The root of the Uchiha massacre lies in the Nine-Tails incident.
The Uchiha seem as if they stand apart from the village.
Those two lines kept bouncing around in Tsunade's head. A chilling thought sprouted like a seed—germinating, then breaking through the soil.
If that's really the case… then the Uchiha… were pushed by Konoha… Heh.
Bang!
Tsunade shoved open the Hokage's office door, a cold smile still on her face.
"Old man. Let's talk about the Uchiha?"
What topic is the most sensitive?
For an office worker, it's docked pay.
But for the Third Hokage… it's talking about the Uchiha.
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent for a long time before finally speaking. "The Uchiha issue… it's a long story."
Tsunade dragged over a chair and sat down, propping her legs up on the desk. "Perfect. I've got all the time in the world."
Hiruzen lit his pipe and took a deep pull. A sigh drifted out with the smoke.
"Three years ago, the Nine-Tails suddenly broke free of its seal and attacked Konoha. That night, many people saw the Nine-Tails… with the Sharingan in its eyes."
"Afterward, Danzo and Root moved immediately to restrain the Uchiha clan. Only after the Nine-Tails incident was over did Fugaku cooperate with Anbu to conduct an internal investigation, and the suspicion was tentatively ruled out."
More like they never found evidence at all.
Tsunade frowned. "So the one who controlled the Nine-Tails wasn't an Uchiha?"
"We don't know," Hiruzen shook his head. "We don't know who it was—we don't even know what truly happened that day."
"Kushina's delivery was arranged outside the village, protected by a barrier. Anbu guarded the outside, and inside were Biwako and Minato. But even so… Minato didn't arrive until after the Nine-Tails had been active for quite some time, and only then did he seal it."
"The only thing we can confirm is that the Nine-Tails had the Sharingan in its eyes, and the Sharingan is a bloodline limit unique to the Uchiha. After the village began reconstruction, we collectively decided to relocate the Uchiha compound from the center of the village to the outskirts."
So that's it.
Kiyonari didn't know the details of the Nine-Tails incident. His impression of the Uchiha came mostly from everyday observation—and he hadn't really been wrong.
It was just that before the Nine-Tails incident, villagers' negative feelings toward the Uchiha tended to be anger they didn't dare voice. After the Nine-Tails incident, seeing the Uchiha isolated and unsupported, the bottled-up resentment exploded—rebounding from the bottom.
And some of that hatred aimed at the Uchiha because of the Nine-Tails was also taken on by Kushina's child through the "demon fox" rumor.
But no matter what, the Uchiha were one of Konoha's two founding clans. At most, public opinion could damage their reputation—it shouldn't have reached the point of annihilation.
The root cause of annihilation really was what the drifting bottle had said: the Nine-Tails incident drove a wedge between the Uchiha and Konoha, and they slid into the abyss where trust collapsed completely.
"Old man," Tsunade said bluntly, "you pushed the Uchiha to the edge of the village based on nothing but suspicion?"
Seriously… what was a straight line became blocked on both ends because of that decision.
"Suspicion is the strongest enemy," Hiruzen said, his voice heavy with helplessness.
Tsunade could understand the position he'd been in: the Fourth Hokage couple dead, the Sannin gone, even his wife… and he had to shoulder everything again. Blow after blow had made him sensitive and fragile, and it became hard to trust the Uchiha.
But understanding was one thing. As Hokage, letting things rot into today's state was still his responsibility.
"The Uchiha felt they were being treated unjustly, that the village was full of prejudice against them. And the villagers—under the shadow of the Nine-Tails incident—were full of fear and suspicion toward the Uchiha."
"Give me a break," Tsunade snorted, mercilessly piercing the veil. "Old man, are you still hiding behind the word 'villagers'?"
Hiruzen had no answer. He could only skip the sharp point and continue.
"And now, a dangerous idea has spread within the Uchiha. They intend to change the situation through extreme measures—by staging a coup to seize the Hokage seat. Fortunately, there are still some rational people within the clan."
He paused, and a hint of relief appeared in his eyes. "Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi. These two young men haven't been blinded by prejudice. They're still willing to act as bridges between the Uchiha and Konoha."
"Shisui is powerful—he's known as Shisui of the Body Flicker. He loves the village, and he loves his clan, and he's been trying to reconcile the conflict between the two, hoping to find a peaceful solution."
"And Itachi…" Hiruzen's expression grew complicated. "He's even more unusual. He's young, but his thinking is astonishingly mature. He can step beyond clan limitations and view things from a higher perspective—he has the mind of a Hokage."
On a personal level, Hiruzen admired Itachi the most.
Because if things ever reached the point of no return, Itachi was the one who could truly make the hard decision and stand on Konoha's side.
What he desired wasn't clan profit or loss, but Konoha's peace—and even the peace of the ninja world.
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.
Tsunade filed those two names away. She wasn't going to accept Hiruzen's word alone—Hokage or not.
And the Uchiha surely weren't limited to just those two in seeking another path. Hadn't Fugaku attended her banquet?
As clan head, Fugaku wouldn't want the Uchiha and Konoha to end up at swords' edge. Once force was used, some of his people would die. But if it truly came to that point, as clan head, Fugaku would absolutely support a coup.
Yet Hiruzen never once mentioned Fugaku. That meant trust between them was impossible. But Fugaku was willing to trust her, even offering goodwill first. She should find an opportunity to speak with Fugaku privately.
Tsunade let out a long sigh and lowered her feet from the desk. "Old man… you really handed me a nightmare."
Hiruzen took another deep draw from his pipe and urged again, "Tsunade, time is truly running out. Once the Uchiha issue is dealt with, you should take up the mantle and become the Fifth Hokage."
Tsunade didn't answer directly. She kept her grip on the Uchiha topic. "At the end of the day, this is about trust. You expect those proud bastards to bow first? The village has to show sincerity first."
With that, she turned to leave.
But at that very moment, Hiruzen's hand holding the pipe suddenly froze. He slowly set the pipe down and called out to stop her.
He looked at her, lips moving, throat tight as if something were stuck there. For a long time, no words came out.
Finally, he raised the hand holding the pipe and pointed at her, his arm trembling with emotion.
"K-Kumogakure… might… give us an opportunity!"
War.
No one was better at war than the Uchiha!
~~~
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