Following a series of changes, Danzo set his sights on a top-tier spy who had retired to become an Orphanage director, and along the way, he managed to pick up a seemingly promising talent.
However, even after Minato's death and the defection of Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, Konoha's combat strength remained formidable.
In the following year—the third year after Hiromi's birth—Iwagakure realized the situation was unfavorable and quietly withdrew. Kumogakure dispatched an emissary group to Konoha to sign a peace treaty.
The Konoha Villagers were all very happy.
"Great! My son can finally come home!"
"The war is finally over!"
"These last two years haven't been easy!"
"When we meet those from Kumogakure, we must be polite. At the very least, we shouldn't cause trouble for Hokage-sama."
"Right. I'm going to put up a sign right now: half price for Kumogakure."
"I'll put one up too!"
In contrast to their joy and celebration, the Uchiha Clan Compound was filled with a sense of oppression.
"The neighbor's son couldn't be saved."
"My friend's father died too."
"My boyfriend didn't come back either."
"Why is it that we Uchiha have to go and die on the front lines?"
"You can't say that."
"What do you mean I can't say it! The ones dying are all from our Uchiha clan. Others are celebrating, so why should we Uchiha be the ones who deserve to die the most?"
"Shisui, do you think we Uchiha deserve to go and die like this?"
The eyes of the surrounding Uchiha clansmen turned red as they all turned to look at Shisui.
Shisui was respected by the clan members not only for his strength but also for his ideals.
Facing their complaints, Shisui opened his mouth but couldn't say a single word.
What was he supposed to say?
That this was an arrangement by the Konoha higher-ups to give the Uchiha clan a chance to earn military merit?
That exchanging the lives of clan members for merit would eventually lead to the villagers' acceptance?
Even though it hadn't been announced yet, even if it were, he couldn't bring himself to say such things.
"I should go pick up Hiromi."
Along the way, he appeared well-integrated, comforting the clan members who had lost sons or husbands as he headed toward the forest behind the compound.
...
The forest.
A young boy with a buzz cut, wearing a tight black sleeveless T-shirt, was doing crunches on a tree branch two meters high.
In his mind, missions were constantly popping up.
[Mission Name: Are You Really That Easy to Manipulate?]
[Mission Content: Kill Uchiha Shisui!]
[Mission Reward: Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan + Fire Release Chakra Mode]
[Mission Name: Do You Really Like Stealing Kids That Much?]
[Mission Content: Kill the Kumogakure Emissary Leader!]
[Mission Reward: Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet]
[Mission Name: You call this the will of fire?]
[Mission Content: Kill Sarutobi Hiruzen!]
[...]
[Mission Name: I Will Protect Hinata!]
[Mission Content: Kill Hyuga Hiashi!]
[...]
[Mission Name: Do You Really Like Stealing Things That Much?]
[Mission Content: Kill the Kumogakure...]
[Mission Name...]
...
At that moment, a figure walked over.
"Hiromi, it's time to eat."
"Okay."
Hiromi jumped down.
He was 103 centimeters tall, taller than others his age, looking more like a four or five-year-old.
The two walked side by side toward their home.
The current Uchiha Clan Compound had already been moved, it was no longer in the center of the village.
Back then, after the Nine-Tails incident broke out, during the village reconstruction meeting, under Danzo's proposal and with the silent approval of the higher-ups, the Uchiha clan was required to relocate to the edge of the village, far from the central assembly hub, and accept 24-hour surveillance from the village.
Fugaku naturally opposed this as strongly as the rest of the clan. However, faced with the imminent war with Kumogakure and Danzo's hollow verbal promises of compensation, Fugaku ultimately chose to keep the peace.
At that time, over a dozen missions had popped up, five of which were for Hiromi to kill that idiot Fugaku.
You think you're seeing the big picture?
You think you're the only one who understands?
You think taking a step back makes everything better?
Although Hiromi had known the plot for a long time, being in the middle of it and seeing it with his own eyes made him want to activate Susanoo and kill him.
Damn it! So frustrating!
Fortunately, he restrained himself. After all, even if he did activate it, he couldn't beat Fugaku.
After the Uchiha clan moved to the edge of the village, Fugaku went to Danzo to ask for the promised compensation.
The first few times, he was pacified with the excuse of the ongoing war with Kumogakure. Later on, Danzo began to berate the Uchiha clan for being selfish and only caring about their own interests, pestering him for petty gains while the village was at war.
Fugaku's face turned ashen. He wasn't a fool, he naturally saw that Danzo was going back on his word.
But he still trusted Hiruzen, so he went to him to ask for an explanation.
Hiruzen looked troubled. "Fugaku, you've seen the village's situation. Finances are very tight, and this matter was a personal promise from Danzo. If you ask me to handle it, I... sigh, I'll try to talk to him for you."
At Hiruzen's words, Fugaku could only bow and say, "I'll have to trouble you then, Hokage-sama."
When he returned from the Hokage Building, many clan members who were waiting for the money immediately surrounded him.
"Clan head, when will the money be distributed?"
"Clan head, my son is waiting for that money for medical treatment."
"Clan head, the rent for my shop is almost due. If I don't pay, they're going to shut me down."
"Clan head..."
"Clan head..."
Not every Uchiha could awaken the Sharingan.
In the past, the Uchiha clan might not have been all-powerful, but they were certainly never short on money. After all, the Uchiha were a great clan of the Ninja World that stood alongside the Senju clan.
But now, under surveillance, Uchiha clansmen could rarely leave the village for missions. Their only income came from the Police Force. And the Police Force's funding was often docked because of complaints, delays in payment were common.
Regarding this, Fugaku had also gone to see Hiruzen. But it wasn't just his Police Force. Root, the Medical Department, the Barrier Department, the Education Department... all of them had tight finances because of the war, and delays in funding were frequent.
However, no one from the other departments came to Hiruzen for money as often as Fugaku did.
After four or five visits, Hiruzen began to show some displeasure.
"Fugaku, if it really doesn't work out, perhaps you should give up control of the Police Force."
These words forced Fugaku to swallow his resentment.
Inside the village: suspicion from the higher-ups, estrangement from the villagers, and dissatisfaction from the clan members.
Outside the village: the greed of Kumogakure, the covetousness of Iwagakure, and the casualties among the clan members.
Even with the Mangekyo that could see the future, Fugaku felt utterly desperate about their current situation.
Thus, he chose the easiest path—forcefully suppressing the dissatisfaction of his clan members. This only made the clan members feel more stifled.
For Hiromi, however, after the initial shock of Fugaku's naive thinking, he had no further reaction. He simply felt that Fugaku was unsuitable to be the clan head because he was too weak.
The system, on the other hand, would occasionally refresh missions for him to go and kill him.