Naruto: Saving the Uchiha

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Standing behind Kazuki, Shikaku helplessly lifted his head to stare at the tent ceiling, feeling like he had nothing left to say. 

What the hell was going on? 

Everyone else had suffered heavy losses, and yet you Konoha folks were the first to start arguing among yourselves? 

Kazuki directly firing shots at the Third Hokage had taken everyone by surprise. 

However, they could all understand his anger. 

Even if people from the same village had internal conflicts, those issues were supposed to be settled behind closed doors. 

But when everyone was representing their respective villages, for you to suddenly jump out and openly question me—wasn't that just plain inappropriate? 

If you hadn't been involved in these matters and had no idea what was going on, that would be one thing. 

But you knew everything, yet still acted this way—that just didn't sit right. 

"No, that's not what I meant!" 

Seeing Ōnoki, A, Rasa, and Yagura all staring at him with strange looks, the Third Hokage grew flustered. 

"Lord Third, there's no need to explain. Save those excuses for when you return to explain yourself to the Hokage and the villagers. I won't accept your explanations, nor will I accept any apologies. Right now, we need to discuss the Akatsuki issue." 

Kazuki waved his hand, cutting off the Third Hokage. 

I don't care what you meant or didn't mean. If that wasn't your intention, then what the hell was that look you just gave me? 

Expecting me to save face for you? 

Let me tell you—not a damn chance! 

"We, the Five Great Shinobi Villages, have all underestimated the power of the legendary Sage's Eyes. Right now, I need to know exactly what happened inside Amegakure. Gven how things have escalated, with every village suffering heavy losses, this isn't the time for assigning blame. hat we need first is analysis. Everyone, just because Amegakure has been destroyed doesn't mean the Akatsuki are finished. he threat Akatsuki poses shouldn't need me to spell it out—you all understand it well enough." 

Shifting his gaze away from the Third Hokage, Ōnoki frowned and recounted in detail everything that had happened after the Allied Forces breached Amegakure. 

A then explained the situation on his end. 

Kazuki summarized: 

"So, the moment the Allied Forces entered Amegakure, they were bombarded by countless explosive tags, correct? hen let me ask—where did Akatsuki get so many explosive tags? n assassination-focused organization like theirs couldn't possibly earn that kind of money. ven if they had the funds, they wouldn't necessarily be able to procure such a massive quantity of explosive tags. Frankly, I suspect that if you combined the explosive tag stockpiles of all Five Great Shinobi Villages, they still wouldn't match the number used in that single explosion in Amegakure." 

Explosive tags were common consumable items, but due to the difficulty in producing them, their price had always remained high. A single explosive tag could buy several high-quality kunai. 

The amount of money blown up in that explosion was unimaginable. 

"It was likely produced by that kunoichi named Konan herself." 

Yagura, recalling his battle with her, said: 

"She possesses a unique Paper Release technique. I believe Akatsuki's ability to amass so many explosive tags was entirely due to her." 

It wasn't that the Five Great Villages looked down on anyone—it was simply impossible for Akatsuki to have earned enough to buy that many explosive tags. 

Even if they had the money, there was nowhere to purchase them in such quantities. 

These were wartime weapons, and the Five Great Villages tightly controlled their distribution. Buying them in bulk was no easy feat. 

"The village has shared intel on the Paper Release technique, but the fact that she could use it to produce explosive tags was unknown to us." 

Kazuki made sure to distance Konoha from any blame upfront, lest the other villages accuse them of withholding critical information. 

"While the sheer number of explosive tags is certainly alarming, shouldn't our immediate focus be on Akatsuki's leader, Nagato?" 

Sure, flooding the battlefield with explosive tags had inflicted heavy losses on the Allied Forces. 

But now that they'd experienced it once, Akatsuki wouldn't get a second chance to pull the same trick. 

The Five Great Villages would undoubtedly prepare countermeasures to prevent another massive explosion. 

