When both elders heard about Izanagi, they were shocked to the extreme.
The fear was clearly visible on their faces.
"How can that be?" Elder Kazuto asked, his voice trembling in disbelief.
Elder Kohaku, on the other hand, fell silent.
His thoughts drifted to the past—to the time when Izanagi had ignited a civil war within the Uchiha clan itself.
"Who could be such an idiot?" Elder Kohaku muttered, fully grasping how grave the Uchiha clan's situation had become.
Toyoma and the Grand Elder watched quietly as the expressions on both elders' faces grew heavier, lost in their own thoughts.
Toyoma let out a slow sigh and said, "I'm not completely certain, but only one name comes to mind—Uchiha Kagami. Or should I say… the former elder of the Dove Clan."
When Toyoma mentioned Uchiha Kagami, Elder Kazuto's expression darkened instantly.
"Ridiculous!" he rebuked angrily.
"Do you really think Kagami would do something like this? He wasn't an idiot!"
Uchiha Kagami was his cousin.
Kazuto knew better than anyone that Kagami wanted the village and the Uchiha to grow closer and live in peace.
But handing over the Uchiha's forbidden jutsu to the village—something that could endanger the entire clan—was not something Kagami would ever do.
The Grand Elder looked at Kazuto and spoke calmly, "Kazuto, I know this is hard to accept. But there is no one else who could have handed over our forbidden jutsu to the village."
He continued, his tone heavy, "Even elite jōnin of the clan don't know about that jutsu. Only we elders and the patriarch are aware of its existence."
Hearing this, Kazuto's anger flared.
"Elder Setsuna," he said firmly, barely holding himself back, "I refuse to believe Kagami would do something that could endanger the clan."
Before the argument could escalate further, Kohaku stepped forward and placed a hand on Kazuto's shoulder.
"Kazuto, let it be," he said calmly.
"We will investigate this matter thoroughly."
Then Kohaku turned toward Toyoma, concern evident in his eyes.
"Toyoma," he asked, "how many people in the village are aware of this jutsu?"
Toyoma met Elder Kohaku's gaze and replied slowly,
"I have seen Danzō Shimura use this jutsu in future."
The room fell silent.
"He had more than nine Sharingan embedded in his body," Toyoma continued, his voice steady.
"And a Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye. He used them as revival tokens—or temporary invincibility—during battle."
Hearing this, both elders were stunned.
To use Izanagi, at least a three-tomoe Sharingan was required.
That meant many elite Uchiha would have been sacrificed—killed deliberately—to stockpile eyes for future use.
This was no longer just dangerous. It was catastrophic.
"Wait, Toyoma," Elder Kohaku said slowly, deep in thought.
"How can a non-Uchiha use the Sharingan without their body rejecting it? Their body should collapse on its own."
Toyoma let out a mocking laugh.
"Hah… that's exactly why I say the village leadership has no bottom line."
Both elders looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean?" Elder Kazuto asked quietly.
Toyoma met his gaze and said coldly,
"Danzō Shimura used the First Generation's cells to counter the Sharingan. Those cells stabilised the burden, allowing him to use multiple Sharingan without much difficulty."
Elder Kohaku froze where he stood.
"So… they even experimented with the body of the First Hokage," he muttered in disbelief.
"Just what kind of place has this village become?"
Elder Kazuto stood silent as well, his fists clenched.
Toyoma spoke again, his voice calm but merciless.
"That's why I said they have no moral bottom line. If they can do something like this to the village's most respected Hokage… then doing the same—or worse—to the Uchiha clan would mean nothing to them."
Toyoma looked at both elders as they silently digested everything he had said.
He remained quiet, his expression calm, his gaze steady.
Inside, however, his thoughts were already clear.
Konoha isn't rotting because of its enemies, he thought. It's rotting from within.
The village preached unity, sacrifice, and inherited will—but behind closed doors, it devoured its own heroes, desecrated its dead, and turned forbidden power into a tool of convenience.
When rules exist only for the weak, Toyoma realised, corruption isn't an accident. It's the design.
They called it the protection of the village. They called it a necessary sacrifice.
But to Toyoma, Konohagakure was no longer a village—it was a machine.
And machines didn't care who they crushed, as long as they kept running.
This is the village the Uchiha are expected to die for…
His eyes hardened.
Then the question isn't whether the clan is in danger.
