The Great Uchiha Elder stroked his snowy beard, thumb rubbing the coarse tips.
Those cloudy old eyes suddenly sharpened, like someone had wiped centuries of dust off ancient jade. A two-and-a-half-year-old brat had just turned the Will of Fire into both sword and shield, and played every heart in the village like a cheap fiddle.
That kind of brain, plus monster-level talent? Give this kid a few years and he'll be the backbone holding the whole Uchiha clan up.
When the Elder thought about the current clan head, Fugaku, a long, tired sigh rumbled out, half helpless, half "why can't you be better, son."
Fugaku's too soft, too obsessed with "Konoha's rules." He forgot what built the Uchiha clan back in the Warring States days.
Keep letting him steer the ship like this and the Uchiha are gonna get slow-cooked like frogs in warm water. One day the village will swallow us whole, bones and all.
Makoto didn't spare Danzo's ink-dripping face another glance. His brain was 100% on the mission reward he'd just snagged: S-rank space-time ninjutsu—Flying Raijin. He was itching to get home and test-drive it.
He waved casually at the clan as he walked off. Passing Danzo, his eyes flicked to the guy's right arm, wrapped like a mummy.
Not time to blow that secret open yet.
An arm full of stolen Sharingan? Even the dove faction who preach patience would pick up swords the second that bomb dropped.
When that thunderclap finally hits, either Danzo dies with no grave, or the entire Uchiha clan gets wiped.
Makoto didn't slow down, just breezed past like the wind, leaving Danzo standing there crushing kunai shards in his fist.
Once the Uchiha crowd followed Makoto out of sight, Hiruzen waved everyone else off too. Danzo gave a tiny nod, and the Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, plus the rest of the clans headed home.
ANBU and Root melted back into the shadows like snow in spring. Soon the only two left in front of the Hokage Tower were the fire-red Hokage robes and the pitch-black cloak.
Danzo stayed rooted, shoulders still trembling under the robe. He'd planned to use tonight as the perfect excuse to slap the Uchiha down hard.
Instead a toddler pointed at his nose and called him a disloyal traitor in front of half the village. Lost all face, and half his "Shadow of the Leaf" street cred got dragged through the mud with it.
The two old men walked into the Hokage office one after the other, boots thudding heavy on the wood floor.
Hiruzen stood with his back to Danzo, staring out the window toward the Uchiha district. He gripped his pipe so tight ash snowed onto the sill.
"That kid…"
"That's not just some naturally evil Uchiha brat anymore!" Danzo's voice hit the floor like concrete blocks. "We have to kill him. No mercy."
"I've already got Root rotating 24/7 surveillance on the compound. The second he steps one foot outside, we turn him into ash and erase every trace."
If that monster lives, Danzo's title as the Boogeyman of the Shinobi World loses a few scary points.
He's the Root buried deep under Konoha, holding the whole village up. Without all the "threats" he's quietly pruned over the years, Konoha wouldn't be the "paradise" it is today.
When it comes to loving this village? Danzo's number one, and nobody, not even Hiruzen, can claim otherwise.
"No one touches him!" Hiruzen spun around, pipe cracking against his palm. Dead serious.
(At least not right now, he left unsaid.)
If Makoto turns up dead tonight, every ninja who was here tonight would know exactly who did it.
That kind of heat Danzo can't carry alone; it'll splatter all over Hiruzen's squeaky-clean reputation too.
And it could light the fuse on all-out Uchiha–Konoha civil war.
Nine-Tails night, the Sharingan everyone saw in the fox's eyes, nobody's talking about it right now because the Third War still isn't fully cold.
One wrong move and the whole village burns.
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen!" Danzo's one eye spat sparks. Easy for you to stay calm, you're not the one who got called a traitor today. His robe flapped like a storm.
"I know you're Hokage, quit rubbing it in my face every damn day!"
BAM!
Danzo didn't even wait for Hiruzen's classic line this time. He spun, black robe flipping the Hokage desk clean over, and slammed the door so hard on his way out the building shook.
Hiruzen opened his mouth to drop the "I'm the Hokage" bomb, got interrupted, and just muttered it to himself instead, kinda bummed.
Danzo paused at the doorway, shot a cold glance at the "Hokage" plaque and Hiruzen's grumpy mumble, then hissed through his teeth.
All the blood Hiruzen refuses to get on his hands? Fine. The Shadow of the Leaf will take it.
"Everything I do is for Konoha."
He repeated it in his head, wrapped all his rage and killing intent inside that one "noble" sentence, and vanished into the night.
…
On the walk back to the compound, Itachi had Makoto's arm in a death grip, fingers practically buried in the sleeve. Voice low as a mosquito:
"I'll go apologize to Lord Danzo for you later. Just… don't provoke him again, okay?"
"He holds grudges…"
"Scared of what?" Makoto raised an eyebrow. Any Hokage with half a brain would protect me after tonight, but instead he just grinned at Itachi.
"If I suddenly 'commit suicide' by taking eighteen kunai to the back, it'll finally open your eyes to how rotten this village really is. You'll wake up."
"Whether I live or die doesn't matter. It's all for you and Konoha's future!"
Then he flipped tone like a light switch and added, "Oh, right, if I do get 'suicided,' make sure you drop a few hundred million ryō in my grave every year so I reincarnate rich next time."
Itachi stared at the manic gleam in his little brother's eyes and felt his throat tighten.
This kid acts crazier than anyone, but he's more clear-headed than the whole clan combined… and cares about him way more than Itachi ever realized.
That's when Fugaku came jogging up, eyebrows knotted so hard they could tie themselves. Dead serious:
"Starting today, you are not allowed to leave the compound, not even half a step, until this whole mess blows over!"
Makoto frowned. Sure, stepping outside right now is basically painting a target on his back. Hiruzen cares about reputation; Danzo doesn't.
But how the hell is he supposed to hustle money if he's stuck inside the district?
Thinking that, crimson flashed across his pupils. A single tomoe spun lazily to life.
"I do whatever the hell I want!"