After Fugaku left, Uchiha Nobunaga turned to his nephew. Thankfully, this child was here—otherwise, things would've been troublesome. Once a rift forms, mending it is no simple task. Especially when your own child is so proud—among his peers, aside from his older brother, he looks down on everyone.
"Big Brother," Uchiha Kairen said calmly, "you've probably already guessed my thoughts. I believe it's time for Fugaku to start participating in clan decision-making. This concerns the very rise and fall of the Uchiha.
If he takes the wrong path, it would bring ruin to our entire clan. The reason we let him leave the Police Force was partly because Jiraiya has the qualities of a great teacher—but more importantly, it was to show goodwill to Konoha, not to raise a docile clan leader."
Just then, Fugaku returned. He knew there must be important matters being discussed, so he hadn't wasted a moment before coming back. After all, this was the first time his father had ever allowed him to take part in such high-level deliberations.
He wasn't a fool. His clan's recent behavior had been unusually unorthodox, and the elders' increasing admiration for his brother made it clear—his brother's influence in shaping the clan's direction had become decisive.
His brother was an absolute prodigy—a monster of a genius. Even in politics, he'd mastered everything on his own. Truly self-taught. If the Uchiha had even one or two political minds like him before, they wouldn't be in such a passive position now.
The clan's bloodline was too powerful—so powerful that most of them, including himself, didn't like to think deeply. They poured all their focus into training and improving their strength.
As a fighting force, that was fine—but if the entire clan thought that way, it spelled disaster. When they finally rose to the upper ranks, their heads were filled with training, not strategy. Who among them would understand how to win political power? Fortunately, this generation had his brother—otherwise, Uchiha would have an even rougher path ahead.
When Uchiha Kairen saw his younger brother come in, he nodded slightly.
"You came back just in time. I was just analyzing the situation with Uncle. Sit down and listen—this'll help us with our next set of plans."
He gestured to a chair, and Fugaku sat down.
Then Kairen smiled faintly at Nobunaga and continued:
"Right now, the Uchiha clan looks powerful—but in truth, we're walking on thin ice. Even during our so-called honeymoon period, there was still that mad dog, Danzō, watching our every move. They've never stopped spying on or suppressing us. They only eased up a little, giving us the illusion of success.
Now the suppression has resumed. But thanks to our recent moves, their exclusionary tactics can't proceed smoothly. Not being able to proceed smoothly doesn't mean they can't proceed at all. People are forgetful—civilians, other clans, all the same. As long as Uchiha keeps being oppressed, they'll forget everything we did before. They'll simply follow the tide, like animals acting on instinct.
Hasn't Uchiha sacrificed for Konoha before? Every generation has had its martyrs—more than one. In the First Great War, the Second—we all fought. Other than the Senju, the Uchiha had the highest number of deaths in the entire village.
But what changed? Nothing. Temporary success is just that—temporary. True victory is still far away.
Our people understand love better than anyone. We yearn to be understood, to be accepted. For that, generation after generation of our clan has sacrificed. Yet all we've gotten in return is coldness, exclusion, slander. We've done enough—so why, why are we still treated like this by the village leadership?
Because of our bloodline. Because our power is too great. Once an Uchiha awakens his Sharingan, he's at least at chūnin level. With two tomoe, he's equal to an average jōnin. With three tomoe, an elite jōnin. With the Mangekyō, a pseudo-Kage. Beyond that—he's invincible in the shinobi world.
Do you think any ruling council wouldn't fear that? Especially one that's wronged us many times. Would they not fear revenge? Fear that we'll seize power and make them pay?
If they didn't suppress us, didn't exclude us, didn't slander us—with our talent pool, within two generations, Konoha would belong to the Uchiha. And it would never change again. Because those filthy politicians already destroyed the only clan that could balance us—the Senju.
With the Senju gone, no one can stand against Uchiha. I'm not boasting—it's simply fact. Any single clan could only compete for second place. If they don't unite and gang up on us, they'll be ruled forever.
An Uchiha clan backed by the Land of Fire's vast resources, with Konoha's population base and its immense library of jutsu—unbound, unrestrained—is an unstoppable force. Unimaginable. Invincible. A power that would drive all enemies to despair."
Both Nobunaga and Fugaku drew in a sharp breath.
In that instant, Nobunaga, as clan head, felt that his nephew's uncle—himself—was the junior here. These words were simple and easy to understand, but he'd spent decades failing to grasp them. Not just him—several generations of Uchiha hadn't.
Fugaku, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. So this was the "genius" everyone praised. His father had often said that his elder brother was a political prodigy the clan hadn't seen in a century.
