Naruto: Unhinged Uchiha

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“How much longer...” Hiruzen murmured impatiently as he paced around outside a room, while on the other side of the door, Fugaku was undergoing medical treatment after being brought back to the village.

The exiled Uchiha had led an ANBU squad and was supposed to eliminate Uchiha Souta, Uchiha Satoru, and Uchiha Kurumi in the land of That… but… the entire plan had ended in failure. Not only were the Uchihas not eliminated, but it was the ANBU and Root ninjas who were there to assist Fugaku that were killed and brought back as corpses by the Uchihas.

Kanzou had even openly shown them off in the Hokage’s office while asking for an explanation.

At that time, Fugaku had also gone missing, and Hiruzen wasn’t even sure if Fugaku was still alive…

Kanzou insinuated that Fugaku was alive and asked to put a bounty on Fugaku’s head, which meant that Fugaku was alive, but only now that Fugaku has been brought back, Hiruzen has confirmed that Fugaku is indeed alive.

It’s just that he was brought back in somewhat terrible physical condition, which made it obvious that he had encountered a lot of trouble, and Hiruzen wanted to question him, but he had to wait for a while until the medical-nin healing Fugaku came out.

As he continued to pace around while the Eagle-masked ANBU watched in silence, the door was finally pushed open, and a short, middle-aged Kunoichi with some wrinkles on her face and long brown hair tied in a ponytail stepped out.

Hiruzen immediately stepped forward, questioning her, “Biwako… how is Fugaku’s condition?”

Indeed, the kunoichi who provided medical treatment to Fugaku was none other than the wife of the Sandaime Hokage and the mother of Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Sarutobi Asuma, Sarutobi Biwako.

Aside from being the wife of Hiruzen, Biwako herself is a Jōnin with somewhat good strength for a woman… and her main field is, of course, medical ninjutsu.

Yes, she too is a medical kunoichi. Although she is nowhere near as good as someone like Senju Tsunade, she is still quite good.

A testament to her talent and expertise is also the fact that in the canon, it was she who delivered the protagonist Uzumaki Naruto out of his mother’s womb.

It’s a pity that the Sage of Six Paths wasn’t benevolent to her as moments after delivering the son of the plane, she was killed by the masked Obito, who took the baby Naruto hostage in an attempt to divert Namikaze Minato’s attention so that he could take away Kushina for his plan of unleashing the Nine-tails on Konoha... but… that’s canon and a matter that’ll only occur several years later since the current Obito is only a brat…

That aside, the current Biwako is only 47 years old, alive, and is also dealing with the rumors defaming Hiruzen…

Because of the rumors, Hiruzen has been very reluctant to face her… and if not for this situation, he’d not have brought her to the ANBU base.

It’s just that he needed someone to heal Fugaku, and Biwako seems the only logical option.

It’s also because Shinnosuke already knows that Hiruzen is still in the village and working from the ANBU base, so Hiruzen could no longer hide himself from his wife for much longer and had her come here to heal Fugaku.

As for why Biwako is the only logical option? Does that mean there are no other medical ninjas in the village that are as good as her?

Whether that’s true or not is not so important. What’s important is that the news of Fugaku being brought back to Konoha is a secret. Hiruzen can’t afford to let this matter spread since he doesn’t want Uchiha Kanzou to learn of it. Thus, he could only entrust someone like Biwako with Fugaku’s treatment.

Noticing her husband’s expression, which was very concerned about Fugaku, Biwako pressed her lips in dissatisfaction, thinking in her heart, ‘You are so concerned about an Uchiha… but… about me… You don’t seem to show such concern.’

She was unhappy and responded in that tone, “It was just some fractures and muscle tears… I have healed him, so there shouldn’t be any problem as long as he rests for a while…”

“I see…” nodded Hiruzen, ignoring her unhappy tone, and began to make his way inside the room while saying to her, “You can return to the Clan compound…”

Biwako’s expression flickered. She was more dissatisfied with Hiruzen completely ignoring the big elephant in the room that needed to be addressed.

But just because he didn’t want to address that matter doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to address it either, and asked him, “Is that all you have to say to me…?”

Hiruzen paused for a moment, sighing.

It was fine if she didn’t bring up the matter… but now that she has brought it up, it made things a little difficult for him.

“Do I need to explain anything? Those are just rumors… I think you should know better than to pay attention to some pointless chatter…” he said, turning around.

“Are they, though? Are those really rumors?” Biwako asked back, clenching her fists. As his wife, who has been married to him for nearly three decades, isn’t she familiar with him? She won’t say anything about any other women or the so-called illegitimate son... but Utatane Koharu... Doesn’t she know the kind of relationship he has had with her for all these years…?

