Chapter 57 Late night secret conversation A few days later… Late at night, in the Uchiha clan territory. "This guest from Kumogakure..." In the tea room of the Patriarch’s residence. Fugaku sat behind a low table, his hands in his pockets, staring calmly at the ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village who came to visit him late at night. "Still don't know what to call you?" "My name is Sawaya, and I am Kumogakure's liaison for Konoha's espionage work. I hope Patriarch Fugaku will forgive me for my intrusive visit." Opposite Fugaku, a man with light blond hair and a resolute face nodded slightly. "So Mr. Sawaya..." The corner of Fugaku's mouth twitched slightly. This was indeed the naming style of the Kumogakure people.
People in this village always like to use a certain word as their name. The meaning of Sawaya: Cool! A very straightforward name, but strange in every sense... "I wonder what advice you have for me during your late night visit?" Fugaku's tone contained a hint of questioning. If the man in front of him had not been polite and had not climbed over the wall into the yard and made some noise and then waited outside the house, he would have already taken him down with a single use of his Sharingan. "I'm sorry, but I'm following the orders of Lord Raikage to invite the Uchiha clan to join Kumogakure." "Join... Kumogakure?" Fugaku's mouth twitched again. Do you want to hear what you are saying, kid? Running to the house of the leader of Konoha's largest ninja clan in the middle of the night to poach his people? Who the hell taught you to do this? "Yes." Sawaya took out a scroll and handed it to Fugaku with a serious look on his face. "This is the handwriting of our Raikage-sama, please take a look." Fugaku opened his Sharingan to make sure that this guy wasn't doing anything tricky, then he took the scroll and glanced at it. After a quick glance, the general meaning is: Come to my place, the conditions and treatment are better than in Konoha. Konoha doesn't trust you anyway, so why not join us in growing bigger and stronger with the Hidden Cloud Village? The Uchiha were originally from the Land of Lightning, so why should they suffer humiliation in the Land of Fire? Also, I heard that you haven’t been doing well recently, brother, so the scroll also comes with a small gift worth several million taels, how about this and that… Putting down the Raikage's letter, Fugaku looked strange. "I have something I don't understand, please help me solve it."
"You say." Fugaku frowned slightly: "From the establishment of Konoha to now, in the three Ninja World Wars, we Uchiha have always been at the forefront. It can be said that no matter which ninja village it is, we Uchiha have a great hatred for us..." Sawaya said meaningfully: "But if I remember correctly, the greatest enemy of the Uchiha in the past was the Senju of the Forest." Fugaku was slightly stunned and smiled bitterly. This was indeed the truth. "Patriarch Fugaku, I did come here with the sincerity of Lord Raikage." Sawaya said earnestly, "I'm sure you're familiar with the name Uzumaki Naruto." Fugaku smiled and said, "I heard that the boy was recognized as a brother by the Raikage?" "Yes." Sawaya nodded heavily, "Naruto-sama is well respected in the village and is admired by the younger generations in the village." "But if I'm not mistaken, he probably won't choose the path of a ninja." Fugaku shook his head slightly, "Although I appreciate the kindness of Lord Raikage, I'm sorry, Lord Sawaya, the Uchiha are ninjas, a thousand-year-old ninja clan that built this village together with the Senju." "Sure enough... Lord Raikage's guess was correct." Sawaya was not surprised at Fugaku's answer. "But Chief Fugaku, the Uchiha and Konoha will part ways completely sooner or later. Do you think that as long as you stay out of it, you can live in peace?" Fugaku's eyes narrowed: "What do you mean?" "Ever since Lord Naruto joined Kumogakure, the elder of your village, Shimura Danzo, has been intending to cede interests in exchange for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki from Kumogakure." Sawaya smiled slightly: "We in Kumogakure will certainly not betray our brothers in the village, but Lord Raikage will not give up the opportunity to weaken Konoha's manpower." "Are you threatening me?" Fugaku's eyes widened, and the three crimson magatama slowly rotated. "That's not the case. It's just Shimura Danzo. No one would give up an Uchiha for a piece of trash like that." Sawaya's face turned serious, "What I mean is, if you know the true face of Konoha's high-ranking officials, why are you still obsessed with Konoha? Is it because of Jiraiya? Do you think he can help the Uchiha out of this predicament?" "As far as I know, that powerful man who is one of the three ninjas is just a puppet put forward by the top leaders. He has no intention of worrying about political affairs. There has been no substantial change in the power of Konoha. It is still in the hands of the Third Hokage and the Elders." Fugaku was silent after hearing this. Indeed, Sawaya was right. The power structure of Konoha has not changed. Although Jiraiya officially succeeded as Hokage not long ago, he does not have any intention of interfering in government affairs. Even if the Jinchūriki's departure had not been such a huge responsibility, so heavy that even Sarutobi Hiruzen and the elders could not bear it, the position of Hokage would probably not have changed for several years. "Let me think about it..." Fugaku sighed slightly. He was indeed persuaded by Sawaya. But since it concerns the entire family, he cannot just believe the other party's one-sided statement.
Moreover, for the proud Uchiha, it is somewhat unacceptable to defect actively. Although Fugaku gave up the power struggle, he still had the pride of being an Uchiha. "In that case, I won't bother you anymore." Sawaya said as he pulled out another kunai from his pocket and handed it to Fugaku. "By the way, please keep this thing." "This is…" "A kunai with the mark of Naruto-sama Flying Thunder God. I hope that Chief Fugaku can give me a clear answer in a week." Sawaya said as his figure slowly disappeared, leaving the Uchiha clan territory silently. "Flying Thunder God..." Fugaku sighed. He really envied Naruto, because if one person was full, the whole family would not be hungry. You can go wherever you want, just move your butt and you are thousands of miles away... With the Flying Thunder God Kunai, he was 80% sure about Sawaya's invitation. "Come in, Itachi..." sieve-- In the darkness, two scarlet lights flickered like devilish fire and quietly floated into the tea room. Itachi knelt down in front of Fugaku and said, "Father." "You must have heard it all, right?" "Yes." "Tell me what you think?" "The Uchiha cannot leave Konoha." Facing Fugaku's question, Itachi did not hesitate at all. “The barrier between us and the village lies with the higher-ups, not the villagers.” "You keep talking about tolerance every day, but you can't even see through this most basic truth..." Fugaku shook his head in disappointment: "No, perhaps my expectations are too high. Political thinking and cultivation talent are not the same thing." "I don't understand, father, that's what you said before." Itachi frowned, "The job of the police department is to protect everyone in the village. That's what you taught me." "That being said, we actually can't reach the top. They will always block the villagers in front of them and stop the Uchiha from moving forward. That's power..." Fugaku took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"You haven't seen through the relationship between the village and the family. You can't escape the vision that imprisons you. So you can only make a choice, a choice between the village and the family." "I still don't understand." Itachi felt a little aggrieved, he was only ten years old this year. But what Fugaku said was right, he did often think about this kind of trade-offs, the relationships between people, and the relationship between the village and the family. But isn’t it a good thing to like thinking? "If your association with Izumi would kill Sasuke, would you still be willing to associate with her?" "will not." "This is the relationship between Konoha and Uchiha." "But... the tribe members won't agree." Itachi pursed his lips: "I like the village too." "I would also like." Fugaku sighed softly, "So whether to go or stay... let Konoha decide." The second update today! Please vote for me and read on! Thank you everyone! (End of this chapter)