"Seriously… I say it, and it happens immediately."
Reading the description of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan Advancement Card, Ren's lips curled slightly.
"The final piece is here. So in the end… I do have to move."
He clenched his fist.
Ten years.
A full ten years of quietly signing in inside Konoha—
aside from that one time during the Nine-Tails incident, when he acted under a hidden identity, he'd basically kept his head down.
But now?
The ten-year lock was finally ending.
And the Uchiha were facing a crisis unlike anything before.
Maybe it was time to actually play.
As for the first target—
Naturally, it was the Uchiha clan's number one traitor: Uchiha Shisui.
His eyes were Mangekyō Sharingan.
Rather than letting Danzō take them…
Ren might as well take them himself and use the card to evolve into an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Wouldn't that be doing everyone a favor?
"Actually… Itachi's Mangekyō would work too."
Ren murmured, as if thinking aloud.
"You two idiots—scrubbed clean by that 'Will of Fire' nonsense. I didn't bother dealing with you before."
"But if you insist on being the elders' dogs… if you're going to raise your hand against the Uchiha…"
"Then you're disgusting."
"Fine. I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget."
Truthfully, Ren didn't feel much attachment to the Uchiha clan.
But objectively—
aside from a small group of extremists with screws loose, most of the clan wanted peace. They wanted to coexist with Konoha.
It was Konoha's leadership that was truly revolting—
playing the saint while doing the dirtiest work in the shadows.
The original meaning of the Will of Fire was supposed to be simple:
The young are the future.
The old should protect them, trust them, and pass the torch forward.
Instead, under the Third Hokage's political bloc—
it had turned into burning the young to keep the elders warm.
"…Whatever."
Ren's gaze sharpened.
"First, back to the Uchiha district. The situation's already drifting from canon."
Whoosh—!
In the next instant, he vanished from his office.
Konoha — Hokage Tower
Inside the Hokage's office—
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat with his pipe, expression shifting as he took a deep drag.
If he was being honest—
he believed he'd handled things perfectly.
After the Nine-Tails disaster, he'd stabilized Konoha.
He'd suppressed the Uchiha.
He'd "won over" Shisui and Itachi.
Thinking of that, Hiruzen's lips curled into a faint, contemptuous smile.
The Senju and the Uchiha…
In the end, they were nothing special.
The Uchiha were even worse—naive to the point of stupidity.
To be blunt—
If Shisui and Itachi hadn't been "brought over," Hiruzen wouldn't have dared push the clan this far.
Two Mangekyō users—even without Itachi's Mangekyō awakened yet—were still enough to make anyone cautious.
Even if Tobirama were revived, he wouldn't move recklessly against that kind of threat.
But now?
Shisui and Itachi stood with Konoha.
Which meant the Uchiha clan was no longer worth fearing.
Use their spear to pierce their own shield.
That was the cleanest strategy of all.
Knock.
The door sounded—
and Shimura Danzō stepped in, his right arm wrapped in bandages, face cold as stone.
"Danzō. Next time, knock properly."
Hiruzen glanced up, irritation showing.
Danzō's eye narrowed, but he forced his temper down.
"Hiruzen. The Uchiha are going to revolt."
He continued in a low, harsh voice.
"For half a year, their Elite forces have been gathering inside the Uchiha district. If they erupt… the damage will be catastrophic."
"A revolt is impossible."
Hiruzen exhaled a slow stream of smoke, calm to the point of arrogance.
"Shisui and Itachi are inside the clan."
"With them there, even if you gave the Uchiha ten times their courage, they still wouldn't dare."
He added, confidently—
"If it comes to it, Shisui will use Kotoamatsukami to stop Fugaku."
"No."
Danzō's expression turned darker.
"For the village's future… the Uchiha clan has no reason to exist anymore."
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened.
"You want to ignite civil war inside Konoha?"
"The best approach is what we did before."
"Let them weaken slowly until they collapse—just like the Senju."
"Hiruzen."
Danzō shook his head, voice cold and absolute.
"You're thinking too simply."
"The Uchiha are all madmen. If we don't strike first… the consequences will be unimaginable."
Bang!
Hiruzen slammed a hand down.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Everything is under my control. You have no right to act on your own."
Danzō stared at him for a long moment—
then laughed under his breath.
"Heh."
He didn't argue further.
He simply turned and walked out.
Because in his mind, this wasn't a debate.
Hiruzen could scold him all he wanted—
One day, Danzō would sit in the Hokage's chair.
But before that—
the Uchiha had to be erased.
The benefits were too great.
And Hiruzen's anger?
He could bear it.
Maybe… deep down, Hiruzen even wanted the Uchiha gone.
Back in the office—
Hiruzen set his pipe down, eyes dim.
He didn't plan to stop whatever Danzō was about to do.
He would simply… close one eye.
Yet for some reason—
a faint sense of unease crept into his chest.
But as soon as he remembered Shisui and Itachi, his heart steadied again.
With two "Uchiha traitors" in place…
The clan's end was inevitable.
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