It’s just that even if Biwako has known in her heart, she has been silent all this time.

The reason for her silence… There were a few… such as herself not being beautiful enough, herself not being satisfactory enough for him, herself not being able to conceive a child for him for many years despite trying for a long time…

Indeed, despite being married to Hiruzen for almost three decades, it was only after almost a decade of ‘effort’ that she managed to conceive her first child… Shinnosuke… and after another decade of trying, was Asuma born…

Because of her being not good enough, Biwako has remained silent about whatever was happening between Hiruzen and Koharu, acting as if she were clueless about it. It would have been fine if the matter had never broken out; she would have continued to remain clueless and ignorant, continued to be the devoted wife of Hokage and Patriarch of the Sarutobi Clan. But now that the matter has broken out, she couldn’t remain silent anymore; she had to confront him.

But Hiruzen refused to admit anything. “Those really are just rumors. They have nothing to do with me. You have to trust me rather than pay attention to some rumors...”

“Even now… are you going to say this…?” She felt heartbroken. Her voice trembled slightly as she continued, the pain and years of suppressed emotions rising to the surface. “Do you really think I don’t know? After all these years… do you think I’m blind?”

Hiruzen’s expression flickered in discomfort. He had always relied on her silence. Now that the silence was breaking, he felt uncomfortable. Not wanting to deal with it, he tried to evade, “…Biwako, right now, your emotions seem to be all over the place, so it’s not really the time to talk. Moreover, there are also more pressing matters that I need to deal with.”

“More important matters… haha… is that so… I see… So… you are just going to evade…” responded Biwako, laughing self-deprecatingly.

Hiruzen could sense the anger and dissatisfaction in her voice. It was so obvious not to notice, but he really didn’t want to discuss anything with her on this matter and squeezed her shoulder to convey the message.

From his hand squeezing her shoulder, Biwako felt a little pain. It was clear that he was giving her a massage to not make things difficult for him… She understood that very well… and could only lower her head in obedience.

Satisfied with her obedience, Hiruzen instructed her, “You should go home and calm down… We’ll talk later.”

“…” She didn’t give a response, just gave him a cold, hurtful glance before she turned and walked away without another word, her steps heavy with unresolved pain and resentment.

Hiruzen watched her leave and sighed before shaking his head and turning around, stepping into the room.

The Eagle-masked ANBU, who had been there all along, feeling embarrassed and minimizing his presence to not make things awkward, silently followed after the Hokage.

...

When Hiruzen stepped into the room, he noticed Fugaku was already putting on his clothes and armor as if ready to head out…

Sensing people walk inside, he turned around and noticed Hiruzen. He spoke, “Hokage-sama… I was just about to come over to report…”

“It’s okay… I am already here…” Hiruzen said and sat down on a chair brought over by Eagle as he asked the former Uchiha heir, “Fugaku… tell me… what exactly happened?”

Even now… he doesn’t exactly know what exactly happened in the mission. The report Kanzou gave to him at that time obviously didn’t mention anything related to the assassination at all, so he is completely clueless and can only wait for Fugaku to explain.

Fugaku was a little hesitant. It’s not that he didn’t know what to say… It’s more like he felt ashamed. Even though he was given so many ANBUs to work with… and also given the ROOT ninjas for the assassination of very few Uchihas, yet he had failed… not only had he failed, but was also beaten very badly… how to explain that? Wouldn’t it lower his opinion and credibility in Hiruzen’s eyes?

If his credibility decreases in Hiruzen’s eyes... then he could even lose Hiruzen’s support.

It’s just that even if he didn’t want to talk about it… he had to talk about it because this was really a serious problem. So, after sighing for a moment, he began explaining everything that had happened…

“Most of the things had sort of gone according… until it was time to actually go through with the real mission…” he said, pausing and said, “But then…”

“Then what happened?” questioned Hiruzen.

Fugaku’s expression darkened, “It turned out that bastard Kanzou… he had expected something to happen on the mission, and therefore, he had taken precautions.”

‘Uchiha Kanzou had really suspected something would happen, huh?’ Hiruzen sighed.

When Hiruzen learned about the people in the two squads that Kanzou had sent for the two Rank-S missions. The pro-supporters being in one squad, and neutrals being in the second squad, the Hokage had grown worried that Kanzou had suspected something.

It’s just that he had tried to curb his worries, telling himself that even Uchiha Kanzou shouldn’t be able to suspect a trap like that, and it’s just him overthinking things. After all, who’d suspect the Hokage to actually send assassins for the ninjas of his own village?

