It was the early hours of the morning.
Inside the Hokage Tower of Konoha, lights blazed brightly as people bustled about.
There were far too many matters to handle in the aftermath of the intense battle caused by the Uchiha clan's defection.
Rescuing personnel, repairing homes, calculating losses, sealing off news, calming villagers—these tasks had left Konoha's ninja overwhelmed and exhausted.
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage office.
Several high-ranking officials of Konoha were holding a meeting, their atmosphere heavy with tension.
The Third Hokage: Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Senior Advisors: Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
And 'Assistant Hokage' Danzo, who was currently confined to bed due to injury and thus absent.
Together, they formed the highest decision-making authority of the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Hiruzen, how bad is Danzo's injury?"
Homura Mitokado asked.
"He's receiving treatment from the medical team. He's no longer in critical condition. But…he may lose both legs."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.
He felt deep sympathy for Danzo's plight.
"Hmph! The Uchiha Clan has betrayed us after all. I told you we should've regarded them as traitors and executed them immediately!"
Koharu Utatane snorted angrily.
"Koharu! Could it be that their betrayal resulted precisely from our discrimination against them, pushing the Uchiha into this situation?"
"No! This was entirely the Uchiha Clan's own choice! They're traitors through and through!"
Homura quickly interjected:
"Hiruzen, Koharu, please stop arguing."
"This isn't the time for debate. Let's first discuss how to deal with the current situation!"
"With so many Uchiha defecting, if mishandled, it would definitely harm the village's reputation—and even that of the Land of Fire!"
Koharu responded swiftly and firmly,
"Exactly!"
"I propose that we immediately dispatch large pursuit forces to capture all the defected Uchiha—or kill them on sight!"
"And place all remaining Uchiha within the village under control. Better yet—execute them all at once!"
"Only then can we truly strengthen the village's authority!"
Upon hearing that, Sarutobi immediately retorted,
"Absolutely not!"
"The Uchiha Clan has always been renowned for their combat prowess, not to mention that extraordinary young talent, Shimoku Uchiha. To capture or eliminate them all would require deploying at least half of the village's ninja forces—and even then, there remains a risk of total annihilation!"
"If we fail, Konoha's entire defense could be devastated—possibly inviting attacks from the other major Hidden Villages!"
Sarutobi had personally witnessed the terrifying power of [Susano'o].
In the face of such overwhelming might,
Not even an Anbu ninja stood a chance.
Even Danzo—the old schemer—with all his strength, almost died.
This clearly showed just how terrifying that Uchiha boy really was.
Dispatching troops recklessly could easily result in irreversible disaster!
Konoha already suffered significant losses tonight—we cannot afford more risks!
"Are you saying we should let them escape successfully and ignore the dignity of our village then?"
"I am the Hokage. I must prioritize the safety of the village above all else!"
"And pursuing them aggressively would consume significant resources—shuriken, kunai, ninja supplies… not to mention, these costs are no small amount!"
"The village has finally started thriving. Dragging it back into war now—that's a good idea?"
"Also, I disagree with using force against the remaining Uchiha villagers still in the village. They're also victims of this betrayal..."
Sarutobi pushed back forcefully, "Village life has finally started thriving. Do we really want to drag it back into war?"
Compared to chasing down those traitors, as Hokage he now cared more about the village itself.
Soon, the discussion turned into an argument.
But clearly, due to tonight's events,
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, both elder advisors, leaned toward severely punishing the Uchiha Clan.
Only Sarutobi hoped for a more moderate approach.
If Danzo had been here, he would probably have insisted on extreme measures, approving of dealing with the Uchiha Clan!
In the end, even Sarutobi had to make some concessions.
At this moment, however,
an unexpected visitor requested an audience outside the office.
...
When they saw who had arrived—it was none other than Itachi Uchiha himself.
Koharu immediately snapped:
"Itachi Uchiha? How dare you show your face here as someone from that traitorous clan?"
"Koharu! Mind your words! Itachi is Anbu, his family has nothing to do with this!"
"Besides, it was Itachi who originally reported his family's treasonous intentions."
"Hmph..."
Koharu snorted coldly and said no more.
"Itachi, why have you come here?"
Sarutobi looked at him kindly as he asked gently.
He deeply respected this exceptionally talented ninja who possessed great love for the village and a strong moral compass.
