Even Uchiha Shisui found himself at a loss.
He had intended to use force to take Qianyu away—
But only on the condition that it would not escalate into a full conflict with the Uchiha clan.
Now that Fugaku himself had stepped forward, any further action would directly contradict Shisui's original purpose.
More importantly—
The Hokage's explicit mission to him was to suppress the rising hostility within the Uchiha clan.
If he attacked now, he would only pour fuel on the fire.
At last, Shisui spoke solemnly.
"Clan Head Fugaku, this matter has grown far too large.
Although Hiyū was stripped of his position by the Hokage, he was still the Sarutobi clan's long-standing leader…"
"I hope the Clan Head will consider the greater picture and truly hand Qianyu over to the Hokage for judgment."
Fugaku replied calmly,
"That is exactly my intention."
Shisui had no choice but to concede.
"Very well. Then let today end here.
From this point on, let the Hokage handle it personally."
With Shisui standing down, Sarutobi Shinnosuke could not act rashly either.
But the Sarutobi clan could not swallow this outcome.
"Is our clan head supposed to die for nothing?!"
"Today, we must avenge him!"
At this point, Shinnosuke had to step in instead.
"Everyone—Hiyū was my uncle.
His death pains me no less than it does you."
"But please trust the Hokage. He will give you justice."
"Do not act rashly and bring consequences you cannot bear!"
A Sarutobi ninja shouted angrily,
"So the ANBU are siding with the Uchiha now?!"
"You tried to stop us on the way here—
and now that our clan head is dead, you're stopping us again?!"
Shinnosuke nearly snapped.
His own ANBU subordinates had been killed by these people—
And now they dared accuse him?
Did they really think the ANBU were weak?
His voice turned ice-cold.
"The ANBU acted under the Hokage's orders."
"You killed my men to defy those orders.
That alone will be thoroughly investigated."
"And if you insist on causing trouble today—"
"The ANBU can play along."
A chilling, pitch-black chakra erupted from him.
The Sarutobi clansmen finally cooled down.
Hiyū was dead.
Even if they fought now, they would lose.
With no choice left, they collected Hiyū's body, glaring hatefully at Qianyu—and meaningfully at Shinnosuke—before retreating.
Shinnosuke exhaled deeply.
"Then I will wait for Clan Head Fugaku's fair handling of the matter."
The ANBU withdrew.
Only the Uchiha clan remained.
Fugaku finally released a long breath.
What almost happened today was open war—not just with the Sarutobi clan, but possibly with the entire Konoha leadership.
Had it truly erupted…
The Uchiha's fate would have been unimaginable.
He cast a deep, probing glance at Shisui.
Shisui's stance earlier had planted a seed of doubt in Fugaku's heart.
Fugaku knew Shisui was close to the Hokage—
But how close?
Most of the clan—even the hardline faction—considered Shisui their decisive trump card.
Without him, rebellion was almost impossible.
But if their strongest fighter had already become the Hokage's hound—
What future did the Uchiha still have?
Fugaku's gaze shifted.
To Qianyu.
Shisui, too, stared deeply at Qianyu.
Qianyu calmly sheathed his katana.
Uchiha Aoki, Yamafū, and the police force members who admired and followed him gathered instinctively at his side.
Seeing this, Shisui's unease only deepened.
He approached Fugaku.
"Clan Head, to truly calm things down, we should escort Qianyu to the Hokage as soon as possible."
Fugaku asked casually,
"Shisui—if a battle had truly broken out just now, what would you have done?"
"I…"
Shisui hesitated, then shook his head.
"It wouldn't have happened.
I would not allow the Uchiha to go to war with the village."
Fugaku frowned.
Shisui had answered—
Yet also hadn't.
Fugaku didn't press further.
"Qianyu. Come with me to see the Hokage."
Qianyu nodded.
Hokage Office
After hearing Shinnosuke's report, Sarutobi Hiruzen's face darkened completely.
He slammed his fist onto the desk.
"That idiot Hiyū!"
"Utterly useless! He actually did something this stupid—and even killed three ANBU!"
"He deserved to die!"
Shinnosuke said solemnly,
"Father—Hokage-sama…"
"Even so, we cannot allow both father and son to die at Uchiha hands without consequence."
Hiruzen closed his eyes—then opened them again.
"Of course not."
"Let them in."
Fugaku entered first.
"Hokage-sama, I've brought Qianyu."
Qianyu followed, expression calm as ever.
Hiruzen stared at him heavily.
"Clan Head Fugaku, you once promised strict discipline."
"Yet Qianyu has now killed both Sarutobi Jirō and Sarutobi Hiyū."
"Even if they were guilty—does he truly have the right to kill without trial?"
"At this point, you owe me an explanation."
Fugaku was about to speak—
Hiruzen waved him off.
"I don't want to hear empty words."
Qianyu spoke instead.
"Hokage-sama, where was I wrong?"
Hiruzen frowned.
Qianyu continued.
"If today the Uchiha openly led a force into the Sarutobi compound and declared war—
would the Sarutobi clan simply accept slaughter?"
Hiruzen replied sternly,
"As Hokage, my duty is to prevent any clan from killing one another."
"Exactly.
That is why I killed Sarutobi Hiyū."
"To prevent a civil war between the Uchiha and the Sarutobi."
Hiruzen fell silent.
"You're twisting logic."
"No.
If I hadn't killed him, the madman would have caused even greater bloodshed."
Qianyu glanced at Shinnosuke.
"Sarutobi Hiyū killed three ANBU, didn't he?"
Shinnosuke said nothing.
"Must we wait until he kills Uchiha members before we're allowed to fight back?"
"Hokage-sama, there is no such justice in this world."
"Sarutobi Hiyū was already a criminal—and killing ANBU is rebellion in any village."
"The man I killed was not a clan head."
"He was a madman."
"A rogue ninja."
"And I will never admit fault in killing a rogue ninja."
Hiruzen and Shinnosuke both frowned.
The argument was aggressive—
But not baseless.
Hiyū had lost his position by Hiruzen's own hand.
He had murdered ANBU.
And his armed incursion had been witnessed by nearly every clan.
There was no covering it up.
That damned fool…
Hiruzen cursed inwardly.