"Minato…"
"In any case, I will definitely do my best to help you too!"
Seeing the firm determination in Minato's eyes, Kushina knew there was no room for compromise on this matter.
Uchiha Fugaku?
Or…
Uchiha Madara?
In Kushina's view now, these were not undefeatable enemies. Even if these two Uchiha had secretly joined forces, with her power and the Nine-Tails' power, they definitely had the strength to fight.
Moreover, Konoha was her second home. Now that such a terrifying thing had happened, there was no way Kushina would stand by and do nothing.
"With great power comes great responsibility. As the village's next Hokage, I should be at the most dangerous place. And I believe the Uchiha Clan has not completely fallen… there might be some hidden circumstances involved."
"Besides, with both internal and external troubles, Konoha has no time to waste. If we don't handle this incident properly and force the Uchiha to rebel, it will likely plunge the village into an even more dangerous situation. Don't forget, besides this plague, we have an even greater enemy watching us covetously from Kirigakure not far away!"
"Quickly…"
"We must resolve this incident as soon as possible!"
Minato said resolutely. "The village needs the truth, and the Uchiha need the truth. For peace, for the inheritance of the Will of Fire, I fear no enemy, no matter how dangerous."
Clearly…
Minato had already made his resolution.
He knew this incident would not be simple. In fact, ever since Madara's body disappeared, the entire situation had become somewhat out of control for Konoha.
Hearing this, Kushina also fell into silence.
She knew Minato was right.
During the Third Great Ninja War, especially at this historical juncture with Sora becoming the Fourth Mizukage, Konoha was under immense war pressure.
Surrounded by powerful enemies, if internal problems arose, Konoha's war situation would only become more critical.
Especially this [Rotting Wood Sharingan Calamity]… in just two or three days, it had thrown Konoha's internal affairs into chaos.
Both the Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha side were preparing for conflict in an extremely tense atmosphere, and an uncontrollable civil war within Konoha could erupt at any moment.
"Most crucially, the source of this plague still hasn't been found. The ability to plunge over two thousand people into a comatose Genjutsu State in such a short time is not something just anyone can do."
Kushina also fell into deep thought. The foreign Chakra detected in the patients' bodies was incredibly powerful and complex. Even using the Byakugan or Sharingan to analyze it yielded no progress.
So, logically speaking, this plague incident was likely orchestrated behind the scenes by Madara, with the Uchiha Clan merely being the scapegoat on the surface.
The focus of the Konoha's leadership's investigation was also on this point. It wasn't that they looked down on the Uchiha Clan, but the Kage-level leaders, headed by the Third Hokage, were not easily fooled.
They could roughly gauge the level and caliber of the Genjutsu involved with a bit of study.
The Uchiha?
Don't be ridiculous!
If the Uchiha really had that level of skill, they wouldn't have been suppressed by the Konoha's leadership for decades, unable to lift their heads!
The only possibility was probably Fugaku.
The Uchiha Fugaku who repelled Yuki Sora.
Thinking of that Susanoo, which is larger than the Nine-Tails, a shadow fell over Kushina's heart. This seemed like a quite plausible conjecture as well.
In short,
The fact that even the Jinchuriki stationed at the front lines had returned showed how determined the Konoha's leadership was this time.
The investigation into this incident followed a principle of leaving no stone unturned. No matter who the mastermind was, even if it was the Third Hokage himself, once uncovered, they would be severely punished without leniency.
Because they had a general understanding of the Uchiha Clan's strength, the Konoha's high-level investigation team still maintained basic restraint.
But the Konoha civilians and ordinary Ninjas were not so rational.
2000 people!
A full two thousand people had fallen to the Rotting Wood Plague!
Among them, how many had families, friends, and bonds? This connected outwards, likely affecting over ten thousand people!
A victim network of over ten thousand people… imagine the terrifying pressure of public opinion!
