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Shisui stretched his torso to relieve the tension from sitting in one place for too long and tweaked his neck and shoulder to get the kinks out with satisfying snapping clicks.
ANBU had trained him in stealth which often required staying in one place without moving for extended periods of time, but he dreaded the experience of sitting through one of Uchiha Clan's monthly meetings to discuss the progress of their primary clan objective— which at the current moment was overthrowing the current administration and establishing the new with the Uchiha at the very top.
Or, in fewer words— a Coup D'état.
Something Shisui was completely against.
They discussed their plans of establishing alliances with influential clans, investing more and more in the village's business, thus increasing their share in the economy, and buying physical assets like prime real estate, fertile and commercial land, and valuable metals like gold and silver. Recently, the clan had even sent diplomatic envoys to the Daimyo's court intending to get mining rights for precious mineral ores from reserves around the Land of Fire.
Before the formation of the Hidden Leaf village, in the Warring Era, the Uchiha Clan was the strongest shinobi clan in the Land of Fire, rivaled only by the Senju Clan. The clan had built the foundation of their wealth in that turmoil-filled era— they owned vast expanses of land, some were fertile lands which they put to farming by employing common folk, and eventually, farming towns had sprouted with the Uchiha land as the backbone of the people living in those villages, other were filled with mineral reserves which they mined, and once again mining towns were born which expanded into industrial cities— both existed to date. The Uchiha Clan was also one of the rare cases of privately-owned crude oil reserves.
All of it was gained by bloodshed and violence during the time when the law didn't exist for shinobi. Even after the formation of the Hidden Leaf and its shinobi recognizing the Fire Daimyo's position as the ruler of the Land of Fire, the Daimyo didn't dare ask for what the Uchiha had gained by sheer force.
The Daimyo, with his vast Samurai vassal forces, knew better than to be adversarial to shinobi. In truth, the Daimyo and his samurai were stronger than any single shinobi clan, but with the vassal forces split into facing multiple shinobi clans, the Daimyo could only watch as the shinobi raided and pillaged across the Land of Fire. And Daimyo's window of dominance truly closed with the inception of Hidden Leaf when all prominent shinobi clans joined hands.
Any action against Hidden Leaf shinobi would result in making enemies of the strongest force in the Land of Fire if not the entire Elemental Nations.
The Senju Clan was, once again, their only rival in terms of both owned wealth and military strength. Other shinobi clans like the Sarutobi, Shimura, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame existed, and were strong in their own rights, but they couldn't match the Uchiha and the Senju— no one could, not even shinobi clans from outside the Land of Fire.
But perhaps both clans had enjoyed too much prosperity, and the scales of fate were uneven, which resulted in the need of the fixing the balance.
Soon after the creation of the Hidden Leaf, tragedy struck the Uchiha in the form of the clan leader Uchiha Madara, the man who had single-handedly caused the clan to soar to heights never seen before— the same man forsook the clan who refused to turn against the village which had bought peace and stopped the bloodshed.
Uchiha Madara battled the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and lost his life. The place they battled became known as the Valley of the End. Statues of the two men were carved in the place of their final battle, in the memory of the two greatest shinobi that ever lived.
It was one of the most beautiful places on the mortal plane.
That battle had negative effects. The village was displeased with the Uchiha Clan, and many even turned against them. The system of a hidden shinobi village had its multitude of advantages, but it also came with its caveat, after all, there was no free lunch in the world. If it were before, it would've meant war, but the Uchiha had bought into the concept of a peaceful village— they had to step back and take responsibility for their clan leader's action.
Ask any Uchiha, and they would say that was the moment the Uchiha stopped growing. Even though they had lost Uchiha Madara, they were still the strongest clan in the Hidden Leaf, excluding the Senju. Even though no one truly understood it back then, the Uchiha Clan had fallen out of favor with the rest of the village, which didn't improve after the First Hokage's death as his younger brother, Senju Tobirama took command as the Second Hokage.
There was no man the Uchiha hated more than Senju Tobirama. They respected Senju Hashirama for his strength and because the man was the reason the Hidden Leaf existed in the first place— but they hated the younger brother as Tobirama pushed the Uchiha Clan further down the hole they didn't know they were in.
In Tobirama's reign as the Second Hokage, the man isolated the Uchiha Clan. Slowly until the day he died in the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama had made sure the Uchiha were kept away from the village's central administration as much as possible.
It was during the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen's reign, did the Uchiha realize what had been done to them. As much as 80% of the clan worked in the Leaf Military Police Force— no other clan was concentrated in one organization as the Uchiha. Every other clan made sure to spread their members in as many aspects of the village as they could. Even clans like the Yamanaka Clan, who were perfect for T&I Division, had only a moderate presence there and had ensured they didn't have all their eggs in one basket.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was no better than his predecessor. While he didn't take any measures against the Uchiha, he also didn't do anything to improve their situation. The damage had been done, and the Uchiha were in their condition.
But they weren't doing as bad as their co-founding peer, the Senju Clan.
The Uchiha Clan hadn't let peace dull their blades, especially after Uchiha Madara's death; they had ensured that the clan maintained their position as the strongest clan. Proper systems were put into place to help the clan's future generations grow properly, and their clan's bloodline prospered and protected. The result of those efforts was that in the present, the Uchiha Clan was the strongest clan in the village. Their only competition in terms of military strength was the Hyuga Clan.
