound of his cane tapping the ground resumed as Danzo vanished into the darkness.
In the empty underground chamber, Itachi remained kneeling, alone.
Sweat dripped from his brow onto the ground, his face clouded with a dark, uncertain expression.
---
Elsewhere, on a road outside the Uchiha clan's territory…
Sakura Haruno, enjoying a rare few days off, was carrying some things from the Fugaku household, heading home.
A few months back, her report had been so outlandish that Hiruzen Sarutobi had punished her by assigning a 50,000-word analysis of the Uchiha clan.
She'd procrastinated for months but finally finished it and turned it in to Hiruzen.
The report was sharp, dissecting the root causes and consequences of the tensions between the Uchiha, the village, and the police force, while offering some adjustment suggestions.
Hiruzen had been so impressed, he'd called her "a chip off the old block" and "Hokage material," granting her a few days off to relax in the suburbs, feel the evening breeze, and count the stars.
"No idea why he was so obsessed with that stuffy, bureaucratic essay," Sakura muttered under her breath, dodging pedestrians on the street.
But really, that so-called essay was just her guessing what the old man wanted to hear.
Just like her Uchiha report suggested—disband the police force, reduce the number of Uchiha ninjas… all things Hiruzen wanted to do but didn't dare.
Sure, the Uchiha were heavily suppressed by Konoha's leadership, but their clan still boasted dozens of jonin-level fighters.
Their immense clan strength made them Konoha's top family—a source of both their pride and the village's wariness.
"The solution's simple. Find someone to beat the rebels into submission," Sakura said to herself. "Too bad the higher-ups don't have the guts to do it."
She reached into her pocket, tucking her storage scroll with her belongings inside.
Buzz buzz buzz!
A sudden chakra fluctuation caught her attention. Sakura turned her head and saw Itachi Uchiha appear beside her.
"Sakura, sorry to bother you at a time like this," Itachi said, his voice calm. But Sakura sensed something else in him—a resolve, and a chilling intent to kill.
"I'll handle the Uchiha situation, but there's one person I can't stop worrying about."
"Please, look after Sasuke for me. I owe you one."
With that, he turned and vanished without looking back.
Oh no!
Sakura's Observation Haki surged like a tidal wave, and she saw someone already charging toward the Uchiha compound, blade in hand.
"That idiot! My vacation!" Sakura groaned.
In an instant, she erupted with chakra, channeling it precisely into her body for explosive speed.
Boom!
The ground beneath her cracked as she shot forward, appearing behind Itachi in a flash.
"Calm down, you moron!"
Her giant-like strength roared, the wind from her fist screaming as it tore through the air.
For some reason, Itachi felt a giant "DANGER" sign flash above his head.
He spun around, releasing a burst of chakra to form a protective barrier around his elbow and torso.
Thud!
The sound of her fist meeting flesh echoed as Itachi was sent flying like a cannonball.
He crashed into an abandoned training ground on the northern edge of the Uchiha compound, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sakura leaped through the dust, landing in front of Itachi in the crater.
"You idiot! What's with the sudden drama?" she yelled, grabbing him by the collar and hauling him up.
"You don't know, do you? The clan's planning a coup. It's happening tonight," Itachi said, his dust-covered face somber, though his grip on the signal flare remained tight.
"When did they hold this meeting? I was—" Sakura started, confused, but then saw Itachi tap his Sharingan, and it clicked.
The Uchiha were absolute geniuses, holding a meeting in an illusion space. Of course.
"Now you get it," Itachi said, his expression blank as he looked at her.
"Let me go. This is for the village."
"The village, the village—they're real, living people!" Sakura snapped, itching to punch him again.
She swung, landing another hit. "Listen up! Today you kill a clan for the village. Tomorrow you kill a village for the country."
"Sacrifice the few for the many, over and over—how many people will be left in the end?"
Blood trickled from Itachi's mouth, and the signal flare fell to the ground.
For the first time, the brooding young man looked lost.
"Then tell me, what am I supposed to do?!" he shouted.
Sakura let go of him and pulled a purple scroll from her pocket.
With a flourish, she unfurled it, channeling chakra to summon the weapons inside.
An axe nearly as tall as her and a gleaming sword landed on the ground.
"What to do? If it's too hard, don't do anything!" Sakura declared.
Gripping the sword and axe, she stepped forward, ready to offer the world…
…a pirate-style solution!
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