But it turns out Hiruzen was wrong. Not only had Kanzou seen through his plan, but he had even prepared a reverse trap with his pro-supporters as bait.

That’s right... Uchiha Souta, Uchiha Satoru, and Uchiha Kurumi were bait. Kanzou knew full well that it would be the pro-supporters who’d be targeted and not the three neutrals.

That was exactly what happened as Hiruzen sent Fugaku, as well as ANBU and Root ninjas, after the pro-supporters, hoping to hear some good news. It’s just that Kanzou had already taken precautions, and what came in return were the dead bodies of ANBU and Root ninjas.

Thinking of being played by Kanzou, who is merely one-third his age, Hiruzen felt humiliated and angry.

“What precaution did Uchiha Kanzou take?” he asked, although he already had an answer in his mind.

Fugaku answered, “It was Might Duy…”

‘So, it really was Might Duy?’ Hiruzen thought. He had suspected Might Duy to have played some role that failed his plan… It had to be Might Duy, nothing else made sense, and it was also obvious that Kanzou wouldn’t send a non-Uchiha on that Rank-S mission for no reason. But he isn’t certain what role he played and asked Fugaku, “What did Might Duy do… tell me everything?”

Clenching his fist in anger as he recalled the humiliating defeat he suffered when facing Might Duy, Fugaku unwillingly and reluctantly revealed the details of his fight with Might Duy.

Learning that Might Duy managed to one-sidedly defeat Fugaku, Hiruzen was shocked. He had expected Might Duy to have played some role... but not such a big role. From Fugaku’s own words, Might Duy alone defeated him!

“Is Might Duy really that capable…?”

About Fugaku’s strength, Hiruzen has some idea. Although the Uchiha isn’t as strong as him and is still far from being a Kage-level… still, he is around the strength of an elite Jōnin, perhaps even stronger than that, and is approaching the level of a Quasi-Kage-tier ninja. Among the Uchihas currently alive, Fugaku is undoubtedly the second strongest, yet such a person was beaten brutally by Might Duy alone… how?

“He is able to open the Inner Gates…” Fugaku replied.

“He can open the Inner Gates?” Hiruzen exclaimed in surprise.

Not only Hiruzen, but even the Eagle Masked ANBU was surprised. “How is that possible?” he asked.

As veteran ninjas, they of course know what it means to be able to open the Inner Gates… and are also aware of the dangers associated with it. They don’t even think it’s possible to open inner gates without immediate serious repercussions, as the body simply can’t handle that much Chakra… not to mention that Chakra isn’t coming out of nowhere… It’s the life-force that gets drained rapidly, so using the Inner Gates is tantamount to suicide move… let alone using it for combat, it’s impossible to even control… yet… yet they are learning from Fugaku that Might Duy is able to open Inner Gates to enhance his strength?

How is that even possible?

“I don’t know how that is possible… but he can open the inner gates,” answered Fugaku, and added, “And when opening the Inner Gates… his strength increases too much… even for me, I couldn’t do much and felt helpless against him…”

Hiruzen was silent upon hearing Fugaku admit his helplessness and thought to himself, ‘Did Might Duy always have such strength?’

If Duy always had this kind of strength all along, why did he never reveal it before and remain the Eternal Genin for more than two decades, living in poverty, bearing the shame and humiliation for so many years?

It just doesn’t make any sense.

As a shinobi, shouldn’t he have strived to get promoted? Especially considering how much he was ostracized and mocked? Even the death of his wife can be said to be related to Duy hiding his strength all this time!

Just how could he bear to stay hidden all this while?

And now that even if he has come out, the one who gained control over Duy is actually Kanzou and not him… the Hokage!

‘Damn it!’ Hiruzen was angry and unwilling. A ninja with that kind of strength, the strength of almost a Kage, was there in the village all along, and he, the Hokage, never even noticed. How could he not be angry and hateful about it?

He was extremely dissatisfied and hateful towards Duy. ‘Was he deliberately hiding his strength all along and had some harmful motivations towards the village?’

He felt that this had to be the reason; it doesn’t make any sense for Duy to hide his strength, otherwise. Perhaps even the comical behavior was an act all along to fool the others from noticing anything about him.

What’s more troublesome is that Guy has joined the Police Force!

Uchiha Kanzou, with his pro-Uchihas, was already dangerous as is, and now that he has Might Duy in his Police Force, the danger of Kanzou only gets elevated!

‘No… this can’t be allowed. Might Duy cannot be allowed to remain in the Police Force. I have to try to bring Might Duy to my side…’ he decided and tried to think of ways he could do that.

At the same time, Fugaku then further continued, explaining what happened after the fight.

