[Read up to 69 Chapters in advance on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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Uchiha Compound, Konohagakure
When Kanzou called for a clan gathering, every active Uchiha shinobi had to attend.
None could dare to be absent. Even those assigned to patrol abandoned their posts because when the Patriarch commands, refusal is not an option.
Many, however, were confused, especially those who had no idea what was happening.
"Why such a sudden gathering? What's going on?"
"No clue… Kanzou-sama tends to act on impulse quite often. Maybe this is just another one of those times."
"Yeah… possibly…"
Despite their attempts to reassure each other, worry lingered. The last unexpected clan gathering had exposed Uchiha Araki's betrayal, an elite Jōnin executed for turning against the clan.
Some feared something similar had happened again.
'I hope not…' several silently prayed. No one wished to see another clansman meet the same fate.
Others traded tense glances, dread heavy in the air, as if asking without words:
'Has the time finally come?'
'Are we about to go to war with the village?'
The possibility had been hanging over them for some time. Many suspected that Uchiha Kanzou might be preparing for a coup against the village. They had no solid evidence; despite quiet attempts to investigate, they had found no clear signs of such preparations. But doubt persisted, especially with tensions between the Uchiha and the rest of the village on the rise.
And then there was the barrier formation surrounding the Uchiha Compound, a topic Kanzou had offered very little explanation for.
Some believed it was simply to block the constant surveillance they could practically feel on their skin. Others worried it was meant to conceal secret war preparations… plans that they believed Kanzou might be putting into motion.
Now, with this sudden gathering, their silent fears felt dangerously close to becoming reality.
Some wondered if Kanzou had summoned them to finally reveal his intentions, to announce a plan to seize control of the village.
But despite the rumors, many weren't opposed to the idea. They were loyal supporters of Kanzou and genuinely believed he was the most fitting successor to the Hokage's position. In their eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen was unworthy of the position; only their Patriarch deserved to lead the village.
They also wished to help their Patriarch become the Hokage to elevate the Uchiha to a new height of glory.
Of course, not everyone shared this belief. A significant number, particularly those who had long feared this very moment, had secretly aligned themselves with Fugaku. They were far more anxious than the rest.
"Seiji-sama… t-this looks really bad… what should we do?" Uchiha Taku whispered anxiously inside Seiji's home.
"First of all, lower your voice," Seiji hissed, glaring sharply. Taku immediately shrank back and quieted down. Seiji rubbed his forehead, tension tightening his expression. "This moment was bound to come sooner or later…"
"S-So… what are we going to do?" Taku whispered, voice trembling. "If we try to reason with him, he won't listen. And as for overthrowing him… we just don't have the numbers at the moment…"
In truth, none of this was supposed to happen so soon. According to their original plan, they needed more time, time to convince at least half the clansmen to join their side before attempting to overthrow Kanzou and install Fugaku as Patriarch. But with this sudden clan gathering, Kanzou had called… it felt as though that window had closed.
"It doesn't matter," Seiji replied, more firmly this time. "We're not alone in this. Commander (Fugaku) will lead us… and we have the support of Hokage-sama."
He took a steadying breath, trying to convince both his subordinate and himself. "With Commander leading us and the Hokage-sama backing us… We have a real chance of stopping him before he sets his ambition on taking over the entire village."
Although Taku was nervous, he nodded. With Fugaku leading them and the Hokage's support, he felt there might actually be a chance.
Seiji placed a firm hand on Taku's shoulder. "Go and inform the Commander about the gathering," he instructed. "Meanwhile, I'll meet with Makoto-san and try to see what's happening... Hopefully, this'll just be a gathering…"
Taku hesitated for a moment, then nodded and slipped out the window, quickly heading toward the edge of the compound, his destination the Sarutobi Compound.
Once Taku was gone, Seiji hurriedly prepared to leave as well.
Just as he was finishing up and was about to leave, his wife, Kasumi, called out with concern, "Seiji-san… what's happening?"
At Kasumi's question, Seiji paused, choosing his words with care. "It's a clan gathering. Every active shinobi has been ordered to attend."
"All active shinobi?" Kasumi's eyes widened. "Why would the Patriarch call for something like that?"
It was far too unusual, and strongly implied Kanzou was planning something significant. Anxiety crept into her voice as she added, "Could this be related to what you've been doing?"
Just like Nashiko, Kasumi was well aware of the tension within the clan and had some guesses about the plans her husband, Seiji, had been involved in. But unlike Nashiko, a civilian who chose to betray her husband, Kasumi was a Chūnin, and she remained loyal to hers.
