On the Uchiha side.
Many Uchiha Ninjas also had expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces. Their location was extremely far from the Hokage Rock, but news always found a way to reach them.
Soon, the Uchiha Ninjas confined within the compound learned the news that Minato had been nailed to death on the Hokage Rock.
It was too terrifying.
The news was too horrifying.
Petrified.
Stunned.
Horrified.
Ecstatic.
The expressions on every Uchiha Ninja's face became complex and fanatical.
Don't forget,
Minato was the strongest candidate for the Fourth Hokage. If he died, then the Uchiha Clan's head, Fugaku, would have a much greater chance of obtaining the Hokage's position.
At that time, the entire Uchiha Clan would ride the wave and restore the glory of the Uchiha of old.
"Make the Uchiha great again!"
"Banzai!"
"Long live Fugaku-sama!"
"This will be a day the Ninja World once again remembers the Uchiha!"
Many radical members of the Hardline Faction had extremely excited and thrilled expressions on their faces, as if they could already see the bright future, a future belonging solely to the Uchiha.
'Are you dreaming?'
'Minato-sama's corpse still bears the Mangekyo's pattern of your Fugaku-sama.'
'Great again?'
'Hmph...'
In contrast, the Konoha's Jonin monitoring the Uchiha Clan suppressed the anger in their hearts, glaring at the Uchiha Ninjas with eyes wide with fury.
Killing someone was one thing.
After all, Konoha's history was never short of internal strife. But internal strife to the point of nailing a political rival's corpse alive to the Hokage Rock was something that had never happened since Konoha's founding.
Arrogant.
This was simply too arrogant.
Even the notoriously proud Madara back in the day had never done something so inhuman and heinous within Konoha village!
'Fugaku…'
'You deserve to die!'
'You must pay the price for this!'
There were also Minato's direct subordinates whose hatred and killing intent were completely unconcealed.
This wasn't just a matter of emotional bonds… after Minato's death, their own vested interests would be greatly affected. The gazes fixed on the Uchiha were no different from those of man-eating beasts.
"Fugaku-sama?"
"Where is Fugaku-sama?"
"This is the time when we need him to take charge!"
Those Uchiha Ninjas who were still unaware of the impending disaster were eagerly searching for Fugaku within the compound. But the shrine was a place no one could enter without Fugaku's order.
Therefore, the radical Hardline Faction's Ninjas could only suppress the excitement in their hearts and wait anxiously outside the shrine, waiting for their clan head to reappear and lead the Uchiha Clan to glory.
…
Meanwhile,
After the rampant Tailed Beast's Chakra rampage, the outraged Kushina did not fully enter a Tailed Beast Transformation. She was clad in a deep red Chakra Cloak, inscribed with black patterns of tomoes and swirls.
This was the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, signifying that even in a state of extreme anger, Kushina still retained a final shred of reason deep in her heart.
'Konoha…'
'Is the home that Minato and I deeply loved. I absolutely cannot destroy Konoha!'
In her subconscious, Kushina was gnashing her teeth and roaring, but this did not mean her methods would become gentle or yielding.
That's right.
Just as she had said before, someone must pay the price, they absolutely must pay the price!!!
Not far away,
Dozens of elite Konoha's Jonins were also trailing behind Kushina, closely following. They didn't seem to have any intention of stopping her… instead, each of them had clearly visible killing intent on their faces.
Among them, there were also several very familiar figures.
Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Koharu, Homura, Inoichi, Yuhi Shinku...
Almost all the Ninjas who monopolized the power of Konoha's upper echelons were present in the group. This wasn't a chance gathering, but the result of numerous plans being completely detonated by the sudden surge of fury.
"The Uchiha have gone too far!"
The head of the Yamanaka Clan, Konoha's Elite Jonin, Inoichi, frowned deeply. He occasionally glanced back at Minato's corpse on the Hokage Rock, his eyes still showing extreme anger.
Provocation!
This is simply provocation!
The arrogant Uchiha, with their wolfish ambitions, their hearts deserve execution!
'At a time when the Rotting Wood Plague hasn't even subsided yet, the Uchiha actually dared to do something so insane. Has that man, Uchiha Fugaku, gone mad!?'
After all,
The Mangekyo's pattern in Minato's eyes… anyone in the leadership present who wasn't blind could see it was identical to Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Moreover, in recent days, due to the investigation into the Rotting Wood Plague, there had been significant conflict between Minato and Fugaku. The forces they represented had even nearly clashed several times.
Evidence was there.
Motive was there.
The perpetrator of the crime naturally needed no further suspicion!
The vast majority of the Konoha's leadership present, including Inoichi, had similar reasoning in their hearts. Even Konoha's supreme leader, Hiruzen, was no exception.
"Old man, if Kushina does something irrational later, should we intervene to stop her?"
The relatively steady Jiraiya asked with a grave expression.
"Stop him?"
Hiruzen's gaze turned cold. He took a deep breath, as if steeling his resolve, and said solemnly, "Severe laws are needed in turbulent times. At a moment like this, with both internal and external troubles, we cannot hesitate any longer. If the Uchiha Clan makes any radical moves of resistance, treat it as an act of armed rebellion."
"Those who participate in the rebellion are to be killed without exception."
Hiruzen's voice was full of killing intent. Compared to Koharu and Homura, his attitude towards the Uchiha was much softer.
But after all, the three were taught by the same teacher. No matter how soft, the inherent malice towards the Uchiha Clan in their bones was not the least bit less.
Moreover,
This incident had far crossed Hiruzen's bottom line.
After all, his personally chosen successor, Minato, had actually been nailed alive to the Hokage Rock by Fugaku.
To put it bluntly, the severity of this matter was probably no less than when Madara defected from the village back in the day.
A slap in the face!
A blatant slap in the face!
This time,
Konoha not only lost a Kage-level powerhouse who could suppress the Ninja World, but was also severely slapped in the face by the Uchiha Clan.
If they didn't handle this with thunderous means, the political prestige lost by the Konoha's leadership would never be recovered!
Kill!
Cold killing intent!
At this moment, Hiruzen had already mentally prepared himself for the situation to completely deteriorate.
Konoha, due to Minato's bizarre death, was completely plunged into a vortex of mad hatred.