Root Headquarters, Konoha
Deep underground, a single lamp cast a narrow cone of light across stone walls.
Danzo Shimura sat alone, one eye fixed on a scroll in his hand. He read it once. Then again.After a long silence, a low, humorless chuckle echoed through the chamber.
"So Sarutobi gets away with it this time," he muttered. "External threats are settling down… but the Uchiha remain."
His visible eye narrowed.
The Uchiha were not a problem to be managed.They were a risk to be eliminated.
"Orochimaru," Danzo continued quietly, rolling the name across his tongue. "I hope this period of silence teaches you something."
The Hyuga and the Uchiha.
Two clans Konoha could never allow to grow unchecked.
Bloodlines changed the rules of war. Everyone in the shinobi world knew that.
A single elite jonin from a bloodline clan could hold off two of equal rank without falling behind. That wasn't theory. It was battlefield reality.
Veterans across nations understood it. The Sharingan most of all.
Danzo's fingers tightened slightly around the scroll.
The village could tolerate talent.It could not tolerate dominance.
Uchiha District
The relocated Uchiha compound lay far from the village center, surrounded by towering forest. The land was vast, newly built, and immaculate.
And unmistakably isolated.
Inside the clan head's residence, the faint cry of an infant carried through the halls.
In the main sitting room, Uchiha Yoru bowed respectfully.
"Clan Head. Lady Uchiha."
Fugaku Uchiha sat with measured composure. Beside him, Mikoto Uchiha poured tea with practiced calm.
"You're too formal, Yoru," Mikoto said gently, offering a polite smile. "Sasuke is still young. I hope the noise isn't a bother."
Fugaku allowed himself a rare smile.
"According to the clan registry," he said mildly, "you should call her sister-in-law."
Mikoto blinked in surprise.
Yoru did not hesitate.
"Sister-in-law. Clan Head."
The words landed exactly where Fugaku intended.
For Yoru, it was confirmation.He had stepped inside the circle.
In the shinobi world, politics followed strength. Without jonin-level ability, no one spoke at the table. With it, doors opened quietly.
At fifteen, with a two-tomoe Sharingan and elite chunin standing, Yoru's future was already clear.
Fugaku studied him carefully.
"Your talent is impressive," he said. "In the future… I hope Itachi will receive your guidance."
There it was.
Yoru smiled, polite and unassuming.
"If the clan entrusts him to me, I'll do my best."
Fugaku's expression softened with satisfaction.
This was not just mentorship.It was alignment.
Yoru was Orochimaru's student. If Itachi learned under Yoru, then even without Orochimaru present, that connection remained.
A line to power.A hedge against uncertainty.
Mikoto rose smoothly. "I'll bring Itachi."
As she left the room, Yoru lowered his gaze politely. For an instant, calculation flickered behind his eyes.
Mikoto Uchiha was no ordinary woman.Before marriage, she had been an elite jonin. Three-tomoe Sharingan. The daughter of a hardliner elder.
The Uchiha were never simple.
Two foxes smiled across the table, each convinced the exchange favored them.
Outside, the forest stood silent.
Inside, the future of the clan quietly shifted.