Given the relationship between Uchiha Fugaku and Shimura Ryoma, there was naturally no possibility of them stopping for a "friendly chat." The two groups simply passed each other.
Uchiha Fugaku and his two companions headed towards the Garrison Force, while Shimura Ryoma and his two companions headed towards the Shimura Clan's location.
"He's truly patient!"
On the way back to the Shimura Clan, Shimura Ryoma thought to himself.
His encounter with Uchiha Fugaku was not accidental; he had intentionally planned it, calculating that Uchiha Fugaku would appear on that street at that specific time, and deliberately showing up there himself.
His purpose was to test Uchiha Fugaku.
He wanted to see if Uchiha Fugaku could still endure after the continuous suppression of the Uchiha Clan.
The result disappointed him; Uchiha Fugaku was not easily provoked and remained as patient as ever.
"I wonder if you can still endure what's coming next?"
A cold sneer appeared on his lips as he thought of the Clan's upcoming plan.
As long as the Uchiha Clan existed, the Konoha high-ranking officials' suppression of the Uchiha Clan would not cease.
Just recently, the Shimura Clan, at the instruction of Danzo Advisor, secretly contacted other Clans to prepare to strip the Uchiha Clan of its duty to regulate the Village's entry and exit points, further suppressing the Uchiha Clan.
By regulating the Village's entry and exit points, the Uchiha Clan had significant oversight over the merchant caravans entering and leaving the Village.
For a long time, the Uchiha Clan had obtained considerable "dividends" from many merchant caravans by leveraging its regulatory power over those entering and leaving the Village.
Once the Uchiha Clan lost its duty to regulate the Village's entry and exit points, it would obviously be impossible for them to obtain such "dividends." The Shimura Clan and some other Clans would replace the Uchiha Clan and share these "dividends."
"If the duty of regulating the Village's entry and exit points is also stripped away, the Uchiha Clan will lose most of its economic sources. I don't believe you can still endure under such circumstances."
He was already looking forward to the next Village Council meeting.
Because at the next Village Council meeting, the Shimura Clan would unite with some other Clans to strip the Uchiha Clan of its duty to regulate the Village's entry and exit points.
He was eager to see Uchiha Fugaku's expression after the proposal was passed.
Would he be unable to suppress his anger and choose to erupt, or would he continue to endure?
In the previous instances, Uchiha Fugaku had chosen to endure.
But this time, it had touched upon the fundamental interests of the Uchiha Clan, and he did not believe that the other party could still endure.
And once he could not endure, the goal of the Shimura Clan and even the Konoha high-ranking officials would be achieved.
For Konoha, the Uchiha Clan, which had once produced the Missing Ninja Uchiha Madara, was an extremely dangerous hidden danger that needed to be eliminated.
The Nine-Tailed incident further solidified this belief among Konoha's high-ranking officials.
However, it was certainly not acceptable to act against a blameless Clan.
If they did so, it would inevitably arouse suspicion among the other Clans in the Village, as no Clan could guarantee that their own Clan would not be next.
Thus, a plan to suppress the Uchiha Clan and force them into rebellion was conceived.
Once the Uchiha Clan could no longer bear the suppression and chose to rebel, the Village would have a reason to act against the Uchiha Clan.
It had to be said that Uchiha Fugaku was truly patient.
Facing the Village's repeated suppressions, he endured them all and even suppressed the voices of rebellion from within.
That's right, the Konoha high-ranking officials had long known about the rebellion within the Uchiha Clan; rather, they had long been anticipating it.
He believed that this time, the Uchiha Clan would inevitably be unable to bear the suppression and would erupt.
Even if Uchiha Fugaku could endure, the Uchiha Clan internally would inevitably not tolerate it and would forcefully compel Uchiha Fugaku to rebel.
From the moment this plan was initiated, the fate of the Uchiha Clan was sealed.
"Shimura Ryoma, huh?"
Walking on the way to the Garrison Force, an imperceptible cold glint flashed in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.
To change the current situation of the Uchiha Clan being suppressed and excluded, he had to eliminate those high-ranking individuals in Konoha who harbored hostility towards the Uchiha Clan.
Shimura Ryoma was clearly one such person.
Moreover, although this person held a high position in the Shimura Clan, his status was not as high as Danzo Shimura's, and his level of protection was limited, making him a very suitable target.
He had made up his mind to choose Shimura Ryoma as his first target.
"How should I do it?"
There were two ways to deal with Shimura Ryoma.
The first method was to place a bounty on Shimura Ryoma in the Underground Black Market, using a high reward to incite Missing Ninja and Wandering Ninja to assassinate Shimura Ryoma.
This method was secretive and could completely dissociate Shimura Ryoma's death from the Uchiha Clan. The only downside was the cost.
Shimura Ryoma was an Elite Jonin, and placing a bounty on such a Ninja would undoubtedly be expensive.
This can be referenced by Asuma Sarutobi's bounty; in the original work, Asuma Sarutobi, also an Elite Jonin, had a bounty as high as thirty-five million Ryo.
Of course, Asuma Sarutobi also had the special identities of being one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja and the Third Hokage's son, so his bounty was higher than that of a typical Elite Jonin.
Even so, to place a bounty on Shimura Ryoma would cost at least twenty million Ryo.
The second method was to secretly mobilize the Uchiha Clan's elite Ninja to assassinate Shimura Ryoma.
This method was cost-effective, but the drawback was that it was not secretive enough.
If the assassination failed, or if clues were left behind during the assassination process and found by Konoha Anbu, it could very likely lead to the exposure of the assassination.
And once the assassination was exposed, it would inevitably lead to extremely serious consequences, giving Konoha's high-ranking officials sufficient reason to act against the Uchiha Clan.
"While a bounty is discreet, the cost is too high. Although assassination carries the risk of exposure, it can be avoided if done secretly enough."
Ultimately, he decided to assassinate Shimura Ryoma.
Spending twenty million Ryo to place a bounty on Shimura Ryoma would naturally not be an issue for the Uchiha Clan's financial resources.
However, Shimura Ryoma was not the only person he intended to deal with.
There were many people in Konoha who harbored hostility towards the Uchiha Clan. After dealing with Shimura Ryoma, he would inevitably have to deal with these people one by one to resolve the Uchiha Clan's current crisis.
If he were to use the bounty method for so many people, even with the Uchiha Clan's immense wealth, it would be impossible to afford.
In the end, he would inevitably have to resort to mobilizing the Uchiha Clan's elites to assassinate the targets.
Since he would have to use assassination sooner or later, he might as well use it from the beginning.
Although assassination carried the risk of exposure, it could be avoided if done secretly enough.
Moreover, he had already decided that he would personally carry out the assassinations.
With someone of his Kage-level strength acting, the possibility of assassination failure would be even smaller, and the possibility of exposure would also be smaller.