Hiromi stepped forward and knelt beside the Kumogakure Envoy Leader who had drowned himself. He reached out with both hands as if cupping something, moving them toward his head... no, toward his eyes, as if offering a sacrifice in a fit of madness.
But shockingly, a massive arm extended from his eye. Its fingers were sharp, and it glinted with a bluish-black luster, resembling the hand of a zombie.
The owner of this massive hand stood at least four meters tall, yet it emerged from such a small space as an eye—it was utterly illogical.
The giant hand snatched the corpse of the Kumogakure Envoy Leader as if grabbing food and retracted.
A faint ripple of cold, irritable energy appeared in Hiromi's mind, as if someone were asking: "What do you want?"
"A talent for physical conditioning."
The ripple vanished, and a mass of something that did not belong to him appeared within Hiromi's body.
Akumagi—this was the ability of Hiromi's Mangekyo.
It allowed him to sacrifice what he possessed to obtain power that did not belong to him. This was also why he could currently trade his life to take down Hiruzen. He could sacrifice everything he owned in exchange for formidable power.
As for whether he could sacrifice the system, he didn't know yet. When things truly became desperate, he could try, though it might also lead to immediate death.
He looked at his Attribute Panel.
[Name: Uchiha Hiromi]
[Attributes: Fire, Yin]
[Abilities: Mangekyo Sharingan (Akumagi), Fire Release Chakra Mode]
Hiromi flashed a faint smile and headed back toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
—
The next day.
Just as dawn broke, the Hokage Building became a scene of chaotic uproar.
The members of the recently arrived Kumogakure Envoy Delegation were filled with fury and agitation.
"To think you would murder our leader!"
"It seems to me that Konoha has no intention of signing a Ceasefire Agreement with us!"
"Hand over the killer! Otherwise, it's war!"
"That's right! Hand over the killer, or it's war!"
These words made Hiruzen's scalp tingle with anxiety. He immediately ordered an investigation, but this time, he didn't find the body in the Hyuga clan. In fact, he couldn't find a single trace at all.
"A person just vanished like that in Konoha?" Hiruzen found it preposterous.
However, Shisui felt it was somewhat plausible. After all, Hiromi's parents had also vanished without a sound like that.
"It must have been the Uchiha's doing." Danzo said, as if he had seen through everything.
Shisui: "???"
Do you even hear yourself? The Uchiha clan is on the front lines of any war, and we suffer the heaviest casualties. Why on earth would we do this?
Ignoring Shisui's shocked gaze, Danzo continued, "For the sake of military merit, the Uchiha disregard the village's wishes and only want to keep the war going."
Upon hearing this, Shisui fell silent.
Yes, the Uchiha wanted military merit, but they didn't want their clansmen to go to their deaths. Therefore, in his view, it was impossible for the Uchiha to have done this.
But in Hiruzen's eyes, there was a certain level of possibility. No, rather than a mere guess, this was currently the most likely scenario.
Hiruzen asked, "Shisui, what do you think?"
"This..."
Shisui didn't know what to say.
Was he supposed to tell Hiruzen that the clansmen were very dissatisfied with the war, that they didn't want military merit anymore, and they didn't care about the villagers' goodwill—they just wanted their kin to stay alive?
Wouldn't that be saying the clan only cared about themselves?
However, Shisui's hesitant behavior made Hiruzen believe he was seeing the truth.
Danzo seized the opportunity. "Since the Uchiha clan caused this trouble, let the Uchiha settle it."
"Wait, Danzo-sama..."
Before Shisui could finish, Danzo leaned on his cane, which struck the ground with rhythmic, intimidating thuds as he walked away.
Seeing this, Shisui could only turn to Hiruzen and say urgently, "Hokage-sama, this matter has nothing to do with the Uchiha. The Uchiha are currently under surveillance, it's impossible for us to do such a thing."
Hiruzen said, "Yes, I understand."
Shisui breathed a sigh of relief.