In fact,
Starting from the second day of the Rotting Wood Plague, the Uchiha Clan's compound became lively.
Villagers surrounded it layer upon layer, their various ugly curses ringing out incessantly.
Not only that, there were people throwing paint, splashing dog blood, making straw effigies… everyone joining in the verbal and physical attacks, directly turning the entire Uchiha Clan's compound into a dumping ground for the Konoha's villagers to vent their anger.
The Uchiha Clan, having held the power of the Police Force, had already offended many Konoha's villagers in their daily lives.
Now, with such a major incident, not to mention the victims, there were plenty of people just seizing the opportunity to kick them while they were down.
"Pay with your lives! Pay with your lives! Pay with your lives!"
"Get out of Konoha! Uchiha, get out of Konoha!"
"Uchiha, give me back my hard-earned money! Give it back!"
"Scum! Garbage! Damned Uchiha!"
"What is the Third Hokage doing? Hurry up and drive these murderous demons out of the village! They must be tried and punished!"
"That's right! That's right! Everyone else is affected, why is it only you Uchiha who haven't caught the Rotting Wood Plague?"
"Three days, over two thousand people affected. Even by random chance, it should be your Uchiha's turn by now!"
Amid the rising and falling curses, the Uchiha Clan's reputation was completely ruined in Konoha.
If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't defeat them and lacked evidence, these onlooking, cursing villagers would probably have charged into the Uchiha Clan's compound to teach these scum a lesson.
"Damn it!"
"The Uchiha shall not be insulted!"
"Don't stop me! I'm going to kill those foul-mouthed lowlifes!"
"Where is Fugaku-sama?"
"Damn it, sometimes I even wonder if our Uchiha Clan did this. Yes, why is it only us Uchiha who are unaffected?"
"Could it be that the Uchiha bloodline has a strong resistance to this plague?"
"Just as I thought, the Uchiha are the noblest bloodline in the Ninja World!"
Inside the high walls, the Uchiha Clan's members also had very complex emotions. Some were grateful they weren't affected, some were proud of their noble bloodline, and some felt anger mixed with fear.
However, regardless of their emotions, under the orders of Fugaku, all Uchiha Clan's members were restrained within the high walls, not adding fuel to the fire outside.
Of course,
Some of the stronger Uchiha Jonin inevitably had intense and in-depth exchanges with Konoha's inspection teams.
Simply put, the Rotting Wood Plague came swiftly and fiercely. The investigation team led by Minato and Jiraiya couldn't afford to worry about colleague camaraderie anymore.
Many underhanded methods, like Genjutsu, torture, and threats, began to be used on a large scale.
Although Danzo was dead, his spirit of dark protection lived on.
As the interrogation methods grew more intense, the conflicts and contradictions between the Konoha's investigation team and the Uchiha became increasingly irreconcilable.
On the fifth day since the Rotting Wood Plague began, a Uchiha Three-Tomoe Jonin, unable to withstand the dual interrogation by Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi of the Torture and Interrogation Division, died on the spot.
This instantly brought the conflict between the two sides to a boiling point.
Although Fugaku was a representative figure who sought benefits through compromise, the Uchiha Clan was never short of ruthless individuals who would see red and act recklessly.
After that Jonin's death, Uchiha Jonin who could no longer contain their anger directly engaged in a armed fight with the Jonin from Konoha's Interrogation Division inside the Anbu's interrogation room.
The Uchiha Jonin and the Interrogation Division's Jonin fought fiercely. No one died, but even Ibiki had three fingers cut off, which shows how viciously both sides fought!
If Minato hadn't rushed to the scene upon hearing the news and promptly stopped the fight from escalating further, something even more unimaginable might have happened.
The situation was becoming increasingly uncontrollable.
What was particularly suspicious was that ever since Minato and Jiraiya took over personally monitoring Fugaku, the spread of the Rotting Wood Plague within Konoha instantly stopped.
For four consecutive days, there wasn't a single new patient.
