
"At the request of the Uchiha clan, I hereby call this council of clans to order ahead of schedule. Thank you all for coming. Mikoto-san, the floor is yours," the Hokage announced, settling into his seat.
Mikoto's hair was a tangled mess, her clothes anything but formal, and yet not a single person in the room dared judge a woman whose outfit was still stained with fresh blood.
She nodded to the Hokage, rose to her feet, and began.
"Greetings to all clan heads and their representatives. Today, I stand before you as the acting head of the Uchiha clan."
"If I may," Utatane Koharu interjected, "no one has informed us of any change in your clan's leadership."
"No one is required to report to you," Mikoto replied, her voice steady. "According to our clan's traditions, if the head dies during a state of emergency, the strongest shinobi assumes the role of acting head."
"But we're not under martial law, and -" the Hokage's advisor tried to cut in again, but her words died in her throat as two Mangekyo Sharingan locked onto her.
"Outside forces provoked and fueled the conflict within my clan." The statement sent a ripple of whispers through the room.
"While we lack concrete evidence, our primary suspect is Advisor Danzo. I accuse him of interfering in the Uchiha's internal affairs, deliberately undermining our reputation, sowing discord between villagers and clan members, and causing harm to my people. I demand that Advisor Danzo be suspended from all his positions and detained for questioning."
"Well, that's certainly unexpected," the Hokage remarked, glancing at Danzo, who looked entirely unbothered. "Mikoto-san, do you have any grounds for suspecting Danzo-san of such serious offenses?"
"A member of my clan - Shisui Uchiha - was placed under mind control. Our preliminary investigation revealed the use of Yamanaka clan techniques." All eyes turned to Inoichi, who frowned deeply. "I'd like to believe the Yamanaka clan had no part in this."
"I give you my word - no one from my clan used our secret techniques on Shisui Uchiha," Inoichi responded immediately.
"And how can you be so sure?" Mikoto pressed, her gaze unwavering. "As far as I know, several members of your clan serve in Root. They answer to Advisor Danzo, not to you."
"Let's end this farce," Danzo suddenly cut in, his tone dismissive. "Your accusations are laughable without any proof. I see no reason to waste more time on this."
"You have no right to speak on this matter, Danzo-san," Mikoto replied coldly. "On behalf of the Uchiha clan, I demand an official review of my accusation."
"Foolish," the Hokage sighed, then stood and addressed the room. "Very well, Mikoto-san, you have been heard. We acknowledge your right to speak as the head and representative of the Uchiha. As for your accusations... in my view, there isn't enough evidence to detain or question Advisor Danzo. We can only proceed if the majority agrees. All in favor of considering the Uchiha's accusation, raise your hand."
*Even if a few clans support her, it won't be enough...* the Hokage thought, but before he could finish, several hands shot up.
Coughing from the bitter tobacco, the Hokage glanced curiously at the Hyuga and Inuzuka clan heads, who had unexpectedly sided with the Uchiha.
*Still, two votes aren't enough... wait, the city administration's representative - Homuri? The daimyo's family's representative - Torio-san?*
Slowly, every hand at the table went up, except for the advisors and the Hokage himself.
"What's the meaning of this?" Danzo demanded, frowning at the other clan heads.
"Nothing personal. This whole thing just seems too suspicious. I want to be sure the Uchiha are the only ones responsible for what happened," Hiashi said calmly, echoed by the other heads.
"Ahem, very well. Advisor Danzo, I'll ask you to report to the investigation office in the next few days to cooperate with this inquiry."
Danzo nodded, preparing to stand and leave.
Before Mikoto could protest, Torio-san's voice rang out.
"Advisor Danzo, wait." With everyone's attention on him, he continued, "Our lord has already been informed and is on his way to Konoha to get to the bottom of this. So I ask you, and everyone else, to postpone your business for a few hours."
"I see," Hiruzen frowned, then added, "But why wasn't I told in advance that the daimyo wanted to attend this meeting?"
"Sorry, I don't know," Torio shrugged, smiling as he poured himself some tea.
*Patience is a shinobi's greatest virtue,* so for the next two hours, everyone waited quietly for the daimyo to arrive.
****
It didn't take long for the council to realize the Fire Daimyo had arrived - the noise from the street was impossible to ignore.
Curious, Choza got up and looked out the window.
"The daimyo's here with troops - there must be a few hundred samurai," he said, making everyone else jump up.
"He usually brings no more than ten. Wow, there really are hundreds - I'd say about three hundred," Homuri muttered.
"Three hundred?" Tsume echoed, joining him at the window.
A few seconds later, everyone returned to their seats, remembering where they were.
****
"So, Danzo, do you have anything to say?" the daimyo asked calmly, taking his place at the head of the table.
"These accusations are baseless," Danzo replied, irritation seeping into his voice.
"I see, I see. By the way, I've been meaning to ask - what's with your eye?" the daimyo asked with a smile.
"I was wounded in the war. I believe you've asked me this before," Danzo replied, even more annoyed.
"Right, right, I remember now. Mind if I take a look?" The sudden request made everyone's eyebrows shoot up - even Hiashi, who was usually the picture of composure.
"With all due respect, Osahito-uesama, what is the meaning of this?" Danzo tried to shift in his seat, but froze as he felt cold steel at his throat.
"No sudden moves," said a man who had appeared out of nowhere, his face and limbs completely covered in dark clothing. Everyone noticed the Fire symbol on his sash - he was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
"Hiashi-san, I've heard your clan's Byakugan can see through anything. Would you mind checking Danzo's eye?" The daimyo, uncharacteristically firm and confident, didn't seem at all bothered that one of his guards had a tanto pressed to the Hokage advisor's neck.
