"Otou-san!"
"Come here, Itachi, let Otou-san give you a hug."
Returning home, Uchiha Fugaku embraced his son, Uchiha Itachi, who had been in his wife's arms. Though only two years old, Itachi already spoke fluently. In these moments, Fugaku felt a rare, peaceful happiness.
From what he knew about Tsunade, she would not deliberately target or suppress the Uchiha as Hiruzen and Danzo did during their tenure as Kage and Shadow kage. Logically, Tsunade's promotion to Fourth Hokage should have been a good thing. However, he hadn't anticipated the jealousy from many radicals within the clan.
This was not incomprehensible. After all, Senju and Uchiha were both founders of Konoha. Why did Senju have three Hokages, while the Uchiha had none? Let alone becoming Hokage their rights were isolated inside the police department.
Fugaku's headache intensified. Although he believed maintaining the status quo was beneficial for Uchiha, the current state of the clan suggested otherwise. The Uchiha clan was born to be Shinobi they carve near-death situations. If they can't find it outside of Konoha...
He realized things wouldn't proceed as smoothly as he had imagined.
"Fugaku, what's wrong?"
His wife, Mikoto, noticed the concern on his face and approached him with a tender inquiry.
"It's nothing," Fugaku replied with a strained smile, hiding his worries to prevent his wife from fretting.
"Patriarch Fugaku, Anbu requests your presence."
A voice came from outside the door. Fugaku frowned and quickly walked out. A ninja in a grey vest and Anbu mask stood waiting.
"What's the matter?" Fugaku asked.
"Hokage assistant Nawaki-sama has summoned you, the Police chief, please come to the Intelligence Department. The police force can also accompany you."
With those words, the Anbu ninja vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Hokage Assistant, Senju Nawaki..."
Fugaku was momentarily taken aback but quickly shook his head. Nawaki had been promoted from an ordinary teacher at the ninja academy to Hokage's assistant in one swift move. No wonder so many Uchiha were getting restless.
...
"Danzo, you lost."
In the courtyard of the Sarutobi clan's patriarch's residence, Hiruzen's "Silver General" was just one move away from capturing Danzo's "King." Danzo's remaining Lance, Bishops, and pawns were unable to defend, sealing his defeat.
"Your heart hasn't calmed down," Hiruzen observed, pointing out Danzo's flaw.
"In this situation, how can you expect me to be calm?" Danzo retorted, standing up and flicking his sleeves in frustration. He had no intention of continuing the game. With a cold shout, he added, "Aren't you worried about how Tsunade will treat us in the future?!"
Koharu and Homura, who had been watching the match, frowned at Danzo's outburst.
"What else can she do? At most, she'll strip us of our positions and demote members of the Sarutobi and Shimura families to ordinary ninjas from key roles," Sarutobi Hiruzen calmly analyzed. "As long as we don't give her any reason, Tsunade can't act against us, even if she wants to. We've dedicated thirty years of service to Konoha. If Tsunade wants to secure her position as Hokage, she won't dare to act recklessly."
Compared to the other three, Hiruzen appeared more composed and insightful. While losing their power and privileges was a significant blow, he understood that it wasn't as critical as preserving their lives.
For individuals of their stature, experiencing such a loss was undoubtedly painful. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, peaceful life was more important than power, wasn't it?
"You know, Tsunade—or rather, the Hatake Tatsuya behind her—has always been gunning for me, wanting my life," Danzo muttered.
Hiruzen had enjoyed the supreme power that more than 99.9% of people could only dream of for thirty years. For him, stepping down seemed a small price to pay for survival.
Hiruzen may have enjoyed it, but Shimura Danzo hadn't. If he couldn't become the leader of the ninja world, all his efforts, including transplanting Hashirama cells and turning himself into a shadowy figure, would have been for nothing.
"Lord Hokage!" A Sarutobi clan Jōnin ran into the courtyard, falling to one knee before Sarutobi Hiruzen. Realizing his mistake, he quickly corrected himself, "Hiruzen-sama, Senju Nawaki has led a large number of jonins, including Uchiha, to gather at the intelligence division."
Hiruzen frowned slightly at this news. The intelligence department had been under Anbu and Root's control for years. Is Nawaki trying a major purge of his loyalists inside Anbu?
Before he could answer the anbu, he saw Danzo sprint in the direction of the Intelligence division without any hesitation running away in panic. Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura stood stunned for a moment before quickly following suit.
Though they didn't know the exact reason for Danzo's rare expression of terror, they knew it was dangerous enough to warrant immediate action. And might be the "Reason" Tatsuya might be looking for.
"Nawaki-san why are you calling so many people?" Fugaku asked, puzzled, as he led a dozen Uchiha ninjas from the police force to the main entrance of the Intelligence Department.
It wasn't just the Uchiha clan present. Members from the Senju, Ino-Shika-Chō, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other clans were also gathered.
"Please, take a look at something that will subvert your worldview," Nawaki said with a grim smile, gesturing for the crowd to follow him into the Intelligence Department building.
"Hold on!" Danzo's voice rang out as he arrived, breathless and flushed from the exertion. "Why are you trespassing on the Intelligence Department!?"
"You think I have to give you a notice? Be it Anbu, Root, or intelligent division everything related to military power in this village comes under the Hokage." Nawaki's tone dripped with sarcasm.
"What do you mean?" Danzo demanded, his face cold.
"It stands to reason that although you're old, your hearing hasn't failed you, right?" Nawaki raised an eyebrow, sneering. "But since you're struggling to comprehend, I'll spell it out for you. I'm here to exercise my power as Hokage's assistant to inspect the Intelligence Department. That's it."
With that, Nawaki turned away, pushing the door open to enter the building.
"Wait!" Danzo shouted, lunging forward to stop him.
---
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