"There must be something that we can do. We have to stop them from going outside or at least have a way to keep tabs on them." Sumi said and she and Shiro both started thinking.
"What if…what if we ask Yami for help?" Sumi asked.
"Why would he help us? He has no interest in exposing himself to the clan members. In fact, he will be happy that it's our clan members who will initiate the attack on their village and the Daimyo. He can have his village and his allies wipe us all out. This is just like giving him a good reason to do it." Shiro said. He remembered when Yami told him that he won't have a single shred of regret if he had to kill the entire Chinoike clan.
"Wait…why would the clan leader even suggest such a wild idea in the first place?" Sumi asked to which Shiro shrugged and said "I am not too sure but he is getting old now and he can feel the control slipping out of his hands into the hands of the 1st elder. The 2nd elder is the only one keeping him at bay or else they would have already gone to war with each other."
"Maybe that kid wanted to rile up the elders by making you give such a proposal and antagonize the entire clan. After all we don't a single thing about the outside world and he could've lied to us to make us drop our guard. I hope Yami does something about the 4 elders you told him about this afternoon or else tomorrow they are going to leave the valley with a ton of people who are ready for revenge."
Sumi and Shiro tried to look around for Yami and even called him out a few times to get his attention but Yami was already busy doing something else
________
1st Elder's house (same time)
"Brother we finally get the chance to do things our way and not stay in this hellhole like cowards." The 3rd elder to which the 7th and 10th elder nodded. The 1st elder was quiet and thinking as always.
"I agree with the 3rd elder…we cannot stay oppressed anymore. We need to go out there and show the world what they have done to us and we can punish them for it." The 10th elder said.
"Have you all decided on the team?" the 1st elder asked as he looked at his brother and the other 2 elders.
"1st elder I was thinking about taking those that are stronger than average in our team. The clan leader hasn't told us the exact number of how many people to put in the team so let's just fill it with those who have a strong Ketsuryugan. That way we can do a little damage to the villages outside and maybe even wipe out Yugakure." The 7th elder said.
"Yes, I think this a good idea…we can make Yugakure our base and even use them as cover when we need to hide there. I am sure that the outside world must have forgotten what they have done to us so when we attack, we have the surprise advantage." The 10th elder pitched in his thoughts.
"Both of you are idiots." The 1st elder said making the 7th and 10th elder quickly put brakes on their thoughts.
The 1st elder looked at them and said "We need to take the people who want revenge so even if we go out there and do anything, they won't turn against us. Even if one of our team members messes up the report when we come back, the clan leader will blow the thing out of proportion and turn our clansmen against us. So only take those who you all know will show absolute loyalty to us and our cause. I am sure that OyaShiro will try to talk the clan leader out of this plan but now the ship has sailed. I don't want a single slip-up in this and I am sure my brother will supervise everything properly."
"Don't worry big brother…I will handle everything here. I will leave the decision of what to do and how to do with you...isn't that right you two?" the 3rd elder asked as he looked at the 2 scared elders.
They both hurriedly nodded and said "Of course Elder…we will follow your guidance."
They then left the house to take care of the preparations. Within hours, the news of what the clan leader had planned and the elders who were chosen to lead the team, everything spread across the clan. Everyone was talking about that…many shinobis tried to approach the elders so that they could get on the team. Even Chino wanted to be a part of that team but after much insistence from her parents, she decided to drop the idea.
Just like that the entire day went into those preparations. At night, the clan leader who was supposed to be in his house was somewhere else. He was deep inside the jungle, which was deemed a forbidden place by the clan due to the number of poisonous animals that stay there.
The clan leader stood in front of a big cave. He could hear some sounds inside. Just as he was waiting there, a figure came out of the cave. The figure was none other that the 2nd elder. His clothes had plenty of dirt on them so the clan leader said "I told you to get it done not do it yourself."
"Don't provoke me to say something. I don't care you are the clan leader…I will whoop your ass like I did when we were kids. You had me dig the rest of the thing in just 30 hours. You think he will be easy?" the 2nd elder asked.
"Yes yes I know that I have given you an impossible task but I know that you are a miracle worker so you can do anything." The clan leader said trying to butter up his old friend.
"So where is this kid you told me about?" the 2nd elder asked as he looked at the clan leader.
Just as the clan leader was about to say something, the 2nd elder hear a voice coming from inside the cave along with the voice coming closer to him as well.
"So the clan did try before to go out…and you guys even dug a hole under the mountain."
The 2nd elder looked back and saw Yami come out from the cave. He looked at the clan leader with a questioning gaze as if asking 'Where did he come from?'
The clan leader shrugged and said "He didn't come with me."
Yami grabbed both the old men's attention again by saying "When the clan leader told me to meet tonight, I was skeptical at first but now the visit seems worth it."
"So you are Yami Uchiha…and this crazy plan is orchestrated by you." The 2nd elder said to which Yami nodded and said "Yes…although the fact that the clan leader has asked me to come here which means he has something in mind."
"I do Yami. The cave you see here goes under the mountain and is supposed to open up just behind a waterfall at the border of Yugakure. While the digging was almost complete, my father took the seat of the clan leader and stopped the digging. At that time everyone was enraged and wanted to just go out and kill everyone who had wronged them. My father used the excuse of low numbers and lack of strong shinobis as a reason to make people stop. He and I, we both tried our best to steer our clan towards peace but some like the 1st elder's family, and a few others have remained adamant. I will have all of them go through this cave tomorrow and will let you decide what to do further." The clan leader said.
Yami nodded and said "Sounds good for now but make sure that except for those who are going to go through here, no one should know about this."
"Don't worry about that. All the people working inside are loyal to me and won't open their mouths no matter what. So are you planning to collapse the cave onto them when they enter?" the 2nd elder asked.
"Why don't you leave that to me? I will try to retrieve the resources that you will give them but I can't make any promises." Yami said.
"They will most likely take the weapons that were brought by our ancestors here. We have very few of them since it is hard to make something like this here. So we might need it if someone notices tomorrow's fiasco."
Yami nodded and left the area…the 2nd elder also went back inside the cave while the clan leader returned to his house. The next day everyone was busy preparing for the departure of the exploration team. Some were helping with food or weapons or possible ways to move around the shinobi world based on old maps. The 3rd elder had announced that an exploration team had been decided and a total of 45 members including the 4 elders will be going.
The clan leader and the 2nd elder both started vetting the 41 people to make sure that none of them were from their side or else they might die for no reason.
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