The next day, at noon.
"We understand what happened, Hiruzen."
In the Hokage Building's conference room, the two elder advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, finished reading the scroll. They both let out a sigh and furrowed their brows, seemingly troubled.
This scroll contained intelligence sent back by Orochimaru, the supreme commander of the Leaf Village's front lines.
The mission to attack the Sand Village's supply point did not align with the actual situation, leading to a severe dispersion of Sakumo's squad's combat power, and they almost sacrificed themselves in the Sand Village's encirclement.
Although there was no mention of the 'Root' in the scroll, as advisors, they understood the hidden meaning within.
All fingers pointed to another high-ranking Leaf Village elder, Shimura Danzo.
Root ninja had deceitfully conspired to frame Sakumo's squad, and had even planted spies within the Hokage's direct Anbu, which became the source of this incident.
"Then how do you two view this matter?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Hokage, looked at the two with an expressionless face.
Homura and Koharu wanted to make excuses for Danzo and blame the Sand Village, but the others were not fools. Doing so would only make an already bad situation even worse.
"This time, Danzo went a bit too far..."
"Just a bit too far?"
Hiruzen's face suddenly darkened. He could tolerate the planting of spies within the Hokage's direct Anbu.
But he could only represent himself, not the Uchiha clan's opinion.
This was the real difficulty of this incident.
Placing Uchiha Ruri in Sakumo's squad for training was a deal between himself and the Uchiha elders.
Now that this squad had just begun to gel, such an accident occurred. How would the Uchiha elders view him, the Hokage?
"Then, Hiruzen, what do you plan to do? He is, after all, a high-ranking member of the village, and over the years, he has made countless contributions to the village and dealt with many enemies who threatened it..."
Hearing Homura plead for Danzo, Hiruzen waved his hand impatiently, signaling him to stop talking.
"Where is Danzo at this moment?"
"In the Land of Grass."
"No reply?"
"He said everything was normal, but..."
"But what?"
"His four subordinates, who were on a secret mission in the Land of Rivers, suddenly disappeared for unknown reasons and may have perished."
After hearing this, Hiruzen nodded and said, "I generally understand the situation. I will negotiate with the Uchiha. You two go and contact Danzo, tell him to behave and stop doing these unnecessary things. How to handle the Uchiha is my responsibility as Hokage; this matter is not something the Root can interfere with."
Danzo's unscrupulous methods must have been because he, the Hokage, had recently adopted a conciliatory policy towards the Uchiha.
For the radical faction of the Root, this was indeed a dangerous signal.
The Uchiha had a mixed reputation in the Leaf Village. While it couldn't be said that they were fully integrated into the village, to completely dismiss their interpersonal relationships as worthless would be too absolute.
Just like among the Leaf Village's high-ranking officials, there were conservative and radical factions.
The Uchiha also had radical and conservative factions.
But whether the Uchiha were radical or conservative, their ultimate goal was crystal clear to Hiruzen.
It was nothing more than wanting to gain greater power within the Leaf Village, to have a say in the village's general direction, and even to obtain the position of Hokage, defeating the Senju clan.
As long as he knew what their goals were, Hiruzen believed that the remaining matters would be very easy to handle.
If it weren't for this Danzo incident, he could have slightly improved the relationship between the Uchiha and the village before the next Hokage took office, preventing it from being as rigid as before.
"I hope that with this lesson, Danzo can be a bit more settled..."
Sometimes, Hiruzen didn't know how to deal with his close friend Danzo. He could only sigh with a headache, hoping that the other party's personality would be more restrained from now on.
Homura and Koharu remained silent. If Danzo were such an honest and dutiful person, he wouldn't have become the leader of the Root.
"We will explain to the Hyuga. Since you want to handle the Uchiha yourself, then that's up to you, Hiruzen. But there's one thing you must remember: no matter how you plan to appease the Uchiha, you must not fully trust anyone from that clan. Among this clan, there are many ninja who have inherited that person's dangerous ideas."
