Night fell at the residence of Utatane Koharu, deep within the Utatane compound.
Koharu stood in the yard, her brows tightly furrowed.
Uchiha Fugaku had concealed his strength too deeply, deceiving the Third Hokage, Shimura Danzō, and even her.
Now that he had become a formidable presence, he was no longer easy to handle.
If only they had eliminated him earlier, they wouldn't be dealing with this threat now.
"If we want to use another shinobi village to strike at Uchiha Fugaku… how exactly do we do that?"
She muttered softly.
With their current power, eliminating Fugaku had become difficult.
The best way was to draw in the other villages and use their forces to kill him. That way, Fugaku could be used to weaken other villages in turn.
But the real question was: how to make use of other villages in a time of peace?
Konoha wasn't at war with any of the other four great nations. There was no existing condition to exploit.
"If there are no conditions, then we must create them. If we want to eliminate Uchiha Fugaku, we'll need to start a war ourselves."
She frowned more deeply.
If they wanted him removed, the only method was war.
Though she didn't want conflict, that now seemed like the only path forward.
At that moment, a figure silently emerged from the ground behind her.
It was Uchiha Fugaku, using the Mayfly Technique to impersonate a Wood Release Kekkei Genkai user.
As a Kage-level shinobi, his ability to suppress his presence was terrifying. Even this close, Koharu hadn't sensed a thing.
"Uchiha Shisui… if only I hadn't killed you so early. I would've made you listen to her with your own ears."
Fugaku sneered inwardly as he listened to Koharu's muttering.
Shisui had believed that the Uchiha clan was a threat to Konoha's peace and joined the Third Hokage's side to become a spy.
And now, that very faction was plotting to start a war to eliminate the Uchiha.
What would Shisui think if he saw this?
"In a way, Shisui wasn't wrong. The Uchiha clan is about to cause war—but not because of us. It's because they're trying to get rid of us."
Fugaku's eyes narrowed with disdain.
He knew all about the Third Hokage's dirty deeds—pressuring Hatake Sakumo into suicide, forcing the Hyuga clan to sacrifice Hizashi to appease Kumo.
Still, he hadn't expected them to go this far—planning to incite a war just to eliminate him.
"If you're planning to start a war to get rid of me, I'll save you the trouble."
Mangekyō Sharingan swirled in his right eye.
"Real Illusion—"
Without making eye contact, Koharu was pulled into the illusion.
Fugaku moved instantly, space-shifting behind her. A sharp branch extended from his hand.
Koharu suddenly sensed something and turned.
She froze.
Spiral-pattern mask. Red cloud, black cloak.
"Wood Release… Kekkei Genkai ninja!"
She screamed in panic and tried to flee.
But it was too late.
Fugaku's sharp branch pierced through her chest.
In an instant, countless branches erupted from within, piercing through her organs and limbs.
Blood sprayed in all directions. Koharu collapsed, coughing blood, her eyes wide in terror.
The real illusion dissipated.
Fugaku caught her falling body, careful not to make a sound, then slipped back underground using the Mayfly Technique.
His destination: the Mitokado compound.
Inside, Mitokado Homura paced restlessly.
Since returning from the Hokage Building, he had been unable to calm his nerves.
Normally, he would've been asleep by now, but the pressure from Fugaku had kept him wide awake.
"Fugaku's presence is just too much."
Even Hiruzen—still technically a Kage—had been injured in a few short exchanges with Fugaku.
His mind drifted to Koharu's proposal earlier: using a foreign war to eliminate Fugaku.
"Can we really pull it off?" he muttered.
"Even Fugaku can't withstand an army of shinobi. Like the Third Raikage… even he fell to a thousand shinobi."
He tried to reassure himself.
But the anxiety only grew worse.
From the shadows, Fugaku emerged again—still cloaked in the disguise of a Wood Release user.
His blood-red eyes locked onto Homura, and the illusion activated.
Buzz—
Just like Koharu, Homura fell into the Real Illusion without a chance to react.
Swoosh—
Fugaku appeared before him, and with a cold sneer, plunged the sharpened branch into Homura's chest.
"Wood… Release…"
Homura tried to scream.
But he never finished.
The branch burst from within, sprouting like vines and tearing through him from every direction.
He collapsed just as Koharu had—bloody and wide-eyed with horror.
This time, Fugaku didn't bother catching the body.
He disappeared underground once again.
Thud—
"What was that noise?"
"Elder Homura?! What happened?!"
The guards rushed in after hearing the collapse.
When they saw Homura's mangled corpse, they panicked.
"Elder Homura has been assassinated! Elder Homura has been assassinated!"
The outcry of the Mitokado family quickly spread through the village.
Meanwhile, a messenger arrived at the Utatane residence—only to find Koharu also dead, her body covered in blood.
Two elders assassinated in one night.
Panic spread like wildfire.
(End of this chapter)