Uchiha Souji knelt down and pulled a sealing scroll from inside his cloak. With practiced movements, he spread it flat on the ground.
"Seal up!"
A burst of chakra flared.
BOOM!
In the next moment, Yamanaka Kaze's corpse vanished, fully absorbed into the sealing scroll. Souji watched the empty ground for a moment, narrowing his eyes.
In the shinobi world, the dead never stay silent. A corpse left behind could reveal information, bloodline abilities, or secret jutsu. The safest option was always cremation—but burning the body here would only attract attention.
Every trace of this battle needed to disappear.
Souji inhaled slowly, then bent over and lifted Mizuki's limp body onto his back. Mizuki was breathing, but only barely. His life hung by a thin thread.
Checking the surroundings carefully, Souji formed a rapid sequence of hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball—wide as a boulder—burst from his mouth and slammed into a nearby tree. Flames erupted instantly, engulfing the battlefield, burning away footprints, blood spatter, and broken branches.
Only then did Souji turn toward the Konoha barrier.
He was just one step from walking out forever.
Just one.
He hesitated.
If he defected now… the Uchiha clan would go mad. They would unleash every resource they had to drag him back—dead or alive. His timing had to be perfect. His departure had to be clean, prepared, and irreversible.
Running now, wounded and burdened, would only guarantee failure.
So Souji exhaled sharply and turned toward the Uchiha district.
His jaw tightened in anger as he shifted Mizuki's weight on his shoulder.
If it weren't for this idiot… everything would have gone smoothly.
If it weren't for this fool… he wouldn't have completely offended Root.
Now he owed Souji a debt of life itself—and Souji planned to squeeze every drop of that debt.
Finding another helper?
Only a madman would consider that.
Mizuki had nearly torn Souji's heart out of his chest with that one act of betrayal. If Souji recruited someone new and they caused even greater problems, the consequences would be catastrophic.
But Mizuki?
Mizuki had already betrayed him once.
That meant he could be controlled.
Souji had already understood Mizuki's thinking. The boy had spiraled into panic because of one misinterpretation—because Souji's words had shaken him too deeply.
So the solution was simple:
Give Mizuki strict tasks.
Give him clear orders.
Give him no room to think.
Make him follow Souji's plan alone.
With that, Mizuki wouldn't dare stray again.
Souji nodded to himself as he moved silently beneath the forest canopy.
---
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's Office…
The air inside the Hokage building was heavy.
A full council meeting had been called. The clan heads of Konoha, the advisors, and the village elders had gathered around the long table. The atmosphere was tense enough to snap.
Uchiha Fugaku sat among them—not silently as usual, but with surprising confidence, legs crossed, a relaxed expression on his face.
After decades of waiting, it was finally his turn to strike back.
When the last person arrived, Fugaku slammed a stack of documents onto the table.
"BANG!!!"
"Shimura Danzō! What exactly do you think you're doing?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't say a word. He simply puffed on his pipe and watched. The Third Hokage had expected this confrontation from the moment he heard Root's actions exposed.
In any world, actions had consequences.
If two factions fought, someone had to lose.
And when you lost—you paid the price.
"This file," Fugaku continued, "was taken straight from the Will of Fire newspaper office!"
He grabbed another scroll and tossed it onto the table.
The formatting, the handwriting, the Root seal—everything was authentic. Anyone with eyes could see that it wasn't a forgery.
"You," Fugaku pointed at Danzō, "have been manipulating the Will of Fire newspaper from the shadows. You used it to slander Konoha's heroes and stain the reputation of the Uchiha clan!"
"We're supposed to be comrades. Brothers in arms."
He paused.
He hated even saying the word "brothers" with Danzō in the room. But moral high ground was a weapon—and Fugaku would use it well.
"Is this how you treat comrades of the Leaf Village?!"
Danzō's face tightened. He hadn't expected such a direct attack.
The situation was complicated, and even Danzō knew many layers of this plot were murky. But one thing was clear:
Black is black, white is white, and gray is still gray.
But you don't bring black operations into the light.
Black methods cannot be justified openly.
And because of that, Danzō couldn't deny or defend himself.
"Hmph," Danzō scoffed. "You say it's Root's doing—so that automatically makes it true?"
"The old man could just as easily claim this came from the Hyuga clan."
Hyuga Hiashi's eye twitched violently.
He was just sitting quietly and got shot for no reason.
Still, Hiashi didn't speak up. The Hyuga survived by staying neutral and uninvolved. It kept them safe.
Fugaku leaned forward, voice cold.
"The truth is obvious to everyone. You know exactly where this came from."
Then he turned to the Hokage.
"Lord Hokage, shouldn't the village elders be held accountable when they slander an entire clan? Especially a clan that has shed blood for Konoha in every war?"
Fugaku's voice grew louder, filled with righteous fury.
"The Uchiha clan fought in the First, Second, and Third Ninja Wars! We suffered more casualties than most clans combined!"
"Every battle—we led the charge!
Every frontline—we were the shield!"
"And even when we were sent to the Water Country front during the last war, did we complain? No!"
Fugaku slammed his hand on the table.
"Yet Elder Danzō chooses to repay that loyalty by staining our name?
By turning the Will of Fire against us?!"
He leaned forward, eyes sharp as blades.
"If we do not receive a satisfactory explanation—
If this slander is not addressed properly—"
He paused deliberately. The entire room grew silent.
"—then do not expect the Uchiha clan to follow orders in the future."
The message was clear:
Speak now, Hokage.
Or the Uchiha clan walks their own path.
A clan as powerful as the Uchiha not obeying the Hokage would shake the very foundation of the Leaf Village.
Everyone in the room understood the weight of Fugaku's threat.
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