c99: Go Straight to the Weak Point and Hit Someone in the Face
"Mr. Buchou, have you forgotten about Danzo..."
"How insolent! How dare you refer to Lord Danzo by name without honorifics!"
Clang! The Root ninja immediately unsheathed the chokutō strapped across his back, charging at Uchiha Gen with killing intent gleaming in his eyes.
Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique. (Magen: Kyō Tenchi-ten)
Gen's eyes spun into the fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan, and with one piercing gaze, the Root ninja froze mid-step, locked in an aggressive pose with his blade raised. His body was paralyzed on the spot, caught completely by Gen's genjutsu.
This particular Root agent wasn't weak likely a tokubetsu jōnin-level operative, competent in assassination and stealth. But against Gen's Sharingan-enhanced genjutsu, he might as well have been a fresh academy graduate. The illusion was cast instantly and flawlessly.
Although Root and ANBU agents wore nearly identical masks, their construction differed subtly. While ANBU typically sported animal-themed masks with reinforced plating, Root masks were uniform and expressionless, designed with thinner materials and transparent vision slits ensuring their visibility in combat.
Otherwise, how could they carry out high-risk missions in near-total darkness?
Idiotic. Gen silently cursed. This guy must be a textbook case of Root indoctrination. Emotionally numbed, mentally bound likely beyond salvation.
"Hey, Gen, did your Sharingan just evolve?"
Fugaku, standing beside him, had noticed the change. His eyes were fixed not on the frozen ninja, but on the fully-formed three-tomoe Sharingan in Gen's eyes.
Among the Uchiha, most jōnin barely reached the two-tomoe stage, and only a select few had mastered all three tomoe. Fugaku himself possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, though that fact remained hidden from most of the clan.
"Yes. It happened during my time under Lord Orochimaru's guidance."
Gen forced a smile, but his tone darkened subtly clearly recalling painful memories. The evolution of the Sharingan was often tied to emotional trauma, and everyone present understood that.
"Just endure it," one jōnin muttered. The others nodded solemnly.
Fugaku, still wary of Danzo and his reach, wasn't so docile that he would allow his clan members to be attacked without response.
"The Root operative struck first," he declared. "Our response was justified."
"Clan head," Gen said after regaining his composure, "if I recall correctly, Danzo was officially stripped of the position of Hokage Advisor by both the Third and the Fourth Hokage, wasn't he?"
Indeed, after repeated acts of extremism and manipulation especially involving his unauthorized experiments with Orochimaru Danzo had lost most of his formal influence in the village leadership.
As for being head of Root?
Root was technically a sub-division of the ANBU, operating under the Hokage's authority. In terms of Konoha's administrative structure, it was lower in rank than the Police Department, which was one of the six main branches of the village infrastructure.
Whether others treated Danzo lightly or not, Gen certainly did not.
He didn't even view the title Hokage Advisor as especially worthy of fear.
"Even if Danzo still held his old position, as the Minister of Security and Head of the Konoha Police Force, you're not obligated to obey him. Hokage's orders are absolute but Danzo isn't the Hokage."
Gen's words landed like thunderclaps.
Hiss
A collective gasp swept through the assembled Uchiha. Even Fugaku looked stunned.
The young man's words were dangerously bold. If Danzo ever learned of this, he would never let it slide.
But Gen was unbothered. With his Sharingan approaching the threshold of the Mangekyō, and having trained under Orochimaru, Gen's confidence was soaring.
Power, after all, silenced fear.
Arrogance wasn't always wise but it was certainly satisfying. Hiding your strength was like wearing silk robes in the dark—what was the point if no one could see?
And Gen hadn't lied. There were no existing Konoha laws mandating that minister-level departments obey orders from an assistant. That was a fiction Danzo used to manipulate those too timid to challenge him.
So what if Danzo sought revenge? Gen had Orochimaru, Fugaku, and most importantly, his own strength behind him now.
