Chapter 153: The Uchiha Clan Desperately Distances Itself
The small conference room didn't hold many people—after all, the name included the word "small." The modest space contained only twelve chairs. Accommodating more participants would inevitably create crowding.
Fortunately, Minato was convening a "small meeting" to make important decisions. After gathering the village leadership's opinions, he would hold a larger assembly to communicate those decisions down the chain of command.
Seven people currently occupied the conference room: Minato, Hiruko, Akimichi Torikaze, Inuzuka Gaku, Nara Shikaku, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyuga Ritsu.
These seven were Konoha Village's highest-ranking power holders.
One had to acknowledge that Minato had clearly put thought into assembling this leadership team. He played the game of strategic alliances expertly, not at all unfamiliar with such maneuvering. He'd effectively integrated the village's strength through the positions at his disposal.
Perhaps this wasn't entirely clear from examining the composition of these top power holders, but his recently formed Shadow Guard made it obvious at a glance.
Minato's Shadow Guard consisted of twelve members: Hatake Kakashi, Nohara Rin, Uchiha Shisui, Hyuga Takuma, Akimichi Dōmasa, Aburame Ōta, Inuzuka Chō, Sarutobi Asuma, Yamashiro Aoba, Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidō, and Tatami Iwashi.
His Shadow Guard directly encompassed all the village's major clans—Uchiha, Hyuga, Aburame, Inuzuka, and Akimichi representing the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Truly comprehensive coverage, watertight.
Beyond this, he'd further expanded the Shadow Guard's scale by including four civilian shinobi, giving civilian ninja one-third of the total positions. Strictly speaking, Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin—Minato's two students—also lacked significant clan backgrounds. Counting them as well, half the Shadow Guard consisted of civilian ninja.
This simultaneously further secured the hearts of the village's major clans while ensuring his own control over the Shadow Guard. His two students Kakashi and Rin were powerful tools for maintaining that control.
Particularly the decision to recruit Sarutobi Asuma into the Shadow Guard clearly and unambiguously told the Sarutobi clan that his campaign promises weren't lies fabricated to win election—he didn't intend to magnify and aggressively pursue the issues involving Sarutobi Hiruzen and others.
Distance from the village's power center didn't equal suppression or weakening. They simply no longer enjoyed the various explicit and implicit privileges of the past.
Though many Sarutobi clan members still felt uncomfortable with these changes, the intelligent ones all understood this was already the best treatment possible after Sarutobi Hiruzen's downfall.
Minato sat in the head position at the conference table. His gaze swept across the six people seated on both sides. Hokage Advisor Hiruko sat in the first position on his left, beside him was Hyuga Ritsu, and beyond that was Uchiha Fugaku.
On his right side, the three from near to far were Akimichi Torikaze, Inuzuka Gaku, and Nara Shikaku.
After surveying the room, Minato spoke. "Everyone, you've all heard what happened?"
All six nodded their heads.
They'd already learned from the Shadow Guard members dispatched to notify and contact them about the incident at Konoha Prison—that the death of condemned prisoner Shimura Danzo had come early.
Minato produced the character-inscribed iron pipe, passing it to Hiruko on his left. "First, everyone look at this. Former Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo's final words."
Hearing this—particularly Minato's changed form of address for Danzo—everyone's hearts stirred, vaguely realizing something.
After everyone had examined the iron pipe, their expressions all shifted.
Hyuga Ritsu clicked his tongue, smiling as he said, "That old bastard Danzo's Wind Release mastery was impressive."
If Shimura Danzo were still alive, don't expect any kind words. But now that Danzo was already dead, offering such painless praise was acceptable.
Hiruko glared irritably at his overly casual student. Why rush to voice opinions?
Couldn't he see everyone else remaining silent, waiting for the Fourth Hokage to speak?
Hyuga Ritsu's face wore an unconcerned smile.
Minato didn't mind Ritsu's forthright nature—because Ritsu had the capability to be forthright.