“I had received many injuries and had to hide myself. I was worried that those Uchihas would be searching for me in order to finish me, so I kept myself hidden while trying to recover,” he said.

It’s a pity that he was worried for nothing. Uchiha didn’t bother searching for him at all and didn’t really care whether he lived or died… In fact, they even wanted to leave him alive, and it was definitely not out of mercy or a sense of loyalty to him; it was simply because, according to Kanzou, Fugaku is of some use, so he must remain alive… thus, he would not have been killed at all.

But he, who didn’t know that, remained hidden while recovering from his injuries, and it was only when the Eagle-masked ANBU led other ANBUs to search for him that he came out of hiding and returned to the village.

Hiruzen listened carefully, his expression growing more serious with every word. The failure of the mission, the survival of the targets, and the fact that Kanzou had been prepared for it all pointed to a much deeper problem, which was that he really had been underestimating Kanzou.

Kanzou is definitely very different from the likes of Uchiha Douma… Despite being young, he is shrewd and is able to calculate things.

Assassination of the Uchiha Elders, exiling Fugaku from the Clan while humiliating him, using the crowdfunding tactic to get an increase in budget, seeing through the trap in the Rank-S mission, subduing a Shinobi of Might Duy’s strength, creating trouble for Hiruzen with those rumors, and so on… It’s obvious that Hiruzen is no longer dealing with an ordinary political rival.

‘I really need to be careful about what I do next…’ he thought, fully realizing that his usual tactics would not work against Kanzou at all.

But what to do? He had no idea for a while… and began thinking.

As he was wondering to himself, Fugaku added something more, “There’s another thing… During the entire raid… the Root ninjas, they hadn’t appeared at all…”

Hiruzen was taken aback, “What? Root ninjas didn’t appear?”

Fugaku shook his head, “No… and that’s another reason why things didn’t work out.” It was supposed to be a pincer attack from the two sides… the front was going to be the ANBUs, and the Root ninjas were going to appear from behind… but… they didn’t appear at all, which contributed to the failure.

Hiruzen frowned, “But… the Root ninjas that were sent… all of them died…”

Now it was Fugaku’s turn to be shocked, “They… died?” He had thought that the Root ninjas betrayed or were planning to delay for a few ANBU members to die… but it turns out that the Root ninjas had all died as well…

“No wonder they didn’t show up at that time…” he murmured. It was difficult to determine how or when exactly the Root ninjas were killed… but since their corpses were brought over, it really meant that they were dead and this also made Fugaku realize that the plan was indeed a complete failure.

Hiruzen sighed, “Forget it… rest for now…” and got up, beginning to leave. He was very disappointed with how things had turned out and needed some time to process things before deciding on his next action against Kanzou and how he’d deal with the ongoing rumors, the domestic problems, and so on.

But Fugaku had no interest in resting, and he said that directly to Hiruzen, “Rest? I don’t need it at the moment. I am going to Sora-ku.”

Hiruzen paused, “Sora-ku?” Fugaku had mentioned wanting to go to Sora-ku to subdue the Fūma Clan in his favor, which he was planning to use to retake his position as the Patriarch. So Hiruzen didn’t question him on that, but asked instead, “Your injuries?”

Fugaku moved his hands, saying, “There’s no problem… Biwako-san has healed me.”

He has already wasted so many days… he has to go to Sora-ku quickly and win over the Neko-baa and the rest of the Fūma Clan; otherwise, the longer Kanzou remains the Patriarch, the stronger his grip would become on the Uchiha Clan, and the more difficult it would become for Fugaku to oust him to retake what’s rightfully his.

Understanding Fugaku’s intention, Hiruzen was silent for a moment before saying, “It’s fine if you want to go… but this time… I can’t send ANBU ninjas to help you out…”

Sending them once with Fugaku has already resulted in the deaths of so many ANBU ninjas… At this point, Hiruzen is even facing somewhat of a shortage, so lending any other ANBU ninjas is really something he can’t do, as the ANBU ninjas are also needed for other things.

Fugaku didn’t care, “It’s fine… I intend to go alone anyway. It’s just a matter of subduing the Fūma Clan… there isn’t anyone in that Clan that’d be a problem for me…”

Hiruzen stared at him for a moment, weighing the risks, before nodding. “Very well,” he said. If Fugaku can indeed win over support from the Fūma Clan, then that’d indeed be a good thing.

With that, Fugaku, who had only recently returned to the village, quickly left the village, making his way to the Sora-ku… with the intention of subduing the Fūma Clan, which he doesn’t think would be too much of a problem and should go rather smoothly…

As for whether it’ll really go like that… well… that’s something Fugaku would soon find out.

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