The most crucial thing was that if he went, that old bastard Danzō definitely wouldn't send anyone.
Then how was he supposed to directly scheme that old thing to death?
Gekko Chizan had already made preparations to get rid of Danzō, but he didn't plan to do it personally.
Same old routine—let Amegakure and Takigakure take the blame. That way, he could stay completely out of it. When the man died, he'd smoothly take over Root. How perfect was that?
"No problem. I'll hurry up and return to duty soon."
"I heard that while I was gone, everyone in Anbu took turns protecting my home."
"That favor—I have to repay it properly!"
"Hehehehe...."
That sinister laughter made the others shake their heads helplessly.
Being personally thanked by Gekko Chizan—tsk tsk, those Anbu guys were in for quite a future.
Before long, Gekko Chizan, Uchiha Fugaku, and Nara Shikaku left the Hokage's office first.
...
As soon as they stepped outside, Gekko Chizan stopped Fugaku.
"Hey, Fugaku, want me to help train the second kid in your family?"
"Look how well I trained Itachi."
"He's almost a Chūnin already, right?"
Uchiha Itachi's student life had ended long ago. Just like before, he graduated early and was already a shinobi.
Under Gekko Chizan's arrangements, whether it was Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, or Shisui, they all took special care of him.
Uchiha Itachi: .....Yeah! Coming to spar with me every few days and beating me up—right??? You devil instructor!
"Hmph, with a devil instructor like you, forget it."
"Although Itachi's strength really has improved quickly, Sasuke is still young. When he's a bit older, I'll consider it."
Originally, Uchiha Fugaku wanted to snap back at Gekko Chizan, but when he thought about how his eldest son had graduated early again and his strength was steadily improving—
His Sharingan had even reached the double-tomoe stage—he felt that letting Gekko Chizan help train him wasn't impossible.
The main issue was that he was just too busy now. After the Uchiha reforms, their status had fully recovered, and now, including himself, many Uchiha clan members were running around for the village.
It was exhausting, but the feeling of being valued was genuinely good.
"Tch, boring."
"Shikaku, how about letting your son come try too?"
"I guarantee I'll cultivate a top-tier genius for the Nara clan!"
Since he couldn't mess with the second kid, he'd shift targets. Gekko Chizan looked toward Nara Shikaku at the side, his face full of ill intent.
With an expression like that, who wouldn't know what he was thinking?
Nara Shikaku refused without a second thought. Putting strength into his legs, he directly ran off from in front of the two of them.
"Alright, alright, if you're not willing, forget it."
"I'm heading off. Oh right, Fugaku—Mikoto and Sasuke are there too. Aren't you coming over to gather?"
Today, Gekko Chizan planned to get completely drunk. He had to drink to his heart's content—after all, he'd earned several hundred million.
How could he not celebrate that?
"Got it. I'll come over later. I still have work to finish."
"Hmph, to be honest, I'm a little jealous of you, bastard. I'm off!"
Jealous? Maybe.
Compared to running missions outside every day, Fugaku felt that his current life was pretty good.
After all, being able to see his lover and children every day after work was already more than enough for him.
...
Unlike the laughter outside, the Hokage's office was a completely different scene.
The air felt frozen solid, all because Danzō Shimura had raised a question.
"I wonder how everyone views the Uchiha?"
"Although the Nine-Tails incident has passed, and the Uchiha have undergone changes under Uchiha Fugaku's iron-handed policies, the Uchiha's suspicions still cannot be washed away."
"Don't forget—the Sharingan that appeared that night. That was definitely Uchiha, without a doubt."
These words plunged all five people present, including Minato Namikaze, into silence.
Especially the other three advisors—they had all been taught by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and deep down, they carried strong prejudice against the Uchiha clan.
"This matter will not be discussed any further."
"Advisor Danzō, you need to be clear—the Uchiha are part of Konoha."
"In order to integrate into the village, the Uchiha have already made tremendous sacrifices."
"Such massive changes—are you really pretending not to see them?"
Minato Namikaze directly cut off Danzō's words.
The Uchiha had already completely changed. They were no longer like they were in the past. Now, Uchiha clan members could be found in various posts throughout the village.
The other clans had also grown close with the Uchiha.
There were even many squads that included Uchiha members.
"Konoha is more united than ever before. I hope everyone can set aside your prejudices."
"Don't let Konoha split apart again. The reason we were able to win the Third Great Ninja War—wasn't it precisely because of our unity?"
"Alright. I still have many things to do. Please leave."
Minato Namikaze's expression didn't look good.
He was the Hokage, but he was also a shinobi.
He knew what mattered most to a village, and he absolutely would not allow the village to experience another dark era.
"Minato..."
"Although what Danzō said is somewhat exaggerated, the Uchiha cannot be left unguarded."
"At the very least, before we figure out exactly which Uchiha was involved that night, we can't relax."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped in to smooth things over. Since Danzō was able to say these things, they had naturally been prepared for a while.
They just hadn't expected Minato Namikaze's attitude to be this firm.
But thinking about it again, the Uchiha really had changed a lot within the village.
Sigh—some things might truly no longer be judged by old viewpoints.
"I'll have Chizan investigate that matter."
"With the intelligence network in place, it should be cleared up soon."
"Rather than thinking about the Uchiha over and over, it'd be better to think about the daimyō's mansion."
"Ever since the Guardian Ninja organization was established, the daimyō's attitude toward us has been getting worse and worse."
The Guardian Ninja—the predecessor of the future Twelve Guardian Ninja.
A ninja force assembled under the leadership of the daimyō's mansion. It had already reached a certain scale, with considerable numbers and high-end combat power.
The commander was still Kazuma, but now he targeted Konoha at every turn, causing the number of missions the village received to start declining.
"Sigh, even though it looks peaceful, there are still far too many things happening in the shadows."
"Minato, we're leaving."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was well aware of the situation the village was currently facing.
For a moment, he didn't know what else to say and could only leave the Hokage's office together with Danzō and the other two.
...
After everyone had left, Minato Namikaze leaned back in his chair and let out a helpless sigh.
"The Uchiha...."
"Madara...."
"And the daimyō's mansion...."
After thinking for a long time, the expression on Minato Namikaze's face once again turned serious.
He understood that what was meant to come would inevitably come.
He needed to prepare as early as possible—otherwise, the village would suffer even greater hardships.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo