The hall had gone strangely quiet after Toyoma's words, but Fugaku stood stiff, unable to respond. The insults the boy threw weren't loud, they weren't dramatic — but they hit deeper than he expected. Because they were aimed at the one place he didn't want anyone to look: his own decisions during the Sakumo incident…or rather, his refusal to make any.
The moderates and Dove faction members also lowered their eyes. They knew exactly what Toyoma meant. They had wanted Sakumo's name dragged through the mud so they could push the idea of a Uchiha Fourth Hokage. They were the ones who told their faction members to keep quiet, to "let the rumour spread naturally."
And now, hearing the truth spoken out loud, they finally realised —sending the Uchiha to war wasn't as glorious or righteous as they had tried to make it sound.
Toyoma looked at them as if he were waiting for something.
When no one spoke, he asked again, voice cold and steady:
"What happened? Tell us — where exactly is the Uchiha clan supposed to go?"
His tone was not loud, but it cut through the hall like a blade.
Fugaku heard him. He didn't want to answer. Because he knew the moment he said it out loud, many would turn against him. But the weight of Setsuna's stare — and the silent pressure of all the elders — left him no escape.
He swallowed once, forced himself to speak, and said:
"The Hidden Mist front.At the Land of Water."
Murmurs exploded. Faces shifted. It was the expression people made when someone said something unbelievably stupid.
Even Setsuna, the iron-willed Hawk leader, looked shocked, ready to speak —but Toyoma cut him off before any elder could open their mouth.
He turned to Fugaku again.
"Tell me something properly — without the Sharingan, what are the Uchiha famous for?"
Fugaku clenched his fists. This brat — this child — was trying to destroy every plan to bring the Uchiha closer to the Hokage's office.
He forced his voice to stay calm.
"The village does not have enough forces for the Mist front. Hokage-sama has shown trust in us."
Toyoma didn't even blink.
**"What the Uchiha are famous for is fire-style. And what the Hidden Mist is famous for is water-style. Even a first-year academy student knows water beats fire.
But here we have 'top leaders' and even a clan head who don't have that much knowledge. So congratulations, everyone — we are following a brain-dead leader."**
The room shook.
Fugaku's eyes sharpened, Sharingan threatening to spin.
"You! You don't even have a shred of the Will of Fire! How can Uchiha–village relations ever improve with thinking like yours? You just don't want to go to war — say it clearly instead of twisting the topic!"
Toyoma stepped forward, voice still calm:
**"If an idiot is our leader, then I don't follow him. Even with an army of jonin behind him, he would still lose the easiest battle.
You want the Hawk faction to pay for this war because they're the only ones with resources. You know the village won't give you a single kunai. So you're trying to emotionally blackmail us with this Will of Fire nonsense."**
Hawk faction members stood proudly behind him. Some even looked at Toyoma as if he were the one leading them already.
Setsuna's eyes gleamed, seeing something new in the boy.
Fugaku felt sweat on his back. He knew the truth: Only the Hawks had money to fund a war. And the Hokage had told him directly —Konoha will not fund the Uchiha. If you want to join, you pay for yourself.
The entire strategy — the entire political gamble — was shattered because of one twelve-year-old.
Desperate, Fugaku turned to Setsuna:
"Elder… the village can't give us funds. But if we win this battle, the Uchiha will be hailed as heroes."
Setsuna stared at him like he was looking at a fool.
"So it's true. We will receive no funds even if we accept? Not even supplies?"
The other elders looked at Fugaku with shock and anger.
How could you agree to this without even negotiating? Their eyes seemed to say.
Fugaku tried defending himself:
"Hokage-sama said he will reimburse us after the war…"
A few elders scoffed. Toyoma didn't even wait for them.
He said calmly:
**"And the First Hokage said the Second would be a Uchiha. The Second said the Third would be a Uchiha.
And after he took Elder Kagami on that mission, who knows how he died? Where did he die? Why was his full body not found? And why was his Sharingan missing?"**
Silence.
Pure, heavy silence.
That was the bomb. Even the torches seemed to dim.
Setsuna stepped forward.
"Think about it yourselves. My people and I are not wasting a single ryo on this idiotic plan."
He turned around and walked out. The Hawk faction followed him without hesitation. None of them even glanced back at Fugaku.
Fugaku remained standing in the centre of the hall—alone, humiliated, and furious—Sharingan glowing red in the darkness.
As Setsuna and Toyoma arrived at the Hawk courtyard — Setsuna's house — they sat down. Setsuna looked at a shinobi standing nearby; the man nodded once. Toyoma took his tea, sipped it, and then spoke.
"Elder Setsuna, now what do you say about our talk?"
Setsuna looked at Toyoma. The more he looked, the harder it became to understand the boy. He sighed.
"So tell me… how do you know about it?"
Toyoma had previously told him about things that happened before they happened — White Fang's suicide, the Uchiha being forced to fight Mist Village. But when White Fang died, and Setsuna asked him how he knew, Toyoma only said he would tell him after everything happened.
Toyoma said nothing now. He closed his eyes… then opened them.
When he opened them, Elder Setsuna froze. He stared at the boy in front of him, eyes full of shock — white, emotionless, like he was looking at a monster.
Because in Toyoma's eyes, there were not two or three tomoe. There were six tomoe, arranged in a circle at the centre.
"How is this possible? No—" Setsuna's thoughts raced. Then he muttered, "Is it Mangekyō Sharingan? But there are tomoe here… how?"
He couldn't understand. There was no record in clan history of such a case.
"No, this is not a Mangekyō Sharingan. It is a six-tomoe Sharingan," Toyoma said, clearing his doubt. He had also first thought it might be Mangekyō, but after some trials, he found it was a six-tomoe Sharingan.
"So there are still stages after three tomoe… I didn't think something like that could happen."Setsuna leaned forward."So is it because of this that you know about things that happen? Like a predictive ability?"
He was witnessing something never seen in clan history.
Toyoma watched Elder Setsuna — the man looked full of excitement —, but he didn't answer that question. Instead, he spoke:
"Elder, before you ask me anything, I want to ask you some questions. But you will only answer honestly, from your heart, without taking the Uchiha clan's historical view or power into mind. Think of them as simple relatives or clan members. It is for the better future of the Uchiha. Only then will I believe you and tell you everything, as a single leak of my info affects all Uchiha members.
"And I am asking you this… You can think of me like a grandchild asking his grandfather for life advice."
Setsuna, who heard this, was stunned at first. But when he fully heard Toyoma's words — especially the last part — he was touched.
His son had been killed during the rebellion when the Second Hokage took power from the Senju clan. Because of that, his lineage became a staunch Hawk faction that did not trust Konoha's leadership.
But Toyoma's question — and the way the boy said it — struck him deeply.
He looked at the boy and realised: If his own son had not been killed, his grandson would be this age now.
Looking at Toyoma, a child burdened by the clan's future, he felt a sting of guilt. When Konoha was built, it was for children like this — that's why his lineage didn't follow Madara back then.
Now, looking at Toyoma, he felt like the Warring States Period had never truly ended for the Uchiha.
Still, he looked at the boy with a kinder expression and said:
"Okay. You can ask me anything you want. I will give answers and listen clearly, like a grandfather. You can think of me like that. Your real grandpa was my supporter — he helped me many times — so you can think of me like him."
Toyoma looked at him again. He saw in the elder's expression that he could ask the questions clearly, and they would be listened to.
His answers were the key for Toyoma to plan for the future he was thinking about.
He had many questions — but he would start with the main one, which is the base.