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The Hidden Leaf Village remained on near-total alert, and even the late hours of the night offered no reprieve.
After parting ways with Midorima, Hiruzen set about addressing the situation with the Uchiha clan. He had given Midorima's words serious consideration and found them to hold considerable merit. With a formidable enemy bearing down on them, dealing with the Uchiha matter at this juncture would be an exceptionally unwise move. More importantly, no one could say who would still be alive once the great battle was over. If these rogue shinobi perished on the battlefield, there would be no need for a later reckoning. Even if a few managed to survive, their meritorious deeds could offset their transgressions. The whole problem could be resolved simply by postponing the moment of accountability. The more Hiruzen thought about it, the more he realized just how formidable a man Midorima truly was. It was nothing short of a shame that he wasn't a shinobi of the Leaf Village. Hiruzen felt a genuine pang of regret.
In an environment where the Akatsuki's invasion had inflicted massive damage on the Leaf, the bulk of everyone's attention was naturally fixed on the Akatsuki. Still, he couldn't entirely rule out the possibility that some would still attempt to bring up the Uchiha matter. To preempt this, the Leaf leadership initiated a lengthy discussion with the Uchiha clan ahead of time, which included the rogue shinobi represented by Chiki Uchiha. With the clan head Fugaku dead, the position should rightfully have passed to Itachi Uchiha. But Itachi had become a member of the Akatsuki and was thus naturally stripped of any claim to clan leadership. Sasuke Uchiha was still too young, and Fugaku's wife Mikoto was occupied with arranging her husband's funeral. Though she maintained a composed exterior, her spirit was undoubtedly teetering on the edge of collapse. As a result, the affairs of the Uchiha clan were temporarily entrusted to Yū Uchiha.
Hiruzen laid out the purpose of his visit directly. He stressed the Akatsuki's intentions during the previous day's attack and elaborated on the impact that the rogue shinobi led by Chiki Uchiha had on the Leaf Village. Only then did he continue, "When you aimed your blades at the Leaf, you were playing right into the Akatsuki's hands. The Akatsuki, acting as the puppet masters behind the scenes, exploited your carelessness and your grievances against the Leaf. They magnified the conflict between both sides and turned you into weapons they could control. Are you truly willing to let the ones who orchestrated all this reap the benefits?"
"You won't hold us accountable?" Chiki Uchiha asked.
"Of course, there will be accountability, but only after the Akatsuki is dealt with."
Chiki Uchiha said nothing more. Sometimes, silence itself was a form of answer.
After leaving the Uchiha compound, Hiruzen also spoke with Homura and Koharu. When these two heard Hiruzen's proposed approach, they immediately voiced their disagreement. Hiruzen's response was blunt and to the point: he tossed the problem straight into their laps. "Then you two solve it." Homura and Koharu could only stare at each other in stunned silence—was he the Hokage, or were they? Seeing them at a complete loss for words, Hiruzen slapped the table and settled the matter with finality.
Thus, when the Leaf's council reconvened the following day, an odd scene unfolded. Everyone was fully aware that there were rogue shinobi among the Uchiha, yet no one breathed a word about it. Not only that, but Yū Uchiha had even taken a seat at the conference table as the official representative of the Uchiha clan.
Hiruzen was deeply anxious about Naruto's capture. Not only was Naruto the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, but more importantly, he was the only son of Minato Namikaze. If anything were to happen to the boy, Hiruzen truly wouldn't know how he could ever face Minato and Kushina again. For this reason, he convened a preliminary briefing with the Leaf's senior leadership in the morning, intending to reconvene with the heads of the other shinobi villages in the afternoon, pushing for a joint operation as soon as possible.
The others present were visibly taken aback when they saw Yū Uchiha appear at the meeting. Yet, given the current state of affairs, the Uchiha clan's strength was undeniably needed, so everyone chose to hold their tongues.
When Hiruzen saw Jiraiya, his first question was about the status of Shikaku and his team. Upon learning that they had not yet located Pain, Hiruzen couldn't hide his disappointment.
"However, they've decided to continue tracking Pain's whereabouts and have already set out again," Jiraiya reported.
"Good. The moment they sense anything amiss, tell them to return immediately," Hiruzen instructed. Once discovered, the chance of escape might vanish entirely—but these were words that still had to be said. Jiraiya nodded.
The council chamber lapsed into silence once more. Seeing that no one else spoke up, Tsunade cleared her throat and said, "There are three matters I need to discuss with everyone. First, Midorima departed from the Leaf Village late last night. However, this shouldn't pose a major issue, as the Mizukage is Mei Terumī—as long as she remains in the Leaf, things should proceed smoothly."
Most of those present had little impression of Midorima, but Hiruzen was different. He had witnessed Midorima's battle against the Deva Path of Pain with his own eyes and had a very direct understanding of his capabilities. It was entirely possible that all the shinobi from the Hidden Mist combined wouldn't be a match for him.
"Did he... say where he was going?" Hiruzen asked.
"Well... Mei Terumī told me that Midorima felt his strength still needed improvement, so he decided to use this window of time to continue training."
"..."
Hiruzen rubbed his forehead. His strength still needed improvement... He couldn't shake the feeling that Midorima's words carried a hidden meaning, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.
"The second matter is that Orochimaru has been resurrected... The shinobi of the Hidden Sound Village revived him," Tsunade stated.
"How do you know this?"
"Midorima told me."
"..."
A single question ran through Hiruzen's mind: was Midorima some kind of walking encyclopedia? How did he know absolutely everything? The others in the room reacted to this news with a wide range of expressions. Orochimaru was neither fully friend nor fully foe; it was difficult to say whether his resurrection boded well or ill for the Leaf Village.
"The third matter concerns the identity of 'Madara Uchiha.' This is also something Midorima brought to my attention, prompting me to investigate. However, he had no concrete proof—only a series of scattered deductions. Because of that, I could only pursue it discreetly. It wasn't until this morning that I finally obtained a more definitive answer."
Every gaze in the room immediately shifted to Yū Uchiha. "Madara Uchiha" could only be a shinobi of the Uchiha clan. Yū Uchiha felt his brow furrow deeply, as though all the air had suddenly been sucked out of the space around him. He touched his throat and steeled himself before speaking. "Since you're bringing this up, you must already know his identity. Just say it. I've prepared myself."
"Obito Uchiha," Tsunade said.
"Preposterous!" The name had barely left Tsunade's lips before Yū Uchiha answered on reflex. Realizing immediately that he had overstepped, he hurriedly explained, "Lady Tsunade, if you had named anyone else—no matter how absurd—I could accept it. But Obito Uchiha is dead. Why would you force a dead man to shoulder such disgrace?"
"When I first heard that name, I thought exactly the same as you. But did you ever actually see his body? When Kakashi posed that question to me, I had no answer. Of course, if that were the only factor, I still wouldn't be able to conclude that 'Madara Uchiha' is Obito." Tsunade drew a deep breath. "But there is, in fact, other evidence."