UTBW: Ch. 52

Danzō couldn't stop nodding, gritting his teeth as he said, "The naturally evil Uchiha should have been sent to hell long ago. For now, we'll bear with it a little longer, later, we'll take care of them properly."

Among the three of them, he was the happiest. Hiruzen's refusal to let the Uchiha clan off the hook meant his plan to harvest Sharingan eyes could continue.

Fugaku, I had originally planned to spare your younger son.

A greedy thought rose in his heart. But you didn't tell us that there was someone else skilled in swordsmanship within your clan.

That's a serious intelligence failure!

As punishment, Sasuke will join Root. I'll push him to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!

If Itachi had a Mangekyō, and the Sasuke also had the potential for a Mangekyō... Then an eye transplant between blood brothers could create the Eternal Mangekyō!

This was something personally verified by Madara.

"Danzō." Suddenly, the voice of Hiruzen came, interrupting his beautiful fantasy.

"What is it?" Danzō turned his head expressionlessly, maintaining his usual cold demeanor without revealing any sign of guilt.

But Hiruzen, who knew him well, had already seen through him, he was up to some shady plot again.

"Nothing." Hiruzen didn't expose him, and simply said lightly, "Someone is coming out. Sensory jutsu picked up four chakra signatures."

There was no benefit in exposing Danzō. Although he operated in secret with constant schemes, his value far outweighed his drawbacks. Things that a 'Hokage' should not openly do could be entrusted to him.

"They're coming out?" Danzō was slightly startled and looked up. "Still four people?"

"Maybe the fourth one is Fugaku?" Koharu guessed.

"Possibly," Homura nodded in agreement. "He has always been compliant with us. Knowing that Hiruzen wants peace talks, he would definitely be willing to come out and meet."

Hiruzen also smiled: "I trust Fugaku."

During this conversation, they intentionally didn't lower their voices, letting everyone nearby hear it.

Sure enough, the surrounding ninja visibly relaxed.

"Moreover, he is someone who cares about the village and yearns for peace. I'm confident I can persuade him," Hiruzen said with a confident and reassuring smile.

It was like he could calm everyone's hearts with just a few words.

Seeing this, the surrounding jonin all relaxed their brows.

If a fight could be avoided, it should be.

If it really turned into a full-scale war between the Uchiha clan and Konoha, even if they won, the cost would be disastrous. Thus, on the matter of negotiations, they firmly supported and believed in the Third Hokage.

"They're here!" Koharu alerted everyone.

Immediately, all the jonin fell silent. All eyes locked onto the Uchiha clan district.

Hiashi hesitated for a moment but refrained from using his Byakugan, fearing it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

Tap tap tap...

Fugaku's figure appeared first before everyone's eyes. Following behind him, step by step, were Genma and two others.

"It's Fugaku!" A jonin cried out in a low but delighted voice.

Fugaku's appearance meant there was still room for negotiation, it wouldn't immediately escalate into all-out war.

"And he's uninjured."

"Yeah, there's no sign of battle on him."

"He's even wearing a woven hemp kimono."

"Looks like things are much better than we expected."

The jonin quietly assessed Fugaku and nodded to themselves. He wasn't in battle gear but in a loose kimono, and his body bore no wounds or traces of fighting. This indicated that the internal conflict within the Uchiha clan had been controlled.

Otherwise, as the clan's dove leader, he would never have appeared so at ease.

"Thank you, Fugaku, for still being willing to come see me," Hiruzen said, instantly putting on a tearful, emotional performance. He quickly stepped forward to greet Fugaku, trying to grasp his arm.

But Fugaku coldly brushed him off. "It's too early to be saying that."

"You're right, it's all my fault," Hiruzen said, unfazed by Fugaku's coldness. If it had been the Sarutobi clan that was attacked, he wouldn't have been in a forgiving mood either. The fact that Fugaku was even willing to come out and meet him was already extremely rare.

"It was my poor communication that led Itachi to misunderstand," Hiruzen said with guilt. "He was too desperate to resolve the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village. Constantly caught in the middle, the pressure on him was immense. I failed to notice in time and didn't properly guide him, that was a serious failure on my part."

As he spoke, Hiruzen bowed deeply with a sincere expression and apologized, "I'm truly very sorry, Fugaku."

The scene fell silent.

Everyone's eyes turned to Fugaku. As long as he accepted the apology, the peace talks would likely go smoothly.

"..."

But he remained silent.

Hiruzen stayed bowed for a long time, but with no response, he quietly sighed in his heart.

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy.

After all, Fugaku had lost his son, and many of his clansmen had been killed or injured, anyone would find it impossible to forgive so easily.

"I know you hate me, and blame me."

Hiruzen slowly straightened up, his voice trembling, his eyes full of sincerity. "But what about the village? What about the Uchiha? If we go to full-scale war, the consequences would be something none of us can bear. Do you really want to see Konoha's rare peace destroyed in the flames of war?"

Hiruzen's voice rose and fell with great force, thundering with passion. His emotions were full and overwhelming.

Even the surrounding jonin, who were still resentful deep down, couldn't help but be moved when they heard his words.

Yet Fugaku remained silent. His gaze even slightly lost focus, his attention clearly not on Hiruzen at all.

In his mind, he was thinking about what was happening elsewhere.

You should have arrived by now, right?

---

Outside Konoha, Junichi led a squad of clan members into a vast mountain range.

"Over there," one of the clan members pointed and said, "The Root base, our family has long suspected its location. We've been able to roughly pinpoint it to that area. But normally, there's never been a chance to get close."

Upon hearing this, Junichi lifted his gaze, spreading out his Observation Haki to sense the situation in that direction.

Mountains!

Mountains!

Mountains!

Artificial mountain!

Suddenly, on one small mountain, his Observation Haki picked up something different. The texture there was completely unlike the surrounding natural mountains.

"Found it." He spoke calmly, immediately giving the coordinates: "Two o'clock direction, 423 meters in a straight line."

"Let's move." Junichi said in a composed tone.

"Yes!!" the squad answered together, their spirits high.

They continued on, heading straight toward the direction he had indicated.

Within the squad, his eyes flickered with deep thought.

This team had taken the opportunity to launch an attack on the Root base.

Currently in Konoha, there were still the Nine-Tails and Guy. The Nine-Tails could be restrained with the Mangekyō, but if Guy opened all Eight Gates, he wasn't confident he could take him down.

Guy's personality was such that, if Hiruzen ordered him to die for Konoha, he really would stake his life without hesitation.

Thus, a direct frontal assault wasn't an option.