Homura looked deeply at Hiruzen, and after saying this, he and Koharu left the conference room.
"Uchiha Madara... and the Mangekyo Sharingan..."
Hiruzen murmured, sitting in his seat.
Uchiha Madara's battle with the First Hokage at the Valley of the End had a profound impact on the Leaf Village.
Although the loser was Uchiha Madara, the First Hokage, who returned to the village, also died of illness not long after, leading to no one being able to suppress that era, and a few years later, the brutal First Great Ninja War broke out.
And the power that Uchiha Madara was famous for was the ultimate form of the Sharingan—the Mangekyo Sharingan.
It was the most mysterious and darkest secret power recorded in the Uchiha's ancient texts.
His teacher, Tobirama Senju, had said more than once that Uchiha ninja who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan had long since fallen into the darkness of the abyss of their hearts and could no longer be treated as normal people.
Arrogant, extreme, mentally unstable, they would do many things that defied logic and were unbearable for ordinary people.
They had to be dealt with promptly to prevent a great disaster for the Leaf Village.
But for now, Hiruzen was not worried about this.
Since Uchiha Madara's death, there had been no more instances of Uchiha clan members awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.
No matter how talented an Uchiha ninja was, the three-tomoe Sharingan was the ultimate limit they could reach.
The three-tomoe Sharingan, for him as Hokage, was not enough to be feared.
◎
Three in the afternoon.
Shiraishi and the two others returned to the village of Konoha, which they had been away from for several days.
The peaceful and tranquil scene was in stark contrast to the grim and oppressive atmosphere of the front lines.
And this peace was precisely what countless ninja on the front lines had exchanged with their lives.
"Well then, let's part ways here."
At a fork in the road, Ayane was the first to suggest separating.
Shiraishi and Ruri both did not object. Now was indeed not the time to talk about trivial matters.
The Uchiha clan's territory was still the same as usual, not bustling, nor deserted, but there were some children wearing clothes embroidered with the fan emblem, playing in the streets of the Uchiha territory.
They were all the new generation of the Uchiha clan's new faction.
They all seemed to know Ruri, the clan's foremost genius, and came up to greet her, sweetly calling out 'Sister Ruri,' 'Sister Ruri.'
Ruri also took out some candies from her person and distributed them to these children, telling them to be careful while playing.
"Next, I'm going to the elders to understand the situation in the village. You go back first."
Ruri watched the children leave, then turned to Shiraishi and said.
"Understood. Anyway, someone like me just needs to quietly be a transparent person."
Shiraishi had nothing to complain about regarding this.
Ruri nodded. In this regard, Shiraishi's mindset was indeed good.
He had been like this since he was a child, always appearing indifferent whether he was looked down upon or ignored.
"Although I don't think the way things are handled will satisfy you personally."
Before leaving, Shiraishi said this one more sentence.
Upon hearing it, Ruri's brows furrowed involuntarily.
Just as she was about to say something, Shiraishi had already walked away. She could only see him waving goodbye with his back to her, indicating 'see you later' as he walked into the distance.
After bidding farewell to Shiraishi, Ruri went alone to the Naka Shrine.
When she arrived, sure enough, an Uchiha elder was already waiting for her there.
It was Uchiha Shisui.
Beside him, a young man was kneeling, it was Uchiha Fugaku.
Fugaku smiled slightly at Ruri and nodded as a greeting.
Ruri also nodded back to him.
To be honest, although both she and Fugaku were candidates for the Uchiha clan head, Ruri didn't like interacting with Fugaku.
It wasn't because Fugaku's strength was weak. As one of the clan head candidates, Fugaku's strength was undoubtedly that of a very powerful jonin, and his Sharingan had also been honed to the three-tomoe state.
However, Fugaku's way of handling things was too conservative and gentle, and this was precisely the way Ruri disliked the most.