This largely came down to the Will of Fire indoctrination, a teaching given only to academy students, not to civilians who never attended. Kasumi, who went through the academy alongside Seiji, had naturally been exposed to it. But Nashiko, being a civilian, had never received that training… and therefore, was never molded by it.
But regardless…
"I'm not sure yet," Seiji admitted. "I'll only understand once I get there."
"I… see…" Kasumi murmured. She hesitated, then placed a hand over her stomach. "Seiji-san… there's… something I wanted to talk to you about…"
But Seiji, already tense and in a hurry, cut her off gently, "We'll talk when I return. There isn't much time. I need to find Makoto-san first before I go to the Naka Shrine."
He didn't wait to hear anything more. He simply gave her a brief pat on the head, slipped past her, and left the house in a rush.
"Seiji-san…" Kasumi reached out a hand, but the door had already shut behind him. She exhaled softly, murmuring to herself, "I guess… I'll tell you when you return…"
"Tell him what, Kaa-san?" came a small, sleepy voice from the stairs.
Little Shisui, only three years old, rubbed his eyes as he made his way down. Despite his young age, he was already quite independent, preferring to sleep alone and handling many things by himself.
"Shisui-chan… you're awake," Kasumi murmured, looking at her little son. Her eyes softened with affection as she lifted him into her arms and kissed his forehead.
Shisui blushed slightly at being carried, but he didn't try to run away.
Kasumi brushed a hand through his hair and said gently, "Come on, let's brush your teeth. I'll help you."
"I can do it by myself, Kaa-san," Shisui replied quickly, not wanting any help.
"Alright, alright… I'll let you handle it," Kasumi responded with a warm smile. As they headed toward the bathroom, she asked, "Shisui-chan…"
"Hn?" Shisui looked up at her curiously.
"What do you think about having a sibling?" she asked.
"A sibling?" He tilted his head, thinking for a moment before nodding. "I guess it would be nice… We could train together and go on missions someday."
"Oh? That's the reason you'd want a sibling?" Kasumi asked, amused.
"Mm," Shisui nodded earnestly.
Hearing such an honest answer, Kasumi smiled and began, "Actually… you'll soon have a—"
Her words were cut off by the sudden chime of the doorbell.
DING-DONG.
"Hm? Someone this early?" Kasumi murmured. She set Shisui back on his feet and said, "Go brush your teeth, Shisui-chan. I'll check who it is."
"Hn," Shisui nodded and hurried toward the bathroom.
Kasumi made her way to the door. When she opened it, she found two young girls standing outside, both around ten or eleven years old. She recognized them immediately: Uchiha Kaede and Uchiha Suzume, two civilian-born girls who lived just a few blocks away.
"Kaede-chan? Suzume-chan? What hap—" Her voice abruptly stopped.
Kaede's eyes had shifted into a fully developed three-tomoe Sharingan.
Kasumi gasped, caught completely off guard, and in that instant, her vision blurred. The genjutsu struck cleanly. Her consciousness slipped away, and she collapsed where she stood.
"One neutralized…" Kaede murmured as she formed a sequence of hand seals and pressed her palm against Kasumi, sealing her chakra. Without hesitation, she ordered her partner, "Go bring her son as well."
"I know," Suzume responded. A ripple of chakra flowed over her as she transformed into Kasumi's appearance and stepped inside the house without another word to neutralize Shisui in the same manner.
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Uchiha Makoto's Mansion
Unaware of what was unfolding at his own home, Seiji hurried to Makoto's residence and rang the doorbell repeatedly.
"Makoto-san! Makoto-san!"
The door opened, revealing Nashiko. "Seiji-san?" she said, surprised.
"Nashiko-san," Seiji greeted, immediately noticing the tension in her expression, the nervous way she held herself. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but there was no time for that now.
"I need to speak with Makoto-san," he said quickly. "Is he home?"
"Ah—yes…" Nashiko nodded, heart pounding anxiously. Stepping aside, she motioned for him to enter. "Please, come in…"
Seiji stepped inside quickly, and Nashiko closed the door behind him before leading him further into the house. As they walked, he noticed her gait was slightly unsteady, as though she were in discomfort.
"Nashiko-san… did you injure yourself?" he asked.
She froze for a moment, caught off guard. "W-What do you mean, Seiji-san?"
"It's just… you're not walking quite normally," he clarified, sounding slightly concerned. "I wondered if you might have hurt yourself."
Nashiko's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She definitely didn't want to explain the real reason for her awkward steps, so she quickly shook her head.
"I-It's nothing," she said in a rush, and continued leading him inside without further explanation.
Seiji pressed his lips together, briefly puzzled by her behavior — but there was no time to dwell on it, so he simply followed.
Within moments, they reached a closed room. Nashiko knocked gently and announced, "Anata-sama… Seiji-san has come to see you."
Makoto's voice responded from within, "Let him in."
Nashiko nodded and stepped aside to allow Seiji through.
Seiji returned the gesture with a nod of his own, then opened the door and entered the room.
Once Seiji stepped into the room, Nashiko quietly closed the door behind him and let out a shaky breath. "I really panicked for a moment… thankfully, he didn't notice anything," she whispered to herself, trying to steady her heartbeat.
"Yeah… you handled it well, Nashiko-san," a voice replied as the door to the adjacent room opened and a figure stepped out.
Nashiko lowered her gaze immediately, avoiding eye contact with the man, the reason for her tense demeanour and awkward walking posture.
He didn't pay any attention to her discomfort. Instead, he pulled out a sealing tag and explained, "Patriarch said that once these tags are placed on all six sides of the room, the seal will activate. The five sides, the three walls, the ceiling, and the floor beneath the tatami are already covered. This door is the final one."
With that, he pressed the tag onto the door and began forming hand seals to complete the setup.
…
Inside the room, Seiji froze for a moment, startled by the figure standing before him.
"Uchiha… Satoru?"
"Seiji, Seiji…" Satoru chuckled lightly. "You didn't expect to see me in Makoto-sama's home, did you?"
"What are you doing here?" Seiji demanded, his tone sharpening as his Sharingan activated. His hand slipped toward his shinobi bag, every instinct alert. Satoru's presence here… something was definitely wrong. And suddenly, Nashiko's tense expression and awkward movements made far more sense.
His suspicion was correct, Satoru was the cause… though not for the reason Seiji imagined.
"What am I doing here?" Satoru smirked. "Better question, what are you doing here?"
Seiji pressed his lips together, refusing to answer. He needed to flee, to inform Fugaku, anything but stay here. He tried to distract Satoru, asking quietly, "Where is Makoto-san?"
Satoru's grin widened. "In the Pure Land."
The answer made Seiji's blood run cold. "You… did you kill him?" he asked, voice tight with panic.
Satoru merely shook his head. "Not me. But if you're curious, you can ask him yourself once you join him in the Pure Land."
With those casual words, he drew a short blade and activated his Sharingan as he lunged forward.
Seiji blocked instinctively. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"What am I doing?" Satoru echoed with a grin. "Eliminating a traitor, obviously." His tone twisted into mocking laughter. "Everything you and Makoto-san planned is already known to the Patriarch. And now… this is where it ends for you."
Seiji's teeth clenched as the truth sank in. The situation was far worse than he ever imagined. "So that clan gathering… that's the reason it was called…?"
"Bingo," Satoru replied, nodding with cruel satisfaction.
'I need to get out of here and alert Fugaku-sama and Hokage-sama before it's too late…' With that resolve, Seiji stopped holding back. He clashed with Satoru at full strength.
They were of the same generation and normally quite comparable, but that was only when Seiji restrained himself. When he fought seriously, his ability reached the level of an elite Jōnin, well above Satoru.
So it wasn't surprising that Seiji quickly overpowered him, driving his blade deep into Satoru's chest.
"You… you really do intend to betray the Clan… don't you…?" Satoru wheezed, struggling for breath.
Seiji looked down at him coldly. "Uchiha Kanzou is not the Clan. I'm not betraying anyone. I'm trying to save both the Clan and the village."
"Oh? Is that what you think you're doing?" Satoru let out a faint laugh, then suddenly smirked. "Very well… then suffer the consequences of opposing the Patriarch."
In an instant, Satoru's body burst into crackling lightning and dispersed around Seiji like a net.
"A—Lightning Clone?!" Seiji gasped as a paralyzing current locked up his muscles.
Before he could recover, glowing fūinjutsu scripts lit up across all six sides of the room. Golden chains of chakra shot out, binding his arms and legs, suppressing his chakra entirely.
"W-what…?" He struggled to understand what had just happened when the door opened again.
The real Satoru stepped inside, perfectly unharmed, with Nashiko close behind.
Satoru's tone held cold satisfaction: "We already knew you had betrayed us. Did you really think we wouldn't set a trap first?"
Seiji finally understood; they had laid a trap specifically for him. He cursed his own carelessness… though realistically, how could he have anticipated a trap set for him inside Makoto's home?
