"It is good that you have returned."
Seeing Jie Uchiha return safely, a massive weight lifted from Fugaku's shoulders. His deeply furrowed brows smoothed out. However, his dignity as a father meant he couldn't show the same frantic urgency as Mikoto. He offered a flat, composed greeting and turned toward the study.
"Father, I have some matters to discuss with you," Jie quickly said, noticing Fugaku turning to leave.
Tonight, the Nine-Tails breaking its seal had brought immense devastation to the Hidden Leaf, a tragedy compounded by the death of the Fourth Hokage. What would inevitably follow among the surviving ninja and civilians was a potent tide of grief and hatred.
To divert this hatred, merely using the demon fox—Naruto—wouldn't be nearly enough. Thus, the Uchiha clan, who had suffered zero losses tonight and hadn't even shown their faces on the battlefield, would become the perfect outlet for the villagers' pent-up emotions.
Furthermore, with the Fourth's death, the village's supreme authority would fall right back into the hands of the Third Hokage and Danzo Shimura. And those two would love nothing more than for the Uchiha clan to vanish from the ninja world this very instant.
Whether for his own sake or the clan's, Jie knew he had to prepare in advance.
Hearing Jie's words, Fugaku paused. He turned his head and gave the boy a profound look. He found himself understanding this son of his less and less.
"Come in with me."
With that, Fugaku entered the study without looking back, kneeling steadily at the head of the room. After Jie followed him inside, Mikoto, despite the worry lingering in her heart, retreated to Sasuke's room. This left only the father and son alone.
"Speak your mind," Fugaku said evenly.
Familiar with the plot, Jie knew his father was far from being as simple as he appeared. He didn't bother hiding his intentions and got straight to the point.
"Father, I wonder what your view is on the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village."
Without waiting for Fugaku to answer, Jie continued, "From how I see it, our clan and the village are already entirely incompatible, like fire and water. Perhaps sooner than we think, once the conflict is fully ignited, a massive war will break out between us."
The sheer, absolute certainty in Jie's tone sent a tremor through Fugaku's heart.
As the clan head, Fugaku was well aware that the current tension between the village and the Uchiha was incredibly strained. Fire and water was an apt description. But he understood this because he was the leader of the clan.
Jie was only five years old!
For a five-year-old child to possess such a profound insight into the village's political landscape—how could Fugaku not be shocked?
Still, his years in a high position had granted him exceptional composure. His expression remained unchanged. Harboring a hint of intent to test his son, and curious to see exactly what unique perspectives Jie held, Fugaku calmly asked, "What makes you say that?"
"Look at tonight," Jie stated with conviction. "Every other ninja in the village is engaged in a bloody battle with the Nine-Tails, yet the Uchiha clan stands idly by."
"The Nine-Tails will inevitably be suppressed. When the war is over, the devastated villagers will realize that the Uchiha never participated from beginning to end and suffered absolutely no losses."
"When that time comes, regardless of the actual reasons holding us back, the Uchiha will naturally be positioned as the enemy in everyone's eyes. If someone with ulterior motives fans the flames from the shadows, our clan will be completely isolated! Once that hatred accumulates to its breaking point, the Uchiha will have no second path left but rebellion."
Fugaku silently mulled over Jie's deductions, and a chill crept down his spine. If things truly developed exactly as Jie predicted, the Uchiha clan would face certain death—unless they rebelled and seized control of the village.
However, remembering a crucial detail, Fugaku shook his head. Jie was still a bit too young. Although his insights were extraordinarily unique, piercing straight to the heart of the matter, he had overlooked one vital fact.
"What you are describing is impossible," Fugaku said in a deep voice. "The Uchiha clan is an essential pillar of the village's strength. The Fourth Hokage would never sit back and watch all of this happen."
"And what if the Fourth died tonight?" Jie asked, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of his lips.
"What? That is impossible!" Hearing this shocking statement, Fugaku immediately shook his head. "The Fourth is at the absolute peak of his strength. No one in the ninja world is his match right now. Even the Nine-Tails cannot kill him."
Jie let out a soft chuckle and said casually, "The Fourth has the greatest speed in the ninja world. It's true that even the Nine-Tails can't touch him."
"But the Fourth's wife, Kushina, is the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. Once a Tailed Beast is extracted, the only outcome for a Jinchuriki is death. Father, based on your understanding of the Fourth... do you really think he will survive tonight?"
Hearing Jie's words, Fugaku froze. He wanted to refute it, but realized everything Jie said was an indisputable fact.
With the Nine-Tails breaking its seal, the only ones capable of sealing it away again were the Fourth and Kushina. As the Jinchuriki who had her Tailed Beast ripped out, Kushina was already marked for death and certainly lacked the strength to perform the sealing.
The inevitable conclusion was glaringly obvious.