So Konan wasn't the real threat. 

The real problem was Nagato. 

A clenched his fists in frustration and growled: 

"That bastard, the Six Paths of Pain, is a nightmare to deal with—especially the Deva Path." 

"Shinra Tensei seems to be a technique that repels everything around the user, while Banshō Ten'in does the opposite, generating an immense gravitational pull." 

After A explained the Deva Path's abilities, Ōnoki followed up with additional details. 

Aside from the Third Hokage, all four of them had fought the Six Paths of Pain. 

Soon, every ability the Six Paths possessed had been laid out on the table. 

Only the Third Hokage remained silent, his face dark with suppressed anger. 

He had completely embarrassed himself. 

Not only had he openly questioned Kazuki, but he had also contributed nothing of value during the entire operation. 

He had desperately wanted to kill Uchiha Madara, but the masked man had spent the whole time toying with him like a dog on a leash. 

"Aside from the Six Paths of Pain, the other Akatsuki members aren't major threats. Sasori's puppets were countered by the Kazekage, and as for Uchiha Madara…" 

Ōnoki glanced at the Third Hokage before continuing: 

"Uchiha Madara relied on his space-time abilities to keep the Hokage running in circles, achieving nothing." 

Out of the Five Great Villages and their respective Kage, the Third Hokage was the only one who had contributed absolutely nothing. 

Kazuki decided the time was right to drop another bombshell. 

He rapped his knuckles on the table and said gravely: 

"After carefully consulting the Hokage and reviewing my clan's historical records, I can confirm this: 

From the Warring States Era, to Uchiha Madara's defection from Konoha, all the way up to his final attack on the village with the Nine-Tails—he never once displayed any space-time ninjutsu or dōjutsu. 

I suspect this 'Uchiha Madara' is an impostor. Think about it—given Uchiha Madara's age, even if his strength remained formidable, simply staying alive at that point would be a miracle. There's no way he could still be active in the shinobi world, stirring up trouble everywhere." 

"Then how could he control the Nine-Tails?" 

The Third Hokage suddenly interjected. 

The others also turned to Kazuki, waiting for an answer. 

After all, historically, only Uchiha Madara had ever been able to control tailed beasts. 

Shut up, old man. I don't even want to talk to you. 

Kazuki shot the Third Hokage a look as if he were an idiot before turning away with a disdainful scoff: 

"The Uchiha's Sharingan, once its ocular power reaches a certain level, can easily control tailed beasts. ell, I could do it too—does that make me Uchiha Madara?" 

"What?!" 

The five Kage, including the Third Hokage, nearly jumped out of their seats. 

Kazuki sneered at the Third Hokage: 

"Lord Third, you should be damn grateful that you never actually pushed the Uchiha to the brink in the past. Let me make this clear: the Sharingan, after evolving beyond the three-tomoe stage into the Mangekyō, experiences a massive boost in both ocular power and abilities. At that point, controlling a tailed beast isn't particularly difficult for a Mangekyō wielder." 

"So you're saying this 'Uchiha Madara' is a fake—just another Uchiha with Mangekyō-level abilities?" 

Yagura tapped his fingers lightly on the table, considering the implications. 

"Correct." 

Kazuki nodded firmly. 

"Even with the Mangekyō, the innate dōjutsu abilities are fixed. That's why I'm certain this 'Madara' is an impostor.And haven't you all noticed the obvious? This guy always wears a mask, only revealing one eye. That's why I'm convinced he's lost one of his Sharingan." 

"After extensive research, I've narrowed it down to one person—an Uchiha who should be dead, and who only ever had one Sharingan." 

"Who?" 

Under their intense gazes, Kazuki enunciated each word clearly: 

"Uchiha Obito." 

"Impossible! Obito died on the battlefield!" 

The Third Hokage immediately objected, his voice rising. 

Kazuki countered coldly: 

"Where's the body?" 

"That's—" 

The Third Hokage faltered.