The same couldn't be said about the Senju Clan. They let peace rust their blades. The younger generation wasn't properly trained. As much as Senju Tobirama did for the improvement and standardization of training for the new Hidden Leaf shinobi, he had not done the same for the Senju Clan. On top of the Senju Clan enjoying the peace, they also suffered from low birth rates and high infant mortality rates. On top of that, Senju Hashirama wasn't able to pass on his legendaryWood Release to his progeny, and Senju Tobirama died before he could produce any children who could have inherited his potent Water Release affinity or his intellect.
Peace created a weak Senju generation, and those weak men floundered away the clan's wealth until the clan's name no longer existed in the Hidden Leaf. The only prominent legacy existed in the form of Senju Hashirama's granddaughter, the legendary iryo-nin, one of the Legendary Sannin, Princess Tsunade, who had long since left shinobi service, no longer lived in the village and withdrawn from shinobi circles.
The other clans, including the Uchiha, saw an opportunity and slowly ate the pie known as the Senju's wealth. Half of it, which was too important for the clans to have, and they couldn't decide how to split, went to the village itself, but what could be divided was distributed among the clans.
Two more Shinobi World Wars were fought, and the time came for the aging Third Hokage to choose his successor. He had fought in and survived three wars, and he had served the village well, but now it was time for the village to be handed to young blood. It was time for the Hidden Leaf to get its Fourth Hokage.
It was a chance for Uchiha to rise again by having an Uchiha wear the Hokage's hat. They even had a prime contender in Uchiha Fugaku, the most talented of his generation and a war hero feared and respected around the globe.
However, the competition was tough.
One of the Legendary Sannin and the Third Hokage's most talented disciples, Orochimaru. The man had done everything from participating in wars to working in ANBU to contributing to essential research, which had benefited the village better understand chakra.
Then there was Namikaze Minato, another war hero who had risen around the same time as Fugaku. He, too, was connected to the Third Hokage through the Legendary Sage Jiraya, the last of the three Sannin. Minato was Jiraya's disciple. Minato was deemed the most talented shinobi in his generation as he was able to learn the Second Hokage's Hiraishin and had somehow able to improve it, which earned him the moniker of the Yellow Flash.
The Uchiha had invested a lot in Fugaku and had pushed for him in the political circles— alas, the Third Hokage chose Namikaze Minato.
The Uchiha Clan was unsurprisingly upset that Fugaku didn't win, but they thought the outcome was the second best after Fugaku as Hokage. Unlike the other option in Orochimaru, Namikaze Minato was a young man with an open mind, who the Uchiha Clan could build a positive relationship with
Moreover, they weren't completely surprised by Namikaze Minato being chosen— the young man was engaged to the Nine Tail's jinchuriki, and it was clear that it played into the decision as the First Hokage was married to the previous jinchuriki. Keeping jinchuriki close to the village royalty was a common tradition among all the Great Shinobi Hidden Villages.
And by becoming the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato was royalty.
The Uchiha Clan pivoted to their new strategy of becoming close to the Fourth Hokage and his office, but before they could make any significant progress, the young Hokage had to sacrifice his life to protect the village from the Nine-Tail's rampage.
Of course, the blame… was put on the Uchiha Clan.
Shisui sighed as he looked at the night sky. Why did these meetings have to run so late into the night?
As the clan members exited the clan community hall, Shisui smiled and nodded and exchanged passing words with people who were as tired as him and just wanted to get home and turn in for the day.
Ever since the formation of Hidden Leaf, the Uchiha Clan had entered an era of stagnation. They hadn't weakened, but they hadn't grown. In comparison, the other clans had taken advantage of the situation and had grown. There was still a gap between the Uchiha Clan and others, but it was no longer insurmountable as it once was. They were still the wealthiest clan in the Hidden Leaf, but they had fallen behind in other aspects. Their new rival, the Hyuga Clan, had become closer to them in terms of strength and had surpassed them in terms of prestige and influence within the village.
Shisui was in support of the steps the Uchiha Clan took to prepare for the Coup D'état. They were increasing their influence, taking back power, making friends, and securing opportunities for the younger generation to follow. For example, slowly opening the Leaf Military Police Force was so that the Uchiha could decrease their presence there and spread their members throughout the village like other clans.
He simply didn't like the motivation— the end goal— behind all these steps. If the clan changed the end goal to continued peaceful existence with the village while still doing what they were doing, he was willing to sit through any number of meetings.
He sighed. From the looks of it, that future was his wishful thinking as even those initially not enthusiastic about the plan were now slowly falling in line. He was losing potential future allies.
"Why not talk to me instead of sighing?"
Shisui glanced to his side to see Itachi standing beside him. Their relationship had been on the rocks for a while in the between, but Shisui couldn't stay angry with his only ally— and he saw Itachi as his brother, he couldn't break the relationship.
He only had his parents as his family, and his health hadn't been too great. Shisui needed someone he could lean against for support. Even though he was the 'big brother,' Shisui greatly appreciated the unmoving stability Itachi provided. Almost nothing phased the young genius.
"If they keep at this pace, the clan will be ready in two to three years, four if we are being pessimistic," Shisui sighed. "That's not a lot of time."
"Really? I think that's a lot of time," said Itachi.
Shisui chuckled. He sometimes forgot that his younger brother was only thirteen, and three years was indeed a long time for someone that young.
"You'll understand when you grow up a bit more. Time passes faster the older you grow," he said. Shisui looked at Itachi, who had suddenly gone silent, and there was a peculiar expression on Itachi's face. "What is it?"
After a good while of silence, Itachi finally spoke,
"… Shimaru Danzo came to meet with me."
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