Some of the jōnin began to cheer silently. This was the Uchiha pride they remembered. The Uchiha bowed to the Hokage.but no one else.
"Ahem..." Fugaku coughed lightly, masking the tension. "Xuan... While you are correct in principle, we should still maintain decorum when referring to village elders."
Gen nodded respectfully. "Understood. I'll watch my tone, Clan Head."
Still, Fugaku remained indecisive. Danzo might no longer hold office, but his influence lingered especially with the Third Hokage and the remaining elders like Homura and Koharu. Provoking him might invite future retaliation.
Seeing Fugaku hesitate, Gen sighed inwardly. This was the real problem.
Fugaku still believed appeasement would buy protection. But with Danzo, obedience only invited exploitation. Only overwhelming power forced Danzo to back off—and when he didn't, Hiruzen would eventually rein him in.
Gen stepped forward again.
"Clan Head, I believe we have four strong reasons to take action tonight."
"One: As the Konoha Police Force, it's our duty to preserve law and order. The Kyuubi is the greatest threat to that order right now."
"Two: We must see with our own eyes if the Sharingan is truly present in the Kyuubi. Accusations alone cannot dictate policy."
"Three: If the Kyuubi is being controlled by Sharingan, we must work actively to clear the clan's name."
"And four: The Uchiha clan possesses the greatest concentration of Sharingan users in history. If anyone can suppress or affect the Kyuubi even partially—it is us. We could save lives and minimize property damage."
"And finally... If we sit this out, what will other clans think? Why are the Ino-Shika-Cho, the Hyuga, and even the Sarutobi risking their lives, while the Uchiha—the strongest clan do nothing?"
Murmurs spread among the jōnin. Many nodded, fired up by Gen's clarity and courage.
"He's right. We can't just stand by."
"Police Force duties or not, we're Konoha shinobi first."
Even Shisui Uchiha, usually neutral in political matters, stepped forward. "I agree with Gen. We should act."
Seeing the united front around him, Fugaku clenched his fists—and nodded.
"Very well. We move out."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before Fugaku could finish speaking, a cluster of massive explosions tore through the air. The telltale spiral flash of miniature Tailed Beast Bombs erupted in the distance.
The detonation point near the Uchiha District.
Towering columns of flame rose into the sky, lighting up the darkness like false dawn. Shockwaves rolled through the air, forcing the jōnin to raise their arms to shield their faces.
They were too far to see the casualties but close enough to recognize the target.
"The Uchiha clan compound…!"
Some jōnin instinctively moved, eyes wide.
"Most of our civilians were already evacuated... but that damage..."
Even if no one was killed, the economic loss alone was staggering. Centuries of accumulated wealth, heirloom scrolls, family residences—all at risk.
Thankfully, the Uchiha Treasury and Ninjutsu Library were deep underground, reinforced by sealing jutsu. But it was close.
"MOVE!" Fugaku roared, his indecision obliterated.
The Uchiha jōnin scattered into black streaks, vanishing into the firelit sky.
Gen was the last to move. He cast one last glance behind him.
Konoha had lost far too much already shinobi, civilians, homes, history. And all because of Danzo's schemes.
If he hadn't tried to weaponize the Uchiha, if he hadn't been so obsessed with control and paranoia, perhaps the village would have been united enough to repel this disaster earlier.
As for Fugaku.well, he would bear what fate had in store. But maybe... just maybe, something could still be salvaged.
With a final sigh, Gen vanished into the night.
---
Elsewhere, the Root operative finally broke free of the genjutsu. His mask was damp with sweat as he fled toward the Root headquarters.
Fear still lingered in his chest. Though Root agents were conditioned to suppress emotion, true elimination was impossible.
After all, if Danzo had succeeded in erasing emotion entirely... what was the point of a shinobi's will?
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Far in the distance, more tailed beast bombs rained down on Konoha—each explosion a flame of loss, each fireball a reminder that the village's greatest enemy might come not from without but from within.
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