A few days later
Hokage Office
"Hokage-sama, a jonin from Takigakure has arrived without prior appointment and requests an audience with you."
Hiruzen, who was signing documents, paused, curious why a Takigakure ninja would arrive suddenly without an appointment. Usually, if a foreign ninja wants to enter their village, they have to make an appointment for safety concerns. So unless the situation is urgent or important enough, everyone goes through these procedures.
"Wait until I finish my work, then we will talk. Until then, entertain the guest."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
---
Three hours later
"Hokage-sama has agreed to your request for an audience. Let's go."
An ANBU wearing a boar mask said coldly to the Takigakure ninja, who was happily eating a strawberry pastry. There was no sense of emergency in his body language, as if he had come here to meet an old friend for a picnic.
"Yes" After taking one last bite, the ninja finally reluctantly left the pastry and followed the ANBU ninja. To be honest, no one in Takigakure wanted to visit Konoha, especially while carrying the news he carried. Though after eating those special pastries, he could only say—it's worth it.
"Takigakure Jonin Sanami Kakuro thanks Hokage-sama for hearing me without prior notice."
As soon as Kakuro entered the office, the ANBU disappeared, but he could still feel dozens of people around the room. Then he gave his introduction and a polite bow to the position of Hokage.
"You are too polite. Sit down."
Receiving the order, Kakuro sat down halfly clearly uncomfortable in the presence of the strongest Hokage.
"Kakuro-kun, is everything okay in Takigakure? Does Takigakure wish to apply for any missions?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.
"Hokage-sama, Takigakure doesn't wish to apply for any missions for now and the village is in perfect condition. Takikage-sama wished to have some discussion with Hokage-sama but he had been tied to another important matter in the village so I came here to pass his message. Here's the scroll given to me by Takikage-sama. Hokage-sama, then I will take my leave."
Hearing this, Hiruzen took the scroll and looked at Kakuro, who had already left the office. He didn't try to stop him, but by seeing Kakuro's reaction, he knew that whatever it was, it was bad news.
BANG
"ITACHI UCHIHA.... GOOD..... GOOD... GOOD"
For the first time, the desk of Konoha suffered the same fate as the desk of the Raikage Office.
Three seconds of silence for the martyr desk.
"Call for an emergency meeting in one hour."
Hiruzen said with gritted teeth as he looked at the sun setting, as if he was seeing Konoha setting toward destruction.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
---
Hokage Building—Meeting Room
"Hey, Shikaku, why do you think Hokage-sama has called for an emergency meeting suddenly? Did those barbarians of the Hidden Cloud really declare war on Konoha?" Akimichi Chōza, who was concentrating on eating Barbeque Potato Chips, unusually stopped his actions and asked Nara Shikaku, who wore a serious expression.
"I don't know the reason, as Hokage-sama hasn't conveyed the news to me yet, but it's most likely not related to Kumogakure. But it's definitely a serious matter, as Jiraiya-sama has been called by reverse summon. Maybe it's related to Takigakure, as their envoy also came a few hours ago and left immediately as if scared of something."
A few minutes later, dozens of seats were already filled, leaving only six seats empty. Everyone looked at the empty seats, wondering who would arrive first. Even though by now they disliked and felt disgust for both forces ( Hiruzen's force and Itachi's force ), they still supported the Hokage faction. It's not like they are so deeply brainwashed, but they know that by now the Uchiha clan has lost all its hope in Konoha and now they are just strengthening their own clan and wouldn't care whether Konoha lived or died. Now the Hokage faction, possessing two Kage-level ninjas, is the only hope for Konoha.
TAP TAP TAP
Finally, within a few seconds, the door opened and Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived with Jiraiya and another useless elder. Seeing the three empty seats, Hiruzen's face became livid, but still he couldn't turn back now and only sat down quietly, waiting for the great Uchiha to arrive. Jiraiya also clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger.
The Uchiha clan has repeatedly trampled the dignity of the Hokage, and now in front of all the clan leaders and powerful ninjas, they openly challenged the Hokage, disrespecting the leader of Konohagakure. Usually, all the ninja clans arrived earlier than the allotted time, first to interact with each other and gain information or other things. Secondly, it's because of respect for the Hokage. It's so that when the Hokage arrives, he doesn't have to wait for others to come and waste his precious time, and also to show their allegiance to the Hokage. Now the Uchiha clan is openly showing to the world that they do not care about Konoha and its rules.
One minute later
...
Two minutes later
...
Five minutes later
"AHEM, it looks like the Uchiha clan is busy with something. Old man, you can start the meeting." For the past five minutes, the room was in absolute silence, everyone waiting for the Uchiha clan to arrive and the meeting to start. But five minutes had passed since their arrival, and there was no news of the Uchiha clan. They can't just wait for eternity for the Uchiha clan, can they ?
"Jiraiya, let's wait for five more minutes. If they do not come, then we can start the meeting," Hiruzen said with a face full of humiliation. If this meeting's purpose wasn't related to the Uchiha clan, why would he wait like an idiot? He would have already started the meeting after insulting and imposing some punishment on the Uchiha clan.
Five minutes later
"Looks like the Uchiha clan doesn't take the village seriously anymore. Let's start the meeting."
