togophonebook #119 - Arrange a big show for Konoha! Madam, you must be in a difficult situation!
#119 - Arrange a big show for Konoha! Madam, you must be in a difficult situation!
A moment later, Fugaku Uchiha shook his head, "Given your current status, it's likely impossible for you to directly become the clan head. Many within the clan wouldn't support you."
"So, what's there for us to discuss?" Luo Fu spread his hands, looking helpless.
"Since you could foresee the village's view of our clan, it means you must know how to reverse this situation. I hope you can help me. Don't forget, you're also an Uchiha, and you have a sister in the Uchiha clan. I can tell Izumi really cares about you. You wouldn't want to see your sister ostracized by the village just for being an Uchiha, would you?"
Fugaku Uchiha looked earnest.
Luo Fu almost wore a dumbfounded expression.
He even wanted Fugaku Uchiha to rephrase his words.
The way he said it was too much like a Japanese drama.
But this shouldn't be said by Fugaku Uchiha, especially not to him. On the contrary, he should be saying this to Mikoto Uchiha, the clan head's wife.
For example, 'Madam, you wouldn't want to see your husband caught between the village and the clan, would you?'
What would follow would be some embarrassing scenes of a married woman.
But just as these seductive images flashed through his mind,
Luo Fu suddenly shuddered, instantly regaining his senses, and silently recited a few lines from the Qingjing Sutra in his mind, swiftly severing these worldly desires.
These sudden distractions were actually caused by Luo Fu's return from the shared space and his surge in strength, while his mental cultivation was insufficient to handle this power.
If he couldn't constantly be on guard and vigilant against the emergence of distractions, Luo Fu's consciousness would unknowingly sink into the sea of worldly desires.
Normal human desires and worldly desires are completely different matters. There isn't a clear distinction between them. Different people have subtle differences in their definitions of the two, and even the same person will have different definitions at different times.
Generally, human desires are close to universal morality, while worldly desires undoubtedly cross that bottom line.
The definition and understanding of these two completely depend on the individual consciousness itself.
For example, at this moment, Luo Fu believed that having such thoughts because of Fugaku Uchiha's words was inappropriate. If he didn't suppress them, it would affect his own mind and change his nature.
Unaware that Luo Fu was guarding his primordial spirit and suppressing distractions,
seeing him silent, Fugaku Uchiha instead thought that his words had really touched Luo Fu, and a few feelings of emotion even arose in his heart.
As expected of the Will of Fire! Bonds are the strongest power!
It was as if Luo Fu before didn't care about anyone, whether it was the village or the clan.
But now, he was starting to consider Izumi Uchiha, which, in Fugaku Uchiha's view, was undoubtedly a good start.
Looking at Luo Fu with satisfaction, Fugaku Uchiha, with unknown confidence, said earnestly, "We are Konoha ninjas and should recognize and practice the Will of Fire. The village and other clans' suspicions of us are actually understandable. What we should do is not confront them head-on, but to make them understand us."
Having just suppressed some distractions, Luo Fu couldn't help but tense up again upon hearing Fugaku Uchiha's words.
In his view, Fugaku Uchiha's thoughts were simply incomprehensible to a normal person.
No.
To be precise, Fugaku Uchiha was the true Uchiha, while he, on the other hand, didn't seem like a normal Uchiha.
Normal and abnormal are completely subjective matters.
Back then, Madara Uchiha didn't recognize the village's order and wanted to establish a new order, but those of the Uchiha clan didn't recognize Madara Uchiha, instead thinking he was abnormal.
Now it seems that it is indeed the case. At least, in the eyes of the Uchiha clan, the former Madara Uchiha, like the current Luo Fu, was abnormal.
Steadying his mind, Luo Fu looked at Fugaku Uchiha with a strange look and said, "Then what do you plan to do?"
"Even if the village has suffered heavy losses from the Nine-Tailed Fox attack, it's not something our Uchiha clan can provoke. Therefore, a head-on confrontation won't work, but we can't let them manipulate us either," Fugaku Uchiha said plausibly. But changing the subject, he quickly added, "So, right now, we should first give up our clan land."
"And then?" Luo Fu's expression became even stranger, saying, "When your bottom line is breached, then the enemy will constantly pressure you step by step, making your bottom line even lower, right? When the time comes, facing those old fogeys uniting with other clans, we'll have to endure again and wait again? Wait until when? Until we're exterminated?"
