That night, the moment Jie Uchiha returned home, Fugaku Uchiha led him straight to the study. War was no trifling matter, and Fugaku wanted to hear Jie's opinion.
After listening to Fugaku's recounting of the day's events and his personal deductions, Jie nodded. The situation was exactly as he had expected; his thoughts aligned perfectly with Fugaku's theories.
From the very beginning, Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't intended to hide anything. It was an open conspiracy. He knew the Uchiha clan wouldn't simply let the matter drop, so he deliberately brought it out into the light. The moment Fugaku spoke up, Hiruzen swiftly shifted all the blame onto the Uchiha. When Kumogakure inevitably declared war, the Uchiha clan would absolutely bear the brunt of their fury.
To Hiruzen, the outcome of the war didn't matter—he had nothing to lose. If Konoha won, it would be praised as the wise and decisive leadership of the Third Hokage defeating the Kumogakure invaders, perhaps even securing hefty war reparations. If they lost, all the blame would be pinned on the Uchiha, and they would be forced to pay the lion's share of any demanded compensation. After all, a defeat would mean devastating casualties for the Uchiha, leaving them with no strength left to challenge Konoha's upper echelon.
Analyzing the entire scheme, Jie had to admit that Hiruzen truly lived up to his decades-long tenure as Hokage. The plan was practically flawless.
However, after further consideration, Jie found one glaring omission in Hiruzen's calculations: he had completely ignored Jie's existence. Or rather, Hiruzen had severely overestimated the Raikage and underestimated Jie, assuming Jie couldn't possibly be a match for Kumogakure's leader.
Jie figured that in Hiruzen's mind, the Uchiha might be powerful enough to rival an entire village, but a clan still had its limits. When it came to true top-tier strength, there was no way the Uchiha could compare to Kumogakure. Even if the Sharingan was the ultimate weapon against Tailed Beasts, the existence of the Fourth Raikage alone was supposed to be enough to shatter the Uchiha's pride.
A playful glint flashed through Jie's eyes. If Hiruzen found out that Kumogakure's two Tailed Beasts were nothing more than oversized pets to the Uchiha, and that his highly anticipated Fourth Raikage couldn't even slow them down... Jie wondered what kind of expression the old man would make.
'If you want to use the Uchiha as your weapon, you'd better make sure it doesn't misfire and blow up in your face,' Jie thought, a cold sneer playing on his lips.
"Jie?"
"Hmm?"
Pulled from his thoughts, Jie looked up in confusion, wondering what else Fugaku had to say.
"Jie, let's rebel," Fugaku said through gritted teeth.
Jie froze. He didn't quite process Fugaku's meaning at first. Rebel? Did he mean a literal coup?
Seeing Jie's expression, Fugaku quickly elaborated. "Konoha was founded by our ancestor, Madara Uchiha, alongside the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. After Tobirama Senju's reign, the position of Hokage should have rightfully passed to the Uchiha clan. Calling it a rebellion isn't quite accurate; we are simply taking back the village that belonged to us in the first place."
Jie completely agreed with Fugaku's sentiment. In fact, after eliminating Danzo the previous night, he had briefly considered taking out Hiruzen while he was at it. Unfortunately, the Uchiha clansmen hadn't found a single shred of evidence implicating the Third Hokage within the Root base.
Assassinating both the Hokage's aide and the Hokage himself in broad daylight without any proof would brand the Uchiha as bloodthirsty usurpers. It was a terrible look for the clan. Even if the other shinobi clans submitted to Uchiha rule out of sheer terror, they would secretly harbor deep resentment.
Flipping the board by force was an effective solution, but it was nowhere near as satisfying as forcing your opponent into a corner where they had no choice but to admit defeat in stifled silence. Besides, Hiruzen wouldn't be jumping around for much longer anyway.
During his brief moment of contemplation, Jie had already formulated a perfect plan to make Hiruzen swallow his own bitter medicine. He immediately shared his thoughts with Fugaku. Without a second word, Fugaku wholeheartedly agreed to proceed with Jie's strategy.
With Jie's direction, Fugaku executed the plan with ruthless efficiency.
The very next day, before Hiruzen had even finished drafting his formal letter of reprimand to the Raikage, the remaining Kumogakure shinobi in the village were swiftly decapitated.
Once Fugaku obtained Hiruzen's completed letter, he immediately dispatched an elite Uchiha Jonin. Their mission was to deliver the letter and a sealing scroll containing the corpses of the Kumogakure shinobi directly to Kumogakure. Driven by the elite Jonin's immense speed, they crossed the vast distance between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning in a mere two days, delivering the grim package straight to the Kumogakure lands.
"What the hell is Konoha playing at?!"
"Do they think Kumogakure is full of pushovers just because they won one war?!"
"Tell Bee to rally the shinobi immediately! I'm going to show Hiruzen the true terror of our village!"
The Fourth Raikage, A, was absolutely livid after reading the letter of reprimand.
Smack! He slammed his massive palm down onto his desk.
Boom! The incredibly sturdy, solid-wood desk instantly disintegrated into splinters, scattering into the air like fine powder.
"Lord Raikage, that is the fourth desk you've shattered this month," a white-haired kunoichi stated flatly. "The cost of the desk and the subsequent office renovations will be deducted from your personal stipend."
A stiffened, his raging fury temporarily derailed by her deadpan remark. "Hey, Mabui! We're talking about war here!" he grumbled. "Is a stupid desk really more important than a war?"
Mabui remained completely unfazed. "The authenticity of this intelligence has yet to be verified, so whether a war will actually break out is still unknown. However, the fact that you destroyed your desk and ruined the office is an undeniable reality."
Rebuffed twice by Mabui, A's anger deflated slightly. He waved his hand dismissively. "I can never win with you. Have Samui's squad confirm the intel immediately."
But before A could even finish his sentence, a Kumogakure shinobi rushed in to report.
"Lord Raikage, the intelligence has been confirmed. The messenger who delivered the letter is an elite of the Uchiha clan. We have also identified the bodies within the sealing scroll; they are indeed Arui and the rest of the delegation we sent to Konoha."
The atmosphere inside the Raikage's office instantly froze.
"Mabui, I take it you won't be stopping me now," the Fourth Raikage said, his head lowered and his voice deadly serious.
"Understood, Lord Raikage," Mabui replied softly. "I will go make the preparations."
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