Hearing Hiruzen's words, all the other ninjas sitting at the table nodded. It would have been okay if the Uchiha clan had come a minute or two late, but after waiting for ten minutes, they realized that the Uchiha wouldn't be coming at all, and they were waiting like clowns.
"Today, a ninja from Taki—"
"STOP"
Just when Hiruzen was continuing his sentence, an abrupt sound came from nowhere. Hiruzen, who was now bubbling with anger, looked at everyone present, searching for the bastard who dared to contradict him. But he found that everyone else was also looking for the person.
WHOOSH
Just then, from the ceiling, a strange man wearing black robes and a white Uzumaki mask emerged slowly, as if the ceiling were not a solid surface but a liquid one. The next moment, dozens of ANBU surrounded the table, and all of them drew their kunai and shuriken, ready for anything.
"Wow, so many ninjas. Soo Scaaaryy—
Wa ahhhh."
Obito, seeing so many ninjas, acted as if he was really scared and fell down, but strangely he didn't collide with the table. Instead, he passed through it and then passed through the floor, disappearing from everyone's sight.
Everyone stared at the clown who had just appeared and now disappeared, not knowing how to react. Should they be alert? An unknown ninja capable of infiltrating Konoha and even the Hokage Building without being detected should be very strong. But now that clown fell down, totally not bearing any resemblance to a strong person. Still, they also noted Obito's special ability. Is this a new bloodline limit of passing through substances?
"Ahem." Hiruzen coughed once and looked at an ANBU ninja with orange hair.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Although Hiruzen didn't say anything, the ANBU, as if possessing telepathy, understood everything Hiruzen wanted to say, and the next moment he left. The other ANBU also once again disappeared into the darkness.
"Sorry for the disturbance. Let's continue. Today, a ninja from Taki—"
"Hey, you old bastard, I said stop, so why are you blabbering non-stop? Did old age make your ears weak, or is your brain not functioning properly?"
SILENCE
Hiruzen took a few deep breaths to calm his mind and not let anger cloud his judgment, but the bulging veins decorating his head easily showed how much he had calmed down.
A few seconds later, as expected, Obito came from the side wall even though he had fallen down earlier. Seeing that finally everyone was silent, he took a serious posture, as if his next words would decide the future of the Ninja world.
"AHEM, today is the naming ceremony of my niece, so Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi can't come. But Itachi was also worried about the village and felt guilty not attending the meeting, so he finally decided that the meeting would be held tomorrow at ten o'clock. Well, do you understand?"
"Hehehehehe." Hiruzen, hearing this, laughed out of extreme anger, and even the other clan leaders were now breathing heavily. Previously, they were watching the show between the Hokage faction and the Uchiha clan, but now the Uchiha clan dared not only to ignore a meeting that would decide Konoha's fate because of some absurd naming ceremony, but also to give them an order to postpone the meeting as if they were his subordinates. Did opening a few Mangekyo Sharingan make them so delusional that they believed they were invincible?
---
Author's Note
Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well.
With this chapter, the story will begin shifting its focus to the next arc and the next two to three chapters will primarily revolve around Obito, and Itachi will not be appearing for a while.
Before moving forward, I wanted to clarify a few things.
You may notice that from this point onward, Obito — and even the Uchiha clan as a whole — will carry themselves in a much more high-profile and, perhaps, arrogant manner. In fact, after this chapter, you could say that the Uchiha clan will consistently present themselves with pride and dominance.
Now, before anyone calls it "brainless arrogance," let's look at the situation logically.
At present, the Uchiha clan possesses at least five Kage-level (or even above Kage-level) combatants: Itachi, Shisui, Fugaku, Obito, and the Seven-Tails. And if you count Kakuzu and Itachi's mirror clone as well, that number becomes even more impressive. In the world of Naruto, aside from the Akatsuki, no other single organization boasts that many top-tier fighters.
On top of that, Naruto himself is someone Itachi can influence or control to an extent. So from a power-balance perspective, the Uchiha clan now stands at a level comparable to a great ninja village.
So yes — they have earned the right to be confident.
Now, you might ask: why wasn't Itachi arrogant before? Why was he cautious, strategic, and almost submissive in certain political situations?
The answer is simple — Obito.
Previously, Itachi's biggest concern was the safety of the clan's civilians and weaker ninjas. If conflict broke out between the clan and Konoha, innocent lives would be at risk. Relocation was nearly impossible, and open war would have devastating consequences.
But now, with Obito's Kamui dimension — his own personal space-time realm — the clan has an escape route. A safeguard. A contingency plan.
And while Obito's raw destructive power may not be the highest, his survivability and "hax-level" abilities are arguably among the greatest in the series — perhaps even rivaling beings like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki in terms of utility.
With that safety net in place, Itachi no longer needs to operate under constant fear of losing his people. That psychological burden is gone. Naturally, his stance toward Konoha changes.
The Uchiha clan is not able to dominate the world — not yet. But they are no longer in a position where they need to bow their heads either.
And Itachi understands the power politics of Konoha: if you are soft, others become hard. If you are hard, others become soft.
So yes — the tone of the upcoming plot will reflect that shift.
Thank you for reading and for continuing to support the story. Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome.
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