The situation in Konoha was tense.
A few villagers passing by the Uchiha clan shops couldn't help but slow their steps, their eyes drifting toward the Uchiha compound.
Fear was clearly visible on their faces.
"I didn't expect the Uchiha to do something like that," one of them whispered, glancing at the compound. "They're… they're going crazy now."
"Are you insane?" the other man hissed, quickly covering his mouth.
He looked around in panic, afraid someone might have heard them.
"Don't say things like that. You'll get us both in trouble."
That same fear had now settled into the heart of every villager.
Even now, they couldn't erase the image from their minds—the image of Uchiha dragging six bodies through the village, turning Konoha upside down in front of the clan heads and the village's higher-ups.
If even the Third Hokage and Sannin Jiraiya couldn't do anything to them… then who could?
Those who had witnessed the situation themselves whispered it to others, who then whispered it further—each person careful, fearful that their relative or family would offend the Uchiha and invite trouble upon themselves.
And as the story passed from mouth to mouth, it grew more exaggerated with each telling, quietly amplifying the fear within the village.
That same fear was now reaching the various clans of the village.
What had once been nothing more than rumours and guesses—things spoken only in secret—were now being discussed openly. As the clans started connecting old clues, strange coincidences, and half-forgotten incidents, a single thought began to take shape in their minds.
There was a conspiracy.
Something big was happening inside the village, and they were becoming increasingly certain that it was meant to weaken them.
With that belief in their heart, their suspicion toward the village's higher-ups has grown deeper by the day.
Every mission order, every command issued by the Hokage or the elders was now carefully examined by the clan ninjas and clan elders of all clans.
If an assignment seemed important or urgent for the village, clan shinobi no longer stepped forward willingly.
Instead, they avoided such tasks as much as possible.
This hesitation made the situation on both side the village front and the battlefield increasingly troublesome for the higher-ups.
Yet they couldn't force the clans to comply—doing so would only confirm the fear spreading through the village:
that the Hokage and the elders were now targeting them.
Inside the Hokage's office—
"It can't go on like this, Hiruzen," Homura said, staring at the stack of mission scrolls and failure reports in his hands.
More than two months had passed since the Uchiha incident, yet its aftereffects still lingered.
During this time, the Uchiha remained quiet.
They neither caused disturbances nor openly acted within the village.
Yet the suspicion surrounding them only deepened—especially after Toyoma's direct and indirect questions, which left the clans uneasy and alert.
Missions with even a slight mortality risk were now carefully reconsidered by clan shinobi.
As a result, most assignments over the past two months were handled by shinobi from the village's higher-up clans or by civilian shinobi.
However, their success rate could not compare to that of the major clans.
The number of failed missions steadily increased with each passing day.
Hiruzen heard silently as Homura spoke, his eyes scanning the list of failed missions.
When he noticed even C-rank missions among them, his expression grew increasingly grim.
One such mission had been assigned to a clan jōnin—yet it was abandoned simply because the shinobi spotted multiple enemy squads of genins and chose to withdraw.
"This is becoming a joke," Koharu said coldly, glancing at the reports spread across Hiruzen's desk.
"These Clan shinobi won't even take minimal risks anymore. They abandon missions over the most absurd reasons."
"Hiruzen, you have to say something to the clans," Homura said, his expression troubled as he looked at him.
"If this continues, problems like this will only increase. Forget about the war—at this rate, the nobles will reject us. We won't receive missions after so many failures."
The Third Hokage took a slow sip from his pipe and exhaled smoke, remaining silent as he listened to Homura's words.
"Hiruzen, silence will not change anything. At least say something," Koharu said, irritation clear in her eyes as she looked at him.
The Third Hokage finally lifted his gaze to her.
"I'm thinking of calling Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya back to the village," he said slowly.
"And letting one of them become Hokage through a jōnin election."
Koharu's eyes widened the moment she heard that.
Homura wore the same shocked expression.
"Hiruzen, you—" Homura started, then stopped, as if a thought struck him midway.
Koharu remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again, her voice lower this time.
"Is there really no other way?"
"If there were," Hiruzen replied quietly, his eyes drifting upward as memories surfaced,
"I would have already taken it."
His gaze hardened.
"In the eyes of every clan, I am already a villain. They will never follow my orders willingly again. And I refuse to use force—because that would tear the village apart."
He exhaled slowly.
"This is the only path I can see that might hold the village together… even if only for a while."
Homura and Koharu exchanged glances.
After a moment, both of them understood that what Hiruzen was saying was not wrong.
"There really is no way left," Koharu said quietly, as Homura nodded in agreement.
"Hokage-sama, jōnin Minato is requesting an audience," the gatekeeper shinobi announced as he entered the office.
Hiruzen looked up at him and gave a silent nod.
Minato entered the Hokage's office, his eyes briefly sweeping over the Hokage and the two elders, then the stack of papers spread across the desk.
"Hokage-sama, you asked for me?" Minato said respectfully An ANBU has informed him that the Hokage wished to see him.
Hiruzen looked at Minato and spoke calmly,
"Minato, I have a mission for you. You have to deliver these orders to the Cloud border and take command there from Orochimaru. From now on, you will be the commander stationed at the border."
Hearing this, Minato hesitated.
Uncertainty flickered across his face.
Even the two elders exchanged glances, as if wondering whether they had heard correctly.
"Hokage-sama…" Minato said slowly, doubt clear in his voice as he looked at Hiruzen.
Hiruzen met his gaze and gave a faint smile.
"The Fourth Raikage is known for his speed," he said.
"Your Flying Thunder God is the perfect counter. As for Orochimaru, he is needed in the village for other matters."
Hearing this, Minato felt a spark of excitement rise within him.
Becoming a commander at such a young age was no small honour.
Homura glanced at Minato, silently agreeing that this was a good move.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Minato said, his expression firm, though the excitement in his eyes was hard to hide.
Hiruzen noticed it and let out a soft chuckle.
Minato left the room.
Koharu watched the door close before turning to Hiruzen.
"I didn't think he would become more proficient in space–time ninjutsu than sensei."
"He is the best space–time jutsu user in the village," Hiruzen replied calmly.
Homura, who had been listening in silence, muttered under his breath, "I doubt that."
His expression carried a trace of unease.
Hiruzen and Koharu both heard him.
And without a word, the same name surfaced in their minds—
Uchiha Toyoma.
Koharu's expression darkened, anger flashing across her face.
"Just thinking about that little bastard makes me furious," she snapped.
Homura frowned, then turned to Hiruzen.
"What do you plan to do about those so-called miraculous pills produced by the Uchiha?"
he asked, recalling Orochimaru's reports about the energy-fasting pills and the healing pills.
Koharu's anger flared further.
"Those idiotic clan heads never informed us about those pills," she said coldly.
"If we had known, we would never have agreed to let the Uchiha become merchants."
At this time, the Uchiha had received direct permission from the daimyo himself to operate as a merchant clan of the Fire Nation
—granting them the authority to sell their goods without village interference, and ensuring their products could not be copied or sold by others without their consent.
Hiruzen looked at Homura and said quietly,
"I can't force them. The pills were developed by the Hawk faction itself, and I don't believe they will listen to the village. At best, we can only purchase them."
Koharu frowned, her thoughts drifting to everything the Uchiha had done over the past ten months
—actions that had directly and indirectly benefited them while harming the village.
"The Uchiha we are facing now are far more prepared, forceful, and cunning," she said coldly.
Homura spoke after a brief pause, unease clear in his voice.
"Why do I feel like they don't even care about the village's standing anymore… as if its disturbance or destruction wouldn't matter to them at all?"
At those words, both Hiruzen and Koharu fell silent—
because they were thinking the same thing.
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From this chapter onward, I've stopped fully polishing the drafts. Heavy polishing was starting to make the chapters feel stiff and robotic, which isn't the tone I want for this story.
There may still be light editing here and there, but the focus is now on keeping the flow natural and emotionally grounded.
From tomorrow, the upload gap will be reduced from two days to one day for the remainder of the story until completion.
For Pat***n, the base benefit has been set to 10+ advance chapters.
[ hear_tteeth ] (18+)
Thank you for reading and supporting the story.