"Luo Fu," Fugaku Uchiha slammed the table, angrily saying, "I'm now discussing this with you very seriously."
The moment Luo Fu blurted it out, he suddenly stopped, saying, "Since you know you're the Uchiha clan head, then you should consider the clan. As for the village, that's not within your scope of consideration. You're not the Hokage."
"But we are members of the village, we should practice the Will of Fire," Fugaku Uchiha stubbornly insisted.
"Then there's nothing to talk about," Luo Fu washed his hands of the matter, saying frankly, "In that case, then let's each rely on our own abilities."
"If you do this, even those clansmen who supported you before won't stand by your side," Fugaku Uchiha's tone was particularly confident.
In fact, Luo Fu also believed it, after all, the Uchiha's mysterious operations had happened more than once.
The former Madara Uchiha was tricked like that once.
When leaving Konoha, Madara single-handedly brought the Uchiha to new heights, even far surpassing the past clan heads, yet Madara Uchiha was unhesitatingly abandoned by the Uchiha clan.
Don't look at the fact that there are many people in the Uchiha clan who support Luo Fu now, but if Luo Fu really raised the banner of being an enemy of the village,
perhaps the first to target him would be those Uchiha members who supported him before.
Luo Fu didn't dare to underestimate the Uchiha's bizarre operations in this regard at all.
"So what? Do you think I need their support?" Luo Fu's tone was filled with a strange confidence.
His eyes suddenly narrowed.
Fugaku Uchiha instantly thought of the Susanoo that Luo Fu had just displayed, which was different from the normal and the records in the clan's classics, and seemed to surpass the complete body of Madara Uchiha back then.
That kind of materialized chakra seemed to break through the definition of the Uchiha clan's own Yin Release chakra, showing the effect of Yang Release, turning the power of the materialized chakra into a demon god with a flesh and blood body.
If such a method were really used in the village, who could stop it?
You must know that the current Konoha doesn't have a second Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi.
Taking a deep breath, Fugaku Uchiha said, "Luo Fu, even someone as strong as Madara Uchiha failed back then."
"That's because the Madara Uchiha back then wasn't strong enough!" Luo Fu said decisively.
The future Fourth Shinobi World War could completely prove Luo Fu's words now.
In the shinobi world, strength is the foundation of everything. Any seemingly absurd, ridiculous, and unbelievable idea can be realized as long as you have strong strength.
Madara Uchiha, who once narrowly lost to Hashirama Senju, opened the power of the Six Paths and obtained the Rinnegan after obtaining Hashirama Senju's ultimate Yang Release cells. When he returned in the Fourth Shinobi World War, he could easily crush the Allied Shinobi Forces with his own strength.
Even the Five Kage were just like children who could be easily manipulated in front of Madara Uchiha.
The shinobi world is a world where true power belongs to oneself.
No matter how grand the words are, the fact is that power ultimately determines everything.
Naruto, Jiraiya, tracing back to Asura and even the Sage of Six Paths' so-called mutual understanding, is just a joke.
"You… you're hopeless! Do you really want to be enemies with the clan and the entire village?" Fugaku Uchiha stood up in anger, this time not even using Mikoto's comfort.
Luo Fu said disdainfully, "So what? It's the foolish clan and the despicable village that want to be enemies with me!"
Taking a deep breath, inexplicably, a fiery Will of Fire burned in Fugaku Uchiha's chest.
"I will stop you at all costs. Anyone who wants to be enemies with the village will be my and the clan's enemy."
At this moment, Luo Fu was full of question marks.
He couldn't understand at all how, inexplicably, in Fugaku Uchiha's mouth, he seemed to have become the villain?
Blinking his eyes in surprise, Luo Fu looked at Mikoto Uchiha, who was caught between himself and Fugaku, with a tangled expression, as Fugaku Uchiha turned and left, leaving behind a protagonist-like line.
“I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.” Mikoto Uchiha bowed repeatedly, apologizing to Rofu incessantly.
“Rofu, I hope you can understand. Fugaku was forced into this by the village. The clan's radicalism, their distrust of him as the clan leader, and the village's pressure, Fugaku is in a difficult position.”
Although Mikoto Uchiha's words still left Rofu feeling baffled, it was at least better than Fugaku Uchiha's sudden change, as if he were possessed by the protagonist.
Rofu sighed softly in his heart.
As expected of the Uchiha clan, even Mikoto Uchiha couldn't escape this.
While Rofu retracted his Dharma Avatar, and was communicating with Fugaku Uchiha and his wife.
Having also witnessed the disappearance of the towering, terrifying image of Chiyou, the God of War, Danzo Shimura immediately went to the Hokage's office.
When Danzo Shimura arrived, he was surprised to find that, apart from himself, almost all the major ninja clans in the village were present in the Hokage's office.
Previously, in the meeting room, everyone tacitly agreed to have the Uchiha clan relinquish the clan's residence in the heart of the village, and these clans had all chosen to raise their hands in support.
However, the terrifying strength displayed by Rofu had completely unsettled the clan leaders.
With just a glance at the clan leaders, Danzo Shimura instantly conceived a bold idea.
Rofu's performance had clearly made these clan leaders feel threatened by the Uchiha.
If so, could they take this opportunity to completely eliminate the threat of Rofu?
With this thought in mind, Danzo Shimura eagerly said, “Hiruzen, did you see that? The Uchiha clan clearly intends to rebel. The Uchiha clan's residence is in the heart of the village, but this Rofu suddenly unleashed such a terrifying ninjutsu. What does he want to do? Does he want to threaten us? Or does he want to destroy the village? Such behavior cannot be tolerated and must be severely punished.”
Danzo Shimura's proposal was unusually met with the approval of everyone present, but agreement was one thing, support was another, and even support and action could be clearly distinguished.
Smoking his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi merely glanced at Danzo Shimura and easily guessed his old friend's intentions.
Unfortunately, in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, Danzo Shimura's little scheme was a bit reckless.
Judging solely by the terrifying ninjutsu Rofu had just displayed, it was not difficult to determine that his strength had at least approached that of Madara Uchiha, the Ninja World's Asura of yesteryear.
The village now didn't have a second Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi.
Under these circumstances, the best course of action was to appease the Uchiha clan, not to continue putting pressure on them.
Otherwise, if Rofu really rebelled, who could restrain him?
Could they rely solely on that little girl, Izumi Uchiha, whose usefulness was uncertain?
Hiruzen Sarutobi had a clear premonition that even if a bond had formed between Izumi Uchiha and Rofu, that bond would be incredibly fragile.
As the Hokage, under these circumstances, he absolutely could not risk the entire village.
“Enough, Danzo.” Hiruzen Sarutobi resolutely stopped Danzo Shimura's high-sounding but ridiculous words. “The proposal to have the Uchiha clan relinquish their current residence was a choice made by us and the clan leaders out of consideration for the village, and it was by no means aimed at the Uchiha. After all, the Uchiha are also members of the village.”
Whether it was rhetoric or scheming, it had to be admitted that Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had become the Hokage, and even after resigning due to the Third Shinobi World War, had returned to the Hokage's position again after the death of the Fourth Hokage, where he had sat for more than a decade, might have seen his strength decline significantly with age.
But his skills had become more and more refined.
At the very least, in just a few words, Hiruzen Sarutobi had created a vast distance between himself and Danzo Shimura in the hearts of these clan leaders.
Good and evil, good and bad, were all relative. Without Danzo as a foil, how could the Third Hokage's magnanimity and kindness be highlighted?
“Hiruzen, what are you waiting for at this time? Do you have to let those evil Uchiha strike first?” Danzo Shimura said loudly, unwilling to give up.
“Danzo, the Uchiha are also members of the village. Don't always have personal prejudices. They are members of Konoha, not some evil Uchiha.” Hiruzen Sarutobi said righteously.
Danzo Shimura was at a loss. He couldn't understand why Hiruzen Sarutobi had suddenly changed his tune after they had discussed it so well before.
“You… Hiruzen, you will regret this.”
“I am the Hokage.” Hiruzen Sarutobi said loudly.
At this moment, with Danzo Shimura as a contrast, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage who had once again ascended to the Hokage's throne, had truly gained the approval of all the clan leaders in Konoha.
After all, compared to Danzo Shimura, it was something that everyone was happy to see that Hiruzen Sarutobi remained in the Hokage's position.
Otherwise, given the current state of Konoha, among the Sannin, Tsunade was nowhere to be found, Jiraiya had only returned briefly after learning about the Nine-Tailed Fox attack, and Orochimaru was single-mindedly focused on research, seemingly having completely given up the pursuit of power because he had failed to become the Fourth Hokage.
Under these circumstances, if the Fifth Hokage were to be hastily selected, would these families still have a good life if Danzo Shimura succeeded?
Instead, it would be better to let Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, return to the position.
Unaware that he had been thoroughly used by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Danzo Shimura was once again sunk by your regret, my shadow strike.
Re-sitting in the Hokage's position, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly exhaled a smoke ring. He said, “Danzo, since you're here, let's discuss it together. How should we face the Uchiha clan next?”
“Hmph.” As if he hadn't recovered from the blow of your regret, my shadow strike, Danzo Shimura snorted coldly and said, “This kind of thing only requires questioning Fugaku Uchiha. He is the leader of the Uchiha clan. Since Rofu doesn't obey the village's orders, then of course he, as the clan leader, should be responsible.”
“Don't say that. I believe Fugaku doesn't want this kind of situation to happen either.” Hiruzen Sarutobi said hypocritically.
Fugaku Uchiha's heart suddenly warmed. At this moment, his thoughts were actually the same as his son Itachi Uchiha's future thoughts. Uchiha Rofu was truly a narrow-minded and radical fellow.
"Third Hokage-sama, isn't it just asking us to relocate the clan's residence? Does Hiruzen not understand that the village harbors great suspicion towards the Uchiha clan because of the Nine-Tails attack?"
"The best course of action is to demonstrate the sincerity of our Uchiha clan."
"To make everyone believe that the Nine-Tails attack had nothing to do with the Uchiha clan in our village."
"Yet, Roufu is disregarding the safety of the entire village for the sake of a petty squabble, narrow-minded and biased, without inheriting even a shred of the Will of Fire."
"Fugaku," Hiruzen Sarutobi said earnestly, "Elder Danzo and I, along with the clan heads, have just discussed a plan, and we hope that you, as the Uchiha clan head, can support it."
"Third Hokage-sama, as a member of the village, the Uchiha clan, except for Roufu, will definitely not let you down," Fugaku Uchiha said with determination.
"Good." Hiruzen smiled with satisfaction and said, "You should also know that this Shinobi World War, although it has gradually subsided, Konoha, as a participating nation, has not completely withdrawn from this battle. At least, we haven't had time to sign a peace treaty with the Land of Lightning."
After a slight pause to give Fugaku Uchiha some time to think, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "I hope that you, as the head of the Uchiha clan, can shoulder the responsibility of Konoha. Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire shall never be extinguished. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout. And now is the time for your Uchiha clan to burn and illuminate the village."
A normal person would be wary upon hearing such blatant words that clearly push someone towards death, even if they didn't directly turn hostile.
But Fugaku Uchiha seemed to have taken on a glorious responsibility.
"Please rest assured, Third Hokage-sama, the Uchiha clan will definitely not let you down."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, very satisfied with Fugaku Uchiha's reaction, quickly revealed his thoughts.
"The Cloud Village has sent a delegation to discuss a peace treaty with us, but a peace treaty won't be achieved overnight. There needs to be room for bargaining. We also need to send someone to the Land of Lightning to propose our conditions to the Raikage of the Cloud Village. Therefore, we need to send someone with enough weight to the Land of Lightning."
If Fugaku Uchiha was said to be very smart, he would always make incomprehensible, mysterious choices at some crucial junctures. But if he was said to be foolish, he easily discerned Hiruzen Sarutobi's deep meaning at this moment.
"Please rest assured, Third Hokage-sama. I believe that even if Roufu understands everything in the future, he will feel honored in the Pure Land to have sacrificed himself for the village."
At this moment, many people looked at Fugaku Uchiha with new eyes.
Regarding some matters within the Uchiha clan, the heads of these ninja families were actually aware.
To some extent, Roufu was the person in the Uchiha clan, second only to Fugaku Uchiha, the clan head, in terms of appeal.
It could be said that he was Fugaku Uchiha's biggest challenger as the clan head.
Purely from the perspective of the Uchiha clan's internal situation, the two of them were each other's biggest rivals and enemies.
But no matter what, Roufu and Fugaku Uchiha were both members of the Uchiha clan.
No matter how much they fought, it should be limited to within the clan.
But now, Fugaku Uchiha was so ruthless, even righteously wanting Roufu to go to his death.
Roufu was, after all, a powerhouse whose strength was comparable to Madara Uchiha in his prime.
Keeping such a powerhouse in the clan was almost equivalent to having a stabilizing force.
