Uchiha Itachi only wanted the village and the Uchiha clan to develop peacefully.
Honestly, the solution was ridiculously simple.
Have Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Fugaku each activate their own "mecha" and stand in front of the Hokage Tower.
"We have the strength to rebel, but we choose not to.
All we want is status."
The moment Fugaku said that, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, and the rest would all nod obediently.
Refuse to nod?
Sure.
This village belongs to everyone, not just the four of you.
Overthrow you, and it's still Konoha.
The Uchiha are still the Uchiha.
That's how true peace and stability are achieved—so everyone can live without fear.
And yet, Itachi always overlooked one crucial question:
What caused the Uchiha rebellion in the first place?
Wasn't it those four old bastards in the Hokage Tower?
They sent the Uchiha to the battlefield, and once the war was over, tossed them aside.
Summoned when needed, discarded when not.
To the very end, the Uchiha only wanted their people to enter the upper ranks of the village—
they weren't even fixated on the Hokage position.
But those four simply refused.
Hyūga.
Nara.
Akimichi.
Yamanaka.
Every major clan had representation in Konoha's high command.
Only the Uchiha were excluded.
"Dinner's ready!"
Wen Lan had been sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper. Hearing Kushina's call, he put it down and walked to the table.
The meal was lavish—spare ribs, miso soup, braised pork, and more.
After sitting down, Wen Lan picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and smiled at Kushina.
"Auntie, Senior Minato really hit the jackpot—marrying such an amazing wife."
"Get lost. Even food can't shut your mouth," Kushina said, though she was smiling brightly.
Mikoto, sitting beside Wen Lan, looked at him helplessly.
"How many times have I told you—before eating, you're supposed to say 'Itadakimasu'."
In Japan, saying "Itadakimasu" before a meal is a way to thank the person who cooked.
Wen Lan rolled his eyes.
"Never had that habit. Why not just say thank you directly to the person who cooked? Why say 'I'm eating now' to the food?"
"What—if I were mute, would the food refuse to let me eat?"
Mikoto sighed, completely exasperated.
Li and Shu had both been extremely proper and well-mannered people—
yet their son treated rules like air.
Wen Lan calmly picked up a rib and chewed slowly, completely ignoring Mikoto's reproachful gaze.
Kushina and Mikoto also began eating, and before long, the meal was finished.
Wen Lan very consciously went to wash the dishes. After all, someone else cooked—doing nothing at all would be shameless.
Once he was done, he dried his hands and returned to the living room. Kushina and Mikoto were chatting, and Kushina poured Wen Lan a glass of water.
Mikoto said with concern,
"I wonder when this war will finally end."
"Yeah…" Kushina's eyes dimmed.
"Minato took Team Seven to Kannabi Bridge. Obito… stayed there forever."
"Since coming back, Rin and Kakashi haven't been the same."
Wen Lan nearly choked on his water.
He glanced at Kushina subtly, thinking:
Obito's alive and kicking, you know. He'll even be the one who gets you two killed later.
Kakashi's even more impressive—your son grows up drinking expired milk and eating food mixed with sand, with money but nowhere to buy things… and he doesn't give a single damn.
At this point, Wen Lan seriously suspected that Minato taught Kakashi ninjutsu—but forgot to teach him gratitude.
"It'll be over soon," Wen Lan said calmly.
"Kannabi Bridge is destroyed. Iwagakure can't transport supplies anymore—they can't fight a war of attrition."
"Otherwise, they wouldn't have resorted to such useless tactics like night raids a few days ago."
"But I suspect Kirigakure won't stay quiet."
"How so?" Kushina asked, puzzled.
Both Kushina and Mikoto rarely treated Wen Lan like a child—his way of thinking far exceeded what most adults could manage.
Even Minato and Fugaku had praised him more than once.
"Konoha has fought Kumogakure and Iwagakure back to back," Wen Lan explained.
"Sunagakure is in chaos due to the Third Kazekage's death."
"That leaves only Kirigakure."
"If you were them, who would you target?"
"Konoha!" the two women exclaimed simultaneously.
"Exactly," Wen Lan nodded.
"Two major wars in a row. Most of the older generation is dead or crippled, and the younger generation hasn't fully grown yet."
"This is a vacuum period."
"If I were Kirigakure, I'd take a bite out of Konoha right now."
"Success or failure doesn't matter. For them, it's a test of Konoha's strength."
"Win, and they take a chunk of meat. Lose, and they just lose some troops."
"But wouldn't Kumogakure and Iwagakure take advantage of that?" Mikoto asked worriedly.
Wen Lan sneered.
"Did you forget what happened recently?"
"Ōnoki has held a grudge ever since Kumogakure ambushed Iwagakure during the Second Shinobi World War."
"Not long ago, Iwagakure launched a sneak attack on Kumogakure—over ten thousand ninja surrounded the Third Raikage."
"The Third Raikage fought for three days and three nights until he died of exhaustion."
"At this point, Kumogakure doesn't care about Konoha at all."
"If Iwa dares to deploy a jinchūriki against Konoha, Kumogakure will absolutely side with Konoha and turn around to attack Iwagakure."
Mikoto and Kushina were both stunned.
They never imagined that a five-year-old could see the situation this clearly.
"Then I'll report this to the Hokage right away!" Kushina stood up.
"Useless," Wen Lan leaned back against the sofa.
"First, everything I said is speculation. Without evidence, the Hokage will only half-believe it."
"Second, frontline manpower is already so tight that even kids like us are being sent to the battlefield."
"Where would the extra troops come from to guard against Kirigakure?"
"Then what do we do?" Mikoto asked anxiously.
"We can't just watch Kirigakure sneak-attack us!"
"Heh," Wen Lan took a sip of water.
"I'm just guessing."
Of course, he knew exactly what would happen.
Kirigakure would make a move—but mostly just to annoy the Third Hokage.
They wouldn't launch a full-scale attack.
They'd only send Ao and a few ninja to infiltrate, only to be discovered by Shisui and forced to withdraw.
Behind the scenes, they would dispatch the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to attempt a raid on Konoha.
By sheer coincidence, they'd run into Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and Ebisu, who were leading a genin squad—and end up getting counter-ambushed.
If Might Duy hadn't arrived in time, the grass on those three graves would've grown a foot tall.
Seven versus seven—
Unfortunately, they didn't get the "Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Heroes" script.
Instead, Might Duy opened the Eight Gates and beat them so hard that the result was:
Four dead.
One critically injured.
Two escaped.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were instantly reduced to the "Lucky Trio."
Utterly humiliating.
At least the Seven Calabash Brothers lost one by one but fused into Calabash King at the end.
These seven?
If Might Duy hadn't collapsed from exhaustion—and if Kisame's predecessor hadn't been rescued—
They wouldn't even be the Lucky Trio anymore.
They'd be "Boonie Bears."
As for Might Duy—
Wen Lan respected him.
But respect was respect.
He was solidly on the Hokage's side—there was no chance of making him one of "their people."
So if he died?
He died.
—------------------------------
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