The plan was deceptively simple.
Kazuto still needed time to grow; a full-scale coup today would be suicide.
But they could use the pretense of a rebellion as a lever, enough to shove Fugaku from power without spilling everything at once.
When the coup began, the hawks would defect, arrest Fugaku, pin every foul deed on him, and force him from the patriarch's seat.
Then, with the scandal exposed and the clan in disarray, Kazuto would step forward as the savior, the man whose eyes embodied the Uchiha's ultimate legacy.
"That's elegant," Setsuna allowed after a moment's thought, nodding slowly.
It was an effective way to strip Fugaku of authority without giving Kazuto a rash, premature throne to defend.
Setsuna had set aside the fantasy of an immediate, violent overthrow; instead he would wait for Kazuto to mature.
The younger man's Mangekyō would accelerate his growth, there was no doubt about that.
When Kazuto reached his full potential, controlling Konoha would be something else entirely. For now, they would manufacture a scandal, and let the Mangekyō do the rest.
The scheme was simple to state and complex in consequence: smear Fugaku, let Kazuto unveil the Mangekyō at the decisive moment, and let the hawks crown him the new patriarch once the "conspiracy" was revealed.
Under ordinary circumstances such a ruse would be difficult. But with Kazuto's eyes and Setsuna's factional influence, the doves, already wary of open conflict, would find it hard to resist the narrative.
"Fugaku, forgive me," Setsuna thought in a voice that never left his lips. "I do this for the clan."
After the meeting, the hawks dispersed, carrying the seed of the plot with them.
Watching from the shadows, Uchiha Shisui's expression weighed heavy.
"What are they up to?" he muttered.
He'd been watching the proceedings with growing unease. The Uchiha felt alien to the village far too often, isolated by suspicion and pride.
Shisui had always hoped for reconciliation, for the Will of Fire to bridge the distance between Konoha and his people.
"If only they could see reason," he sighed, and left with a troubled heart.
For a time, it seemed like nothing had changed. The hawks collected and argued in hushed tones.
Shisui and Itachi continued to pass along clan intelligence where they could. And Kazuto relentless studied.
He devoured Uchiha jutsu, mastering techniques preserved for generations.
With Setsuna and the hawks' backing, he quietly left the Guard Department and began to move through the undercurrent of the clan, waiting for the moment to strike.
During those months of secluded training, Kazuto achieved a breakthrough: Susanoo.
The spectral armor rose around him, granting a presence that could contend with seasoned leaders like Hiruzen.
Still, his eyes and techniques were young; he did not yet possess the raw force to crush Konoha in a single sweep.
He had power, substantial, frightening power but not the breadth to topple an entire village.
At dusk one evening, perched in the woods with determination set in his jaw, Kazuto whispered to himself, "It's time, head of the Uchiha, and… Kotoamatsukami."
He scanned the tree-line with cold focus.
"Be ready." He turned toward Uchiha Tetsuka and the others nearby.
"Yes, Kazuto-Sama." The Uchiha nodded, then melted into the forest as shadow and silence swallowed their forms.
...Such a dangerous eye; I must keep it close.
Elsewhere, a darker plot unfolded with shocking speed.
"I accept your Sharingan." Danzō's voice was a smooth, greedy whisper as he spoke to Shisui. The moment the exchange finished, he lashed out, swift and brutal.
Shisui reacted in an instant, throwing up a genjutsu and seizing Danzō's arm. The old Root leader bowed low, playing the part of a man caught off-guard.
"It's only a genjutsu," Shisui said, loosening his hold. "I'll shake it off-"
He did not notice the motion behind him. A blow, elbowed and precise, collided with him.
Danzō's hand, like a snake, darted. In a blink there was a wet, bright pain: one of Shisui's eyes was ripped away.
But the scene blurred into chaos: figures crashed in from the darkness. One assailant slammed an elbow into Danzō's chest; another yanked and severed an arm.
A third moved behind Shisui and, in merciless efficiency, removed his second eye.
"No!" Two clan ninjas lunged forward, horrified.
They reached Shisui and, in a panic, tried to staunch the dripping, trembling body.
Relief flickered at the sound of familiar voices, then came a bone-cracking snap. Shisui's legs were broken, his arms dislocated. Pain tore through him as he fell, voice a ragged scream.
"Shisui, stay still!" Uchiha Tetsuka shouted, throwing himself into the fray. He pivoted to meet a Root agent who had arrived to finish the job.
Danzō roared, not with rational fury but the feral scream of a man betrayed by his own scheming.
He had activated Izanagi; his injuries would not kill him as long as the technique held.
For a heartbeat his body froze, and then his face took on something more terrible, the glint of salvation through forbidden jutsu.
But the attackers did not relent. One of them had already performed Izanami on Danzō, trapping him in a loop of recognition and punishment, an eye-to-eye trap to balance the scales.
Danzō's wounds stitched over, but his body did not move. He stood there, stunned, trapped in his own punishment.
"Master Kazuto, the mission is complete." The Uchiha who'd cast Izanami stood and reported to Kazuto, breathing hard but steady.
Kazuto's response was like a blade, cold and unhesitating. "Excellent. Now finish them. Kill every traitor who would raise the blade against the clan."
He left a shadow clone to hold the scene and stepped forward, joining the battle with the rest.
Around them the night filled with the low, deadly music of war; blades flashing, chakra humming, and the heavy fall of bodies.
The coup's pretense had become a real purge. The hawks' machinations and Kazuto's iron will converged into a single, brutal moment of irreversible action.
This was no mere scheme anymore. It was a beginning.
….
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