Hiruzen Sarutobi sucked in a sharp breath.
So that was it.
Now it finally made sense—why Uchiha Jhin could awaken the Mangekyō, why he'd thrown himself into the radicals without hesitation, and why he'd come at Konoha's upper ranks with a "no surrender" attitude.
"I see," Homura said, nodding faintly—then frowning. "But something doesn't add up. If his parents were taken, shouldn't he go to the Hokage first?"
"And even if he didn't go to the Hokage," Koharu added, bewildered, "shouldn't he ask Fugaku, the Clan Head, for help?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "Nothing the Uchiha do surprises me anymore. There's no point of arguing."
Then his eyes turned colder, sharper.
"As for your idea, Danzō—I have no objection."
"But you'll receive no support from me."
"Uchiha Jhin isn't easy to deal with. Plan properly before you move."
If it were any other Uchiha, Hiruzen might hesitate.
But Jhin was different.
There was no chance of recruiting him.
Danzō wasn't surprised. He named his price immediately.
"I need several ANBU squads reassigned. And every clan needs to contribute manpower."
"Absolutely not." Hiruzen refused without hesitation. "Don't even think about it. Use the bounty station—post a contract."
He glanced toward Koharu. "Koharu, allocate funds for Danzō if you can. Choose the ambush location outside Konoha. Even if it fails, it must not give him an excuse to start a war."
Hiruzen understood perfectly: Danzō wanted disposable bodies.
But if he threw the great clans into the grinder, he'd be finished as Hokage.
And he couldn't afford to bleed his own people either.
His prestige had already started slipping after the Third Shinobi World War.
Then the Nine-Tails incident happened, Minato Namikaze died, and his standing fell another rung.
Add in everything else—letting Danzō run free, driving Sakumo Hatake to his end, and the way Naruto Uzumaki had been treated as the Fourth Hokage's son—and Hiruzen's reputation was in tatters.
He still sat in the chair mainly because he retained some legitimacy among civilians.
If his personal forces took heavy losses now, he couldn't even be sure he'd still control Konoha afterward—much less face the provocations of the other great villages.
Danzō shook his head at Hiruzen's refusal.
"With only bounty station rōnin and a handful of missing-nin, you won't even have the right to make Uchiha Jhin use the Mangekyō—let alone exhaust his ocular power."
"If you won't provide even that much support, then I'm calling off the operation."
Danzō wasn't foolish.
If anything, his survival instincts were among the best in Konoha.
If he hadn't run into a monster like Sasuke Uchiha in the future, he might've slithered all the way into the later era without dying.
For all his schemes against the Uchiha, he always picks the safest ground and bullies from a position of advantage.
If the Uchiha had been even slightly more hardline—and if Itachi hadn't been a traitor willing to help—Danzō might never have succeeded in crushing them.
Even now, for all the clan's weakness, the Uchiha were still Konoha's premier noble clan.
A starved camel was still bigger than a horse.
And this time, it was the same.
Danzō could feel Jhin's resolve and madness. He was willing to lay traps, yes.
But to ask him to fill the battlefield with Root corpses?
Not a chance.
Killing the Uchiha mattered—but hoarding power for his own path to the Hokage's seat mattered more.
He was willing to shoulder blame when it helped him grow stronger.
He would never allow himself to be bled dry.
After all, with Jhin rising, the person most threatened… was Hiruzen.
So, if Hiruzen refused?
Fine.
Hiruzen stared, stunned.
His mind went blank, and he looked at Danzō like he was seeing him for the first time.
Danzō… wasn't going to take the blame anymore?
"Don't look at me like that," Danzō said coldly. "And don't mistake me for an idiot."
"We're all insiders here. There's no point in saying useless things. I know exactly what I am in Konoha."
"If Root is wiped out—even if Uchiha Jhin dies—then when you step down, the clans will never let me live."
"Hiruzen, think about it."
With that, Danzō turned and left the Hokage's office without hesitation.
Hiruzen watched him go, and the headache pounding in his skull worsened.
If Danzō wouldn't carry the blame, this became difficult.
So what now?
Hiruzen's eyes flicked toward Koharu and Homura, and he said nothing; he only shook his head.
Those two were useless.
"Hiruzen, what do we do?" Koharu asked.
Homura frowned. "Uchiha Jhin is a problem. We have to kill him quickly."
Hiruzen sighed.
Of course.
They could raise problems all day, but they could not solve them.
In the end, after a long silence, he spoke—reluctant but steady.
"There's no need to rush. Jhin has only just taken control of the radicals. The threat isn't at its peak yet."
"If anything, the one who should be anxious is Fugaku. Jhin's rise will inevitably challenge his position."
"I'll have Shisui truly join Fugaku's side. And we'll give Fugaku some support from the shadows…"
"Let the Uchiha turn on each other."
His tone remained calm, but the plan beneath it was vicious.
"This is a good opportunity. We'll also spread word to the public—subtly."
"Because of Fugaku's loyalty to Konoha, the Nine-Tails incident is likely unrelated to him."
"And we'll imply the Nine-Tails incident may be connected to the radicals instead."
"For now—this is enough."
Hiruzen was old, but he was strong and smart.
Since Danzō refused to act as the scapegoat, Hiruzen—the "righteous" Hokage—couldn't dirty his hands directly against Jhin.
So he would support Fugaku and force the Uchiha into internal conflict.
Koharu and Homura disliked it, but they had no choice but to accept.
…
Meanwhile—
When Uchiha Jhin returned to the district, radicals gathered around him at once.
"Relax. It's fine."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi backed down a step. Root and ANBU outside the district have been withdrawn."
"That proves our plan is sound. Now we proceed—step by step, exactly as planned."
Jhin smiled faintly as he reassured them.
He gave a brief report of what had happened, and the radicals' hearts surged with excitement.
This was the first time in their clash with Konoha that the upper ranks had chosen to yield.
But the celebration didn't last.
Root and ANBU were withdrawn, yes—
But the reason Konoha announced to the public made everyone grind their teeth.
They claimed they'd "felt Fugaku's sincerity."
They claimed they were "willing to restore some trust" in the Uchiha—under Fugaku's leadership.
Damn it.
The shamelessness of Konoha's upper ranks hit the radicals like a slap.
It was Jhin's victory.
And Fugaku—the coward—was the one who "won" in the end.