Konoha.
A house in a remote corner.
"Slam!"
The sliding door was roughly pushed open, bouncing back.
A figure stood outside the door, his face ashen. It was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Normally, he was always smiling, presenting a benevolent and approachable appearance. For him to look like this now was a rare sight in his entire life.
Inside the room, Danzo, sitting on a meditation cushion, appeared calm and raised his eyes.
It was predictable that the other party would appear at this moment with that expression.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them: "Hiruzen, you seem to be in a very bad mood."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was grim. He strode forward, and without a word, swung his fist at Danzo's face.
There were no outsiders here, so he had no need for restraint.
Facing the incoming fist, Danzo chose not to dodge, letting it hit him.
With a thud, Danzo flew backward, showing the ferocity of the punch.
Even after that punch, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't satisfied. He grabbed Danzo by the collar, gnashing his teeth in fury, and cursed: "Bastard—!"
Treated this way, Danzo did not resist, saying calmly: "If this makes you feel better, then do as you wish. I won't resist."
"Do you know what you're doing!?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi roared at Danzo, questioning him: "You betrayed a fellow villager, you betrayed Hashirama-sama's granddaughter. Are you even human anymore?"
Danzo shouted back with a voice no less intense than Hiruzen Sarutobi's: "I stopped being human the moment I took on all of the village's darkness. Tōshirō had to die."
Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped: "Why didn't you discuss it with me?"
"It was the only way."
Danzo mused for a moment, then sneered: "Besides, discuss what? So you could keep hesitating and miss the opportunity?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but curse, delivering another heavy punch to Danzo's face.
Danzo's face bled from the punch, and he gave a sinister smile.
Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded: "What are you laughing at...?"
"I'm laughing at your incompetence. Your disciple died, and all you can do is seek revenge this way."
"Do you think I won't kill you?"
"That's right."
"Good, then you can die. I'll send you to Tobirama-sensei and Hashirama-sama. Let's see what face you'll show them."
"Good, I'll go to them. I'll tell them that you were responsible for all of this."
"What did you say!?"
"Isn't it true? I suggested to you long ago to deal with Tōshirō early. But you kept hesitating, forcing me to this point... I became like this, and you bear a part of the guilt. If Tobirama-sensei had passed the Hokage position to me back then, things wouldn't have come to this."
"Indeed, you've always held a grudge."
"That's right, I hold a grudge."
"You caused Tsunade's death. You committed an unforgivable crime."
"Crime? What crime did I commit?" Danzo said, looking bewildered: "Everything I did was for the village. The Hokage position must never fall into the hands of the Uchiha."
"The Uchiha are a bunch of potential psychopaths. Once stimulated, their minds become abnormal! If the Hokage position is given to such people, it will put the village in danger. Do you want to see Tobirama-sensei and Hashirama-sama's legacy destroyed before you're satisfied?"
After speaking, he added:
"Surely you haven't forgotten that Tōshirō, harboring resentment against the Daimyo for punishing him, directly poisoned his son's claws, beat him up, and extorted him.
"Clearly, that guy holds grudges. Do you think if he became Hokage one day, he would spare us, who have consistently suppressed the Uchiha clan in the past?
"I merely struck first..."
Upon hearing this, the force in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands lessened.
Danzo then pushed away Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands, sneering mockingly: "And stop acting like the victim.
"Your clan, leveraging your status, has continuously grown, reaching over 3,000 members. Don't tell me you, as the clan head, knew nothing about it."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was left speechless.
Danzo snorted coldly: "Now that Tōshirō has been dealt with, I'll return the Hokage position to you."
He didn't want to give it, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had legitimate authorization and could reclaim the position at any time.
After such an incident, Hiruzen Sarutobi would certainly not allow him to remain Hokage.
Rather than that, it was better to be proactive.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing, left the room, and returned to prepare to resume his duties as Hokage.
Uchiha Clan Compound.
Naka Shrine.
Fugaku had just completed a mission and was immediately informed to attend a meeting.
Entering the room, Fugaku found everyone's faces unusually grim, though he didn't know why.
Seeing all the Uchiha members present, the Uchiha clan head spoke with a somber expression: "I don't need to tell you all why I've gathered you here; you should already know."
Everyone's faces were extremely grim. One person spoke, "It's about Tōshirō's death, isn't it?"
Upon hearing this, Fugaku, who had been unaware, froze for a long moment before reacting. He couldn't sit still any longer, stood up, and his voice was extremely agitated: "What kind of joke is this—!"
The Uchiha clan head glanced at him, shaking his head and sighing: "Unfortunately, it's not a joke..."