He waited a moment, confirming no one else wished to voice opinions before speaking. "Shimura Danzo's death has disrupted our previous plans. We can't exactly resurrect him to execute him again. Considering his past contributions and this final intelligence he left for the village, my view is to minimize this matter—make a big issue small, a small issue nothing. Let Danzo's death avoid drawing excessive attention. What do you all think?"
If Shimura Danzo were still alive, he would unwaveringly carry out public execution. But now that Danzo was already dead, continuing to pursue the matter aggressively seemed inappropriate. It would make him as Hokage appear petty—so harsh even toward a corpse.
Moreover, compared to continuing to waste time and energy studying a dead man, he now preferred concentrating attention on that unknown Uchiha.
Everyone exchanged glances. Their gazes primarily focused on Hyuga Ritsu and Uchiha Fugaku. Though the others also disliked former Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo, they actually had no real conflicts with him. Therefore, they didn't oppose Minato's suggested approach of minimizing the matter.
But Hyuga Ritsu and Uchiha Fugaku might not necessarily agree with Minato's method. Their conflicts with Shimura Danzo ran deep—especially the Uchiha clan, which harbored irreconcilable bitter hatred toward former Hokage Advisor Danzo.
Seeing everyone's silence, Minato didn't intend to wait indefinitely. He directly called names. "Hyuga Clan Head, what's your opinion?"
"Naturally, I'd prefer Danzo be utterly disgraced, his name reviled through the ages."
Hyuga Ritsu answered frankly, but immediately his tone shifted. "However, the saying goes 'respect the dead.' I also have little interest in tormenting a corpse. So... Hokage-sama, I've recently been studying Wind Release techniques. I wonder if that old bastard Danzo left any Wind Release training insights? Could I borrow them for research and study for a period?"
This was Hyuga Ritsu's position. Having him let Danzo's matter drop without further pursuit was acceptable—but not with empty promises to forget Danzo's schemes against him. Some compensation was needed to soothe his wounded spirit.
Of course, this compensation couldn't be too valuable. Excessive value would make him appear like a lion opening its mouth too wide, too unseemly—lowering the Hyuga clan's reputation. But it also couldn't seem too easy to satisfy, as if any random junk would suffice.
Conveniently, Hyuga Ritsu had indeed been studying Wind Release these past days. He was quite interested in the training insights of Danzo, that Wind Release expert. Such material's value was unquestionable—knowledge was precious. But it also wasn't a consumable item, so its preciousness decreased considerably on that account.
Though his supreme path to strength relied on the Chimera Technique to continuously increase his Ōtsutsuki bloodline concentration, this didn't mean he could neglect everything else. The Chimera Technique and other strengthening methods weren't mutually exclusive—more accurately, they were compatible and complementary.
Hyuga Ritsu's purpose in studying Wind Release was simple. First, to combine it with the Rasengan, creating the devastatingly lethal Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. This technique pushed Wind Release's cutting properties to nearly extreme limits—capable of completely killing Kakuzu, who'd mastered the Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear. Perhaps when encountering those difficult-to-kill puppets again, it would prove remarkably effective.
Second, Ritsu was attempting to create a chakra cloak suitable for the Hyuga clan, modeled after the tailed beast cloaks jinchuriki manifested when wielding their beasts' power. However, shinobi chakra—both in quality and quantity—couldn't compare to tailed beasts. It couldn't sustain strong defense nor withstand such massive consumption.
So he'd considered adding chakra nature transformation. His initial attempt used Water Release chakra, but flowing water was too mutable and excessively heavy. Sustainable short-term, but difficult to bear long-term.
After considering the remaining chakra attributes, he'd decided to attempt combining with Wind Release—equally mercurial but light and nimble.
The problem was that Wind Release chakra wasn't Ritsu's dominant chakra type. He could only develop this chakra attribute through postnatal effort, simultaneously requiring considerable time and tremendous energy to study Wind Release. If he could obtain training notes from Danzo—that top-tier Wind Release master—it would absolutely drastically reduce the time spent on Wind Release training!
"Acceptable."
Minato agreed without any hesitation. Looking at Ritsu, he said, "Hyuga Clan Head, after the meeting concludes, I'll have someone deliver it to you."
