"Step one: Gather a massive amount of money to prepare for the future."
"Step two: Establish a mercenary organization that doesn't belong to any country, start some small wars, then monopolize the war contracts of small nations by offering low prices. Gradually increase the scale of the wars, then dismantle the great nations' ninja systems, destroy their economies, and monopolize all wars."
"Step three: Use tailed beasts as weapons to conquer the world."
After finishing, Itsuki fell silent.
Something seemed off.
The others widened their eyes in shock.
"Itsuki!!!"
Toji was the first to jump up, shouting, "What are you planning?"
"Damn it, you, you, are you trying to..."
After a moment of stunned silence, Setsuna suddenly yelled, "Are you carrying on Lord Madara's will, Itsuki?"
He was almost moved to tears.
World domination—Lord Madara had told them the same thing in the past.
Unfortunately, it never came to fruition.
Because of that cursed Hashirama Senju!
Now, Itsuki was once again shouting this slogan.
Uchiha Setsuna had misjudged him!
Itsuki, he's the true successor of Lord Madara!
The Uchiha now had five pairs of Sharingan; accomplishing this was not impossible.
Itachi and Shisui, however, understood Itsuki better.
Something felt wrong!
World domination?
Could Itsuki even conquer a single ninja village?
To be honest, Itsuki was an easy person to read.
Lazy.
Playful.
Perverted.
These three things summed him up completely.
As for those who couldn't understand him—well, they were simply overthinking it.
After a brief pause, Fugaku suddenly said, "Itsuki, did you say the wrong plan?"
Itachi was startled, "The wrong plan?"
"Yes!" Fugaku hinted, "Did you mix someone else's plan with your own?"
"Heh."
Itsuki smiled slightly, giving Fugaku an approving look and sighed, "You even figured that out."
"Smart. I took the wrong script."
"To put it simply..."
"I messed up, let's start over!"
He had grabbed the script of the Akatsuki organization.
The initial plans were just too similar!
He had gotten caught up and misspoke.
Everyone present stared at him, black lines forming on their faces.
Especially Setsuna, whose veins were throbbing on his forehead.
Uchiha Itsuki, this guy deserved to be beaten to death.
Sigh!
Getting old.
Just now, he had been so excited that he almost peed his pants.
Now...
He only wanted to pee in Itsuki's direction!
"Ahem!"
Itsuki cleared his throat and said, "Step one: Gather a massive amount of money to prepare for the future."
"Step two: Establish a village that doesn't belong to any nation—Uchiha Village."
"And then!"
"Start some small wars, and depending on how they go, gradually expand them so that the Five Great Shinobi Villages have no time for anything else."
"Step three: Obtain a tailed beast of our own and formally establish our nation!"
"Konoha? Let them play their games. Uchiha won't be joining!"
This...
Fugaku and the others wanted to express their shock.
But!
That earlier moment had deflated their spirits.
Now, even hearing this astonishing plan from Itsuki, they felt surprisingly calm.
Damn!
Fugaku and the others found the situation both frustrating and amusing.
Itsuki, are you doing this on purpose?
You're too clever.
"Itsuki!"
Fugaku sighed and said, "To put it bluntly, your plan is to lead the clan away from Konoha and build a village of your own, right?"
"Exactly!"
Itsuki smiled and said, "And I've already started."
Started?
Fugaku and the others weren't surprised.
Itsuki had already mentioned that his plan was unstoppable, meaning it had been in motion for a while.
And!
It must be quite far along.
Fugaku glanced at Setsuna and Toji.
They suddenly remembered how Itsuki had been madly amassing wealth some time ago.
He had sold them a large number of explosive tags!
That must have been part of the preparation.
Shisui and Itachi exchanged a glance, both seeing the complexity in each other's eyes.
Itsuki's plan seemed like a solution to the conflict between the village and the Uchiha clan.
But!
Would the Third Hokage and the others allow the Uchiha to leave Konoha?
The answer was obviously no.
If they couldn't control the Uchiha, a weapon like that would need to be destroyed. Who could guarantee that these dangerous Uchiha wouldn't one day turn their blades toward Konoha?
Fugaku paused and asked, "Itsuki, how far along is your plan?"
Damn.
Surprise!
He should feel surprised!
This calmness was too abnormal.
Itsuki smiled and said, "The money is mostly gathered."
"The village is already under construction."
"Some of the Uchiha are already living there."
"And we've got a tailed beast!"
"Boom!"
Fugaku and the others immediately stood up, staring at Itsuki in shock.
Even Toji and Setsuna, the two old men, weren't exceptions.
"What's wrong?"
Itsuki smiled and said, "Weren't you all supposed to remain calm no matter what?"
"A tailed beast!?"
Fugaku trembled, "Where did you get a tailed beast? Wait, is it the Two-Tails? Was the chaos in the Hidden Cloud Village your doing?"
"You're shocked about that?"
Itsuki said in surprise, "You all have Mangekyo Sharingan, with Susanoo being a power that can rival tailed beasts. And you're shocked by a tailed beast?"
"If I hadn't grabbed the Two-Tails on a whim, I wouldn't have bothered with a tailed beast."
"...That's different!"
Fugaku's breath grew heavy, "A tailed beast is a tailed beast, and Susanoo is Susanoo."
"Tailed beasts have always been considered natural disasters."
"Susanoo... hasn't appeared for a long time."
Apart from Uchiha Madara, no one else had ever wielded Susanoo.
And!
Madara was so powerful that people instinctively thought Susanoo was exclusive to him.
Fugaku couldn't sit still.
He got up and began pacing back and forth.
Suddenly!
He turned to Itsuki and asked, "Where did you choose to build the village?"
Itsuki opened a map and casually drew a circle near the southern seas of the shinobi world.
At this point, he wasn't worried about information leaking.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan gave him the confidence.
Plus!
Itsuki had stationed too many strong individuals at the new village, along with the Two-Tails. Sending three or five thousand ninjas there would just be serving themselves up as cannon fodder!
"Here..."
Fugaku frowned when he saw the location Itsuki had chosen, but quickly relaxed.
Itsuki had chosen an area on the outskirts of Konoha.
To the south of Konoha, slightly to the east.
By the sea.
There was only one road within the entire circle he'd drawn; the rest was surrounded by the ocean. It was near the Land of Bears and the remnants of the destroyed Land of Whirlpools.
Choosing to build the new village here meant that to the west was the Land of Wind, to the north was Konoha, to the east was the Land of Craftsmen, and further east was the Land of Water.
If a war broke out, they could end up facing attacks from three major nations.
Fugaku didn't mind these details. The Uchiha had once challenged the Land of Water with just their clan and nearly crushed them. Now, with five pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan, they didn't know the meaning of fear.
They weren't afraid of a fight!
Fugaku was more concerned about whether they could successfully manage a village.
Suddenly!
Fugaku seemed to realize something, and with a look of understanding on his face, he turned to Itsuki and murmured, "That bastard..."
(End of Chapter)