"Back in the Second Hokage's era, when Uchiha Setsuna rebelled, Tobirama-sama received intel in advance, and that's how he managed to crush the rebellion in its cradle."
"As for the captured hawkish faction, Tobirama-sama only punished Uchiha Setsuna and a few other ringleaders, imprisoning them. Most of the others were sent back to the clan."
"He didn't hold the entire Uchiha clan accountable and still allowed them to be in charge of the Police Force."
"The only real punishment was relocating the Uchiha clan's district next to the Konoha prison to prevent another Setsuna from emerging."
Hearing Danzō's explanation, Takeshi began to consider things from the village leadership's perspective and realized that the distrust toward the Uchiha wasn't entirely baseless.
After attempting two coups and still being entrusted with the Police Force and autonomy, the village leadership had actually been rather lenient with the Uchiha.
"Tobirama-sama even tried to show goodwill to the Uchiha by promoting Uchiha Kagami, a moderate within the clan, to the Guard. He planned to bring him into the village leadership in the future."
"And then Uchiha Kagami died under unclear circumstances."
Mentioning Kagami's death, Danzō's expression darkened.
Takeshi blinked. Many had assumed it was Danzō who killed Kagami, but from what his father was saying, the suspicion might actually lie with the Uchiha clan.
Thinking about it more carefully—it made sense. Uchiha Kagami died at only 25. At that time, Danzō wasn't as extreme as he became later.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen questioned him, Danzō even admitted that Kagami had used his dōjutsu to assist him multiple times.
At that stage, Danzō probably hadn't yet begun coveting the Sharingan.
"Even now, Kagami's descendants don't get much recognition within the clan. Many hawkish Uchiha believe that the rise of the moderate faction is all Kagami's fault."
Suppressing his emotions, Danzō continued explaining to Takeshi.
"That's why, after Kagami's death, the Third Hokage never promoted another Uchiha into the leadership."
"So tell me—what kind of authority can we possibly grant such a clan to ensure peace between them and the village?"
Danzō threw the question back at Takeshi.
"Uh... the Hokage position?" Takeshi offered hesitantly.
From this perspective, the only way to quell the Uchiha's resentment would be to offer them the seat of Hokage.
But that wasn't entirely right either.
In the original story, what triggered the Uchiha's dissatisfaction wasn't just exclusion from the leadership, but also the discrimination they faced from ordinary villagers and shinobi.
The deep-rooted prejudice made it impossible for the Uchiha to feel at home in Konoha.
"Is there any way to eliminate the village's prejudice against the Uchiha?" Takeshi smacked his lips, asking the question just as Danzō's face darkened from his previous answer.
"Prejudice against the Uchiha... Not bad. At least you can see that far." Danzō suddenly felt like his son's intellect might actually be worth something.
"The prejudice comes from their personality."
"Because of their temperament, the Uchiha are overly rigid when enforcing laws. They don't know how to adapt. If it were just that, villagers wouldn't be this hostile."
"But they also have autonomy, which means that Uchiha criminals are judged by their own clan. Think about it—if you were a villager..."
Danzō paused for a moment, then continued:
"Hiruzen and I once discussed removing the Police Force from Uchiha control. But to the Uchiha, the Police Force is sacred. They wouldn't let anyone else touch it. We tried several times and failed."
If Takeshi could see the problem, of course Hiruzen and Danzō could too.
But like Danzō had said earlier, the Uchiha, denied a place in the leadership, clung to the Police Force as their final lifeline. While stripping them of this power might reduce friction, it would also trigger panic.
That put them in a bind.
"We need a way to persuade them—reform the current Police Force system."
"In return, we can promote someone like Uchiha Fugaku, a moderate, to the position of village advisor. That might ease the clan's hostility. As for the die-hard hawks, we should hit them hard—but preferably have the Uchiha deal with them internally. That way, no one can say the village was being unfair."
After listening to Danzō's explanation, Takeshi had a few ideas of his own.
"Easier said than done. People's hearts are the hardest thing to grasp. Uchiha Fugaku might appear moderate, but who knows what he's really like inside?" Danzō shook his head.
If not for his son's reputation, he would've already started a purge.
Desire grows bit by bit. Weren't the Uchiha well-behaved when they first joined Konoha?
Even if they calmed things down this time, what if they grew dissatisfied again later?
Their personalities were inherently extreme and stubborn.
That said, Danzō was quite satisfied.
At the very least, his son's intelligence wasn't as disappointing as he'd feared. With the right guidance...
Feeling more at ease, Danzō looked up at the tent window and realized the sky had already grown dim.
He'd rushed over here so quickly that he hadn't even handed over command to Mitokado Homura yet.
Originally, he had already devised a plan for what to do once he took over—how to bleed both the Uchiha and Kirigakure.
But after hearing Takeshi's insights, Danzō now saw a few things more clearly.
It seemed the Uchiha hadn't actually joined forces with Kirigakure on a large scale, and the front lines were still holding strong.
After losing a Tailed Beast, Kirigakure hadn't launched a final offensive—suggesting they didn't know where the beast had gone.
Which meant the Uchiha hadn't fully allied with Kirigakure. Otherwise, given their numbers at the front, they could've easily taken the beast back.
There might be Uchiha forces operating outside the village who belonged to neither Konoha nor Kirigakure—and were deeply familiar with Konoha.
Remnants of Setsuna's faction? If so, that wasn't too scary.
The real threat was another person...
Danzō was already making calculations in his heart.
Looks like the Uchiha didn't need to bleed after all. The only ones who needed bloodletting now were Kirigakure.
"Hmph. You dared to touch my son? It's time you paid the price."
With a grim expression, Danzō stepped out of Takeshi's tent and strode toward Mitokado Homura's camp with his subordinates.
Only after Danzō left did Takeshi finally let out a long breath.
Damn, talking to his own dad was seriously exhausting.