Chapter 21 – A Shared Crime with the Fourth Hokage
"Lord Minato—"
"—Minato!"
Watching him wobble, Yujiro almost blurted out Holy crap, you can't just drop dead now.
Obito's betrayal had rattled both Uchiha too much. If Minato really keeled over from shock, they'd never be able to explain it. Imagine some random guy barging in at that moment, pointing and shouting:
"Heavens! Shisui and Yujiro killed the Fourth Hokage!"
At that point, no amount of explaining would save them—they'd have to flee Konoha immediately and live as rogue ninja.
Fortunately, Minato didn't collapse. Ninja bodies were resilient. Even after countless sleepless nights, constant paperwork, Kushina's demands, being bombarded with awful news, Hiruzen's passive-aggressive lectures, and Danzō's harassment—he was still standing.
Sure, he swayed for a moment, but the invincible "Yellow Flash" refused to fall.
His dizziness wasn't just from Obito's betrayal. The truth was simpler: overwork.
The Hokage's duties were endless. With the Third Shinobi War barely over, Konoha's recovery and reconstruction were a logistical nightmare. Minato felt like he needed to split himself into eight copies just to keep up. His body and spirit were worn past the limit, like Kushina had drained him eight hundred times over. Even sunlight looked green to him now.
"Don't worry, don't worry… have either of you told anyone else about this?"
Finally regaining his senses, Minato leaned back onto a sofa with Shisui and Yujiro's support. His first instinct was secrecy.
"Relax," Yujiro answered smoothly. "Only Shisui and I know. And Obito himself has chosen to move in the shadows, calling himself Uchiha Madara. With his power, few will see through the disguise."
"…Good. That's good… You two leave me now. I need time to think."
Minato muttered, his expression turning into a pie chart of mixed emotions.
Shisui, being straightforward, nodded and was ready to depart. But Yujiro wasn't done.
"Fourth Hokage, dealing with Obito isn't just your burden. It's also our clan's responsibility. He's not just your student—he's Uchiha. We'll stand with you in this."
"…Mm."
Minato's heart was moved. But being still young and a bit naïve, he failed to catch the undertone in Yujiro's words.
He would, eventually.
There are two things that bind people together:
A shared ideal.
A shared crime.
Konoha's prosperity and safety were ideals Minato shared with many.
But concealing Obito's betrayal—burying this secret forever—was now a shared crime between Minato and the Uchiha.
And that, Yujiro thought, would bind them tighter than any ideal ever could.
Soon, my commercial empire plan will move forward. From now on, Minato will favor and rely on the Uchiha. He'll treat us as his own.
With that satisfying conclusion, Yujiro stepped out of the Hokage's office in high spirits.
Shisui, however, remained troubled. He regretted not fighting Obito alongside Yujiro—perhaps things might have turned out better. He resolved to talk to Yujiro about it later.
But when he turned his head, he saw Yujiro smiling like the cat that ate the canary.
"Yujiro-nii, why do you look so happy?"
Yujiro grinned.
"Because starting today, the Fourth Hokage is officially our ally. The Uchiha finally have someone in the highest seat of power."
"...?"
Shisui tilted his head, clueless about Yujiro's philosophy of shared crimes, and thought his words sounded way too exaggerated. But this wasn't the place to argue—better to wait until they were home.
But Yujiro didn't give him the chance.
"Reporting back to the clan head is your job, Shisui."
Saying this, he turned away and walked in the opposite direction.
"Yujiro-nii, where are you going?"
Watching his elder's cheerful back as he left, Shisui called out loudly.
"Obviously—the orphanage."
"..."
"As expected of you, Yujiro-nii."
Hearing that answer, Shisui's eyes shone with emotion.
Danzō would probably twist it, claiming Uchiha Yujiro had ulterior motives.
But Shisui wasn't like that. To him, Yujiro went to the orphanage simply to visit the children, to bring warmth, and to build a more harmonious, happier Konoha.
Yujiro-nii truly carries the Will of Fire! I need to work harder too.
With that thought, Shisui happily turned back, heading off to report to Fugaku.
Everything about their trip to the Land of Rain—Yujiro wouldn't hide it from the Fourth Hokage, nor from Fugaku. He wasn't Danzō, after all. It wasn't his mess to cover up, so why bother hiding?
They were all family. Better to speak openly than waste time on endless suspicion.
Like the whole orphanage thing.
If everyone were as pure-hearted as Shisui—thinking Yujiro visited only to show kindness—then the world would already be at peace.
Even stepping back, if they thought like Kakashi—believing Yujiro went there to flirt with the gorgeous, big-bosomed bespectacled caretaker—that was at least laughable, but harmless.
The real problem was that old fox Danzō.
He thought Yujiro and Yakushi Nonō were scheming together. Worse, that their scheme was aimed directly at him.
And the troublesome part?
He was right.
Yujiro and Nonō really did have a plan against Danzō—
Though calling it a "conspiracy" was unfair. It was more like a righteous purge, a necessary renewal, the squeezing out of rotten blood.
---
"Shall we… go out together for a bit?"
Encouraged by the children's eager looks, the blonde, bespectacled woman finally gathered her courage and asked.
"Ah, yeah. Let's."
And so, amid the kids' excited cheers, Uchiha Yujiro accepted. The two went to a nearby restaurant for a quiet meal, then—cautiously, discreetly—slipped off to a more distant inn to "rest."