Didn't they see that before Roufu displayed his strength, the Third Hokage and others had gathered the major families to put pressure on Fugaku Uchiha, attempting to make the Uchiha clan give up even their clan's residence?
But because of Roufu's appearance, the Third Hokage and others did not dare to pressure the Uchiha clan too much.
And now? Fugaku Uchiha wanted to send Roufu, the strongest member of the Uchiha clan, to his death for the sake of a little internal power struggle?
Such actions were too cruel and vicious.
A powerhouse from his own clan, just because he threatened his position as clan head, could be thrown out by Fugaku Uchiha. Tell me, who would dare to cooperate with Fugaku Uchiha in the future?
Could even the closest partners be compared to a powerhouse within the clan?
It could only be said that the Uchiha clan's future destruction, the entire Konoha, didn't even have a single person who felt sorry for it. All of this was inseparable from Fugaku Uchiha's magical operations.
At the very least, Fugaku Uchiha believed that he possessed the Will of Fire and wanted to eliminate Roufu, an unstable factor in the clan and the village, but he made everyone afraid to have any expectations for the Uchiha clan.
"Then I'll leave this matter to you, Fugaku. I believe that even as an Uchiha, you, like a mirror, possess a firm Will of Fire," Hiruzen Sarutobi casually flattered.
However, just a few hours later, Roufu learned that Fugaku Uchiha had brought back a huge burden for him.
It was only because Roufu's strength had now directly chased after the Six Paths level, and ordinary Kage-level and Super-Kage-level were no longer enough in front of him.
Otherwise, such a mission would probably require several Kage-level powerhouses to venture deep into the Cloud Village, and they might not be able to return alive.
After all, don't forget that unless they reached the level of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, Super-Kage-level and beyond, powerhouses directly chasing after the Six Paths level, even a strong person like the Third Raikage, who fought against more than 10,000 Iwa ninjas from the Land of Earth alone for three days and three nights, would be exhausted to death.
The death of an ordinary Kage-level powerhouse is completely normal after being heavily surrounded!
None of the five great nations' ninja villages can be invaded by ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
After all, no one except the village's higher-ups knows exactly how many ambushes and methods a ninja village has.
Under such circumstances, venturing deep into a ninja village is simply actively stepping into the opponent's trap.
But for Roufu, going to the Cloud Village was nothing. Not to mention that the Fourth Raikage had just ascended to the throne and his strength was far from comparable to his father, the Third Raikage.
Even the Third Raikage, who joined forces with the two perfect jinchuriki, would still be an easily manipulated soft persimmon in front of Roufu.
Not to mention anything else, just Roufu's ability to transform into chakra at any time after the reverse triple-layered localization, freely switching between flesh and chakra, was enough for Roufu to ignore most of the killing moves in the entire ninja world.
Although Roufu seemed to accept this extremely difficult, even suicidal, mission under Fugaku Uchiha's righteous request.
But in Roufu's heart, this mission might not be successful.
He knew very well that the Cloud Village's delegation was essentially a test of Konoha.
The probing from the Cloud Village directly led to the death of Neji Hyuga, one of the future Konoha Twelve, and his father, Hizashi Hyuga, had to sacrifice himself.
No matter how beautified, Hizashi Hyuga died for his brother, but one thing is certain: did Hizashi Hyuga have the right to refuse?
In the premise of not even having the right to refuse, how much credibility is there in an active choice is self-evident.
After accepting this mission in one go and sending Fugaku Uchiha away, Roufu quickly revealed an interested expression.
Looking in the direction of the Hyuga clan, Roufu's face was full of playfulness as he said, "Hyuga clan, I wonder, when your little princess goes missing, will you still force Hizashi Hyuga to die?"
Not taking this so-called mission too seriously, Roufu just secretly made up his mind to play a big one with the Hyuga clan.
But soon he was once again immersed in the ability within his body, from the depths of his bloodline, integrated with Star Release, like the gravity of the legendary four basic forces of the universe.
Roufu's previous premonition was not wrong. This bloodline ability, which was integrated into the Star Release Kekkei Genkai, but completely different from his perception of gravity in terms of the form of power, was most likely gravity.
Even when Roufu used Star Release chakra to display this ability, he could already use gravity to deflect light, distort energy, move matter, and even further, affect space and time.
But the latter was obviously too costly.
It was not as simple and crude as manipulating gravity, simply playing with the reversal between attraction and repulsion like the Rinnegan.