Naruto's Strongest Force - Chapter 18
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The Third Hokage heard numerous roaring sounds on the way.
When he arrived in front of the Uchiha clan area, he saw swathes of Uchiha buildings smashed into rubble.
Amidst the rising dust clouds stood a gigantic orange Susanoo and another in dark purple.
The two colossal figures collided fiercely, the massive shockwave spreading dust in all directions.
“How could this be…” The Third Hokage stood dumbfounded.
How could Susanoo be this terrifying?
He was undoubtedly familiar with Susanoo, having been thoroughly taught by the Second Hokage, Tobirama.
It’s a powerful ninjutsu accessible only to Uchiha clan members who have activated the Mangekyo Sharingan, known as the power of gods.
Could both Fugaku and Itachi be Mangekyo Sharingan wielders?
Fugaku had never revealed this over the years.
Itachi is so young! And he’s a Mangekyo Sharingan wielder already.
And another, Shisui! The Uchiha clan has three Mangekyo Sharingan users!
Seeing nearly half of the Uchiha clan area leveled to the ground.
The Third Hokage was uneasy; with the Fourth unexpectedly deceased, Orochimaru had defected, and neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya was in the village.
Could he expect other ninja clans to fight desperately against the Uchiha?
The dust and the overwhelming chakra pressure made it impossible for anyone to approach or understand the situation.
Itachi’s voice faintly carried from within.
“Father, what’s there to linger in Konoha for? They dared to target Shisui’s eyes, and next, they will surely target you.”
Fugaku retorted loudly, “Stop it! We Uchihas have been a part of Konoha since its founding. Shisui’s incident was an accident, the Third will give us justice…”
Another loud boom drowned out the rest of his words.
More and more people gathered outside the Uchiha area, with the Hyuga clan arriving among the first.
Hyuga Neji activated his Byakugan, only to see two massive chakra constructs.
He couldn’t make out what was happening inside.
And the others couldn’t even get close.
After a while, the two Susanoo disappeared.
From the dust, Itachi’s voice emerged faintly, “Forgive me, father,” then gradually fell silent.
The Third Hokage then gestured, and everyone rushed into the scene.
They found Fugaku sitting on the ground, looking severely weakened.
His forehead was covered in sweat beads, his complexion pale.
His chakra had been overtaxed.
The Third Hokage jumped into the scene, urgently summoning medical ninjas for treatment.
The medical ninja can gather a lot of information once their chakra enters a ninja’s body.
Therefore, foreign medical ninjas are generally not allowed to treat one’s own.
But Fugaku was very cooperative.
He weakly opened his mouth, “Such misfortune, Third Hokage.”
“My son and Shisui… have defected…”
The medical ninja looked at the Third Hokage, meaning it was just chakra exhaustion with no injuries.
The Third Hokage silently pondered.
Then, a figure leaped into the scene.
Upon a closer look, it was Uchiha Natsu.
“Clan head, while you and Itachi were fighting, I moved the clan to a safe place, only some minor injuries, nothing serious,” he reported.
The Third Hokage’s eyes flickered uncertainly, then said, “What nonsense, Fugaku. It’s common for ninjas from Konoha to go out for training. Now, Itachi wants to go out for some training, there’s no problem.”
Natsu seemed stunned momentarily, then quickly chimed in, “Ah yes, yes, Itachi and Shisui just went out for training. Don’t think too much, clan head.”
Fugaku seemed unable to recover from the shock, staring blankly at the half-destroyed clan buildings.
Natsu supported Fugaku and told the Third Hokage, “Third Hokage, we Uchiha are very sorry for the disturbance caused this time. However, the clan head is severely injured now and needs treatment, we’ll take our leave now.”
The Third Hokage nodded, allowing Natsu to lead Fugaku away from the scene.
Other ninja clans were now gradually arriving at the center.
Seeing the surrounding devastated land, they could hardly believe their eyes; it looked like a tailed beast attack.
Everyone watched as the Third Hokage pondered, waiting for his decision.
After a long moment, the Third Hokage looked around at the ninja clans, seeing no hint of fighting spirit, only evasive eyes and retreating forms.
The Third Hokage took a puff of his cigarette and slowly exhaled.
“Tonight, the Uchiha have only left, there is no rebellion.”
The Third Hokage had thus framed the night’s events.
The surrounding ninjas relaxed and inspected the extensively damaged Uchiha clan area.
Because the Uchiha clan area is expanded every year.
And with Uchiha members dying in battle each year, much of the clan area was unoccupied.
Was it an accident or a staged act?
…
Natsu supported Fugaku back to his residence.
His weakness was not feigned; he had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan years ago.
Since he learned that using the Sharingan could lead to vision loss, he had never used his Sharingan.
His visual prowess has been very well preserved up to now, but having ample visual prowess doesn’t mean having enough chakra.
Just now, Fugaku’s maintenance of the massive first form of Susanoo nearly drained all his chakra, though it only destroyed some buildings in the clan area.
The same was true for Itachi, who had recently awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, even learning Susanoo from Fugaku on the spot. The destruction of much of the clan area nearly knocked Itachi out.
After all, Itachi was only 11 years old, and his body was barely able to handle such powerful chakra techniques.
Fugaku touched his blurry eyes, realizing his vision had deteriorated again.
“Natsu, can the Third see through this play?”
Natsu shrugged indifferently: “Of course, he can. Our plan is not a secret plot but a clear strategy. Even if the Third sees through it, he now dares not to break with us.”
“One, because the Uchiha have already voluntarily relinquished power. Two, because we Uchiha, um, have three Mangekyo Sharingan.”
“With the Hidden Cloud currently negotiating peace, if three of our Uchiha, with Mangekyo Sharingan, were to rebel against Konoha, even if Konoha could win, it would suffer heavy casualties.”
“Then, it would not be a negotiation coming from the Cloud, but an extermination.”
“We just need to follow the plan now.”
Fugaku, struggling with discomfort in his eyes, discussed further plans with Natsu, then entrusted the task of alleviating the clan to the Fourth Elder before falling into a deep sleep.
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