Chapter 446: Empty-mouthed slander? Twist and turn again!
Uchiha Fugaku and the others left quickly and returned just as fast.
About an hour later, Uchiha Fugaku led several Ninja of the Uchiha Clan back to this location.
However, neither Uchiha Fugaku nor the several Uchiha Ninja behind him looked particularly pleased.
"Fugaku, how was it? Did you find any trace of Kita and Ketsuto?"
Seeing Uchiha Fugaku's changing expression, Uchiha Izuyama and Uchiha Moda's hearts suddenly sank, and they had a vague premonition of something bad.
"Both Elders... after we arrived, we searched an area covering several kilometers around the battle zone, but... we found no trace of Elder Kita and Elder Ketsuto and the others. It was as if... they vanished into thin air."
The moment Uchiha Fugaku's words fell, Uchiha Izuyama and Uchiha Moda's bodies trembled, and the expressions of the surrounding Uchiha Clan members also changed drastically.
Because, among those people, there were their elders, relatives, lovers... "Bastard~ You damned brat, where did you take Kita and Ketsuto and the others?"
"If you don't hand them over, my Uchiha Clan will be at war with you, and with the Fujiwara, Tanaka, Uesugi Three Clans... to the death, until one side is completely annihilated."
Listening to the declaration from Uchiha Izuyama and Uchiha Moda, Fujiwara Tetsuya's expression didn't change much, but his eyes grew colder.
If it truly came to an irreversible point, even at the risk of affecting the future, for him... for his Clan members, he would have to deal with the Uchiha Clan in advance.
At least, the radical faction of the Uchiha Clan.
However, unlike Fujiwara Tetsuya, people like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, Homura Mitokado... their expressions all trembled violently at this moment.
If things truly escalated to the point Uchiha Izuyama and Uchiha Moda described, an internal conflict, a bloody battle... would be inevitable.
No matter who won or lost, it would cause irreversible damage to Konoha, which had not yet recovered from the Second Shinobi World War.
"Tetsuya brat~"
"Hokage-sama, I've said it before, I haven't seen Uchiha Ketsuto, nor that incomprehensible Uchiha Kita."
"Regarding this, hasn't Fugaku already corroborated it?"
"Uchiha Izuyama, Uchiha Moda, if you insist on pinning this on me? Then prepare for war!"
"A war between the Uchiha Clan and the Fujiwara, Tanaka, Uesugi Three Clans. If you want to perish, then I will grant you death~"
"Believe me, I now possess that strength!"
Fujiwara Tetsuya deliberately leaked... a killing intent like an abyss, which immediately deterred many moderate and neutral Clan members of the Uchiha Clan.
Even the fanatical radicals, under the washing of this bone-chilling coldness, gradually showed expressions of fear.
"Tetsuya brat, don't be too impulsive~ Things haven't progressed to that point yet."
"And you, Uchiha Izuyama, Uchiha Moda, before there is conclusive evidence, please be mindful of your tone and choice of words..."
"Tetsuya brat is a hero who helped the Village win the Second Shinobi World War, and he is not someone you can slander at will."
After some hesitation, Hiruzen Sarutobi still chose to believe Fujiwara Tetsuya~
Moreover, this matter was too strange. Two Quasi-Kage, over twenty Jonin and Elite Jonin with activated Sharingan... such combat power, even he would find it difficult to escape... If a conflict truly occurred, how could there be no traces of battle left behind?
"Hokage-sama~"
"I just thought of something interesting!"
"Speak~"
"Since the Uchiha Clan could collude with outsiders to ambush me? Then, why couldn't they collude with other forces, merge with other forces, or simply establish a force directly?"
"The disappearance of Uchiha Kita, Uchiha Ketsuto, and others without reason, might just be a self-directed and self-acted event by Uchiha Izuyama, Uchiha Moda... these so-called high-ranking Uchiha members."
"Regardless of success or failure, they would use my existence to erase the traces of Uchiha Kita, Uchiha Ketsuto, and others in Konoha."
"After all, such a large number of combatants could achieve great things in any country."
...Faced with Fujiwara Tetsuya's false accusation, Uchiha Izuyama, Uchiha Moda... and Uchiha Fugaku, all trembled violently.
"Tetsuya brat~ Can you be more explicit?"
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, Fujiwara Tetsuya's speculation was not impossible.
Although it was just a guess, this guess could Just right corroborate the unexplained disappearance of Uchiha Kita, Uchiha Ketsuto, and others.
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's response, Fujiwara Tetsuya chuckled, his previous gloominess gone, a faint, inexplicable curve gracing the corner of his mouth.
"I think the radical faction of the Uchiha Clan has probably had enough of the Village's vigilance, unable to tolerate the Uchiha Clan's shrinking authority in Konoha, and wants to start anew."
"And Uchiha Kita, Uchiha Ketsuto, and the other top combatants are the personnel that the Uchiha Clan deliberately sent out to establish a new force..."
After tonight's events, Fujiwara Tetsuya's perception of the Uchiha Clan grew even more disgusted.
Naturally, he didn't mind arbitrarily slandering and completely blackening the Uchiha Clan.
If he could use Hiruzen Sarutobi... and the Village's hand to resolve this matter and extricate himself, it would save him a lot of trouble.
"You... damned brat, you're making baseless accusations..."
"My Uchiha Clan has never had any intention of leaving Konoha."
"The Naka River is the birthplace of my Uchiha Clan. How could my Uchiha Clan abandon this place and go develop in a foreign country as you said..."
"Hokage-sama, you must stand up for our Uchiha Clan."
The accusation Fujiwara Tetsuya leveled was undeniably serious.
Betraying the Village~
And it was an entire Clan betraying the Village!
If this dirty water were truly splashed onto the Uchiha Clan, then the Uchiha Clan... even if they escaped the Village's accountability, their reputation in the Ninja World would be completely ruined.
What Ninja World noble Clan, the foremost Dojutsu Shinobi Clan... all would become a thing of the past.
He, and the rest of the Uchiha Clan, would become pariahs, scorned by countless nations and Ninja Villages in the Ninja World.
"Elder Izuyama~"
"I just said, Tetsuya brat's statement is just a guess!"
"Why are you reacting so strongly?"
"Could it be that Tetsuya brat guessed correctly? That your Uchiha Clan truly has such thoughts?"
The situation reversed, reversed, and reversed again~
The sudden turn of events made even Hiruzen Sarutobi feel a headache.
However, one thing he was clear about was that... always standing on the opposite side of the Uchiha Clan's interests would not be wrong for the Hokage lineage, for the Village.
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