This made the Konoha's leadership, who initially didn't quite believe the incident originated from the Uchiha, start to doubt their own logical judgment.
'Could it be…'
'That it really was Uchiha Fugaku's doing?'
'Otherwise, why would it be such a coincidence that everything stopped as soon as he was put under surveillance?'
Suspicion deepened, but there was still no concrete evidence. Hiruzen, concerned about his reputation, would definitely not order the elimination of the Uchiha Clan without evidence.
However, it had to be admitted that as the contradictions between the two sides deepened, more and more Konoha's Ninjas were growing increasingly hostile towards the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in the patients' eyes.
Anger was brewing.
…
Uchiha Clan's Compound.
The recent series of incidents had left Fugaku extremely agitated. Especially since Minato and Jiraiya followed him around like persistent shadows.
Only when he went to the clan's shrine to worship could he have a moment of freedom and peace.
Evening.
The sun was gradually setting.
Extremely frustrated, Fugaku came to the shrine again. He wanted to seek answers to this incident on the stone tablet.
'Perhaps if I look at the stone tablet with the Mangekyo once more, I will gain more information.'
Fugaku pondered, his expression gloomy as he walked into the shrine.
In the distance, Minato dismissed his attendants and stood alone at the shrine's entrance, his gaze focused and alert as he looked towards Fugaku.
'It seems there's no chance to look at the stone tablet today.'
Fugaku sighed softly. He couldn't possibly expose the Uchiha's core secrets to the Konoha's leadership's view, even if it was Minato. Absolutely not.
His heart felt oppressed.
When Fugaku entered the shrine, he didn't sense anything amiss at first. But suddenly, he saw, to his disbelief, a figure appearing before him.
"Someone?"
Fugaku looked up, sensing an incredibly dangerous pressure.
In his field of vision, the person who had suddenly appeared had the most unbelievable identity.
A handsome face, a white haori, and that seemingly ever-present faint smile.
"Uchiha Clan's head, Fugaku…"
"You'll have to take care of the aftermath of this incident."
Sora, clad in his white haori, stood at the center of the shrine, looking at the stunned Fugaku with a subtle expression.
"Minato!"
When Fugaku turned his head, his eyes were already crimson. Black tomoes spun… the Mangekyo Sharingan's pattern appeared.
However,
Before he could even see Minato's figure, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Looking down, a specially crafted Flying Thunder God kunai had, at some point, pierced through his chest.
"You…"
"You people… You… You are…"
Fugaku's gaze was maniacal and twisted as he looked at the two people present. One was the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure, the other was Minato, soon to become the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.
'Were these two actually standing together!?'
…
The night passed quickly.
Whether it was an illusion or not, many Konoha's Ninjas felt the night wind seemed colder than usual tonight.
However, the fact that there had been no spread of the Rotting Wood Plague in the village for several consecutive days allowed most villagers to enjoy a rare good night's sleep.
A peaceful night's sleep.
Time flew by.
Soon it was dawn.
Many households woke up early to start their new day.
The guarding Ninjas in the Hokage Building also reached the end of their shift. Several Jonin walked out of the building with hurried steps.
Having been on duty for 72 hours straight, they couldn't wait to go home and rest.
Exiting the Hokage Building, those Konoha's Jonins unanimously frowned because they could clearly smell a faint scent of blood permeating the air.
"What happened?"
Someone instantly became alert and looked up in the direction the smell was coming from.
Then,
They saw a horrifying scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Minato, the top candidate for Konoha's Fourth Hokage, the man with the ever-gentle smile, was impaled through the chest by a gleaming cold long sword, nailed to the Hokage Rock.
Blood cascaded down like a waterfall, madly splattering down, dyeing the sculpture of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, a terrifying crimson.
"Minato-sama…"
"Is dead!?"
A ferocious expression of rage instantly appeared on the faces of those Konoha's Jonin.