"TILL NOW, no one except me and Kaida," Shisui said.
"Why didn't you go to Fugaku?" Hiruzen asked, wanting to know what was on Shisui's mind.
"I don't want the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village to deteriorate any further than it already has. I know the consequences would be disastrous, not just for my clan, but for the village as well," Shisui said solemnly.
"Don't worry, I'll see this through. You have my word," Hiruzen replied. Normally, someone in his position didn't need to be polite, but the ninja in front of him was not only an elite jonin but also the son of his old friend, Kagami Uchiha.
(A.N: They were in the same squad under Tobirama Senju.)
Shisui was also one of the few Uchiha who had inherited the Will of Fire rather than the Curse of Hatred.
Shisui visibly relaxed after hearing Hiruzen's reassurance. Thanks to his father, Shisui knew a thing or two about Danzo. There was a reason he was called the Darkness of Konoha. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Danzo had been instrumental in keeping Konoha safe during two great ninja wars. Every time all four major ninja villages tried to attack Konoha together, it was Danzo who used his Root ninjas as disposable tools, forcing those villages to fight amongst themselves and giving Konoha room to breathe.
This was one of the reasons why Hiruzen often turned a blind eye to Danzo's darker deeds, though those deeds were now slowly weakening the village.
Hiruzen looked at Shisui and said, "You can go back now. Rest assured, I'll make sure this doesn't happen again."
Shisui nodded and left, but instead of going home, he headed to the Uchiha Clan headquarters.
"Hello, Uncle. How are you?" Shisui asked as he entered Fugaku's office.
"This better be important, Shisui. I'm not in the mood for jokes," Fugaku said without looking up.
"Does the clan know about the rumors spreading around the village about us?" Shisui asked.
Fugaku stopped working and looked at him. "What rumors, exactly?"
"A rumor has been spreading that the Uchiha were involved in the Nine-Tails attack, and that we don't see Konoha as our home," Shisui explained.
Fugaku, an experienced politician, quickly grasped the implications. His expression darkened as he thought about the possible reasons behind it.
Seeing this, Shisui quickly added, "Don't worry, Uncle. Lord Third has assured me that he will stop this."
"I want to know all the details," Fugaku said in a serious tone.
Shisui nodded and told him how Kaida had discovered the rumor, how he nearly got into trouble, how a Root ninja was involved, and how Hiruzen had dealt with it.
"You should have come to me with that body," Fugaku said.
"You know the relationship between the clan and the village isn't good right now, Uncle, and much of that tension stems from our relocation to the outskirts," Shisui replied.
"I can't blame them. We have every right to be angry. The village is punishing us for a crime we didn't commit. And you expect our ninjas to smile and just let them do whatever they want?" Fugaku said, a hint of anger in his voice.
"Then do you want to leave the village, Uncle? With our strength, we could," Shisui said.
Even though they couldn't establish a new ninja village, there were many ways for them to survive as ninjas.
"We would only have two options after leaving the village: either create a small ninja village or join forces with the daimyo. I'm not going to let the Uchiha clan become hunting dogs for the daimyo, and creating a small ninja village isn't an option either. We'd become targets for every other village during times of war. Plus, we can't leave Konoha—we've invested too much into it. The situation hasn't reached that point yet," Fugaku said.
"That's why I didn't bring you the body. I don't want things to escalate. Going against the village wouldn't be a good decision. We might win, but the cost would be too high," Shisui said.
"Do you think I don't understand that? Don't worry. I don't want our relationship with the village to worsen either," Fugaku said. Then he added, "Tell that brat I'll give him five acres of land as a reward for discovering this so early. I can only imagine what would've happened if this continued for a year. Knowing Danzo, we wouldn't have known about it until it was too late."
Shisui nodded but found something odd. "Since when do you give out land as rewards, Uncle?"
"Ask your brother. He suggested we start using the unused land we have as rewards, so we put it to good use."
Shisui nodded again, liking the idea.
"Fine, you can go," Fugaku said.
"Uncle, please don't take any action for now. Let's give Lord Third some time to handle the issue," Shisui requested.
Fugaku simply nodded, and Shisui used Body Flicker Jutsu to head back home.
After Shisui left, Fugaku muttered to himself, "I just hope this situation doesn't escalate any further," before returning to his paperwork.
---
**At the Hokage's Office**
Hiruzen took the Root ninja's body out of the scroll and examined it. He quickly found a seal on the body's head—the kind used to prevent anyone from reading a clone's memories.
Hiruzen sighed. He recognized the seal immediately. It was a Root ninja.
'I've stopped you, Danzo, but it seems your ambitions are at their limit now that we're getting older. I was planning to let you continue for a while longer, but your actions are now putting the integrity of Konoha at risk. Looks like the time for us old-timers to retire is drawing near,' Hiruzen thought, before calling in an Anbu ninja.