When he first learned of the matter, he too found it incredibly difficult to accept, let alone Fugaku, who was quite close to Tōshirō.
"With his strength, how could he possibly die...?"
"I don't know the exact details, but I only know that Tōshirō, while on a mission with Tsunade, was unfortunately ambushed, and both perished. Tsunade's body was recovered, but Tōshirō's body couldn't even be found..."
History is a maiden dressed by many hands. Since Tōshirō was already dead, any reason could be fabricated. The mission Danzo publicly announced was that Tōshirō was performing a task with Tsunade, not a private one.
Upon receiving this news, Fugaku felt all strength drain from his body. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground.
The Uchiha clan head's gaze lingered on Fugaku's eyes for a few seconds. Regrettably, there seemed to be no change.
He sighed inwardly, As expected, it's still not enough...
After the meeting, Fugaku was called aside privately by the Uchiha clan head: "For the next few years, you won't be undertaking any missions. You'll focus on your training within the clan."
After Tōshirō's death, Fugaku would have to step into the position of future clan head candidate.
Fugaku understood this and nodded with a heavy expression.
In the past, he had always been motivated by this, yet when the opportunity truly presented itself, he felt no joy.
The Uchiha clan head added: "Tomorrow, Tōshirō and Tsunade's funeral will be held."
Fugaku closed his eyes, taking a deep breath: "I understand..."
The next day.
The funeral was held as scheduled, kept simple.
Afterward, under the gloomy sky, Orochimaru still stood before the gravestone, silent for a long time. Even now, he found it difficult to accept that Tōshirō and Tsunade had died.
Besides him, there were also the partners who were closest to Tōshirō and Tsunade in their daily lives.
"Orochimaru..."
A low voice came from beside him, calling his name with concern.
As if to fully accept what had happened, Orochimaru closed his eyes. After a long moment, he opened his snake-like golden vertical pupils and slowly sighed: "Humans are truly fragile..."
After speaking, he left this sorrowful place. The shining sun deep within his heart was shrouded by dark clouds, becoming even darker than the real world, turning into a breeding ground for darkness.
Years later, one night.
Near Kannabi Bridge.
Underground, within a溶洞 (karst cave).
In the dim light, Uchiha Madara, an old man seated on a stone chair with his eyes closed, seemed to sense something. The crimson color of blood slowly seeped from the depths of his eyelids as he raised them, his gaze falling upon the ground three meters directly in front of him.
The next second, a white humanoid creature emerged from the ground.
This creature was a White Zetsu. He had reached the end of his lifespan, awakened the Rinnegan before his death, summoned the Gedo Statue, and used Hashirama's cells to cultivate this creature.
Although its combat power was not remarkable, it possessed strong reconnaissance abilities, serving to gather information from the outside world and find suitable successors, replacing his own limited mobility...
Uchiha Madara's gaze was chilling; ordinary people would undoubtedly feel fear upon seeing it.
White Zetsu, oblivious to fear, said with a mischievous grin: "Madara-sama, I've found an interesting target recently, would you like to hear about it?"
Uchiha Madara glanced at him.
Sometimes, even he, the creator, couldn't understand why the White Zetsu he created had such a talkative personality.
"Uh, Madara-sama is really scary..." Though he said "scary," White Zetsu still maintained his grinning attitude.
Uchiha Madara remained silent, his gaze telling the other party to cut the chatter.
White Zetsu put away its playful demeanor and began to recount what it had seen and heard.
Upon hearing about a person named Obito Uchiha, Uchiha Madara's calm eyes rippled, and he smiled: "What an interesting brat..."
He was very satisfied with Obito. And being less powerful than Tōshirō, he would be much easier to control.
White Zetsu, discerning Uchiha Madara's interest from his words, volunteered: "Should I bring him to you, Madara-sama?"
"Continue to monitor him. Do nothing else."
Uchiha Madara said faintly.
With Uchiha Tōshirō as a failed case, this time he would plan carefully. He absolutely couldn't let something similar to Tōshirō happen again.
Otherwise, if he failed once, just waiting for a suitable target to appear would take an extremely long time.
"Obito Uchiha, is it?" White Zetsu chuckled, agreeing: "Madara-sama, you can boldly entrust this matter to us White Zetsu."
Having obtained useful information from White Zetsu, Uchiha Madara then dismissed him: "Alright, you may leave. I need to rest now."
"Oh, right, after all, you're an old man, getting on in years..." White Zetsu chuckled and re-burrowed into the ground.
Uchiha Madara leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and murmured: "Uchiha Obito... that won't happen again..."
(End of Chapter)
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