Chapter 254: When Patience Wears Thin
Uchiha Fugaku.
The moment he was chosen to lead the Uchiha clan, he swore to protect them and carry their fate on his shoulders. Unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke.
The proud Uchiha, the same Uchiha who had helped build Konoha, were now being ostracized, hated, and pushed aside by the very village they belonged to.
When Fugaku finally gained the highest authority within the clan, he discovered a truth that left him cold.
The Uchiha were walking on thin ice.
The village's wariness, and the Hokage's wariness, were not subtle. Fugaku saw it all. He watched the clan assigned a new "station," a compound that looked larger on paper but was in truth far from Konoha's center.
He wanted to curse.
But when he looked behind him and saw the clan members following him, and the children who had done nothing wrong, he swallowed the words. He said nothing and secured what he could.
The Konoha Military Police Force.
From the outside, it looked like status. Like trust. Like a bright stage.
In reality, it was a bottomless pit.
The Military Police Force became a symbol that made countless people dislike them. That bewildered Fugaku at first. Was this what the Second Hokage had intended? Had Senju Tobirama created the Military Police Force specifically to place a leash on the Uchiha?
Yet the previous clan head had once said that Tobirama's suspicion was not unique to the Uchiha. He had been equally wary of any clan in Konoha that might threaten the village.
Fugaku barely had time to settle his thoughts before everything began to shift.
Wars, rebellion, and internal unrest forced him to swallow every protest he had ever wanted to voice.
The clan itself began tearing apart.
Doves. Hawks. Neutrals.
Every meeting turned into endless arguing. Endless accusations. Endless confrontation. Fugaku was worn down in body and mind, but what distressed him even more was the absence of truly outstanding talent within the clan.
Someone like him.
Someone who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
There had been a time when the Mangekyo was not so rare among the Uchiha. Now the clan had deteriorated to the point where few could awaken it at all, and the younger generation treated it as a legend.
A clan facing a generational gap.
A village that feared and excluded them.
Clan members split into three factions, constantly clashing.
Fugaku was exhausted, yet he still forced himself to maintain balance, because if he did not, the clan would collapse from within before the village ever lifted a finger.
"…I've done so much. I've paid so much." Fugaku clenched his fists as he stared at the mission report on his desk. "But what about the village?"
Another team of Uchiha shinobi had gone out on a mission.
All killed in action.
No survivors.
This was already the third group lost outside the village. Not one had returned, and each report carried the same common thread.
They were all Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan.
Fugaku lowered his head.
Ever since Shisui had defected from Konoha with his son and some members of the clan, the Uchiha's situation in the village had become even worse.
Around the clock, ANBU and Root shinobi lingered outside the Uchiha district. The village called it protection.
Fugaku knew what it really was.
Surveillance.
At the same time, internal conflict only intensified. More and more clan members demanded to reclaim the Uchiha's glory by force. Defectors from the dove faction and even the neutral faction began to increase.
Because more and more Uchiha felt the village's butcher knife was already pressed against their throats.
As clan head, Fugaku knew he had to do something. So he stepped forward and went to negotiate with the Third Hokage.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each time, he received the same evasions.
"The Elder Council still needs to organize research."
"This matter needs consideration."
"They died in battle. Are you questioning the village?"
Day after day.
Week after week.
Patience was shaved away by endless avoidance, and anger grew under constant prevarication. When those forces finally met, change became inevitable.
"…Fugaku, didn't I tell you?" The Third Hokage glanced at him while holding his pipe, his voice heavy with weary restraint. "The matter you mentioned still needs to wait until the Elder Council meeting at the end of the month before it can…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not finish his sentence.
How many days had it been already?
Fugaku was like chewing gum stuck to the sole of his foot, clinging and refusing to come off, endlessly irritating.
"Lord Sarutobi," Fugaku said, his gaze locked on the Hokage's face, "the Uchiha clan loves Konoha deeply. But has Konoha ever loved us?"
It was the same answer every time. This month became next month, next month became the one after that.
So was Hiruzen planning to push this problem into the next era? Was he going to dump it on the Fifth Hokage and let the next generation solve it?
The way the village was acting now made Fugaku feel like the Uchiha might not even have a next generation left to see.
The hand holding the pipe paused.
Hiruzen looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the anger in Fugaku's expression. It was no longer hidden, no longer restrained, and the sight made him frown.
"Fugaku, what do you mean by that?" Hiruzen tapped his pipe lightly. It was a signal, a warning to the ANBU guards outside. "Konoha belongs to everyone. Don't say things that are detrimental to…"
"Lord Sarutobi, I only want an explanation." Fugaku's breathing deepened. He stepped forward and slammed his hand down on the Hokage's desk.
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened. He set his pipe aside. He could tell Fugaku was serious.
"Can our Uchiha clan still live safely in this village?" Fugaku forced each word out, his voice low, rough, and shaking with restrained fury.
Hiruzen's gaze flicked to Fugaku's hand.
The pressure was so heavy that cracks had spread across the desk's surface.
"Are you questioning the village's investigation?" Hiruzen asked coldly.
He could not admit the truth. Not casually, not openly.
He could not admit that the missing Uchiha were killed by him and Danzō, and then sent to Kenichi and Orochimaru for research.
He could know such things, but he could not allow others to know. At the very least, there could not be clear evidence tying it back to him.
As for Fugaku's accusations, Hiruzen had a familiar answer already prepared.
Naturally, it was the "evil Uchiha" stirring internal conflict within Konoha's clans.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was skilled at that sort of framing.
Fugaku stared at the Third Hokage, who still refused to admit anything, who still refused to give even a shred of sincerity.
Disappointment flooded Fugaku's chest like bitter smoke.
Was this Konoha?
The Konoha his ancestors had built side by side with the Senju?