Several days later, the disappearance of the Kumogakure Envoy Leader remained unsolved.
The Kumogakure Envoy Delegation clamored to return and call upon the Fourth Raikage to start a war, causing Hiruzen to break out in a cold sweat as he frantically tried to appease them.
Ultimately, it was decided that the various clans in the village would need to provide something to compensate Kumogakure.
But Kumogakure looked down on ordinary offerings, they only wanted the Sharingan or the Byakugan.
Kekkei Genkai like the Sharingan or Byakugan were extremely precious.
Setting aside the Hyuga clan's strict Main and Branch house system, even for the Uchiha clan, it had taken a long time to agree to let Kakashi keep Obito's eye.
Now they were expected to hand over a Sharingan to a foreign village? How could that be possible!
Even if the Uchiha clan agreed, the village wouldn't.
Coincidentally, rumors began to spread through the village: "I heard the Kumogakure Envoy Leader was secretly killed by the Uchiha clan."
The various clans weren't fools, they could see through such a crude lie at a glance. But since it didn't concern them, they adopted a bystander's attitude toward the Uchiha. After all, better them than us.
However, the villagers began to make a scene.
"The Uchiha caused this trouble, let them settle it!"
"Make the Uchiha appease Kumogakure!"
"We haven't even settled the score for the Nine-Tails incident yet!"
"Why should we bear the consequences of the trouble they caused?"
Under the barrage of outcries, Fugaku's scalp went numb, not knowing what to do.
At this moment, Danzo proposed, "It just so happens the Uchiha clan is always complaining about being short on funds. For ten pairs of Sharingan, my Root will provide the money and settle things with Kumogakure."
"Impossible!"
That was Fugaku's first reaction.
But after Hiruzen said, "Better to give it to our own village than to another," Fugaku eventually gave up a pair of Sharingan in exchange for a large amount of wealth.
The other clans paid a small price to Danzo.
The Uchiha now had money, and the clan was filled with joy, but they didn't know it had been bought with a Sharingan.
Shisui and Fugaku, who knew the truth, also managed a smile seeing the clansmen so jubilant.
It seemed everyone was happy, except for Hiromi, whose expression was dark and uncertain.
[Mission Name: You call yourself the Uchiha Clan Head?]
[Mission Content: Kill Uchiha Fugaku!]
[Mission Reward: Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear + Edo Tensei]
[Mission Name: So you like scheming against others?]
[Mission Content: Kill Shimura Danzo!]
[Mission Reward: Fire Release Chakra Mode: Flame Emperor Form]
[Mission Name: You call yourself the Hokage?]
[Mission Content: Kill Sarutobi Hiruzen!]
[Mission Reward...]
[Mission Name: So you're not afraid of war?]
...
Time passed slowly after that, perhaps because Hiromi was feeling restless.
Before the Uchiha clansmen found out that Fugaku had traded a Sharingan for money, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village grew increasingly intense.
With the suspicion from the Nine-Tails incident, the unpopularity of the Police Force, and the incident with the Ceasefire Agreement, the Uchiha clansmen were simmering with rage.
Even though they hadn't done anything, they were constantly badmouthed and sometimes even spat upon.
Being spat on—could anyone endure that?
Those who fought back felt relieved at the time, but were later scolded by Fugaku.
But for those who didn't fight back, the villagers thought this Uchiha was easy to bully and became even more excessive, until finally, unable to bear it any longer, they fought back anyway.
The result was the same: they were scolded by Fugaku.
Under this oppressive situation with no outlet for frustration either internally or externally, the slogans for a coup détat grew louder and louder.
A year later, Fugaku was no longer content with the status quo. He planted his eleven-year-old eldest son, Itachi, into the Anbu as a spy.
But Itachi was a child with his own ideas. He chose to act as a spy for the Uchiha clan, reporting everything about the Uchiha clan's situation to Hiruzen.
To this day, two years have passed since the matter of the ceasefire agreement with Kumogakure.
Hiromi was now five years old.