Naruto: Forbidden Arts and an Immortal Agenda

In the third-floor meeting room of the Hokage Tower, the Four Pillars of Konoha were gathered.

"...Uchiha Hachidai has already led a group of clansmen out of the Uchiha Compound and is heading toward the Hokage Tower."

The Anbu agent finished his report and stood aside, waiting for further questions.

Danzo couldn't resist saying, "Hiruzen, I told you long ago—the Uchiha are wolves at heart..."

"Silence!" Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped. "If it weren't for your rash promise of relocation compensation, would the Uchiha even protest?"

Danzo stood up. "Tch, if we hadn't promised them, the entire relocation plan would've failed. They simply refuse to see beyond their own interests."

Homura Mitokado interrupted their argument, saying, "Arguing solves nothing. Let's think about how to respond first."

Koharu Utatane also chimed in, "We're still facing off against Hidden Cloud right now. We can't escalate tensions with the Uchiha at this time. Everyone, think of a solution."

Hearing that, Danzo sat back down, pressing his hands together on the table, his single eye gleaming with dark intent.

How had Hiruzen found out about his promise of compensation to Fugaku Uchiha?

With Fugaku's usual indecisiveness, he wouldn't have checked Danzo's offer with the Third. By then, after their relocation was complete and they discovered the deception, for the sake of overall stability, Fugaku's habitual approach would be to swallow his anger without complaint.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen himself felt complicated too. Just last week during their conversation, Fugaku had clearly expressed understanding of the village's difficult situation.

And this was Fugaku's so-called understanding?

Though somewhat angry, Hiruzen knew the key to resolving this peacefully lay solely in Fugaku Uchiha himself.

Thus, he rubbed his temples and asked the Anbu, "Where is Fugaku Uchiha now?"

The Anbu answered, "Today marks the birthday of the Second Ancestor of the Uchiha clan. He's currently paying respects at the Naka Shrine and remains unaware of what's happening with the clan."

"Hmph!" Danzo sneered. "Unaware? He's the Uchiha clan head! Can he really not know about such a major event within his own people?"

Hiruzen didn't comment on Danzo's speculation. Instead, he decisively said, "Enough talk!

Mitokado, go to the Naka Shrine immediately and bring Fugaku Uchiha here.

Utatane, you try to intercept the marching Uchiha members and prevent them from storming the Hokage Tower."

No matter what, while dealing with Hidden Cloud, they had to keep the Uchiha under control. Otherwise, with both internal and external pressures, Konoha would surely fall.

"Yes!" came two voices in unison.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane accepted their orders and left.

Danzo also stood up and said, "Hiruzen, I'll assist Koharu."

Hiruzen hesitated slightly before replying, "Fine, but don't provoke the Uchiha unnecessarily."

"I know..."

His gloomy voice still echoed in the meeting room as Danzo's figure disappeared.

At the Naka Shrine...

Fugaku Uchiha, who occupied everyone's thoughts, knelt alone before the ancestral tablets.

Under the dim lamp light, Fugaku's shadow flickered, matching his wavering gaze.

Suddenly, the shrine doors behind him slammed open, and a small figure rushed inside.

"Father, something terrible has happened—"

Before Itachi could finish speaking, Fugaku stopped him. "Quiet! Get out!"

"Father, the clan—" Itachi pleaded urgently.

Fugaku remained unmoved, his voice growing even harsher. "I said, get out—now!"

Under his father's commanding gaze, Itachi had no choice but to reluctantly leave the main hall of the shrine.

Itachi waited anxiously at the shrine entrance for a long time until he finally saw his father step out of the temple.

He hurried over and reported, "The clan members are upset about the cancellation of relocation compensation and have gone to the Hokage Tower to protest. They're being led by Hachidai."

Hearing this, Fugaku showed no clear reaction, calmly descending the stone steps down the mountain.

Seeing his father so indifferent, Itachi was restless as a cat on a hot tin roof, unable to help grabbing Fugaku's sleeve.

"Father, please go stop them! If we wait any longer, the village will clash with the clan members."

Fugaku suddenly turned his gaze downward and asked, "Why should I stop them? What did the clan members do wrong?"

Itachi replied, "They went to the Hokage Tower to protest..."

But as he spoke, he fell silent.

Although he loved the village, he wasn't one to deny reason. In this relocation matter, the victims were the entire Uchiha clan. The clan forgiving the village showed their understanding of bigger issues, yet protesting itself could not be blamed either.

After a while, Itachi said, "But this will intensify the conflict between the village and our clan."

Looking from the mountaintop down at the current compound already on Konoha's edge, Fugaku turned his eyes toward the distant new compound site, his expression unreadable.

"The conflict between the village and our clan has always existed since the village's founding, and it won't disappear in the future—it won't change much because of this single incident."

Looking up at his father, Itachi felt, for the first time, that he couldn't understand him at all.

His father had always hated war so much—why now would he deliberately intensify tensions between the clan and the village?

Trying hard to read his father's eyes, he asked, "Father, what exactly are you planning to do?"

By now, using his intelligence, Itachi had guessed that this protest was completely under his father's control—even possibly orchestrated by him behind the scenes.

Fugaku glanced proudly at his sharp eldest son and said, "Truly my son!"

"Yes, although I didn't directly participate in this protest, it still played out exactly as I anticipated."

Itachi remained expressionless. "Father isn't afraid that things might go wrong and lead to major unrest?"

"Unrest?" Fugaku shook his head. "Most elite ninja remaining in the clan are currently at the Police Force on standby; very few clan ninja actually joined the protest.

With no ninja involved, it's nothing more than a routine protest by regular villagers of Konoha.

Besides, Hachidai knows how to act appropriately."

Listening to his father's willingness to risk the clan members' lives for his own ends, Itachi felt ice run through him and asked flatly, "What exactly do you hope to achieve?"

Fugaku didn't notice the oddness in Itachi's tone and simply replied, "I want to see the real attitude of the village's leadership towards the Uchiha."

"Real attitude?" Itachi echoed.

"We indeed haven't been easy to work with, and after the Nine-Tails' Invasion, I can understand their suspicions," Fugaku paused before continuing, "But what concerns me most isn't suspicion—it's if they've started developing murderous intent."

Although he had previously rejected Aozora's claim during the clan meeting, the words haunted him constantly.

After all, he was the leader of the Uchiha, bearing responsibility for the entire clan's life and death.

"How can you even say that?"

Itachi exclaimed.

Still green, Itachi couldn't mask his shock when he suddenly heard his father doubting the upper echelons.

Hearing his son's cry, Fugaku snapped back to reality.

He suddenly realized he had burdened Itachi with too many heavy thoughts about clan duty, without ever telling him about the Hokage line's long history of suspicion and oppression against the Uchiha.

As he was about to explain, Fugaku suddenly sensed someone approaching from a distance.

Konoha Main Street.

Aozora followed the Uchiha protest march heading toward the Hokage Tower.

Unlike the vivid image he'd imagined of a march filled with people chanting slogans, the Uchiha clan's demonstration was unusually orderly, like a military formation. Ninja led at the front while regular clan members followed behind.

Though unarmed, their neat attire and powerful aura made them appear even more disciplined and imposing than a regular army.

The roaming villagers sensed something was off, quickly dispersing and rushing indoors to shut their windows.

Seeing this, Aozora couldn't help frowning.

Partly, he lamented how the Uchiha had become demons in the villagers' eyes.

More importantly, he felt pessimistic about the protest's outcome — what good would come from merely having the Uchiha march without mobilizing broader public support?

Suddenly, a sharp whoosh snapped Aozora out of his daze.

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