[~1300 Words]
~ Days after Uchiha Massacre.
- - - 🗡️⚓🌀 - - -
Location: Hidden Stone (Iwagakure) – Tsuchikage's Office
The towering peak of Iwagakure was bathed in a sullen golden hue as the sun dipped low behind the jagged ridges. Within the solid stone chambers of the Tsuchikage's office, Ōnoki, the elderly leader of the Stone, stood before a long window, his hands behind his back.
He didn't move as his assistant entered quietly.
"Confirmed, Tsuchikage-sama," the shinobi said. "The entire Uchiha Clan is gone. Killed in one night. The culprit… allegedly their own — Uchiha Itachi."
Ōnoki let out a long, grave breath.
"The Uchiha are extinct?" he asked softly.
"Yes, except for one. A boy — Uchiha Sasuke."
Ōnoki's lips thinned.
He turned, slowly making his way to the low desk at the center of the room. His knees cracked with each step, age gnawing at his limbs — but his mind was as sharp as ever.
"Fools," he muttered. "The Senju and Uchiha built Konoha. That bloodline kept them stable for decades. And they just… cut it off?"
"Some believe it was a coup gone wrong," the assistant offered. "Others say it was political cleansing."
Ōnoki's hand slammed onto the desk. "It's not just politics. It's cultural suicide."
He sat heavily and sighed.
"Despite our wars, the Uchiha deserved better than this."
The assistant blinked. "You sound… sad, Tsuchikage-sama."
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed. "I am. Because whatever balance we had left between the Great Nations is about to crack — and Konoha just threw their strongest chess piece off the board."
Location: Hidden Cloud (Kumogakure) – Raikage's War Room
In the high halls of Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage crushed the scroll in his fist as the report was read aloud.
"The Uchiha Clan is dead," his right-hand man, Darui, confirmed. "Slaughtered. Internal."
A grin stretched across the Raikage's lips.
"No more Sharingan in Konoha?"
Darui hesitated. "Except for the boy. Sasuke."
The Raikage leaned back, muscles bulging under his robes.
"Well, well… the gods fianlly smile on Kumo at last."
Another shinobi, C, frowned. "We should proceed carefully, Raikage-sama. This could be bait."
"It's not," the Raikage said, standing. "It's a message. To their own Clans. They've gotten rid of their own unruly powerhouse. Uchiha were the only ones who could match us in sensory combat and Genjutsu."
He stepped to the map on the wall and tapped Konoha with one thick finger.
"This weakens them. No matter what their old Hokage says in public."
Darui murmured, "Still… it's a brutal end."
"No need to mourn them," the Raikage replied coolly. "We just have to wait for an opening."
Location: Hidden Sand (Sunagakure) – Council Chamber
In the desert heart of Sunagakure, the Suna Council met under candlelight.
Reports had arrived.
One of the elders chuckled darkly. "So the great Uchiha — reduced to ash. By their own kin, no less."
The Kazekage, a lean and calculating man, stroked his chin.
"It's poetic," he murmured. "Konoha has always postured behind the Uchiha's strength. With them gone…"
Another elder smirked. "Even their Byakugan can't fill that void."
The Kazekage's smile was thin. "We should not rejoice too loudly. A desperate Konoha is an unpredictable one. But still…"
He stood.
"This news gives us leverage."
"Do we send condolences?"
The Kazekage's smile twisted and his laugh echoed the room.
Location: Hidden Mist (Kirigakure) – Interim Mizukage's Office
The Hidden Mist was in a transition period — the Bloody Mist era just beginning to fade.
Within the interim Mizukage's quarters, the atmosphere was one of eerie quiet.
The advisor read the scroll aloud. "Uchiha Clan wiped out. Internal assassination. Konoha claims it was Itachi."
The Mizukage — Yagura Karatachi — said nothing for a long moment.
Finally, he spoke.
"The Uchiha were a menace, yes. But they kept Konoha afraid. That kept us safe."
His fingers tapped the desk.
"This isn't victory. It's destabilization."
He looked up.
"Find out what they're covering up."
- - - 🗡️⚓🌀 - - -
Location: Hokage Tower, Konoha – Midnight Council
Back in the Hidden Leaf, the storm finally broke.
Rain pelted the Hokage Tower rooftop as Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before his three senior advisors in the chamber below.
Danzo Shimura. Homura Mitokado . Koharu Utatane.
The room was dark, lit only by paper lanterns and the chakra-infused scrolls on the wall.
Danzo stood confidently, hands folded behind his back.
"I did what was necessary," he said, voice unshaken. "The Uchiha were going to rise. They would've started a civil war. We had no choice."
"You had no right!" Hiruzen roared.
The air cracked with the force of his chakra.
"You operated behind my back. You weaponized a child. You pushed a clan of loyal Leaf shinobi into extinction!"
Danzo's only reaction was a tightening of his jaw. "The child volunteered—"
"He was manipulated!" Hiruzen snapped. "You cornered Itachi and forced him to choose between his clan and his village."
He turned to the others. "You approved this. Both of you."
Homura and Koharu lowered their heads, visibly aging in the firelight.
"We feared what the Uchiha would do," Koharu said softly. "Danzo made a… ruthless decision. But it spared the village."
"At what cost?" Hiruzen rasped.
Silence.
He walked to the desk and retrieved a sealed scroll.
"I've had enough of this shadow war," he said coldly. "The Uchiha are gone. But your reach ends here."
He turned toward Danzo.
"From this moment, you are stripped of command over ROOT."
Danzo flinched. "You can't—"
‟Yes I can. I am the Hokage, Danzo. Not you."
Danzo's voice dipped into a bitter edge. "And ROOT?"
"It never existed," Hiruzen said, stepping forward, voice low but absolute. "Which is why it will now remain buried."
Homura shifted uncomfortably. "What of the operatives?"
"They'll be reviewed and reassigned under ANBU High Command," Hiruzen said. "Silently. Carefully. We don't need another leak of instability."
Danzo looked away, lips pressed into a tight line.
"No trials. No blame in public," Hiruzen added. "But make no mistake, Danzo. This was your final act as a shinobi of this village."
"You will quietly retire from your position as village advisor," Hiruzen said coldly.
Danzo's brow twitched. "And the official reason?"
"Health," Hiruzen replied curtly. "A long-overdue rest for a man who served the village too hard, too long."
Danzo's voice turned sharp. "This will leave us vulnerable."
"No," Hiruzen said, stepping closer. "This will make us honest. Something you forgot long ago."
Danzo's eye narrowed. His hand twitched beneath his robes.
Hiruzen raised a brow. "Try it. And you'll be buried with your secrets."
Danzo's hand lowered.
Hiruzen turned to Koharu and Homura. "You two will remain advisors for now. But you will not speak for the Hokage. Not anymore."
He walked toward the rain-drenched balcony and stared into the night.
"I failed the Uchiha," he whispered. "But I won't fail the rest of this village."
There was no triumphant shouting. No ANBU arrest. Only silence and the heavy weight of understanding shared by four of Konoha's oldest leaders.
Danzo bowed slightly — just enough to follow protocol.
Then turned and walked into the shadows without another word.
Hiruzen exhaled long and heavy, his shoulders hunched with age and regret.
Koharu finally asked, "Will you tell the boy?"
"Sasuke?" Hiruzen whispered. "No… not yet. He's already lost too much."
As the candles flickered and the room dimmed again, Hiruzen stared into the coals of the lantern beside him.
The Uchiha Clan was gone. The weight of it would hang over Konoha for generations.
But this… this would stay hidden.
Like so many things in the Leaf.
- - - 🗡️⚓🌀 - - -