"Go to hell, Uchiha Yue!"
With a face twisted by hatred and desperation, Shimura Danzo shouted hoarsely. His tone was grim, his body bloodied, yet filled with a twisted sense of tragic resolve. He took a deep breath, chakra surging violently, and hurled himself forward in a suicidal charge—an act of final defiance.
Watching this reckless display, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, stood motionless, making no attempt to intervene. His silence spoke volumes.
Danzo was his old comrade, a relic of the Second Great Ninja War, and despite their diverging ideals, Hiruzen had never completely let go of that bond. Deep down, he couldn't bring himself to let Danzo fall into disgrace as a prisoner, condemned by both Konoha and history.
More than that, Danzo's actions—reckless though they were—aligned with Hiruzen's unspoken desires. If Danzo could kill Uchiha Yue, it would eliminate the unpredictable threat posed by the young Uchiha genius. If he failed, Hiruzen could at least measure Yue's capabilities, adjusting future plans accordingly.
Such calculations flashed rapidly through Hiruzen's mind as his gaze locked onto Danzo, who now seemed to cast aside all restraint, charging like a man possessed. There was a moment of stillness, a breath held.
Then—
Boom!
A massive crash echoed across the plaza as Danzo's figure was obliterated mid-charge by the colossal palm of a half-formed Susanoo. His body was instantly reduced to a crimson smear on the cracked pavement, hurled like a rag doll into the distance.
The scene was so sudden, so brutal, that even Sarutobi Hiruzen was briefly stunned, his face betraying a rare lapse of composure. Around him, all of Konoha froze.
The once-imposing figure of Danzo, enshrouded in tragic resolve just moments earlier, now lay crumpled in a puddle of blood, utterly without dignity. Whatever somber valor his charge had evoked evaporated with the grotesque display of his end.
"Hahaha! This is the strength of the Hokage's right hand? That's what we were supposed to fear?"
"Keh! Talking like he could massacre the Uchiha, and yet he couldn't even handle one of us? How embarrassing."
"Such a man dared to covet our Sharingan? With all those stolen eyes in his arm and his so-called 'Kotoamatsukami' trump card, and he dies like a fool?"
"…Pathetic."
The Uchiha erupted in derisive laughter, their anger—once boiling from seeing Danzo's grotesque arm full of stolen Sharingan—beginning to dissolve into scornful amusement. Even the bitterest elders found momentary relief in the sheer absurdity of the failed attack.
In contrast, the Konoha shinobi looked away in discomfort, some with clenched fists, others in stunned silence. Their morale was shaken. Their symbolic commander had been felled in a single blow.
"Now then, Third Hokage-sama," Yue said coolly, the spectral ribcage of his Susanoo still flickering with power. "Do you still wish to fight?"
Though his tone was calm and devoid of threat, the sheer presence of his chakra—and the casual dominance he just displayed—sent a chill down Sarutobi Hiruzen's spine. His hands didn't move, but his mind sharpened with instinctive caution.
"Uchiha Yue, the Uchiha Clan is part of Konoha," Hiruzen said, voice steady but guarded. "I trust you haven't forgotten that."
He paused, then added with forced gravitas, "What happened tonight was entirely the fault of Shimura Danzo. Now that he is dead, let this be the end—for the sake of both Konoha and Uchiha."
Though every fiber of him screamed to strike Yue down, Hiruzen understood the limits of his power. The hearts of his shinobi wavered, and Yue's strength was already proven beyond doubt. Provoking further conflict would only drive the situation beyond control.
"Oh, of course the Uchiha are part of Konoha," Yue replied, his gaze sharp. "In fact, the very foundation of this village was built upon the unity of Uchiha and Senju. Betrayal? That is a luxury others may afford—not us."
"More importantly, we repay kindness and revenge in equal measure. We do not delight in killing the innocent, but if someone digs their own grave, we're not obliged to pull them out."
Uchiha Yue's tone was unwavering, calm as still water—but the weight behind it left no room for misunderstanding. He saw through Hiruzen's feigned diplomacy and responded with measured firmness, offering neither hostility nor surrender.
"…Very well. I will remember your words," Hiruzen replied, voice low. After one last, unreadable glance at Yue, he gave a curt wave. "We're withdrawing."
Obeying instantly, the Konoha shinobi began a swift retreat, leaving the Uchiha district with a mixture of humiliation and relief in the air. No more words were exchanged.
A silent victory.
Behind Yue, the Uchiha began to ease. Their bodies were wounded, their chakra depleted—but their morale soared. They had not only survived, but prevailed. Still, the mood was sobered by the understanding that had things gone slightly differently, they could've easily been annihilated.
Konoha had numbers, resources, and influence. Uchiha Yue had personal strength, but the rest of his clan? Mangekyō users like Shisui had been lost, Itachi had defected, and the clan head—Fugaku—had hesitated too long, even contemplating parricide.
The clan's cohesion was brittle, its pride deep, but its unity fractured.
Yue looked on with a faint sigh. Pity.
For all his planning, his awakening, and the incredible progress he had made in just three months—ascending to the level of top-tier Jōnin, even among the Mangekyō elite—the clan behind him was a sinking ship.
He could not fix it overnight.
Danzo's attack came too early. The Massacre should have happened later, but Yue's mere existence had already disturbed the timeline. There was no time to prepare contingencies or rally the fractured factions of the clan.
The best he could do now was survive, stall, and rebuild.
Fighting Sarutobi Hiruzen to the death here and now might have brought short-term revenge, but it would've painted Uchiha as traitors. Even if he won, the entire village—and the Fire Daimyō—would be compelled to retaliate.
So, Yue had chosen the wiser path: a calculated show of power, a forced truce, and time bought with blood and fear.
Both he and Hiruzen knew this wasn't over. The fragile peace was a mere curtain drawn over a battlefield yet to come.
As the Hokage retreated, Uchiha Yue narrowed his eyes. The next phase would demand more than power. It would require reform, loyalty, vision.
And next time, it wouldn't be a stalemate.
It would conquest