Chapter 48: The Uchiha Clan's Radical Faction and Their Excited Plans
Konoha, November 11, Year 38.
This was the day Li Yao had first arrived in the Naruto world—
And the day the delegation from Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning arrived in Konoha proposing an alliance.
Konoha, faced with such a proactive gesture from one of the Five Great Nations, treated the proposal with the highest seriousness.
The Third Hokage personally went to the village gate to welcome the delegation.
However… wasn't this group a little too large?
Looking at the thirty-strong envoy approaching, the Third felt a wave of unease.
Typically, diplomatic envoys from one village to another consisted of four to five people, never more than ten.
Kumo had sent thirty?
The Third had a bad feeling. Clearly, this alliance was more complicated than it seemed.
Still, he hoped the deal could go through.
If Konoha could truly form an alliance with Kumo, the pressure of war would immediately lessen.
But… was Kumo really here to talk about alliance?
After entering the village and being subtly nudged by the Third toward negotiations, the envoy showed no urgency about the matter. Instead, they used the excuse of "needing time to better understand Konoha" to delay the talks.
They said they wouldn't decide anything until they were sure Konoha was a trustworthy ally.
"How do you plan to 'understand' Konoha?"
The Third's brows furrowed. As a former enemy, he knew full well Kumo already had plenty of intel on Konoha.
The Kumo representative smiled, "We've long heard Konoha is a peace-loving village. We simply wish to stay for a while and see for ourselves if the reputation matches reality."
Right… no one believes that. The Third's gaze flickered. He knew Kumo had come with ill intent.
"Fine. But no more than half a month."
Even knowing Kumo was up to something, he had no choice but to agree.
But the time limit was non-negotiable. He couldn't allow them to openly gather intelligence without restriction.
And, of course, they would be secretly monitored.
However, it couldn't be ANBU or Root doing the watching.
That would give the delegation an excuse to claim Konoha wasn't serious about peace.
In the end, the Third assigned the surveillance to the Konoha Military Police Force—led by the Uchiha Clan.
Their job was to protect the village anyway.
Framing it as "protecting" the Kumo envoys, the Uchiha could observe them openly. Even if Kumo realized they were being watched, they couldn't object.
Though the Uchiha weren't on good terms with the Third, he trusted that even their radical faction shared his stance when it came to defending the village. They wouldn't slack off or allow Kumo to get away with anything.
And even if something did happen, with him, Lady Mito, and the elite Sarutobi guard in the village, the Third wasn't afraid of any Kumo schemes.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated.
He didn't know Kumo's true objective.
Nor did he know that the Uchiha's radical faction was more confident—and more radical—than he ever imagined.
Things the Third thought would harm Konoha…
The Uchiha radicals believed would benefit both the village and themselves.
That difference in perspective would make what came next far more complicated.
Three days later—
Despite Kumo's best efforts to shake their tail and move covertly, they were still exposed by the ever-present eyes of the Uchiha Police Force.
After all, this was Konoha.
And when your enemies possessed eyes that could literally see chakra, escaping detection was near impossible.
To their credit, the Kumo envoys lasted three days before their true motives were uncovered.
And they got lucky—because the ones who discovered them were members of the Uchiha's radical faction.
These radicals did not report the discovery that Kumo was investigating Uzumaki Kushina, the next Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Instead, they kept it to themselves, quietly spreading the intel among the higher-ups within their own faction.
In the entire shinobi world, aside from the Uzumaki Clan—who had both sealing expertise and massive chakra reserves—only one other clan could feasibly suppress the Nine-Tails:
The Uchiha.
While their chakra volume didn't match the Uzumaki, it was still far beyond what most ninja clans possessed.
After all, they had fought the chakra-heavy Senju clan for centuries without being overwhelmed.
And they had something else:
The Sharingan.
Its eerie eye chakra was full of hatred and malice—sometimes even more than the Nine-Tails itself.
Which meant they could resist its corruption.
With sealing jutsu in hand, the Uchiha were fully capable of becoming jinchūriki—taking control of the Nine-Tails, which had always been the Hokage faction's exclusive weapon.
For Konoha, the Nine-Tails had become a symbol of the Hokage's authority.
If the Uchiha gained it, many would assume—subconsciously or not—that the next Hokage was destined to come from their clan.
And that assumption was critical.
The Uchiha radicals needed it desperately.
With the Nine-Tails, they'd gain strength, prestige, and legitimacy.
The Hokage's seat would be within reach.
So when they realized Kumo intended to kidnap Kushina, to dissect her sealing chakra and sever the Uzumaki line—
It perfectly aligned with the Uchiha radicals' goals.
This was an opportunity.
An opportunity for the Uchiha to seize the Nine-Tails.
The radicals saw it instantly.
And they acted.
They staged a casual, drunken conversation and "accidentally" let it slip that Mito Uzumaki, on the last night of every month, spent three hours alone reinforcing the Nine-Tails seal.
During this time, she was isolated in a chamber, with her full attention on the sealing ritual. The seal formation blocked all chakra-sensing abilities.
At that moment, the Senju Clan's compound would be at its weakest.
And since Kushina was an outsider, even though she lived in the Senju compound, she stayed on the edge.
If Kumo moved quickly, with the Uchiha's support, they could easily extract her from the village.
Once she was gone, and Kumo stirred up chaos from within—
There would be no way for her to return.
When Mito died, the Nine-Tails would break free.
And who could subdue the rampaging beast?
Only the Uchiha.
Only the Sharingan could pacify the Nine-Tails and seal it once more.
In that moment, they would become heroes of the village.
And no one would dare oppose their rise to power.
The radicals were thrilled at the thought.
With their help, Kumo could move more freely.
Information about Kushina was quickly fed to the envoys.
And thus, under the silent blessing of the Uchiha radicals—
A plan to capture Uzumaki Kushina was quietly set in motion.
(END CHAPTER)
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