"A village council? Looks like we've been discovered."
Uchiha Fugaku looked up at the message hawk circling overhead, his thoughts racing.
He wasn't surprised that a council had been convened.
Shimura Ryoma had been an elite jōnin—among the few not only in the Shimura clan but across all of Konoha. The death of a shinobi of his caliber was bound to shake the entire village and trigger a formal response.
Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any indication that Shimura Ryoma's death was linked to him. If there were, ANBU agents loyal directly to the Hokage would already be knocking on his door.
In a blur, Fugaku vanished from where he stood, heading toward the Hokage Tower.
The Uchiha compound was located on the village's outskirts, and he hadn't rushed. By the time he arrived at the Hokage Tower's council chamber, many had already gathered.
There were other clan heads like him, as well as several elite jōnin from the non-clan civilian shinobi ranks.
When Fugaku entered, some of them looked up briefly before turning away. No one greeted him.
Clearly, relations with the Uchiha were still as cold as ever.
This was the lasting consequence of the Uchiha's long-standing control over the Konoha Police Force.
The Police Force, under Uchiha leadership, had maintained village order for years—enforcing the law and punishing transgressions. That naturally put them at odds with many clans and individuals, breeding resentment.
It was exactly what the Second Hokage had intended when he gave the Uchiha that role. And it had worked.
After finding an empty seat and sitting down, Fugaku was surprised to hear someone greet him from a few seats away.
He turned, not expecting anyone to speak to him—usually, these meetings passed in frosty silence.
The man was in his thirties, with silver-white hair and dressed in a black kimono.
Fugaku quickly recalled the man's identity: Hatake Nobuhiro, current head of the Hatake clan, and younger brother of the legendary "White Fang of the Leaf."
"Clan Head Nobuhiro," Fugaku responded politely. If someone extended a hand, he wasn't going to brush it off out of pride.
"One of my clan's younger members caused you some trouble. I appreciate your fair handling," Nobuhiro said.
He was thanking Fugaku for remaining impartial during a recent altercation between a Hatake and a Sarutobi clan member. Though the Hatake shinobi hadn't been at fault, the Sarutobi belonged to the clan of the Third Hokage himself.
Fugaku had resisted the political pressure and ensured justice was served—something that hadn't gone unnoticed.
"It was no trouble," Fugaku replied, pleased.
The gesture confirmed that his strategy was working: using the police force's authority to pressure clans like Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Koharu's—who could never be swayed—while extending goodwill to the rest.
More and more shinobi began filtering into the chamber.
Finally, the most powerful figures in Konoha arrived: Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, accompanied by Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Koharu Utatane. They entered in formation, with Hiruzen leading the way, and took their seats.
All eyes turned to the four of them—the very apex of the village's power structure.
"Thank you all for coming. Today's meeting addresses a matter of grave concern."
The Third Hokage stood tall in his robes, his lean frame exuding strength and presence.
He swept his gaze around the room, his tone solemn as he continued.
"Two days ago, elite jōnin Shimura Ryoma, along with jōnin Shimura Zosuke and Shimura Ichiro, departed the village on a mission. Shortly thereafter, all contact with them was lost."
"We traced their path and found evidence of a battle in a nearby forest. The signs indicate they may have been killed."
Gasps and murmurs spread through the room. Some looked shocked—others, less so.
Clearly, not everyone had been in the loop. The Uchiha were rarely trusted with sensitive intel, so Fugaku had only recently pieced it together, and even so, he allowed a look of mild surprise to show.
"Hokage-sama, do we know who's responsible?"
The question came from a man in a gray high-collared coat and dark sunglasses: Aburame Shige, current head of the Aburame clan.
The Aburame were closely allied with the Shimura—one of Danzo's personal guards, Aburame Torune, was from their clan. It was no surprise he was the first to speak.
"No," Hiruzen said with a shake of his head. "All traces were meticulously erased. There's no evidence pointing to the attacker."
"Do we know what mission they were on?"
That came from a man with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle and two scars on his right cheek: Nara Shikaku, the brilliant strategist and current head of the Nara clan—part of the famed Ino-Shika-Cho trio along with the Yamanaka and Akimichi.
"They were sent to Shirakawa Town. Details of the mission are classified and cannot be disclosed," replied Shimura Daisuke, the clan head of the Shimura.
He was hoping to draw on Shikaku's intellect to uncover the killer, but the mission's details were too sensitive to share—especially with Fugaku in the room.
The real nature of the mission wasn't just secret—it was politically loaded.
In fact, if things had gone according to plan, today's meeting would've focused on stripping the Uchiha of their authority over village gates, a further move to weaken the clan.
But now, with Ryoma and the others dead—on what was supposed to be a routine mission—that agenda had been derailed. The meeting had shifted to investigating their deaths instead.
Fugaku's expression flickered.
He knew the place well. Shirakawa was home to the headquarters of the largest merchant caravan in the Land of Fire—an ally of the Uchiha.
That the Shimura trio had headed there was no coincidence.
He strongly suspected their mission had involved the merchant caravan, likely in an effort to undermine the Uchiha.
He didn't yet know the specifics—there was too little information—but several clan heads glanced at him the moment Shirakawa was mentioned.
That only confirmed his suspicions.
Shimura Ryoma and his team had likely been planning something against the Uchiha.
Fortunately, someone had taken them out first.
Now the Shimura were too preoccupied to target the Uchiha again at least for the time being.