According to Kakashi's intel, the Right Minister, Miura Kazuo, was not an upstanding official by any means. He was greedy and lecherous, using his power to amass wealth and keep numerous concubines. But Seiryu also saw the late daimyo's shadow in him—Miura was likely the daimyo's hatchet man.
Recently, Miura's faction had been losing badly to Abe Taiichi's. If not for Orochimaru's attack, Miura would soon have been purged.
Thus, with the old daimyo dead and Seiryu in power, Miura and his allies saw him as a lifeline. They pledged loyalty without even being asked.
Seiryu was happy to accept—having something on Miura made him easier to control.
Now, Seiryu had full control of the capital. Miura's amassed fortune was his for the taking.
With the formalities complete, Seiryu was now the widely accepted Grand Minister.
Even Abe Taiichi had to accept it. Yet, seeing Seiryu standing before the officials in the Grand Minister's robes, a strange light flickered in his eyes.
….
In the following days, the officials noticed all decisions required Seiryu's approval. Compared to the four-year-old on the throne, Seiryu was the true ruler. Abe Taiichi and his allies grew anxious, especially when Seiryu held back all requests to repair the palace damaged by Orochimaru and Manda.
Rumors spread that the dragon vein beneath the capital was depleted and could no longer protect the realm, hence the disaster at the palace. With Konoha ninja in control, it was clear Seiryu had spread this rumor and was delaying repairs for a reason—he wanted to move the capital.
One evening, after work, Abe Taiichi's faction snuck through secret passages to a hidden chamber in his mansion.
With Miura's faction now resurgent under Seiryu's support, and with Seiryu gathering all evidence against them, Abe's group knew a reckoning was coming.
Once assembled, someone immediately complained, "I cannot understand why the late daimyo left such a will. Uchiha Seiryu is arrogant, holding all power, and the court is overrun with traitors. If this continues, the nation is doomed."
Others wept, and Abe Taiichi sighed.
But their complaints were useless. The gathering was little more than a support group. With the entire capital under Seiryu's control, the sight of his Susanoo repelling Orochimaru was like seeing a god for them.
Suddenly, a stranger's voice sounded in the secret room, startling everyone.
"Who's there?" Abe Taiichi cried.
From the shadows emerged a man with a blank forehead protector and a sash bearing the Fire symbol.
"You?" someone recognized him as Kazuma, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Abe Taiichi calmed down, knowing of Kazuma's ideology—that ninja power should belong to the daimyo, not the Hokage.
"Since you speak so, do you have a way to deal with Uchiha Seiryu?" Abe Taiichi asked.
"Of course," Kazuma nodded. "He's strong, but not invincible. I know a technique to summon the dead. If I summon my former comrades, the Four Lightning Users, and set up a combination jutsu—Lightning Release: Lightning Dream—around Uchiha Seiryu's residence, everything within its range will be reduced to ash. Even Orochimaru wouldn't dare face it. It should kill Uchiha Seiryu."
"Really?" Abe Taiichi was delighted.
"But," Kazuma continued, "the technique requires rare materials, and I don't have enough."
"Take whatever you need from our homes," Abe Taiichi said.
"You are the pillars of the Land of Fire!" Kazuma exclaimed.
"Do not say that; this is dangerous, but for the sake of the nation, please proceed," the others urged.
…
In a lavish tea room of a small noble's house appropriated for his use, Seiryu calmly brewed tea.
"You seem quite at ease," said Kakashi, now the city's security chief, as he entered with a smile.
"You know, even a minor noble here lives better than our Uchiha clan," Seiryu laughed, glancing at the antiques in the room.
"Your assassins are on the way," Kakashi handed over an intelligence report.
The officials' secret meetings were a joke to Konoha's elite jonin, and Kazuma's stealth skills were no match for a seasoned ninja like Kakashi.
Seiryu read the report and laughed. "Trying to kill me with Lightning Release? That's funny."
"What do we do with these conspiring ministers? They have plenty of wealth," Kakashi asked. He'd been eyeing the officials' fortunes for some time—if not for Seiryu's plan, he'd have raided them already.
As for Kazuma's plan, Kakashi wasn't worried. As a Lightning Release expert himself, he knew Seiryu's mastery was so complete that any lightning attack would be absorbed and used by him.
"We'll wait until they make their move. Once they do, I won't need to be polite anymore," Seiryu said with a smile.
"If not for the need to stabilize the Land of Fire before going to war with the rest of the ninja world, I'd have purged the capital already. Back in the village, I played along with Hiruzen Sarutobi out of concern for Konoha. But here, with these officials and nobles, I have no such restraint."
"Oh, and keep an eye on Asuma. If necessary, send him back to the village. Lord Third has suffered enough—he doesn't need to lose his son in his old age."