CHAPTER 52: MEETING WITH THE UCHIHAS

Walking inside the Uchiha Clan compound I was accompanied by Fugaku who led the directions towards his house. He seemed quite nervous.

I spoke to him directly, " Fugaku. I am quite a busy man, So let's not waste time. Gather all the Ninjas of your clan. I wish to speak to them all. I believe the Naka Shrine is where the Uchiha Clan holds their meetings."

Fugaku's eyes widened. " Hokage Sama. I cannot allow you to enter the Naka Shrine. It is a sacred place for us Uchihas. If you wish to speak to us you can do it in my house." He remained adament to take me to his house.

"Very well. At least send your children away. You wouldn't want them to know what we are talking about." 

" Very well."

 About 30 minutes later I was sitting inside a large Dojo of the Uchiha clan with Fugaku right opposite to me. On my right were three Uchiha elders and on my left were 25 Uchiha jonins. Chunins and below were not allowed entry.

" Now that we have gathered, Hokage Sama, please tell us the reason for your sudden visit." Fugaku enquired.

" Today I come here with a single purpose. I know of the dissatisfaction between the Uchiha Clan and the leaf village. There are certain misunderstanding that have led to the isolation of the uchiha clan within Konoha. Previously I dd not hold the power to do anything in this matter. But now I do. So I have come directly to you."

The elder sitting left spoke up, " Hokage. With all due respect, Do you really expect us to lie down and accept the treatment that we have received from the third hokage and the advisors. Is it not justifiable for us if we decide not to thake their crap any longer. How long should we endure this harsh and unjustifiable discrimination and hatred with our own village?" 

A jonin spoke up, " Yes. We are from the Uchiha clan. We are the elite of the elites. Why should we accept this behaviour from the village towards our noble clan?"

Looking at the jonin and then the Elder, I started to speak slowly." I do not expect you to lie down and do nothing about it. But when you live in a village, you are bound by the laws that govern it. Have you ever tried to resolve the conflict that you have going on with the civilians. Your Uchiha police have misbehaved with the civilians of this village on multiple occasions. Have you punished them for their unlawful acts. You say how long you should endure. You will endure for as long as you don't break the cycle that binds you yourself. " 

Turning to face the jonin I said," Elites of the elites? HAHAHAHA! That's the best joke ever. The sharingan you possess is nothing more that a mere tool that gives you an edge over your opponents. Your Monkey see monkey do tactics only prevails true when you face a slightly stronger opponent than yourself. Tell me Elite Uchiha, Can you take on the likes of Hashirama, Tobirama or even the old Hiruzen? Tell me Uchiha, Do you have the guts to take me on?" Staring straight at the Uchiha, He stumbled back and bowed his head down in shame.

" Your ladybug eyes might be something you boast about proudly but I don't see how it will help you defeat me. Maybe you would put up a fight if you had the Mangekyou. But then again in this clan full of so called Elites, Only two people have awakened their Mangekyou so far. And both of them are pacifists. They were the Uchiha Name with pride but do not flaunt it on powerless civilians and juniors. Am I wrong, Shisui and Fugaku?" I asked them 

Fugaku nodded his his head in approval to what I said and Shushi remained silent. Though he let out a small smile of appreciation.

Looking back at the gathered Ninjas I continued, " Do not let go of your pride as an Uchiha, but learn to let go of your arrogance as an Uchiha. this is the first and last warning I will give you, ever. I know about your plans of a coup d'état and I will request you to abondon these thoughts right now. You are a citizen of the Hidden leaf and will remain so for as long as this village stands. But if you dare to harm Konoha, I will be the first one to cut you down. "

Fugaku spoke up, " Hokage Sama, please rest assured that the uchiha clan thinks of itself as part of Konoha and will never set out to destroy it. Those among the Uchiha seek destruction will perish under my blade. i promise you that."

" That is good enough for me." Standing up I said, " Well then, I will leave first."

" Let me escort you out." Shisui offered.

" No need" I said and Flashed out of the Dojo towards he Namikaze Estate.

Meanwhile in Amegakure,

" What do you make out of this new Hokage, Madara?" Pain asked the orange masked man.

In a deep tone Tobi replied," I am yet to see him in action myself but from the description of what he did to Kumo, well he is deserving of the title of Kage?"

" Are you cautious of this man?" Konan asked.

" I am Madara Uchiha. Apart from Hashirama, there is no one in this world who can challenge me in combat." Tobi replied boastfully keeping up his act.

" We shall see" Pain said narrowing his eyes.

" Have you gathered the new menbers?" Tobi asked

" Kisame Hashigaki, Sasori of the red sand, Bounty hunter Kakuzu, Orochimaru of the Sanin, have been recruited. Deidara of Iwa, Jashinist Hidan and Juzo Biwa of the seven swordsman are potential recruits. " Konana answered.

" Very well. I will send Zetsu to search for more members " With that Tobi absorbed himself into a wormhole and left the room.

" Nagato, Should we really trust this man?" Konan asked

" We have no other options now. But if he intends to ham Akatsuki then I shall show him the full power of God himself." Pain replied to his only friend.

Konan separated into tiny sheets of paper and flew away. Pain was left alone looking up at the Sky which was continuously raining because of his jutsu. ' I hope I am in the right path Yahiko.'

In IWAGAKURE

Onoki was reading the reports sent by the spies that he had deployed within Konoha and Kumo. His current headache was the new Hokage. It would not bother him much if it was anyone else. But when he saw the name Uzumaki he was reminded of the past during the second World war and Iwa's participation in the destruction of the Uzumaki country. 

It wouldn't be a head ache if the new Hokage was like Rasa. Strong but not that much. But no, this guy was strong and if he were to guess, stronger than him. And this made the topic a headache. The man had the full capability of invading Iwa and raining on the same destruction he rained down upon Kumo. He fought a Powerful kage and Two perfect jinchuriki, beat them into submission and took them hostage. His summon was large enough to compare to the legendary Nine tails and could easily subdue two tailed beasts together. Then he went on to destroy almost two-thirds of the village and was shameless enough to demand compensation for the life of the Raikage and the jinchurikis. Right now if a head count was done, Iwa had the most shinobis with around 20,000 active shinobis, followed by Konoha who had around 17,000 shinobis and then comes Kiri with also around 15,000 shinobis, although the number can vary due to the ongoing civil war. after that comes Suna with 12,000 shinobis and at last comes Kumo with a mere 8000 shinobis. Kumo used be at the top with 23,000 shinobis after the war. But a single man from konoha had killed over 15,000 shinobis within 2 hours.

It was a feat never achieved before. Hashirama, Madara or even their arch enemy Minato never came close to these numbers. Troubling indeed. Konoha is truly blessed every time with these super strong geniuses. If one dies another one pops out of thin air. How frustrating.

Finally Onoki had come to a decision. Don't provoke Konoha for now. He would wait and watch and if the opportunity presents he will take action. However strong one maybe Onoki had full confidence on his dust release. He just needed one shot and then it's all over.