Chapter 50: Exposing Hiruzen Sarutobi’s True Face

"Shisui, you’re actually going to stop me?"

Reiji stared at Shisui standing in front of him in disbelief.

"I’m sorry, Reiji. I was also the one who asked Itachi to stop you just now."

Blood continued to trickle down from Shisui’s right eye.

"Let this end here. Don’t let the situation escalate any further."

During the brief moment Shisui stepped forward to stop him, Danzo had completely abandoned his previous plan and left without hesitation.

The Root shinobi also followed him and departed.

For a moment, only Shisui, Reiji, and Itachi remained in the forest.

"...My original plan today was to use my Mangekyo Sharingan’s ocular technique to control Clan Head Fugaku and have him persuade the clan members to abandon their plans for a coup."

"However, Danzo summoned me privately and told me that he didn’t trust me. He then took advantage of the opportunity to ambush me and steal my right eye."

In just a few sentences, Shisui roughly explained what had happened.

Reiji glanced at Uchiha Itachi.

There was no visible change in Itachi’s expression.

Reiji’s expression became somewhat amused.

"So, Itachi, you knew about this plan too."

"Does that mean you actually agreed to Shisui using his ocular technique to control your father?"

Itachi’s eyes flickered slightly, but he still answered firmly:

"If it can prevent the coup and the war that might follow, then I believe it is worth it."

Shisui had told him about this plan yesterday.

Itachi had agreed with it.

If controlling his father alone could bring an end to all of this, then it was worth doing.

"Heh!"

Reiji couldn’t help laughing.

Uchiha Fugaku...

What a pitiful man.

He had actually raised such a "wonderful son."

"However, Shisui."

Reiji turned back toward him.

"Do you really think that controlling Clan Head Fugaku will make the clan members abandon their plans for a coup?"

Shisui froze.

Danzo had questioned him with exactly the same thing earlier.

"...If we can make the clan members abandon their plans for a coup, and the village also changes its attitude toward the Uchiha, then the problem should be resolved."

Shisui spoke with noticeably less confidence.

"Who guaranteed you that the village would change?!"

"Was it Hiruzen Sarutobi? If he was willing to change, what has he been doing all these past several years?!"

Reiji’s expression changed as he questioned him sharply.

Both Shisui and Itachi’s expressions changed.

It wasn’t merely because Reiji had directly called the Third Hokage by his name.

It was the distrust toward him revealed in those words.

Itachi immediately retorted angrily:

"The Hokage has always been deeply concerned about the Uchiha clan!"

"The situation has reached this point entirely because the clansmen are too selfish, arrogant, and conceited!"

Buzz!

Reiji’s Sharingan instantly opened.

The three tomoe stared coldly at Itachi.

Killing intent surged within his heart.

If Shisui was simply foolish—

Then Itachi was both foolish and malicious.

"The Uchiha are arrogant?"

"Then what about the Hyuga clan? Don’t they also want to compete with us for the title of Konoha’s strongest clan? Are they arrogant too?"

"The difference between the Hyuga and the Uchiha is that after the Hyuga Hizashi incident, the Hyuga clan’s backbone was broken."

"But the Uchiha’s hasn’t been!"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn’t want an independent Uchiha."

"He wants a submissive Uchiha—one that can be driven around like a dog!"

Carrying the anger buried deep within his heart, Reiji finally voiced the thoughts he had kept suppressed until now.

At that moment—

The expressions of both Shisui and Itachi completely changed.

They stared at Reiji as if they had seen a ghost.

They had never heard anyone say something so outrageous.

Even the Uchiha clansmen most eager to launch a coup had never spoken such mad words.

"...How could the Hokage possibly be that kind of person?"

Shisui forced those words out.

"Why couldn’t he be?!"

Reiji immediately fired back.

"Why was Minato Namikaze chosen as the Fourth Hokage instead of Orochimaru?"

"Wasn’t it because Minato had too little seniority and no established faction of his own, while Orochimaru had experienced two Shinobi World Wars and already possessed his own network of supporters?"

"To Hiruzen Sarutobi, wasn’t a young man like Minato obviously easier to control?"

"In his heart, the most important thing was preserving his own power!"

Who were the members of Minato’s Hokage Guard?

Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami.

When those three served as the Hokage’s guards, it was questionable whether some of them had even reached adulthood.

Was there even one of them over fifteen?

The Hokage of Konoha had a guard detail that was practically laughable!

And another thing!

Why were there so many members of the Sarutobi clan promoted during the annual jōnin evaluations?

Wasn’t it because Hiruzen Sarutobi’s strength and prestige were gradually declining?

So he could only strengthen his control over the village by continuously promoting members of his own clan.

The three thousand Sarutobi shinobi who appeared during the Fourth Shinobi World War in the future—

Weren’t they all accumulated little by little through methods like these?!

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