When Uchiha Shisui woke up, he found himself lying in a basement, his entire Chakra sealed, and his hands and feet tied behind his back, unable to move.
He struggled a few times, and his head brushed against something that felt like a living person.
The contact seemed to rouse the other person, who rustled and struggled a bit. Realizing he couldn't break free, he opened his mouth and a familiar, childish voice, one Shisui knew well, emerged.
"Damn it! Where exactly is this?"
"Hana?"
"Shisui?!"
The two children quickly huddled together, piecing together what had likely happened.
Someone must have first kidnapped Inuzuka Hana, who was following behind Shisui, and then knocked Shisui unconscious and taken him too.
"I think we were captured by spies."
Inuzuka Hana licked her small canine teeth, letting out an annoyed 'tsk'.
How could she have been taken down without even seeing the enemy?
Uchiha Shisui at least managed to exchange a few blows with the opponent, but she, on the other hand, just closed her eyes and opened them again, and here she was, lying down.
So infuriating!
Inuzuka Hana kicked the wall hard with both feet, but she misjudged her strength, her heel slipped, and she kicked something soft to her left.
That thing let out a cry of pain.
"Ow!"
Shisui heard the cry and felt it sounded familiar: "Who's there?"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch... Ah, Shisui? Is that you? Are you alright?"
"Obito?"
Shisui recalled the last shadow he saw before losing consciousness; it was indeed Uchiha Obito.
To pass his assessment, Obito had hidden in the forest for a day and a half. Just as he finally saw the light of victory, he spotted two children walking one after the other in the distance.
The one in front was Uchiha Shisui.
Normally, this would be nothing; he'd just wait for the two children to finish collecting firewood and leave. But then, he saw a sneaky shadow following behind, silently taking down the girl.
—Damn it!
Obito immediately sprang up, frantically shedding his layers of disguise, and sprinted towards that direction.
Seeing Shisui also get knocked out, Obito grabbed his weapon while running. He had just reached the enemy and exchanged two or three blows when his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
And then, he woke up after being kicked in the head.
He failed to save anyone and got himself caught; this was too embarrassing.
Obito banged his head against the wall, utterly dejected... The Uchiha Clan had long been under immense pressure, barely holding on by their last shred of sanity, needing only a spark to ignite a powder keg.
Tonight, that spark transformed into several pieces of news, laid out on the table for the entire Uchiha Clan.
Uchiha Shisui, missing;
Uchiha Obito, missing;
Uchiha Kazuki, missing;... A total of five children were gone. The entire Clan land was bustling with noise, filled with lights and fires, as bright as day.
Everyone gathered near The Police Force building, waiting for the Clan Head to make a decision.
The parents of the victims stood at the very front, almost overwhelmed by anger and despair.
Fugaku looked down from his office window. The bustling crowd made his heart heavy. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Was this incident strange? Yes, it was too strange.
To abduct several Uchiha children at such a tense moment, it was almost as if they wanted to make it clear who the mastermind was.
This was forcing the Uchiha into rebellion.
But did he have a choice?
If he didn't resist, would the Clan Member agree?
Even if the Clan Member could endure such humiliation and hatred, not resisting would only be a temporary reprieve. The Uchiha would march towards extinction in this silence.
The Uchiha had no other path.
—But, even if we die, we will drag Konoha down with us.
Fugaku slowly opened his eyes, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning rapidly. He looked at his wife sitting on the sofa, and his unborn child.
—What a pity, I won't see him born.
Two streaks of blood tears flowed from Fugaku's eyes, and the three tomoe gradually merged into one as they spun... The eagerly awaiting Uchiha finally saw their Clan Head descend the stairs, fully armed, with all members of The Police Force behind him.
"Let's go."
Fugaku's voice was not loud, but it was enough to reach everyone's ears.
The first to stand behind him was Uchiha Entō, followed closely by Uchiha Shiun, and then the parents of every missing child, their relatives... In just a few minutes, all battle-capable Uchiha were temporarily integrated into The Police Force and assigned tasks.
The human 'dragon' formed by the crowd moved forward, constantly splitting into many small groups, occupying and controlling advantageous positions along the way to ensure they could both attack and defend.
If a real fight broke out, many scattered squads would also be responsible for resisting attacks from Anbu and Root, and for causing maximum damage as quickly as possible.
You want the Uchiha to die, huh? Fine, then no one gets to live!
The Uchiha's unusually large-scale personnel movement was monitored by Anbu early on. Before they had even gone halfway to the Hokage Building, several roadblocks appeared before them.
"Uchiha Fugaku! The Hokage orders you to immediately disband this squad and report to the Hokage Building!"
"Get out of the way!"
Fugaku coldly rebuked, his steps forward not faltering in the slightest.
"If Konoha wants to go to war with us, then attack!"
Unable to intimidate Uchiha Fugaku, the Anbu members found themselves in a difficult position.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had not given permission to make the first move; as long as the other party didn't attack proactively, they couldn't act.
The Anbu could only watch as Uchiha Fugaku approached step by step, his arms and neck brushing past two blades as he strode past.
One of them angrily shouted: "Is the Uchiha Clan trying to start an internal rebellion?!"
Fugaku's movement paused for a moment.
"This was never caused by the Uchiha."
With that, he continued walking towards the large building ahead... "Are you satisfied now, Danzo!?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the desk, roaring at Danzo Shimura, who still sat calmly across from him.
"You're truly insane! Who can't see that the Uchiha were forced into rebellion!! What will the other Ninja Clans think!?"
"The other Ninja Villages are still watching like tigers. If we fight amongst ourselves first, how long will Konoha be in a weakened state, have you thought about that!?"
"They will pounce on us and devour Konoha entirely!!"
After a string of curses, Hiruzen Sarutobi panted, extreme anger making him tremble all over, like a furious lion.
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, who had just learned what happened, also looked pale, finding it hard to believe that Danzo had done something so serious behind everyone's backs.
—Forcing the Uchiha into rebellion, how could that possibly benefit the Village?
—Shouldn't this matter be handled slowly and in secret?
After a long while, Hiruzen Sarutobi forcibly suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice: "Hand over those children, there's still room for de-escalation in this matter. I will announce that it was done by foreign spies."
"Heh heh, who would believe that?"
Danzo sneered, meeting the almost cannibalistic gaze across from him with composure, saying: "Yes, of course they can see something is wrong, but who cares?"
"Do you think they will feel sorrow for a fallen comrade, or fear for their own safety when their ally is gone?"
"Those guys will only drool over the Uchiha's fat, hoping to hitch a ride and get a piece for themselves."
"Besides, you overestimate the Uchiha. What ability do they have to severely damage Konoha?"
"Even if there are casualties, Konoha has never lacked Ninja. If the Uchiha are gone, all the families will quickly reproduce and thrive on this corpse, replenishing the combat power gap."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's breathing gradually stabilized. He irritably pulled out his pipe, lit the tobacco, and took a deep, hard puff.
"You've already recalled Jiraiya and Tsunade, haven't you?"
"Mm."