His gaze shifted to Nashiko, who stood behind Satoru with her head lowered. Connecting everything, a painful realization struck him. "Nashiko-san… did you… Betray Makoto-san?" he asked, voice low and strained.
Nashiko didn't respond. Instead, she quietly turned to Satoru and whispered, "May I… rest now? Please…"
Her voice was exhausted, weighed down by everything she had been dragged into.
Satoru shrugged casually. "Of course. Go on. I'll come find you once everything is settled."
Nashiko flinched at that but said nothing. She simply bowed lightly and left the room.
Once she was gone, Satoru's eyes returned to Seiji. "Well then… let's talk about you."
Seiji glared back at him. "Even if you kill me, it won't change anything. A man like Kanzou will lead the clan toward destruction."
Satoru only chuckled darkly. "Instead of worrying about the clan's fate, maybe worry about your own family. Your wife… your son. Do you think Kanzou-sama would ever spare the family of a traitor?"
Seiji's expression twisted, panic and fear finally breaking through his resolve.
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Somewhere in the Uchiha Compound,
Around the same time Seiji was captured, Uchiha Taku, who had been heading toward the compound's exit, was intercepted as well.
"Patriarch has ordered every clansman to attend the gathering," a voice called out. "Where exactly do you think you're going, Taku-kun?"
"Y-Yashiro-san…?" Taku stiffened at the sight of Yashiro and the squad flanking him. Inabi and two other Uchiha had already spread out, surrounding him. Taku's eyes darted around, searching for an opening as he tried to improvise an excuse.
Before he could speak, Inabi cut in impatiently. "No need for idle talk, Yashiro-san. Let's just handle this. Shin-sama ordered us to capture him before the gathering starts."
"Inabi… you brat, always rushing," Yashiro muttered in irritation, but he didn't disagree. A moment later, he too activated his Sharingan.
The remaining two Uchiha followed suit, and all four lunged toward Taku at once.
If it had been only one or two, Taku could have attempted a breakaway. But against four skilled shinobi, each with a fully-matured Sharingan, escape was impossible.
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Patriarch's Mansion,
Hazuki arrived at the mansion and knelt respectfully before him. "Kanzou-sama… Uchiha Seiji, Uchiha Kasumi, and Uchiha Shisui have been captured as ordered. They're currently secured in the isolation chambers."
"Good," Kanzou replied, rising with a scroll in hand. "Then it's time for me to head there."
He issued instructions without hesitation: "Hazuki, go to the Naka Shrine. It may take us some time to arrive, so work together with Shin, Souta, and Satoru to ensure that all clansmen are assembled and waiting for me before I get there."
"Yes, Kanzou-sama." Hazuki bowed and departed swiftly.
Once she was gone, Kanzou called out, "Mikoto."
She arrived within moments. "You called, Kan-sama?"
"Did you finish what you were making?" Kanzou asked first, curious.
Mikoto's lips curled into a dark smile as she nodded. "Yes. And the arrangements for its delivery are already in place."
"Excellent," Kanzou chuckled under his breath, clearly amused by the image forming in his mind. Then his expression shifted, becoming more focused. "Now, there's something else. I need your assistance."
"My assistance?" Mikoto straightened slightly, fully attentive. "What would you have me do?"
Kanzou stepped closer, lowering his voice as he outlined his plan in her ear, "So… I am going to rap—"
Mikoto's eyes widened for a moment. Then, slowly, her smile disappeared as her expression darkened and she tightened her fists at her sides. "S-something like this…"
"You dislike this?" Kanzou asked, observing her reaction. He was not surprised by her reaction… after all, this was to be expected.
Mikoto did not try to hide her feelings. She exhaled softly and nodded. "Yes… I hate it."
Kanzou considered her response. "If it troubles you that much, perhaps I should—"
"I'll do what's required of me," Mikoto interrupted gently, reaching to hold his hand. Her voice trembled, but her resolve to be of use to him did not. "I am your wife. If this is necessary… for us… Then even if I detest it, I will stand by your side."
Moreover, on this occasion, he was doing it for her sake… so even if she hated it, she agreed to help him.
He studied her for a moment, then nodded in approval. "Very well. In that case… we should leave."
"Umm…" she nodded as he wrapped an arm around her waist, and with a black flash of Flying Raijin, the two vanished from the mansion.
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Housewife Uchiha Kasumi (image here)
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Drop Power Stonessssssssss!
[Read up to 69 Chapters in advance on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]