“This can no longer be tolerated!” The first to open her mouth after hearing Itachi’s report was Utatane Koharu.
An interrogation room in the Hokage Residence, used when the four ninjas who comprised the village executive were receiving critical reports. Four black chairs were set up at the long table, and seated in them, from right to left, were Mitokado Homura, the third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, and Danzo.
Itachi had requested an emergency meeting to report on the current clan situation, which he had been investigating together with Gozu and Mezu in the year since he had been made team leader, as well as the details of the incident at the meeting the previous day.
According to Gozu, who had remained at the meeting after Itachi left, the details of the plot had been made known.
The date for the coup d’état is ten days from now … The plan was to begin with the Hokage attack team led by Yashiro.
“If they are calling for revolution, and intending to usurp the government, then we will be forced to declare the Uchiha traitors to Konoha.”
“Koharu, stop! Don’t get ahead of things,” Hiruzen chided the imperious older woman.
Danzo stared at him with a cool gaze. “But, Hiruzen,” he said, quietly. “The Uchiha clan can no longer be stopped. In which case, in order to avoid chaos, we must strike as soon as possible … That also means the children, who know nothing of this plot.”
“That is not something to be said in front of Itachi!” Hiruzen snapped, as Itachi simply watched. The fox mask on his face looked out into empty space.
On the surface, Hiruzen’s words could have been taken as a kindness, but hidden in them was also proof that the Hokage was thinking the same thing as Danzo. Hiding ugly things from people’s eyes like this was the true nature of this village.
“And if it comes to civil war with the Uchihas, it will be no simple matter,” Hiruzen continued. “We must have some kind of plan.”
Exactly how seriously has he thought about the Uchihas?
Itachi had his doubts about Hiruzen. Despite his concerns of civil war, he hadn’t once come to speak directly with Fugaku and the others. And it was Hiruzen who had removed Shisui from his regular duties, and allowed him to maneuver in secret. On the surface, he spoke as if from the heart, but in making Itachi independent as a team leader, so he could continuously monitor the clan, Hiruzen was doing the same thing as Danzo.
The discussion continued.
“It is a race against time.” Danzo around looked at the others. “We must strike first, before they can act. If you and I join together, along with our Anbu, for a surprise attack from behind, it will soon be over.”
“The Uchiha were our comrades-in-arms … Rather than force, I’d like to try talking with them.”
Why didn’t you show that determination sooner? It’s too late now, Itachi murmured to himself.
“I’ll think of a plan,” Hiruzen told Danzo, and then abruptly turned his eyes on Itachi. “Itachi. Buy us as much time as possible. Every little bit helps.”
Wasn’t there a man who had already given his life to buy that “as much time as possible?” The old people here had simply wasted the year Shisui traded his life to produce, instead of working out some concrete plan. The coup was in ten days. What would buying any more time for these old people accomplish?
“Understood.”
“We’re counting on you, Itachi.”
Distress bleeding into it, the hoarse voice of Hiruzen, forced to go against his own true feelings, sounded hollow to the ears of Itachi.
“Hiruzen might have said all that, but when push comes to shove, he’ll protect Konoha. He’s that kind of man. And when push does come to shove, he’ll have to take firm measures as the Hokage,” Danzo told Itachi quietly, as they stood in the courtyard of the Foundation mansion.
Danzo’s soul hadn’t stopped shaking since hearing Itachi’s report.
The coup, in ten days. The time had come at last. He would finally be able to remove the biggest obstacle threatening the security of the village. Danzo trembled with glee at being able to personally put an end to the history of enmity that went back to the founding of Konoha.
Itachi listened silently. He was a clever boy. In the interrogation room, he had seen it in Hiruzen’s attitude, so replete with self-righteousness and hypocrisy. He had already grasped Danzo’s true intentions. Or rather, the idea had sprouted in Itachi’s own heart when his brethren accused him of the death of his good friend Shisui. That idea was now simply overlaid on the image Danzo had spent long years drawing.
Yes. The two of them standing in that spot at the moment were of one mind.
“Whether it turns into a war or not,” Danzo began calmly, looking at the silent Itachi, “at the moment the coup occurs, the fate of the Uchihas will be annihilation.”
The plan the Uchihas had put together was simply too crude. Swept away in a flood of emotion, they overestimated their own power. To him, their plan was like a sad little poem written by a sentimentalist despairing of this world, and ending his own life.
He did find it a little sad that the genius Itachi had been born into such a sorry clan. But no one could escape fate. At the moment he was born an Uchiha, Itachi’s path was set.
The path of destruction …
Danzo readied himself to scatter the bait. “Including your little brother, who knows nothing of all this. But if it’s before the coup, there is a way to save your brother, at least.”
Itachi might have done it even without the bait. That was how strong the faith of the boy in front of him appeared. He had tried so very seriously to realize his outrageous dream of eliminating war from this world. That sentimentalism was the Uchiha clan. Given that he held this anti-war conviction so firmly, perhaps Itachi would have accepted Danzo’s proposal even without the bait of his younger brother’s life. But Danzo was the sort of man who took every precaution. And Itachi’s brother’s life, in compensation for the extermination of the Uchiha, was too good of a deal.
What on earth did Itachi think of a cowardly act like threatening his younger brother? His face was frozen, impossible to read; the boy did not so much as twitch.
This was the time to strike. If he had the leeway to inquire into Itachi’s mental state, then he must strike without stopping.
“Once it actually happens, your brother will learn about everything. If he sees his clan obliterated by the ninjas of Konoha, he will come to nurture a desire for vengeance on the village.” First, focus Itachi’s thoughts on Sasuke. Then turn Itachi’s eyes away from his brethren’s obliteration, and give him a just cause, in the name of saving his little brother’s life. “Once that happens, there’ll be nothing left but to have your brother die.”
“… Is that a threat?” Itachi was indeed not to be dealt with by ordinary means.