The risks and benefits were wildly out of balance.
The Uchiha weren't staging a coup. Their family's interests were not yet threatened, and there was no reason for reckless action.
Yet hundreds of crimson eyes stared back at the gathered clan leaders, and at their front stood Uchiha Fugaku.
A ripple of unease passed through the assembly as every clan head instinctively took a step back.
The Uchiha were leaving Konoha—not overthrowing it.
The future was uncertain, but the present could still be grasped, and no one wished to start a war with them unless absolutely forced.
The terror of the Mangekyō Sharingan was legendary, its power said to control even the Tailed Beasts.
Few understood the strain it placed on the user or the many variations of that power, but ignorance only bred more caution and fear.
From the sidelines, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzō Shimura, and Homura watched the other clan leaders' resolve waver.
Even the Ino–Shika–Chō alliance, long allied with the Sarutobi, showed signs of retreat. Hiruzen's heart sank.
He finally spoke, voice hard.
"Fugaku, leaving the village—don't you think that's going too far?"
Fugaku met the Third Hokage's gaze and cut him off.
"The First Hokage set a rule: great ninja clans are free to come and go. The Uchiha are one of Konoha's founding families. Or will you drag every other clan into a bloody war with us?"
Murmurs ran through the crowd as several clan leaders stepped further back, making their neutrality clear.
Hiruzen's expression darkened. Beside him, Danzō's single visible eye glinted dangerously.
"Times have changed," Danzō said coldly. "The First Hokage's rules belonged to a different era.
Now anyone who leaves the village commits treason. Konoha has zero tolerance for traitors."
He raised his voice to a sharp command. "Root! Destroy the Uchiha!"
"Danzō, don't—" Hiruzen started, but it was too late.
Dozens of black-clad Root operatives burst from the shadows. Chaos erupted.
Danzō knew he had to force Hiruzen's hand.
If Fugaku kept talking, other clans—and perhaps even Hiruzen himself—might hesitate and choose negotiation over bloodshed.
Danzō believed hesitation would doom the village. To him the Uchiha were an inherently dangerous clan, a threat that had to be erased.
---
Meanwhile…
Far from the brewing battlefield, Yugito finally found Naruto.
He was fast asleep, drooling and dreaming of an endless bowl of Ichiraku ramen.
In the kitchen, Kakashi moved quietly, cooking. Prodigy or not—academy graduate at five, chūnin at six, jōnin at twelve—he seemed relaxed.
Yugito didn't fear him, but taking Naruto without confrontation would be easier.
She eased open the window.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Yugito froze.
Kakashi stepped from the kitchen and opened the door to find four masked ANBU standing outside.
Boom!
A deep explosion rumbled from the northwest—the Uchiha compound.
Kakashi's eye narrowed. Something was terribly wrong.
"Hatake-senpai," the squad leader said crisply, "the Uchiha have launched a coup. Hokage-sama requests your immediate support."
"Understood," Kakashi replied and vanished in a flicker.
The four ANBU exchanged brief glances, then slipped inside.
"Report: Nine-Tails' jinchūriki located. Take him."
Yugito leapt through the window, blocking their path.
A sharp sound like a thousand chirping birds split the air—Chidori!
Kakashi had returned.
In an instant Yugito's clawed strikes killed two ANBU, while Kakashi's lightning blade felled the others.
Yugito tilted her head. "If you left, why come back?"
Kakashi's lone eye hardened. "Who are you?"
He'd been suspicious from the moment the squad claimed Hiruzen needed him.
The Hokage's only standing order was to guard the Nine-Tails' host, not to abandon him mid-crisis.
Sending four ANBU just to deliver a message was absurd.
These were no loyal ANBU. Only one man would dare target Naruto: Danzō.
Kakashi hadn't expected another outsider to interfere as well.
Yugito's chakra flared wildly, an ominous blue glow crawling across her skin in feline patterns.
"Tailed Beast chakra… another jinchūriki," Kakashi murmured, lifting his forehead protector to bare the Sharingan.
---
Elsewhere…
Deep beneath the Hokage Building, Neji and Obito felt the tremors of distant explosions.
"The Uchiha have started fighting the Hokage faction," Neji said as Obito silently vanished into his own Kamui dimension.
"Space-time ninjutsu… always superior," Neji muttered, leaping from the vault toward the chaos.
But when he glimpsed a towering blue chakra beast to the southeast, he changed direction toward the Hatake estate instead.
A rogue jinchūriki within Konoha could prove more catastrophic than even the Uchiha conflict.
---
Uchiha Compound
"Water Style: Water Dragon Projectile!"
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The night erupted with jutsu. Explosions boomed; shuriken hissed; tags flared.
"Hold them here!" Fugaku commanded. "Let them witness the Uchiha's resolve!"
The attack was expected. Every negotiation had merely bought time and ensured other clans stayed neutral.
Now only battle remained.
Fugaku's Mangekyō spun into a three-bladed pinwheel as crimson chakra burst forth.
A towering red skeleton formed around him—Susanoo.
Bones thickened into armor as a massive ethereal blade swept forward in a storm of dust and blood.
Five Root shinobi were cut down instantly; a sixth barely escaped, legs severed.
This was Susanoo's simplest strike.
Against ordinary ninja below Kage level, its second form meant certain death.
Shock and fear rippled through the onlookers.
Root operatives pressed forward; the Uchiha countered with fierce determination.
Seeing no path to peace, Hiruzen's eyes hardened.
"All ninja, hear me! The Uchiha have betrayed the village. Destroy them!"
ANBU, along with the Kazematsuri, Aburame, and other Hokage-loyal clans, surged toward the compound.
But many remained motionless: Hyūga, Inuzuka, Kurama, even the Ino–Shika–Chō alliance.
Hiruzen felt the weight of their silent defiance. Am I already so mistrusted?
Still, he tried again.
"Uchiha Fugaku has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. According to ANBU intelligence, the Nine-Tails' attack was orchestrated by him.
Join me and avenge the dead!"
He knew the claim was a lie, but he needed the neutral clans to act.
Akimichi Elder stiffened. His father, Torifu, had died from wounds in that attack. Rage flared as he stepped forward—
—but shadows lashed out, binding him.
"Nara Shikaku! Release me!"
Yamanaka Inoichi raised a hand. "Elder, calm yourself. The Nine-Tails' night wasn't so simple."
If Fugaku had truly commanded the Nine-Tails, he'd had countless chances to strike again over the past five years, especially after the Fourth Hokage's death.
And if Hiruzen had known this truth, why wait until now to speak?
The elder's chakra steadied as realization dawned.
Inoichi turned to Shikaku. "Are we just going to watch?"
"Not yet," Shikaku replied, expression unreadable.
The Ino–Shika–Chō would act only after the Hokage faction suffered heavy losses—
enough to protect their own people, preserve their reputation, and signal to the Uchiha that their eventual involvement was under duress.
---
War had come to Konoha.
And the night was far from over.
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