Ruri respected his great power, but she was skeptical about whether his personality could handle the important responsibility of being clan head.
After all, the Uchiha clan is different from ordinary ninja clans.
Gentleness and conservatism are definitely slow knives that will kill the Uchiha. This is Ruri's own view of the clan.
After Ruri sat down, she bowed slightly to Uchiha Shifang, showing respect for her elder.
"Elder Shifang, regarding this..."
Just as Ruri was about to speak, Elder Shifang had already raised his hand to interrupt her, his tone not as impulsive as she had imagined.
"I've already heard about this from the Hokage."
"Is that so?" Ruri said softly, then continued, "So, how does the clan plan to arrange it?"
"What's your opinion, Ruri?"
Elder Shifang did not tell Ruri the clan's arrangements, but instead asked for Ruri's opinion on the matter.
"I remember Elder Shifang once told me that the leader of the Root is Shimura Danzo, the leader of the Shimura clan, right? He is the Hokage's close friend and the Second Hokage's disciple."
"Yes."
"Such a tightly organized group would never act without orders from their superior. I don't think the other two members of the squad were their targets; the Root's target could only be me, or the Uchiha. Therefore, all of this was instigated by Shimura Danzo; he is targeting our Uchiha clan. Moreover, this can be considered a serious crime of wantonly killing comrades. He should be imprisoned in the Konoha Grand Prison for repentance."
As long as the mastermind is imprisoned in Konoha Prison, then no matter what achievements the person had before, they would be meaningless.
His political achievements would be erased, and he would become a useless person with no influence on the village.
This was the punishment Ruri hoped to inflict on that Konoha high-ranking official.
As she spoke, Ruri took out a scroll and placed it in front of Elder Shifang.
Undoubtedly, the scroll contained irrefutable facts and evidence of the Root framing fellow ninjas.
It only needed to be taken to the Anbu for authentication to confirm the Root's guilt.
And the leader of the Root would not be able to escape involvement and would be implicated.
Elder Shifang sighed; he knew Ruri would do this.
He had watched Ruri grow up and clearly understood her tit-for-tat nature.
"It's useless. Weren't those four Root ninjas killed by you? That means there's no evidence. As long as Danzo denies it, he can have his subordinates take the punishment for him. Moreover, the Yamanaka clan has a major event happening in their clan right now and needs a few days to deal with it."
It was likely out of fear that Ruri would produce the bodies of the Root ninjas and take them to the Yamanaka clan for identification.
As for whether this was an order issued by the Hokage himself to the Yamanaka clan, or by another high-ranking official, it already showed the Yamanaka clan's determination.
"Is this what comrades in the same village are like? I understand."
Ruri had nothing to sigh about; it was all within her expectations.
Therefore, the four Root ninja corpses, specially treated by Shiraishi, also had no use.
"After the war, the Hokage will place restrictions on the Root and promise that no similar incidents will happen again; otherwise, he will sanction Danzo. Not only that, but the Hokage also allows you to view the Scroll of Seals once more and choose one ninjutsu from it."
"That's quite generous. However, what I want is not these things, Elder Shifang."
Ruri looked up, her clear black and white eyes meeting Elder Shifang's gaze without fear.
"Not these?"
Elder Shifang thought Ruri's tantrum should have ended here.
After all, being able to view the Scroll of Seals again and choose a powerful ninjutsu to learn was something many jonin dreamed of but couldn't achieve.
For the Uchiha, it was also something with all benefits and no harm.
Therefore, he had a secret meeting with the Hokage instead of holding a clan meeting.
"No matter how strong the ninjutsu in the Scroll of Seals is, it can't make me swallow this anger. I hope to gain the power of the clan. Also, with all due respect, people like Shimura Danzo are too dangerous. Having someone in the village's high command who targets the Uchiha will sooner or later sow a huge seed of disaster for us. We must use this opportunity to trip him up, even if it means damaging the Uchiha's vitality..."
