The moment Fugaku revealed the three severed heads—
the entire plaza fell into a deathly silence.
No one could speak.
No one even dared to breathe too loudly.
Shimura Danzō. Koharu Utatane. Homura Mitokado.
These weren't nameless corpses.
They were the kind of people who—under normal circumstances—could stomp once and make Konoha tremble.
And now they were… trophies.
"This is bad… Konoha's about to change."
"What do we do? Do we step in and suppress the Uchiha?"
"The Third Hokage isn't dead yet…"
"Since when did the Uchiha have this kind of backbone…?"
As the shock settled into a cold dread, the clan heads—Hyūga Hiashi, Akimichi Chōza, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Aburame Shibi—forced themselves to breathe and started calculating.
They weren't idiots.
If Danzō, Koharu, and Homura were dead…
then Hiruzen and the Uchiha were already past the point of no return.
This would end with a winner and a loser.
And the winner would take everything.
So the question became the only question that mattered:
Who do we stand behind?
Hiashi's eyes narrowed.
Chōza's jaw tightened.
Shikaku scanned the plaza with sharp, controlled calm—
then his brow creased.
"Where are the Sarutobi clan shinobi?"
He looked again.
Not a single Sarutobi uniform in sight.
That was wrong.
The Sarutobi were one of Konoha's major clans.
Fugaku answered coldly, as if he'd been waiting for someone to ask.
"Last night, Konoha's leadership decided to exterminate the Uchiha."
"So we counterattacked."
"We killed Danzō."
"We wiped out most of Root's elites."
Then he paused—letting the words sink in.
"And for retaliation…"
"We slaughtered every Sarutobi clan shinobi."
"And we went into the Hokage's office… and killed the elders."
The plaza sucked in air all at once.
You could hear the swallowing.
The sharp, involuntary hiss of fear.
But beneath that fear—
many shinobi felt a grim, ugly clarity settle into place.
So that's why.
The Uchiha weren't "rebelling for fun."
They'd been pushed to the edge.
Konoha's leadership tried to erase them—
and got their throats cut for it.
It was… embarrassing.
For the village.
For the Hokage.
Because if you strike first and still get butchered—
what does that make you?
Might Guy, Kakashi, Genma—many of them lowered their eyes, expressions tight, saying nothing.
As shinobi, they couldn't openly show it…
but the feeling was there.
This wasn't some simple "Uchiha evil" story anymore.
Hiruzen's heart felt like it was being carved open.
He stared at Ren like he wanted to burn him with his eyes.
Then he spoke—voice cold, heavy with doctrine:
"Where leaves dance… the fire lives on."
"You'll never understand how great the Will of Fire is."
"Without me—without Danzō, Homura, and Koharu—how do you think Konoha became the number one village in the shinobi world?"
His fists clenched.
Then his gaze snapped to the clan heads.
"Why are you standing there?"
"All of you—attack!"
"Kill Uchiha Ren!"
"And then wipe out the Uchiha—"
He didn't even look at Kakashi or Guy.
He knew the truth.
With Root destroyed and most ANBU knocked out earlier—
Konoha's remaining strength was in the clans.
If the clans moved, the outcome wasn't guaranteed.
But the clan heads almost choked.
Are you serious?
Your mess—dragging us into it?
Anyone with eyes could see it:
Konoha's leadership was already crushed.
Stepping forward now wasn't loyalty.
It was suicide.
And the Will of Fire?
That wouldn't stop a blade.
Hiashi didn't move.
Chōza didn't move.
Inoichi didn't move.
Shikaku felt Hiruzen's stare land on him—sharp, demanding.
Say something.
So Shikaku forced his face into something neutral and spoke with the smoothness of a man who'd survived Konoha politics for decades.
"Third Hokage… I believe you've always endured to protect the village."
Then he added—carefully:
"You should believe in yourself."
It wasn't support.
It was a polite refusal dressed as comfort.
The others immediately caught on.
"Yes—Third Hokage, believe in yourself."
"We trust you."
"Once you win… we'll help you handle the Uchiha."
Empty promises.
A wall of words.
A way to avoid committing.
Hiruzen's face turned uglier and uglier.
Finally—
he spat a mouthful of blood.
He hadn't expected it.
At the critical moment, the clans didn't back him.
They were abandoning him.
Betraying him.
"Heh…" Ren let out a small, amused breath.
He didn't care.
Clan heads were clan heads—every last one of them an old fox.
Konoha's leadership was clearly losing.
Who would step forward and die with them?
Besides—
even if they did choose a side…
Ren still wasn't worried.
He had a card left to play.
At that moment, a new commotion rose from the edge of the plaza.
Small voices.
Children.
"Grandpa Third—what's happening?"
"Third Hokage… who are you fighting?"
A group of five- and six-year-olds were guided forward by several Uchiha.
And if you looked closely—
they weren't random kids.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Hyūga Neji.
Hyūga Hinata.
Nara Shikamaru.
The future rookies of Konoha—appearing here, now.
The clan heads' faces went stiff.
Hiashi's blood ran cold at the sight of Hinata and Neji.
Shikaku's expression almost cracked when he saw Shikamaru.
Chōza's breathing went heavy.
"What the hell… that's Hinata—Neji too."
"Are the Uchiha using the kids as leverage?"
"So that's why…" someone muttered, shaken.
"Good thing we didn't choose a side."
The fear in the clan heads' hearts sharpened into a clear conclusion:
Ren's planning is too deep.
They'd all underestimated him—just like everyone else.
A mere "taijutsu elite jōnin"?
What a joke.
This was a man who struck where it hurt most, and didn't blink.
Ren looked at Hiruzen—eyes turning flat and cold.
"Alright."
"The weakest Hokage in history…"
"Let's begin."
He clapped his hands together.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Three clones burst out at once and shot into position—east, south, and west—forming a triangle around the plaza.
Then chakra surged.
"Three Directions Seal."
A green, translucent pyramid barrier unfolded between them—clear as glass, hard as iron—locking Ren and Sarutobi Hiruzen inside.
A cage.
A stage.
A public execution ground.
And in front of every clan, every shinobi, every child—
Ren was about to smash the Third Hokage into the dirt.
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