Now he finally understood why.
All his life, he'd wondered—why did the higher-ups treat them this way? What had they done wrong? What could they do to be accepted? And with just a few sentences, his brother had untangled it all.
They were never wrong. The only "mistake" was that they were too strong, and everyone else too weak. Unless the Uchiha were reduced to a tiny, dying clan, there would never be acceptance for a family this powerful.
"To hell with the 'Will of Fire!' To hell with Jiraiya! Your 'path of peace'? Your 'Child of Prophecy'? All of it—bullshit!"
Fugaku trembled with rage. He had trusted Jiraiya so deeply—believed that by serving as a bridge, he could make the Uchiha understand the Will of Fire, and bring peace between the clan and the village. He had even thought of himself as the Uchiha's "Child of Prophecy."
But it was all lies!
All of it!
You hypocrites! You want us to destroy ourselves, then claim righteousness for it? Murderers afraid to dirty their hands—disgusting!
Seeing Fugaku trembling, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly, Kairen frowned in confusion.
"What's wrong with him? I haven't even gotten to the main part of the plan yet. Why's he so worked up already?"
"Brother, are you all right? Maybe take a walk outside—these topics might be a bit much for you right now…" Kairen started to say, but Nobunaga cut him off.
"No. Let him listen. Better to be clear-headed in here than live in ignorance outside."
"Yes," Fugaku muttered, eyes red. "I'll stay. It's clearer here than anywhere else. Go on, Brother."
"…What's with these two?" Kairen thought helplessly. "Fine then."
"So, as I was saying," he continued, "this ties into what happened last night. You've both heard—my confrontation with the Root. It looked like a dispute between the Police Force and Root, but really—it was between the Uchiha and Root.
Root consists of ninja from many clans, plus gifted civilians. So a clash with Root means, in essence, clashing with their clans and families. Who can guarantee that these ninja won't go home and vent their resentment to their families? Even if they can't talk about missions, they can talk about us—spread hatred of the Uchiha. Isn't that enough?
How many such conflicts can we endure? Konoha only has so many clans. If they keep rotating people to provoke us, soon, every clan and civilian household will see us as enemies again. That's their tactic—surround Uchiha with the masses. Make everyone hate us. Make us the village's scapegoat forever."
He took a sip of tea before continuing.
"My plan is to break that cycle. They set the board—we break it. I call it the Fertile Soil Project.
The name doesn't matter—the idea does. We'll give up exclusive control of the Police Force and open it to other clans and civilians. Turn it into an organization where civilians form the body, the clans the limbs, and the Uchiha the head. And I mean civilians, not civilian shinobi. Civilians to manage civilians. Every clan's ninja participates in maintaining order. We, the Uchiha, take mid- and upper-level posts—squad leaders, captains. And we'll ensure that other clans have promotion paths as well.
The benefits are clear.
First, civilians managing civilians means less strain on us and fewer complaints against Uchiha.
Second, involving other clans directly crushes the attempt to isolate us and woo others. It turns Tobirama's entire scheme into a pile of garbage.
Third, our youth will finally see beyond the village. Most Uchiha spend their early years patrolling streets and training. Let them go out into the world. Let their Sharingan witness the vast shinobi realm. It'll make them wiser—harder to manipulate.
Fourth, and most importantly, this shows everyone that we are willing to yield—that we want to share the "cake" with all of Konoha.
If anyone opposes us, then the world will see—it's not that Uchiha refuses to integrate; it's that they never wanted us to. That shift in perception changes everything—from being actively hated to being wrongfully hated. The difference is enormous.
Danzō will definitely oppose it—he'll see it undermines his agenda. But Hiruzen Sarutobi won't. Because if he does, it'll expose everything they've done to the Uchiha. It'll destroy his image—the one thing he treasures most.
That's why he created Root in the first place—to let Danzō do his dirty work, while he stayed the 'virtuous' Hokage. Danzō in the shadows, Hiruzen in the light, with Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane as the balancing advisors. A perfect triangle of control.
Whenever conflict arises, Hiruzen steps in as the mediator. If unpopular decisions must be made, they become the scapegoats. His image remains pure. When he wants to remove opponents, he lets Danzō act—and at most, he'll 'scold' him afterward, maybe strip a little authority, then quietly return it later.
That's their system.
Our plan is to make Hiruzen help us—willingly—complete the very move that destroys his and Danzō's scheme. We'll let our enemies celebrate their own undoing.
That is our next step—Uchiha's new open strategy to claim the future.
The Fertile Soil Project—to let the Police Force grow the flowers of friendship, the trees of trust, and the roots of our own unity. That is my plan."
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