As the ANBU directly under the Hokage were beaten with broken limbs and thrown out of the Uchiha compound by the Uchiha Clan.
Panic quietly spread through the hidden currents beneath Konoha.
The Uchiha Clan had changed.
Hokage Building.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was heavier than it had ever been before.
"This is absolute madness!"
Advisor Koharu slammed her palm hard against the table, and the face covered in wrinkles was now filled with rage she could not conceal.
"Openly expelling and gravely wounding ANBU directly under the Hokage, declaring the compound a forbidden zone, this is no longer provocation, this is declaring war on all of Konoha!"
"That useless Fugaku!"
Beside her, Danzō brought his Root wooden staff down hard against the floor, producing a heavy, dull crash.
"I said long ago that the Uchiha Clan are wild wolves that can never be tamed! Fugaku was indecisive, so he could still be kept in check through politics, but now they have replaced him with a brat this young and this arrogant, this is going to replay the tragedy of Uchiha Madara!"
Danzō's gaze shifted toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen! There can be no more hesitation!"
"We must immediately mobilize all available forces, seal off the Uchiha completely, and arrest that brat called Uchiha Shinsuke in public! Otherwise, Konoha is finished!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not respond immediately.
He simply drew another silent puff from his pipe.
Arrest?
With what would they carry out an arrest.
Shinsuke was already the new Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan.
Attempting an arrest at this moment would be no different from immediately driving the Uchiha down the path of open revolt.
"Summon all Jonin, and bring the village to its highest state of alert."
"However, strictly prohibit anyone from proactively approaching the Uchiha compound."
Danzō's single eye snapped wide open, nearly bulging from its socket.
"Hiruzen! You are being permissive! You are nurturing a tiger to invite calamity!"
"Danzō, I am the Hokage."
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen press him with the authority of the Hokage, Danzō's composure shattered completely, and he stormed out in fury, slamming the door behind him.
"I am trying to prevent a catastrophic civil war that Konoha simply cannot afford to endure right now."
"We know far too little about Uchiha Shinsuke."
"His strength, his hidden cards, we know almost nothing."
"Before we have clarity on these things, any reckless action could push all of Konoha into an abyss with no return."
Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his head and looked toward the ANBU kneeling on one knee in the shadows behind him.
"Immediately elevate the Uchiha Clan's threat level to maximum."
"I want every piece of intelligence on Uchiha Shinsuke from birth to the present day placed on my desk."
...
The night grew deeper.
Outside Konoha, at a secluded training ground.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had dismissed all his guards and stood alone beneath the cold moonlight, waiting for someone.
A figure appeared suddenly behind him.
It was Uchiha Itachi.
"Hokage-sama."
"Itachi."
Sarutobi Hiruzen turned slowly, and rather than using an interrogating tone, he let out a long sigh, and his gaze carried the grief and concern of an elder.
"Being caught between your clan and the village must be very difficult."
Itachi's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, and he said nothing.
"I do not distrust the Uchiha, I am simply... worried."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze became distant and full of sorrow as he looked at Itachi, as though looking through him at the entire future of the Uchiha Clan.
"Itachi, you are different from the other Uchiha, you have inherited the true Will of Fire, and you understand better than anyone how precious peace is for a village that has been ravaged by war for so long."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped forward twice and gently placed his hand on Itachi's shoulder.
"This young man called Shinsuke possesses strength that is far too formidable, and his conduct is far too extreme, and I fear that his unquestionable dominance will lead the entire Uchiha, the clan you love deeply, down a path of destruction."
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not condemn Shinsuke, but instead positioned himself as someone acting "for the good of the Uchiha."
"I do not want to see the Uchiha repeat past tragedies, and I do not want to see the village plunged once more into a sea of blood and civil strife."
"Itachi, do you understand? Right now, the only one who may be able to stop this tragedy is perhaps you."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was not ordering Itachi to become a spy who betrayed his clan.
He was bestowing upon Itachi a noble and sorrowful mission, to "save the clan from peril."
In Itachi's mind flashed the image of the colossal lightning and fire dragon on the training ground that had crushed Susano'o, and then the image of Shinsuke withdrawing his attack at the end and calmly saying "your blood should not be spilled here," those eyes that seemed bottomless.
Powerful, domineering, and yet... restrained.
"Hokage-sama..."
Itachi forced the words out with difficulty.
"Clan Head Shinsuke's strength may be enough to find a new path for the Uchiha."
"A new path?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head, and the sorrow in his eyes deepened.
"A path paved with war and blood? Itachi, that is not a path, that is an abyss leading straight to hell."
"I need your help, not for Konoha's sake, but for the Uchiha standing behind you, for Sasuke, for those clan members who know nothing of what lies ahead."
"Help me watch over him, and also... help me watch over your clan, before there is still a chance for things to be undone."
Itachi slowly lowered his head.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Itachi's bowed head, and a barely perceptible gleam of sharp light flashed through his clouded eyes.
It had worked.
In this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged voice became even gentler, like a true elder worried for the future of a beloved child.
"Itachi, I know this choice is painful."
"But sometimes, in order to protect what is most important, we must bear a sin that no one will ever know of."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped forward and once again placed his hand upon Itachi's slightly slender shoulders.
An invisible weight pressed down heavily upon Itachi's heart.
"Go back now, child."
"As though nothing has happened, just as before."
"All you need to do is tell me what you see and hear."
"For the future of the Uchiha, and for... Sasuke."
At that very moment, a voice rang out suddenly from the darkness.
"Hokage-sama, what business brings you to summon one of my clan's young prodigies in the dead of night?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen spun around sharply.
Itachi also froze in place.
In the moonlight, a figure stepped out slowly from the shadow of the trees.
The person was dressed in the Uchiha's black fitted garb, it was Uchiha Kenji.
Uchiha Kenji looked at Uchiha Itachi.
"Itachi."
"The Clan Head has issued an order."
"The clan assembly begins now."
"All Jonin must gather at Naka Shrine within ten minutes."
Kenji paused, and his gaze fell upon the hand Sarutobi Hiruzen still had resting on Itachi's shoulder, and his voice cooled slightly.
"No one is permitted to be absent."