Chapter 51: Fugaku

Itachi opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately let out a long sigh.

There’s no way!

In the past, clan oversight was lax, so they did as they pleased; now that my father has said this much, even the Hokage would find it hard to speak up for them.

The truth is, exactly that!

Though ninja clans have a degree of autonomy and the Hokage cannot easily interfere, if a clan grows slightly weaker, the Hokage can naturally intervene in its internal affairs—this was precisely the case with the Uchiha in the past.

Because of Fugaku’s weakness as clan head, Hizashi and Danzo both meddled, which led to the situations involving Itachi and Shisui.

But, equally so.

As long as a ninja clan stands firm, the Hokage will be left with no choice but to sit helplessly!

This is precisely why the Hidden Leaf’s high command has long tried to divide and eliminate each ninja clan—after all, he lacks Hashirama Senju’s overwhelming strength, and he doesn’t possess Tobirama Senju’s masterful strategic prowess, unmatched in the ninja world.

To hold power, one must do this!

Now that Fugaku has suddenly become firm, even Hizashi has nothing to say—because if he forcibly interferes in clan affairs, every ninja clan will storm his door the next day.

They may not ally with the Uchiha, but on the matter of ninja clan autonomy, no clan would ever agree to it.

Because if the village can interfere in the Uchiha today, it can interfere in any other clan tomorrow.

Therefore.

Even though Hizashi’s entire body trembled with rage, his eyes brimmed with boundless killing intent.

But…

At this moment, he could only remain silent!

“My lord Hokage, I apologize.”

“Itachi and Shisui are assigned elsewhere within our clan; henceforth, they are withdrawn from the Anbu and also removed entirely from the ninja roster.”

“Of course.”

“If the village lacks ninja, the Uchiha will supply new clan members to fill these two vacancies.”

“We have other matters to attend to within the clan, so we won’t keep Itachi any longer.”

“Goodbye!”

Fugaku’s expression was calm, his tone neither harsh nor gentle.

After speaking,

he directly led Itachi and Shisui out of the Hokage’s office; Hizashi wanted to say something but chose to stay silent.

Because—there was no point!

Shisui, the Mangekyo user, was already useless; Itachi, though a decent piece, was still only a three-tomoe user, and Hizashi truly didn’t value him much.

It wasn’t worth breaking the rules and turning against the Uchiha over a crippled Shisui and an ordinary three-tomoe Uchiha.

Ultimately,

he could only watch as Fugaku led them away, never speaking again, his face darkening to a deep, ashen hue.

Sigh.

With a helpless sigh, Hizashi relaxed.

Once again donning the Hokage’s shadow robe and pulling on his hat, Hizashi sat back behind his desk.

He smoked cigarette after cigarette, the worry etched deeper into his brow.

“Jin? Fugaku?”

“The situation is slipping further out of control—I can only hope Danzo succeeds!”

“Fail? Impossible!”

“Even without Itachi and Shisui’s strength, Danzo still holds many cards; Uchiha Jin is still too arrogant—he dares to walk into a trap even when he knows it’s one.”

“But then again, that’s typical of the Uchiha!”

“Even the Third Raikage was surrounded and killed by the Hidden Stone—I refuse to believe Uchiha Jin is stronger than the Third Raikage!”

“That bastard Uchiha Jin will pay for his arrogance!”

“Fugaku? Hmph!”

“He may have awakened the Mangekyo, but he’s still a complete fool.”

“Once we confirm Uchiha Jin’s death, the Uchiha will be easy to handle!”

Hizashi’s eyes flickered.

Only after he fully grasped these issues did he finally exhale in relief.

Finally,

he cast a long look at the portraits of past Hokage on the wall, then walked to the window, staring blankly at the night view outside, his gaze finally settling on the Hokage Rock…

In this pitch-black night, the statues of past Hokage glowed dimly, flickering in and out.

Hizashi’s gaze rested on the second statue—his teacher, Tobirama Senju.

“Teacher…”

“I will protect Konoha well—I will never let the Uchiha seize the Hokage position!”

“All for Konoha!”

…

And, on the other side,

outside the Uchiha compound, in the pitch-black night,

Uchiha Jin leaned against a utility pole; the wide road was lit by dim lamps, and a flock of crows rose from the dense forest behind him—these were the Uchiha clan’s summoned beasts.

But Jin had no interest in them now.

His brow was slightly furrowed, his eyes flickering uncertainly, his mind lost in deep thought.

Of course,

he wasn’t pondering the village’s or the Uchiha’s troubles—he was thinking about the top few figures in the ninja world.

First—the Sage of Six Paths!

This man hides within the Pure Land; Jin couldn’t be certain whether he could ever return to the ninja world.

He only appeared once during the Fourth War; given his minimal screen time, much must be guessed.

He wanted to kill Sasuke and Naruto outright—such protagonists are uncontrollable; he feared that even if he built a strong foundation, these two might grow up and deliberately sabotage him.

But, equally,

if he truly moved against them, would the Sage of Six Paths appear and slap him dead?

Throughout every reincarnation of Indra and Asura, they always died only at each other’s hands—never by anyone else’s.

This left Uchiha Jin feeling as if needles pricked his back.

The three sacred sites were also deeply strange, especially Mount Myōboku—a clan of toads, why do they care so much about humans?

We’re not even the same species!

It’s like humans obsessively caring about the ant world, selecting certain ants, teaching them senjutsu, and sending them to find an ant savior—ridiculous.

Do humans care whether ants go extinct?

No!

Then why, by the same logic, does Mount Myōboku care so much about the human world?

Worse still, they can predict through dreams—could they predict him?

Beyond that, there’s the hidden Kishin, the reckless Ōtsutsuki Hagaromo, the mysterious Death God, Yama, and Evil God, the enigmatic Exchange House—could they really be backed only by daimyōs and nobles?

And the strange structure of the ninja world—could it really be only because ninja are too loyal, allowing daimyōs and nobles to ride atop their heads?

Is there a deeper reason?

Behind the daimyōs and nobles, are there unseen figures pulling strings?

Sigh.

Uchiha Jin couldn’t help but let out a helpless sigh.

The ninja world’s waters are still too deep—that’s why he dares not overturn the table, but instead cautiously probes.

He’s just an ordinary man, no system, no divine boon, only a Mangekyo-level power—he truly fears disrupting some old fox’s schemes, only to be slapped dead by some hidden mastermind!

So, playing it safe is fine.