Hyuga Ritsu raised an eyebrow, a smile appearing on his face. "Hokage-sama, since Danzo has compensated me, past grievances end here."
Having spent a small price to persuade Hyuga Ritsu, Minato directed his gaze toward Uchiha Fugaku—theoretically impossible to convince, since the Uchiha clan members killed by Danzo's persecution were truly numerous, mostly talented geniuses.
However—
The following scene shocked everyone. Without waiting for Minato to ask, Uchiha Fugaku proactively spoke. "Hokage-sama, though it's regrettable we couldn't give Shimura Danzo the judgment he deserved, his death sufficiently consoles the many spirits who died because of him. Let this matter pass! I believe the urgent priority is tracking and guarding against the killer who murdered Danzo."
Hyuga Ritsu initially felt puzzled, but hearing the final words about tracking the killer, he suddenly understood. He'd nearly forgotten—the Uchiha clan was probably currently full of anxiety over the reckless actions of that chess piece selected by Madara and Black Zetsu. How could they cling to Danzo's matter now? Desperately distancing themselves was the logical course.
Speaking of which, in the original historical trajectory, the Nine-Tails Night created by Uchiha Obito was similarly an important cause of the Uchiha clan's eventual massacre. The scene of the Nine-Tails rampaging with visible Sharingan eyes caused the Uchiha clan to suffer even more suspicion and hostility after that night.
Though the current situation differed, the underlying logic was identical.
Perhaps from the Uchiha clan's perspective, they were innocent and wronged. They didn't know which bastard had faked death and left the village, now turning against it. But the Uchiha clan as a whole still remained loyal to Konoha.
Outsiders wouldn't see it that way. They'd only think—the attacker is a Uchiha hiding his identity, therefore every Uchiha becomes dangerous.
The others were all intelligent people who knew about the previous incident in Yu no Kuni. An identity-concealing Uchiha clan member opposed the village, attacking the Fourth Hokage and Hyuga Clan Head. Today he'd killed Shimura Danzo imprisoned in a cell. If the Uchiha clan didn't work hard to distance themselves, that would truly be strange.
They even couldn't help wondering—was that identity-concealing Uchiha truly unconnected to the Uchiha clan?
Minato caught Uchiha Fugaku's thread, speaking again. "Uchiha Clan Head also has no objections. Do any others have different opinions? If no one speaks, this matter is decided."
Hiruko remained silent. The two advisor elders said nothing. Nara Shikaku was as quiet as a wooden post.
Seeing this, Minato directly stated, "Since no one objects, former Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo's funeral will be entrusted to Elder Torikaze. Two principles: first, fast. Second, small."
"Fast speed, minimal commotion?"
Akimichi Torikaze murmured, accepting this somewhat troublesome but manageable task. "Hokage-sama, I'll bury Danzo as quickly as possible."
Minato nodded, his tone suddenly shifting. "Next, we must discuss another matter—how to guard against this elusive attacker's continued misdeeds, and how to swiftly eliminate him."
Hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted. This was also their concern. This damned attacker could infiltrate the heavily guarded Konoha Prison to ambush and kill Shimura Danzo, meaning most people's safety in the village couldn't be guaranteed.
Minato looked toward Uchiha Fugaku. "Uchiha Clan Head, how is your internal investigation proceeding? Can you confirm the attacker's true identity?"
Uchiha Fugaku immediately answered, "Following the lead of Uchiha Torajiro, we've conducted investigations. Three people with close relationships to Torajiro went missing on the battlefield with unrecovered bodies—their life or death cannot be determined. They are respectively: Torajiro's father Uchiha Ryuji, his older brother Uchiha Tatsuhata, and a neighboring girl named Uchiha Kiyoko."
Hearing this, Hyuga Ritsu interjected, "Though I didn't clearly see that bastard's face, he was definitely male!"
Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Ritsu beside him, correcting himself. "Excluding the female Uchiha Kiyoko, the attacker is either Torajiro's father Uchiha Ryuji, or his older brother Uchiha Tatsuhata."
"Of course, this deduction's premise is that the attacker truly has deep, close connections to the now-also-missing Uchiha Torajiro."
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