章 13: Shockwaves! The Uchiha Coup Plan!

The next day.

Konoha Village was abuzz with news of a giant over six meters tall who was allied with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This news spread quickly throughout the village.

Too many people had seen Whitebeard and Naruto.

Such news couldn't be kept secret.

"Hey, Choji!" Shikamaru, hands behind his head, yawned and said, "This news is spreading widely. A giant over six meters tall, that's something I've never seen!"

"Crunch, crunch!" Choji, munching on a bag of chips, mumbled, "These chips are pretty good."

"Are you even listening to me?" Shikamaru's head was full of black lines, and he looked helplessly at his companion.

Choji turned his head in surprise, "Weren't you talking about Giant Chips?"

Shikamaru: "…You keep eating!"

These two young kids only treated this matter as a topic for casual conversation.

Shikamaru vaguely sensed something unusual.

But due to their young age.

Even with maturity and wisdom beyond their years, they couldn't see as clearly as Konoha's higher-ups.

...

At the Hyuga Clan compound.

"A giant called Whitebeard?" The Hyuga Clan head, Hiashi Hyuga, naturally couldn't be unaware of such a significant event.

Moreover, he knew more details than the average person.

Especially in some aspects.

"He has a close relationship with Naruto, clashed with the Uchiha Police Force, instantly defeated three Uchiha with Sharingan, and faced the Third Hokage without flinching."

Hiashi furrowed his brow.

A figure so powerful appearing in Konoha was both good and bad, especially since he had a good relationship with the Jinchuriki.

And.

The Hokage didn't take any action against him?

Was it because he was intimidated? Was this giant that powerful? Would a conflict with him cause serious casualties?

Or was it something else?

In this regard…

Hiashi wasn't sure.

But he knew that Konoha now had a variable, especially one tied to the Jinchuriki, making it an even bigger variable.

...

At the Uchiha Clan compound.

"Outrageous! Outrageous! That damned guy, what does he think of our Uchiha Clan? Injuring three of our people and then just leaving as if nothing happened?"

An elder of the Uchiha Clan's hawkish faction was furious: "The Hokage was present. What did he do? He just sent our people to the hospital and then did nothing!"

"He didn't even send anyone to notify us, the Uchiha Clan. If a clansman hadn't woken up and rushed back, we wouldn't even know what had happened!"

"Calm down." Uchiha, the clan head, said, "From what I know, it's because Gan, Wen, and Cui tried to harm Naruto."

"That is still no reason to injure our clansmen!"

The hawkish elder interrupted Fugaku, "It wasn't your child involved, so you're not angry. Gan, Wen, and Cui are my grandsons!"

Fugaku's brow furrowed tightly.

"Fugaku, you are the clan head." Beside him, another elder of the Uchiha Clan said slowly, "It's time to make a decision. You know this is a great opportunity."

"The Jinchuriki has formed a bond with an outsider, you know what opportunity I'm talking about."

Fugaku fell silent.

He understood well.

Since the Nine-Tails incident and Konoha's subsequent marginalization of the Uchiha Clan, they had been planning a coup.

After all, no clan could endure such humiliation.

Especially not the mentally intense Uchiha.

Under pressure from within the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku could only compromise and agree to plan and initiate a coup.

The plan was simple and comprehensive.

——Control the Nine-Tails and recreate the chaos of the Nine-Tails incident! Then, seize the opportunity to take over Konoha's leadership.

Konoha's upper echelons had suspected the Uchiha of orchestrating the Nine-Tails incident, so they decided to orchestrate it themselves.

For this purpose.

Fugaku even placed his son, Itachi, in the ANBU to monitor Konoha's upper echelons. But no one expected Itachi to be so rebellious, strongly opposing the plan.

The father-son relationship.

Had dropped to freezing point.

Fugaku knew the great opportunity the elder spoke of was to use the bond between Naruto and the outsider to trigger the Jinchuriki's rampage.

If they killed the outsider with whom Naruto had a deep bond.

Naruto would likely have an emotional breakdown, causing the seal on the Nine-Tails to loosen and its power to go berserk, recreating the Nine-Tails incident.

By then.

Konoha's upper echelons would be busy dealing with the Nine-Tails.

Konoha's strength would be greatly diminished.

Fugaku, with his Mangekyo Sharingan, the greatest counter-tailed beasts, would have two options: to save Konoha as a hero and win all the people's hearts, then initiate the coup.

Or to take the opportunity to stab Konoha's upper echelons in the back. When they suffer heavy casualties, the Uchiha could take over Konoha.

"...Now is not the best time."

Fugaku closed his eyes. "Itachi will bring us information. Let's wait for Itachi's intel first."

"Hmph! Indecisive!" The hawkish elder stood up abruptly, storming out in anger.

The other elder said slowly, "Fugaku, Itachi cannot be trusted, he has always been unwilling to participate. And the bond with the Jinchuriki must be eliminated, right in front of the Jinchuriki."

He stood up and continued as he left, "You don't want the Uchiha to keep declining, do you?"

Fugaku remained silent.

...

Whitebeard, who had become the center of a storm in Konoha, didn't notice much of it.

Or rather, he didn't care. Even in the New World of the Grand Line, Whitebeard was always one of the centers of the world's storms.

This was his daily life!

"Foolish son, you've run less than two kilometers and you're already throwing up?" Whitebeard wielded his Murakumogiri, slashing at Naruto, "Gu la la la! Even if you throw up, keep running!"

"Waaaah!!!" Naruto screamed in terror, hastily speeding up to narrowly dodge Murakumogiri's blade.

He never imagined that wanting to become Hokage would be so life-threatening.

His old man wasn't joking!

He was dead serious!

"Gu la la la! Foolish son, don't forget you're entering the Ninja Academy next year. With your weak body, can you make it? Don't embarrass me by becoming a dead last!"

Whitebeard swung his blade again, this time even cutting off a few strands of Naruto's hair from the back of his head.

The gust of wind from the blade's movement was like a storm.

"Pushing" Naruto forward.

Forcing the already pale-faced Naruto to run frantically, his entire body exhausted, and his legs aching with cramps, making him crawl forward on all fours.

Naruto's body was drenched, not just in sweat from exhaustion.

But also in tears of fear.

...