The massive funds obtained from selling off their properties didn’t see a single cent flow into Konoha’s banks; instead, everything was converted into hard currency and scarce resources—
Compressed dry rations and fodder sufficient to feed over ten thousand clan members for three years, enough medicinal herbs, antidotes, and blood-stanching powders to fill half a room, hundreds of thousands of explosive tags, shuriken, and Kunai, as well as high-purity Chakra metal rarely seen even in Konoha’s own storehouses.
All of this was funneled continuously into the secret underground chamber of the Naka Shrine under the cover of night, utilizing the summoning contract passed down through generations between the Uchiha and the Ninja Cat Clan.
It wasn’t just resources.
The clan’s heritage, accumulated over a thousand years, was also being emptied out.
From complete rubbings of the stone tablet left by the Six Paths Sage to the secret technique manuscripts of past clan heads; from the most basic Three-Body Technique cultivation scrolls to the complete legacies of forbidden jutsu like Izanagi and Izanami.
Even the ancestral tablets enshrined in the clan’s ancestral hall were carefully placed into specially made wooden boxes and sealed in the deepest part of the underground chamber.
Except for the clan compound’s estates which could not be moved, the Uchiha left almost nothing behind for Konoha.
The entire clan’s population had also long since been gathered together.
All those out on missions, even the garrison teams as far away as the border of the Land of Rain, had been fully recalled to the clan compound under the pretext of ‘Ancestral Sacrifice, Clan Homecoming’.
The elderly, weak, women, and children were quietly settled in the courtyards surrounding the Naka Shrine.
The young and middle-aged Ninjas were divided into two shifts: one shift worked day and night without rest to reinforce the triple sealing arrays along the clan compound’s borders.
The other shift rotated on patrol duty.
On the surface, they were maintaining order in the compound before the sacrifice, but in reality, they had already rehearsed all evacuation routes and emergency plans no fewer than ten times.
Behind all these surging undercurrents, in the top-floor office of the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s patience had long since been pushed to its limit.
The office was still filled with swirling smoke.
Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu sat opposite him, their expressions as cold as ice.
Danzo Shimura remained standing in the shadows by the window, the single eye beneath his bandages filled with uncontrollable gloom and hostility.
“Hiruzen!
It’s already been a month!” Utatane Koharu was the first to break the silence, her voice full of anxiety.
“The Uchiha have recalled all their clan members from abroad and are cooped up in their compound every day.
The Naka Shrine is sealed so tightly not even a bird can fly in.
How much longer do you intend to endure this?!”
“I said long ago that they must be plotting a rebellion!” Homura Mitokado took over, slamming the table hard.
“If we don’t act now, it will be too late once they are fully prepared!”
“Hmph.” Danzo stepped out of the shadows, his raspy voice full of mockery.
“Hokage-sama, you always say we must consider the big picture and stabilize the other Ninja clans, but if you wait any longer, the Uchiha’s blades will be at your throat.”
The pipe in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s hand flickered as his brows knit into a tight knot, but in the end, he slowly shook his head.
“Wait a bit longer.”
He tapped the desk, where the daily report scrolls from the Anbu were spread out.
“Fugaku has already taken the initiative to transfer all authority of the Konoha Military Police Force to the Anbu, which is equivalent to voluntarily surrendering the only armed power in his hands.
He also took the initiative to request that we station Anbu at the four entrances and exits of the Uchiha Clan Compound, saying it’s to prevent outsiders from disturbing the sacrifice and to stop radicals within the clan from causing trouble.”
He looked up at the three of them, his tone carrying a hint of certainty: “They are surrounded on all sides by our people, and they no longer have military power.
Even if the Uchiha want to rebel, what kind of waves can they possibly make?”
Over this past month, it wasn’t that he hadn’t been vigilant.
However, Fugaku’s two moves were truly beyond his expectations.
Voluntarily surrendering power and requesting surveillance was equivalent to placing the life and death of the Uchiha completely in his hands.
If they really intended to rebel, who would do something as stupid as cutting off their own arms?
Moreover, the daily Anbu reports clearly stated: the Uchiha Clan Members’ daily activities were limited to the interior of the compound and the Naka Shrine.
There were no large-scale gatherings of Ninjas, no hidden illegal Ninja tools, and no secret correspondence with other Ninja clans or other nations.
Everything appeared to be a quiet preparation for the ancestral sacrifice.
As time passed, the tension in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s mind gradually relaxed.
He even felt that perhaps he and the higher-ups were being too nervous.
Fugaku might just be using the sacrifice as a pretext to consolidate the clan’s hearts and suppress the momentum of those radicals.
But Danzo didn’t think so.
He stared fixedly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his single eye full of malice: “You are too naive!
What kind of person is Fugaku?
He is the Uchiha Clan Head, proud and arrogant his whole life.
How could he possibly give in so easily?
There must be a problem here!
Especially with the Naka Shrine; my people have tried eight times and can’t even get near the main gate.
We have no idea what’s going on inside!”
“No idea?” Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.
“The Anbu are watching.
They see them moving in and out every day with incense, candles, and offerings for the sacrifice.
What else could there be?”
“Offerings?” Danzo sneered.
“Have you ever seen a sacrifice that requires using Summoning Jutsu to transport things into a shrine in the dead of night?
My people saw with their own eyes that the Ninja Cat Clan’s summoned beasts go to the Uchiha Clan Compound every night.
Have you checked what’s actually inside?”
“Enough, Danzo.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expression darkened.
“Now is not the time to create unnecessary complications.
The Uchiha have already yielded.
If we keep pushing them, we’ll only force them into a real rebellion.
Once their sacrifice is over and the dust has settled, there will be plenty of time to investigate slowly.”
He had been the Hokage his entire life, and what he valued most was Konoha’s stability.
The three Great Ninja Wars had hollowed out Konoha’s foundations.
He absolutely could not afford to completely break with a founding clan like the Uchiha at this time, giving the other four Great Nations an opportunity to strike.
Seeing his stubbornness, Danzo clenched his fists in anger, the veins on his bandaged arm bulging.
Finally, with a cold snort, he flicked his sleeve and turned back into the shadows.
Meanwhile, in the underground chamber of the Naka Shrine, the very heart of their debate, Shin was flipping through a resource inventory while Uchiha Kai stood to the side, reporting their progress in a low voice.
“Young Master, all the property contracts have been signed.
The agreement with the Daimyo is for the formal handover in thirty days.” Kai’s voice was very low, his eyes filled with excitement.
“Everything that could be liquidated has been converted into resources and gold; the secret chamber is almost overflowing.
The clan’s scrolls, secret techniques, and legacies have also been fully inventoried and sealed.
Not a single item was left behind.”
“And the clan members?” Shin put down the inventory and looked up to ask.
“Thirteen thousand, six hundred and twenty-one people in total.
Except for three families we truly couldn’t contact, everyone else has been recalled to the compound.” Kai’s tone became even more certain.
“Over ninety-five percent are willing to go with us, far exceeding the seventy percent baseline you originally set.”