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Manji looked down at Kakuzu, lying across the courtyard stones.
Fear and disbelief filled the boy's eyes. When he came to Konoha he had assumed the guards were the real danger. Now he understood. The man they protected was stronger than all of them put together, and no wonder the First Elder had been sitting alone with no shinobi anywhere near him.
"THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE." Kakuzu tensed.
"Konoha's First Elder is supposed to be an ordinary man. You shouldn't even know how to fight."
Manji studied him with surprise. He hadn't expected Kakuzu to be the assassin.
In the original history, the elders of Takigakure had sent Kakuzu after Senju Hashirama, but Konoha never created the position of Hokage in this timeline—and no one held greater authority than Manji.
History had picked a different target this time.
"Kakuzu, you didn't do your homework..." Manji stood up, folding his hands behind his back. "Whoever sent you picked the worst target they could have."
A small smile crossed his face. "Still, I suppose I can't really complain. This works in my favor."
He raised one hand. Chakra moved through Kakuzu in a hidden current, locking down his network and silencing every pathway in an instant.
"My chakra..." Kakuzu's eyes went wide. He tried to form a seal, but his hands froze.
"It's gone. I can't use it!!"
He couldn't move, couldn't fight, couldn't reach a single coil of power.
The assassination was over before it began—
..............
The next day, one report shook the shinobi world.
[Uchiha Tajima had been assassinated in the capital of the Land of Fire.]
Grief and fury swept through the village when the news reached Konoha, and the Uchiha took it the hardest. Tajima had helped build Konoha, led its forces for almost twenty years—and remained one of its most respected leaders until the day he died.
"..." Manji's expression changed as the report was read aloud.
To sell the deception, he let the color drain from his face and his body go slack, then collapsed in front of Konoha's assembled leadership like a man whose grandson's death had broken him.
Tajima's death shattered Madara and Izuna.
The news struck them in a way nothing else ever had. Their Sharingan spun under the weight of grief and hatred, the tomoe blurring, stretching, twisting into new patterns.
Both brothers awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
..............
Tension filled Konoha's Intelligence Division and left the whole building quiet.
"TOBIRAMA, YOUR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING FOR DAYS." Izuna stood across the table from him, his new Mangekyō burning red. "Tell me you found whoever ordered my father's death!"
Tobirama looked no less grim. He was silent for a moment before he answered.
"We traced the plot back to an alliance of independent clans led by the Senju..."
BANG!!
Izuna slammed his palm down. Cracks raced across the hardwood and splinters scattered over the floor.
"THOSE BASTARDS! THE UCHIHA NEVER LAID A HAND ON THEM. WE OFFERED PEACE, A HOME, A FUTURE—AND THEY KILLED MY FATHER IN RETURN!"
His anger filled the room.
"..." Madara stood silent beside him. He didn't shout or lash out—he barely moved. But no one mistook his silence for calm. The anger behind his Mangekyō seemed to weigh on everyone in the room.
"I'm going to Great-Grandfather." Izuna turned toward the door.
"I'LL DEMAND A DECLARATION OF WAR. Every clan involved in this will pay for Father's death."
He was gone before anyone could stop him.
Hashirama watched Madara with growing concern, then stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "Madara... I'm sorry. Uncle Tajima's death..."
His voice broke. Nothing he could say would touch a loss like that, so he left the hand where it was and gave what comfort he could without asking Madara to answer.
Tobirama had already gone back to the reports.
He worked through travel notices, witness statements, troop movements, and intercepted messages, tapping one finger against the table as he read.
But something about the assassination refused to sit right...
Tajima had been one of the Strongest Shinobi Alive. He had survived years of clan war and never stopped expecting an ambush. Ordinary assassins would have struggled to get near him—let alone kill him inside the daimyō's capital.
What bothered Tobirama more was how Konoha had handled the journey. They announced it four months in advance. No one had tried to conceal his destination, his schedule, or even the general route he meant to take.
'It read like an invitation.' Tobirama's finger stopped.
A public journey... An assassination the whole world could condemn...
Now Konoha could open its campaign without ever looking like the aggressor!!
The village would not be starting a war. It would be answering one.
His eyes widened as the pieces came together.
'I UNDERSTAND.'
Tobirama looked toward the distant Council Building. His respect for the man inside hadn't changed, but something colder had settled in beside it.
'This wasn't a disaster he failed to prevent...'
'...It was the opening he had been waiting for.'
...
"HAHAHA! Tajima is dead, and that old bastard Manji fainted when he heard the news!"
Senju Butsuma raised his arm in front of the gathered clan leaders. "Konoha has lost both of its leaders. Now is the time to attack!"
The alliance's main force had already assembled around Kikyō Pass. Shinobi units covered the hills, supply camps filled the valleys, and every clan had sent its best fighters for the invasion.
They thought Konoha was leaderless, that the village had fallen into chaos, and that victory was already theirs.
..............
Inside Konoha's Council Hall, Manji stood with his back to the assembled commanders and studied a map of the Land of Fire.
"Give the order, First Elder." Hyūga Tennin's voice rang out. "LET US AVENGE LORD TAJIMA. DECLARE WAR."
"Great-Grandfather, please!" Izuna stepped forward, grief and fury still burning in his Mangekyō. "Avenge Father! Avenge your grandson!"
"First Elder, give the order!"
Hashirama, Tobirama, and the rest of the commanders joined the demand.
"..." Manji let the silence sink in. Then he drew a slow breath and turned from the map. He had made his decision.
"Konoha will begin a war of unification against each shinobi clan involved in this conspiracy."
The room went quiet.
"Senju Hashirama!"
Hashirama stepped forward. "Here!"
"You will command the First Division. March south and take Kikyō Pass."
"Yes, First Elder!"
"Uchiha Madara!"
Madara raised his eyes. "Give the order."
"You will command the Second Division. Advance west and secure Kannabi Bridge."
"Understood."
"Senju Tobirama!"
"I'm here."
"You will lead the Third Division east to the coastline. Seal the sea routes and keep the Senju from fleeing to the Land of Whirlpools."
Tobirama bowed. "It will be done."
"Uchiha Izuna!"
Izuna stepped forward. "Yes, Great-Grandfather!"
"You will command the Fourth Division. March north and secure the border with the Land of Iron."
"Yes!"
"Hyūga Tennin!"
"Here!"
"You will lead the Fifth Division. Take the surrounding territories, hold the roads and settlements, and keep order behind our advancing armies."
Tennin lowered his head. "Understood."
Five armies would leave Konoha: one heading south, one west, one east, one north, and a fifth to secure the territories behind them, leaving the enemy with no chance to regroup or threaten Konoha's civilians.
"I will remain in the village and direct the campaign from here," Manji said.
He looked at each of the five commanders in turn.
"One final order. There will be no massacres."
The mood in the room changed.
"Break their armies and remove the men who planned this rebellion. If a clan's leadership refuses to surrender, cut off its head—but spare the ordinary clansmen and anyone who lays down their weapons. We are bringing these people into Konoha, not wiping them off the earth."
His voice grew cold.
"Show them that resistance is useless. Do not hand them a blood feud their children will carry for another hundred years."
Every head in the room bowed.
Manji understood the difference between defeating a clan and unifying one. Slaughter the enemy and the survivors might submit, but they would never call the village home—the hatred would sit under the surface and wait for the next generation to dig it back up.
Military strength could conquer the Land of Fire. But only restraint would hold it together.
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