The real question is how long before it gets crushed after its usefulness ends.
The Grand Elder remained seated, his gaze shifting between Elder Kohaku and Elder Kazuto.
From just this much information, he could already tell—if they were to learn what truly awaited the village in the future, they would break down completely.
He let out a slow, weary sigh.
"What you have heard so far," he said quietly, "is only a fragment of the village's future—and even that is not the most extreme part."
His eyes hardened slightly as his voice lowered.
"What happens to our clan is far darker."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.
"Tell me… can you handle hearing that?"
The Grand Elder's words pulled both elders out of their thoughts as they looked up at him.
Kohaku stared at the serious expression on the Grand Elder's face, a chill running through his spine.
If this isn't considered dark, he thought, then what could be darker than this?
A sense of defeat crept into his heart. His own will began to question him.
Is there truly any future for the Uchiha within Konoha?Or has every sacrifice we've made until now been meaningless?
On the other hand, Elder Kazuto's eyes slowly turned red—not from the Sharingan, but from restrained emotion.
He imagined the pressure the village would place on the Uchiha in the future, forcing them to overlook the deaths of their own elite for the so-called greater good.
More than nine three-tomoe Sharingan… just to use Izanagi, Kazuto thought bitterly. How many had to die to make such experiments possible? It couldn't have been just a few.
The thought crushed him.
And this is only the beginning, he realised. An even darker future awaits the clan.
Kazuto clenched his fists.
What have I been doing all this time? Believing that the village and the Uchiha could truly live peacefully together…
Toyoma observed the situation in front of him.
The defeated expressions on both elders' faces were unmistakable.
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Elders," Toyoma said calmly, "these are future problems. Many of them haven't happened yet."
His eyes sharpened as he continued,
"If we start thinking from the perspective of the clan—if not first, then at least placing the clan's survival above blind loyalty to the village—we can prevent many sacrifices."
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"Right now is our best opportunity to end these internal divisions and truly unite the clan."
The Grand Elder nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful.
"Yes," he said. "What Toyoma has said is correct."
His voice grew firmer.
"At present, both the village higher up and the other clan are entangled in too many matters. An opportunity like this will not come again easily."
Elder Kazuto looked at Toyoma as he listened to everything he had said.
After a moment, he spoke, his voice cautious.
"Toyoma… how can you prove that what you're saying about the future is true? For all we know, it could be—"
"A scheme to unite all three factions,"
Toyoma finished calmly. "Yes. I know you would doubt it."
Kazuto stared at Toyoma's face. There was no hesitation there—only certainty, as if Toyoma had already anticipated the question.
Even Elder Kohaku was looking at him the same way now, waiting for an answer.
"Elders," Toyoma said slowly, "I can tell you some events that will prove what I've said is true."
He paused, his expression serious.
"But you'll have to wait for it to happen."
His gaze hardened.
"And as absurd as this may sound, you must not tell anyone about it—nor try to change it."
Kohaku and Kazuto exchanged glances. They both understood what Toyoma was implying.
The Grand Elder, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke with a little excited look.
"Will those be a future event?"
Toyoma looked at him and nodded.
"Yes."
Then Toyoma turned his gaze toward Elder Kazuto and spoke in a serious tone.
"Let's start with the first one," he said. "Who do you think is most likely to become the Fourth Hokage?"
The moment he said that, both elders stiffened.
They looked at Toyoma with confused expressions, clearly not understanding why he was asking such a question now.
"Toyoma," Kohaku said slowly, his brows furrowed, "how are we supposed to know something like that?"
When Toyoma heard Elder Kohaku's reply, he froze for a moment—then looked slightly embarrassed.
He cleared his throat.
"Cough… cough. Let me rephrase that," he said awkwardly.
Lifting his head again, his expression turned serious.
"Elders, based on your experience… what do you think about Namikaze Minato's chances of becoming Hokage?"
He looked at both of them expectantly, his eyes practically saying come on, answer me.
Elder Kohaku and Elder Kazuto exchanged glances, both clearly caught off guard.
They began thinking about Minato—his talent, his reputation, his age—and the question only grew stranger the more they considered it.
Before either of them could respond, the Grand Elder spoke.
"Wait," he said, frowning slightly. "How could that young boy even be considered a Hokage candidate?"
*************************************************************************************
Early access to 15+ chapters on-
Patr**n- hear_tteeth [18+]