"This just keeps getting better," Shikaku muttered.
"I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but back in my youth I was curious about what was under Danzo's bandages. Unfortunately, the seals on them make it almost impossible to see through," Hiashi said.
"Well, I'll just check myself," said the man with the tanto, pulling the bandage aside.
"Whoa."
"Unexpected."
"Lovely."

"Bastard." Everyone felt compelled to comment on the Sharingan in Danzo's eye socket.
"I'm afraid, Danzo-san, that in light of this, I'll have to inconvenience you. Detain him."
"What are the charges against Advisor Danzo?" the Hokage couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, Hiruzen, the list is long, but to keep it short: he's suspected of collaborating with enemies during the wars, poisoning four members of the ruling family, conducting inhumane experiments on people with and without Orochimaru, deliberately weakening the Fire Country's defenses, leaking classified information to other nations, and working with the masked man who attacked me and my convoy - and the village - ten years ago.
Kami, that wasn't very short, was it? In short, Danzo may be a spy and an enemy of the Fire Country. And I can see with my own eyes that he's harvesting organs from people with special bloodlines for his own gain. That's unacceptable for a Hokage advisor, so I hereby strip Shimura Danzo of all administrative authority. Root's activities are to be suspended and placed under new leadership until further notice."
"Heh, so that's how it is," Danzo smirked. "I've spent years protecting this village, and this is what I get? Accusations and suspicion."
"Danzo, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. The daimyo and I will get to the bottom of it and clear your name," the Hokage said, trying to calm him.
"A misunderstanding? This is all a setup." Danzo scanned the room, eyes narrowed. "You're all in on it. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
"Danzo..."
"I won't go down that easily. You'll regret this," Danzo said, quickly forming a hand sign.
Clearly, something was supposed to happen, but Danzo froze in place, unmoving.
"How predictable," Shikaku yawned, raising his hands from under the table, fingers locked in a hand sign.
"Oh, is that the famous Nara clan Shadow Possession Jutsu?" the daimyo clapped in delight.
"That's the one. Now Danzo-san can't - what?" Shikaku suddenly felt his control slip away. Danzo, sitting at the far end of the table, began to fade from view.
"Izanagi!" Mikoto realized at once, glancing at Hiashi, who was already scanning the area with his Byakugan.
"Catch him - dead or alive!" the daimyo ordered, furious.
Hiashi with his Byakugan, Tsume with her nose, Shibi Aburame's insects - could Danzo really escape this impromptu team? He was found immediately, two hundred meters to the west. For backup, Mikoto and several ANBU joined the pursuit.
A squad of fifty samurai followed close behind.
Seven minutes later, Danzo was captured - and thanks to Mikoto's efforts, he didn't look so good. One Root ANBU was caught with him; the other eight who appeared to cover Danzo were either killed or took their own lives after being captured. Only one Root member survived, knocked out at the start of the fight.
Wasting no time, the daimyo ordered the Hokage to assemble a team to search every Root base and find all secret archives.
The Hokage had no choice but to comply. Within half an hour, a team led by Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, two dozen ANBU, and three of the daimyo's personal guards set out.
Kakashi and Yamato, as former Root members, knew the locations of some bases, and with the help of a recently captured informant, they learned of another.
To the council's and daimyo's surprise, there were casualties. Root, upon learning of the official investigation, not only refused to cooperate but attacked the ANBU. While the fighting raged, they destroyed their own archives. Somehow, word spread to other Root bases, and they too began burning records.
In the end, the mission was a disaster - the team managed to save very little.
The daimyo decided that Root's reaction spoke volumes. And since the recovered documents mentioned some very unpleasant experiments and missions to eliminate Fire Country citizens who refused to cooperate with Root, the Fire Daimyo quickly made his decision.
"Interrogate and execute publicly."
****
"I'm home," Shikaku said wearily as he walked in.
"Welcome back," came a voice from the kitchen. "You're late - were you at the bar again?"
"No, today was just... a lot." Entering the kitchen, Shikaku smiled at the sight of Shikamaru picking at his seaweed salad with obvious reluctance.
"Are you hungry?" Yoshino asked, getting up from the table.
"Yeah, I haven't eaten since this morning - just tea."
"Tea isn't food," Yoshino snorted, setting a plate for Shikaku. "Is this about the Uchiha?"
"In a way." He began recounting the day's events, finishing with the news that tomorrow morning would see the public execution of former advisor Danzo.
*Executions aren't unusual in the Land of Fire, or in Konoha for that matter. You can lose your head for mass murder, arson, making or selling drugs, espionage, treason, human trafficking, or killing a feudal lord. Public executions, though, are rare in Konoha - more common in Keishi.*
*And yet, even if Danzo is guilty, something about this feels off.* Shikaku's eyes widened as he got up and went to the bedroom.
A moment later, he pulled out a hidden letter:
[In the near future, the Uchiha clan will fall. Be careful, Shikaku-dono. Don't provoke Danzo-sama - you could be next.]
*The anonymous letter had been keeping him up at night. Shikaku couldn't figure out what "the Uchiha clan will fall" meant, or why he should be wary of Danzo.*
*This morning, when he learned what had happened to the Uchiha, he realized the letter was no joke - and that Danzo was involved. Mikoto, the new Uchiha head, confirmed it by accusing Danzo of orchestrating everything. So when it came time to vote on detaining and questioning Danzo, Shikaku raised his hand without hesitation.*
*The others did too, without a word.* A strange thought struck Shikaku.
*Could it be that every clan head on the council got the same letter? Were we... manipulated?*
🔥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🔥
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