Fugaku was silent.
Suddenly, he asked, "Who should we give these two idiots to—Danzo or Hiruzen?"
"Well, well, Fugaku, you've grown," Itsuki remarked in surprise as he looked at Fugaku. "You're actually starting to think things through."
"Hmph!" Fugaku snorted coldly. "I'm being serious. This concerns the safety of our entire clan!"
The conflict involved the Hidden Cloud Village.
More than ten of the Anbu directly under the Hokage had been killed.
Danzo's Root division? No need to guess, they definitely suffered losses too.
Fugaku couldn't be certain how things would play out from here.
Would the Third Hokage, Danzo, or even the Hidden Cloud let this slide?
"Itsuki, remember what I once told you."
"What?"
"If you're not ruthless, you won't stand firm!"
"When dealing with the Third Hokage and Danzo, if you're not tough, they will be. You must be prepared to give everything up, to be ready to kill them—or at the very least, to die taking them down with you. That's the only way to come out victorious."
"Just like this time!"
Itsuki pointed to himself, then to the gates of Konoha. "If I hadn't flipped the table, that monkey Sarutobi Hiruzen would've dumped everything on me—the credit, the responsibility, and definitely all the blame. You saw that coming, didn't you?"
"That's why I made the Third Hokage give me an explanation."
"I gave Sarutobi Hiruzen two options: either explain himself to me, or we fight to the death."
"See? The Third Hokage backed down!"
Fugaku fell silent, then sighed. "I'm the clan leader."
He wasn't like Itsuki.
Itsuki only had his brother Shisui, and he was strong enough to protect himself.
So whatever Itsuki did didn't really matter. Put simply, even if he died, he'd make sure to take a chunk out of the enemy.
But as the clan leader, could Fugaku afford to do the same?
"I'm not afraid to die, but I have to think about the whole clan."
Hearing this, Itsuki gave Fugaku a strange look.
What the hell!
I can't argue with that!
Now you remember you're the clan leader.
But in the original story, why did you do something so shocking? Was it a distortion of human nature or a collapse of morality?
Now you want to be responsible for the clan? In the original story, you dragged the entire clan down with you!
"Don't think about dying, Fugaku!" Itsuki said, staring deeply at him. "You know, you're forcing me to make a mistake."
"What do you mean?" Fugaku was puzzled. "How does me thinking about death force you to make a mistake?"
Itsuki cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, if you die, then… Mikoto..."
"BOOM!!!"
"Katon: Great Fireball Technique!"
A fireball over ten meters wide came rushing forward, completely engulfing Itsuki.
The sheer force of it seemed like it was about to blast Itsuki into ashes.
"Poof!"
From within the fireball, a piece of wood appeared.
Fugaku turned his head coldly, looking at the newly appeared Itsuki behind him.
You bastard. Eyeing my wife? If I get the chance, I'll definitely kill you!
"Clan Leader Fugaku, don't get so worked up," Itsuki sighed. "You know when a woman looks her best?"
"Do you know the saying, 'You want to look beautiful? Wear mourning clothes.'"
"If something happens to you, the blow to me would be… too much to handle!"
"Hmph!" Fugaku snorted again and couldn't be bothered with him. He turned and walked away.
Blow?
Your expression says you're hoping for it!
You think I'm as foolish as Itachi?
...
"Bang!"
In the detention room!
Sarutobi Hiruzen had been standing at the door, trying to hold it in, but in the end, he couldn't. He gave the door a hard kick.
Don't be fooled by his small frame—there was a lot of force in that kick.
The door, which had been ajar, flew open with a loud bang.
"Pfft!"
Danzo had been drinking water, and the sudden impact startled him so much that he almost jumped.
He spat the water out everywhere!
A torrent of water gushed out of his nose.
His face twisted in discomfort and anger… it was unbearable!
"Kicking down his door? Who dares?
Oh, Hiruzen. Never mind, then."
Danzo angrily said, "Hiruzen, what the hell are you doing?"
"You tell me!" The Third Hokage gritted his teeth and said, "What exactly did you arrange for our people to do in the Hidden Cloud Village?"
"What do you mean, 'What did they do'?" Danzo shouted back. "Obviously, they were sent to deal with Uchiha Itsuki. Don't pretend you don't know, you gave the green light for this!"
Damn it.
Did something go wrong again? Are they trying to make me take the fall?
The Third Hokage coldly replied, "And what else?!"
"What else? That's it! Nothing more!"
Danzo's response was firm.
"You're lying!"
The Third Hokage said each word clearly, "Danzo, you know me, and I know you. Now, tell me, what did you really do in the Hidden Cloud?"
Danzo stared coldly at the Third Hokage without saying a word.
Some things simply can't be revealed.
You want to know how bold Danzo is?
Let's just say, he dares to do anything.
He once tried to assassinate the Hokage.
He set his sights on controlling the Tailed Beasts.
He secretly experimented with the power of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
Danzo is an extremely ambitious man.
Such a man, given the silent approval of the Third Hokage, had been allowed to send people to the Hidden Cloud to deal with Uchiha Itsuki.
With such a golden opportunity, there's no way he wouldn't take advantage and stir up as much trouble as possible.
His secret moves were so numerous, it could drive someone mad.
Sarutobi Hiruzen realized this and painfully closed his eyes.
He had been careless!
The pressure Uchiha Itsuki was putting on him was immense.
Watching the Uchiha head towards an unpredictable path had him panicking.
"Danzo, do you even know how great our losses are this time?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was filled with rage as he almost roared, "The Anbu lost an entire squad and two Jonin. You know how much the Foundation lost. And as for the Hidden Cloud's reaction... that remains to be seen."
Danzo couldn't take it anymore. He shouted back, "You're blaming all of this on me?!"
I'm used to taking the blame, but this many problems? I can't handle all of that.
"Then you tell me, what exactly did you do?"
Once again, Danzo fell silent.
Taking the blame is still better than being exposed!
If the things he's done ever came to light, forget Sarutobi Hiruzen protecting him; the first person who'd kill him would most likely be the Third Hokage himself!
"So, you're not going to speak?" The Third Hokage's face grew colder as he said, "Then tell me, where is Tenzo?"
"Tenzo?"
Danzo froze for a moment.
He wasn't faking it.
Frowning, he said, "Hasn't Yamato been under your care this whole time?"
"That's bullshit!" The Third Hokage roared, "He's missing! In the chaos at the Hidden Cloud Village, Wood Release appeared. Are you still going to pretend?"
Danzo's jaw dropped as he said, "Are you saying Wood Release appeared in this chaos at the Hidden Cloud Village?"
"Still playing dumb?"
"What am I pretending for?" Danzo yelled back. "Ever since you took Yamato away from me, I haven't seen him."
"You think I'll believe that?"
...Believe it or not, whatever! Danzo cursed angrily in his mind.
The Third Hokage stared directly at Danzo and asked, "So you're saying the chaos in the Hidden Cloud Village had nothing to do with you?"
What the hell!
Danzo was on the verge of tears.
The chaos in the Hidden Cloud was indeed related to him.
He had been stirring up trouble, and naturally, the Hidden Cloud would hit back harder against Itsuki, which might even drag the entire Uchiha clan into it.
At the same time, the Hidden Cloud's strength would inevitably be diminished in the process.
But...
I seriously don't know anything about Wood Release!
And clearly, there are others involved in the Hidden Cloud chaos, so how is everything suddenly my fault now?!
(End of Chapter)