Nighttime—Deep within the Utatane Clan compound, at Koharu Utatane's residence.
Koharu stood in the courtyard, her brows furrowed in deep thought.
Fugaku Uchiha… he hid his strength too well.He had fooled the Third Hokage. He had fooled Danzo Shimura. He had even fooled her.
And now, he had grown too powerful. Dealing with him had become extremely difficult.If I had known this would happen, I would have pushed to eliminate him years ago. If he'd never been given the chance to grow, we wouldn't be in this mess today.
"How do I use the other Hidden Villages to take Fugaku down? " she muttered to herself.
With their current power, killing Fugaku head-on was nearly impossible.The best plan was to manipulate another village into doing it—let them kill Fugaku for Konoha. In doing so, they could even use him as a weapon to weaken the enemy village.
But how?The world was at peace. The Five Great Nations were no longer at war. There was no opening to exploit.
"If there's no opportunity… then we'll have to create one. If Fugaku is to die, it seems we must start a war ourselves." Her voice was low, cold.
The only way was to send Fugaku to the battlefield—against another village.And since there was no war now… they would have to start one.
She didn't want war. But if that was the only way to remove Fugaku, then so be it.
As she stood there lost in thought, a figure silently emerged from the ground behind her—like a phantom rising from the earth.
It was Fugaku Uchiha, using his secret technique to mimic the appearance of the mysterious Wood Release user.As a shinobi of Kage-level power, Fugaku was already a master of concealing his presence. In this transformed state, his chakra was suppressed to the absolute limit. Even standing this close, Koharu didn't sense a thing.
Shisui Uchiha… I almost regret killing you so soon. If you were alive, I'd let you hear what Koharu just said.A cold smirk tugged at Fugaku's lips as he listened to her whispered scheming.
Shisui had believed the Uchiha clan threatened the peace of the Leaf. He had branded them as a spark for war—and so he betrayed his clan, serving as a mole for the Hokage's faction, all in the name of "protecting peace."
And now? That same Hokage faction was plotting to start a war—just to eliminate him.
What would Shisui think if he knew?
"To be fair, he wasn't wrong. The Uchiha clan could bring war to the Leaf.But as it stands now, war will come not because of the Uchiha… but because the Hokage's faction wants us gone."
The irony burned in Fugaku's mind like fire.He had always known they were corrupt—they drove Hatake Sakumo to suicide with lies. They forced the Hyūga clan into sacrificing Hiashi's brother to appease the Hidden Cloud.
But this? To spark an all-out war just to kill him? Even he hadn't imagined they'd go this far.
"Well then… rather than let you scheme your way into a war to kill me… I'll kill you first. True Illusion—"
The Mangekyō Sharingan flared in his eyes, patterns swirling as his right eye spun violently. Reality itself twisted.
Whumm—
Without a single glance from her, Koharu was dragged into Fugaku's ultimate genjutsu.
In that frozen moment, Fugaku shifted behind her in an instant. From his palm sprouted a sharpened wooden spike that shot forward like a spear—straight toward her heart.
The faint distortion in the air finally triggered her instincts. She spun around—only to see that ominous spiral-patterned mask and the black cloak patterned with red clouds.
"Wood Release… the Kekkei Genkai ninja?! No!" she gasped in terror, scrambling to retreat.
As one of Konoha's senior advisors, she knew everything about this so-called Wood Release user—the black cloak, the mask, the rumors.
But with her strength, how could she hope to evade a strike from Fugaku at this level?
Shk!
Before she could take another step, the sharpened branch pierced through her chest.
In an instant, the wood sprouted dozens of barbed branches inside her body, tearing through her organs and bursting out through her flesh in a grotesque bloom of death.
Blood gushed from her mouth as her eyes froze in shock and horror.
The genjutsu dissolved. Fugaku caught her body before it hit the ground, silently lowering it to avoid alerting the guards outside.
Then, without a sound, he sank into the earth like a shadow—heading toward his next target: Homura Mitokado.
Mitokado Clan Compound – Inside Homura's quarters.
Homura paced anxiously across the room. Ever since returning from the Hokage Tower earlier that day, an unease had been clawing at his gut.
He had gone to bed early, but sleep refused to come. The anxiety was relentless.
"It must be the pressure… the pressure of Fugaku Uchiha," he muttered bitterly.The stress was suffocating. Fugaku… and the entire Uchiha clan.
The Third Hokage was old, yes. Past his prime.But still a Kage-level shinobi. And even so… Fugaku had injured him in just a few moves.
That fact alone spoke volumes about Fugaku's power.
And that power weighed heavily on Homura's mind.
"I wonder if Koharu's plan will work…"He frowned, recalling the meeting earlier that day. Koharu had proposed a plan to eliminate Fugaku. A plan he had agreed to.
But could they really succeed? Could they truly manipulate another Hidden Village into taking Fugaku down?
"Yes. We can. No matter how strong he is, if he's dragged into a war and faces the armies of another village, he'll fall—just like the Third Raikage did," Homura whispered to himself, trying to sound convinced.
But no matter how much he repeated it, the unease didn't fade. If anything, it grew stronger.
And then…
From the shadows of the room, a figure slowly rose from the floor—a figure wearing the same spiral mask and black cloak as the one that had killed Koharu.
Like a demon from the depths, Fugaku emerged silently, Mangekyō eyes glowing crimson in the dark.
Whumm—
Just as before, Homura was swallowed by Fugaku's True Illusion without ever realizing it.
Shk!
A single strike. A sharpened wooden spear drove through his chest, bursting out with brutal force. Branches exploded from within, ripping through flesh and bone.
Homura collapsed in horror, dying without a scream.
This time, Fugaku didn't bother to catch the corpse. He vanished into the earth, disappearing into the night.
Thud!
"What was that?! ""Elder Homura! Are you all right?! "
Guards outside rushed to the door, alarmed by the noise.When their calls went unanswered, they broke in—only to find Homura sprawled in a pool of blood, his body grotesquely mutilated.
"Elder Homura has been assassinated! "Someone shouted in terror.
The Mitokado compound erupted in chaos, and within moments, word spread. Messengers raced to the Utatane compound—only to discover Koharu had been murdered the same way.
Two of the village's senior advisors… dead in a single night.
And the Leaf… would never be the same again.