Ruri's face was cold, and a strong killing intent had already risen in her eyes.
Fugaku, standing to the side, hesitated to speak, as if wanting Ruri to calm down.
Elder Shifang was not angered by Ruri's aggressive words, but instead sneered and said, "Ruri, you overestimate Shimura Danzo too much. The Shimura clan and the Root are not even fit to carry our Uchiha's shoes. He is a dark rat who can only play tricks behind the scenes. In the face of our Uchiha's absolute power, these petty methods are simply not presentable."
The implication was that someone like Shimura Danzo was not worth the Uchiha's vitality to deal with.
"Keep this evidence for now. I can promise you that if Danzo dares to do this again, we will follow your method. However, I believe Danzo will no longer have the courage to attack our Uchiha."
When he said this, Elder Shifang had absolute confidence in the Uchiha clan's power.
Ruri stared at Elder Shifang's proud face for a moment, then lowered her head slightly.
"I understand. I'll do as you say, Elder."
Her fists clenched, and the powerful chakra fluctuations around her intensified, showing her extreme inner imbalance.
Elder Shifang patted Ruri's shoulder, knowing she was unwilling, and comforted her, saying, "Ruri, you still have many things to learn. Politics is a constant compromise between two sides. Although your talent is superior to Fugaku's, in this aspect, I believe this is your biggest shortcoming."
"Is it for the position of Hokage?"
Ruri asked abruptly.
Elder Shifang smiled reassuringly and said, "We Uchiha will do our best to contend for the position of Fourth Hokage. Since you also understand this point, then think about it carefully."
With that, he rose from his seat, and Fugaku also stood up with him.
After they left, Ruri remained seated, unmoving.
Her eyes emitted a dark gaze, staring at the ground.
A heavy, oppressive atmosphere hung in the room.
"How boring..."
She murmured.
Ruri was not unaware of Elder Shifang's good intentions.
Although she could understand Elder Shifang's thoughts, this was definitely not the outcome she wanted, and she would never agree with this view.
The Uchiha's power was very strong, but this should not be a reason to look down on others.
In this world, there is only the saying of being a thief for a thousand days, but no saying of guarding against a thief for a thousand days.
She slowly stood up from her seat, turned around, and looked out of the room.
She could still vaguely see the receding figures of Elder Shifang and Fugaku.
"Elder Shifang, it's not that I disagree with your decision; I just didn't expect you to misunderstand my intentions from the very beginning."
It was a bit of a headache.
Perhaps it was helplessness.
Coming here was truly a waste of time; she might as well go back to sleep and rest.
Whether it's the clan head or the Hokage, power is the fundamental determinant of everything.
For example, the God of Shinobi; without the power to back him up, no matter how beautiful the will he spoke of, everyone would scoff at it.
And would the Uchiha clan's adoption of the Senju clan's method to obtain the Hokage prove that they surpassed the Senju clan?
It was merely self-deception.
The moment the first Hokage was not chosen from the Uchiha, the Uchiha had already failed.
And the current restlessness of the Uchiha mostly stemmed from the sense of pride in establishing Konoha together with the Senju clan, right?
However, unlike the Senju clan, not a single Uchiha ninja had ever become Hokage.
Unwillingness, jealousy... For Elder Shifang and other older generation Uchiha ninjas, it might no longer be unwillingness and jealousy, but an obsession.
A terrifying obsession with the hope of a Hokage being born from the Uchiha.
"Without power, no matter how good a dream is, it's just a fleeting illusion. For a criminal who framed a comrade, the Hokage doesn't punish them. Such a Hokage is not worth trusting at all. It seems I need to find some like-minded companions in the clan..."
Ruri's eyes instantly turned crimson, and three black tomoe appeared on the irises of her red eyes.
(PS: I kept revising it back and forth and was never quite satisfied, so it's late. Sorry...)