Moreover, very few shinobi were willing to endure the pain of betraying their own families and bear such heavy sins for the village and the greater good!
"I've come to report my father's proposal to the village."
"Oh? Fugaku wants to say something?"
Sarutobi became interested.
After all, during tonight's huge battle, Fugaku had personally participated.
Itachi lowered his head and began speaking according to the instructions from his cousin Shimoku.
"My father says: As clan head and captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, failing to foresee the rebellion within our clan and failing to stop Shimoku Uchiha and others from defecting are entirely his responsibility—he failed in his duty."
"He requests punishment from Konoha!"
"Furthermore, he will announce under the authority of the great clan leader that this is internal Uchiha clan strife! Purely family matters unrelated to Konoha. Instead, Konoha helped suppress this internal conflict and maintained order within the Uchiha Clan."
"Finally, my father guarantees that he will do everything possible to capture all fleeing clan members and bring them back, or eliminate them directly!"
"He requests approval from the village!"
Listening to this report,
the three couldn't help but brighten visibly.
This report just resolved both of their biggest dilemmas!
Firstly, if the Uchiha Clan itself declared this was internal clan conflict rather than village defection, taking full responsibility themselves,
by doing this, the Uchiha Clan could fully preserve Konoha's reputation and dignity!
It would even help them gain a reputation for righteousness.
Secondly, by sending the remaining Uchiha clan members to capture the defectors, Konoha could save a massive amount of manpower!
Even if not all defectors were caught or some Uchiha fell in battle, it would still be their own forces that bore the cost. From Konoha's perspective, it was a double win—advantageous with no downside!
This was way better than sending out a bunch of Konoha ninja to chase them down!
...
Sarutobi and the others fell silent.
They seemed to be thinking through the upsides and downsides of this idea.
But however they look at it, going with this plan was definitely more gain than loss!
After a brief silence, Sarutobi broke the quiet first:
"How bad is Fugaku's injury?"
"Father's injuries are pretty bad. He'll probably need a few days to recover."
"Itachi, from Konoha's standpoint, what do you think?"
"What my father said should be true!"
"Previously, his intention to rebel mostly came from instigation by radical members within our clan. Father never truly wanted rebellion."
"Now that those radicals have mostly fled, Father can finally act freely."
"And most importantly, besides Father, there are probably very few people left in Konoha who can stand against Shimoku's [Susano'o], right?"
Itachi explained methodically.
Clearly, he had prepared these words beforehand.
After all, if he couldn't convince Konoha's leadership here,
the remaining Uchiha inside the village would face great danger!
Upon hearing this, Sarutobi nodded again.
It went back to the same reasoning—the power displayed by Shimoku Uchiha was simply too formidable!
Even he, Sarutobi, felt deep apprehension.
If possible, he truly didn't want to send Konoha ninjas after him—to waste their lives like that!
"Koharu, what do you think?"
"This proposal sounds good, but how can we guarantee that the Uchiha ninja sent to hunt traitors won't also defect themselves?"
Itachi paused briefly before offering further explanation.
"Just keep the families of the remaining Uchiha ninja confined within the village. Then they'll have no choice but to obediently complete their mission without causing trouble!"
"Hmm! Itachi makes a valid point."
"This is indeed an excellent strategy!"
Homura Mitokado also voiced approval for the suggestion.
A strategy that benefited the village while turning the Uchiha against each other—like dogs fighting over a bone—was simply hard to refuse.
Soon enough,
Sarutobi made his decision.
"Very well. Itachi, we will seriously consider your suggestion."
"You may return now."
"Remember, keep close watch over the remaining Uchiha in the village. Don't let any unrest arise again."
"And additionally, temporarily disregard Danzo's instructions for now."
"Yes sir!"
Itachi acknowledged respectfully.
Yet inwardly, he felt sudden joy.
He understood—it was almost as good as the Konoha leadership approving his proposal.
With that, the remaining Uchiha clan members inside the village were temporarily safe.
Father, Mother, Sasuke—they were all safe now.
At the same time, Itachi secretly felt even greater awe:
"Was this the final safeguard prepared by my cousin Shimoku?"
"Just one proposal—successfully defusing the crisis threatening our remaining clansmen, and even making the village rely on the remaining Uchiha once more!"
"Could he have really seen this coming from the start? Even the decisions made by Lord Third and the others?"
"My dear cousin Shimoku, just how deeply are you concealing yourself?"
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