The Uchiha Clan's Sun

Uchiha Jin was genuinely puzzled, wondering where Shimura Danzo had gotten some inside information from.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi!" Danzo Shimura said fiercely, "Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze should have already come looking for you!"

Uchiha Jin was taken aback. Although he was surprised, his face remained calm and expressionless.

Shimura Danzo didn't give Uchiha Jin a chance to speak, and continued, "You don't need to rush to deny it. Since I've spoken like this, I must have already confirmed the truth of this matter. Moreover, although your meeting was secretive, it left a huge flaw!"

Uchiha Jin's eyes flickered. Although his expression remained unchanged, he was already pondering what flaw Shimura Danzo had mentioned.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze did indeed look for him, but they both used the Flying Thunder God Technique to come and go, leaving virtually no trace. Only a handful of people knew about it. So what was the flaw that Danzo Shimura was referring to?

Seeing that Uchiha Jin remained silent, Shimura Danzo continued, "These past few days, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, like myself, have been talking to the ninjas of various clans in the village, seeking their support. We've basically interviewed everyone in the village who has the right to vote!"

"However, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others completely overlooked your Uchiha clan and never looked for you. This is very unusual!"

"Even though your Uchiha clan has already expressed their support for me at the last Jonin meeting, Hiruzen Sarutobi's personality means he won't easily give up on winning you over!"

Even if there's absolutely no hope, they can't just give up without even trying!

"So they must have contacted your Uchiha clan. If they didn't contact you openly, then they must have done so secretly!"

"Moreover, you should have already reached a cooperation agreement. The reason they are not openly contacting you is to avoid suspicion and try to lull me into a false sense of security!"

"But this is also the huge flaw you've left behind!"

Shimura Danzo's words were reasonable and well-founded, leaving Uchiha Jin somewhat speechless for a moment.

The main problem is that Shimura Danzo knows Hiruzen Sarutobi too well. Any unreasonable behavior from Hiruzen Sarutobi will be magnified infinitely in Shimura Danzo's eyes!

Uchiha Jin shook his head. No matter what, he certainly couldn't admit to this now. He said calmly, "Elder Shimura, these are all just your guesses. In any case, I still maintain that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze have not come to see me!"

"Besides, since you've said that our relationship is based on mutual benefit and there's no trust between us to begin with, then I won't explain anything further. Just tell me what you want to do!"

Upon seeing this, Shimura Danzo frowned slightly; Uchiha Jin's attitude made him hesitate.

Did Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group really not search for the Uchiha clan?

That's impossible...

The Uchiha clan currently holds hundreds of Jonin trust votes, and Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't possibly ignore such a powerful force!

Seeing this, Uchiha Jin pondered for a moment, then pretended to hesitate before speaking, "Elder Shimura, considering our previous cooperation was quite pleasant, let me remind you again, is it possible that the reason why Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others haven't come to find my Uchiha clan is because they have already found a way to restrain our Uchiha clan?"

"I've heard that there have been many unfamiliar faces in the village these past few days!"

"An unfamiliar face?" Shimura Danzo's pupils contracted upon hearing this, as if he had realized something, and he asked urgently, "What unfamiliar face? What's going on?"

Although Shimura Danzo has been busy campaigning lately, he has never let his guard down regarding the situation in the village, but he is unaware of this 'unfamiliar face' matter.

However, Shimura Danzo thought about the situation of the Sarutobi clan, the Utatane clan, and the Mitomon clan, and a bad feeling arose in his heart!

Uchiha Jin said in a deep voice, "Elder Shimura, you may have overlooked some details due to your busy schedule lately, but our Konoha Police Department patrols every corner of the village day and night. Recently, we have discovered nearly a hundred 'strangers' with powerful auras in the territories of the Sarutobi, Utatane, and Mitomon clans!"

"According to reports from my subordinates, these people are at least at the Jonin level!"

Chapter 268 Failure is rebellion, success is revolution!

Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo's expression immediately darkened, confirming his suspicions.

Seeing this, Uchiha Jin spoke up again: "It seems that Elder Shimura knows who those unfamiliar faces are?"

Those unfamiliar faces were indeed discovered by members of the Konoha Guard during their patrol. Although Uchiha Jin had some guesses, he could not be completely sure of their identities.

"Who else could they be?" Shimura Danzo sneered, disdainfully saying, "Those people are ninjas that Hiruzen Sarutobi and his gang secretly trained for their own clans by misappropriating village resources!"

Danzo Shimura paused, glanced at Jin Uchiha, and said coldly, "I'm not afraid to tell you, don't be fooled by the fact that your Uchiha clan now has nearly a thousand ninjas and is known as the number one clan in Konoha, or even the number one clan in the ninja world. After years of development, the Sarutobi clan has just as many ninjas as you, if not more, just as many. They're just a little less skilled in terms of quality!"

"Although the Utatane and Mitomon clans did not focus their development on training ninjas, the two clans combined are still comparable to the Hyuga clan!"

"It's just that in order to avoid attracting attention, they usually assign most of the clan's ninjas some random jobs and keep them hidden in the shadows!"

Uchiha Jin was also taken aback upon hearing this, gaining a completely new understanding of the greed of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado!

It's important to know that when the Sarutobi, Utatane, and Mitomon clans joined Konoha at the beginning of the village's founding, they were only medium-sized clans with fewer than a thousand members and a hundred ninjas!

But now, in just a few decades, the number of ninjas in the Sarutobi clan is almost equal to the number of all the clan members at the beginning!

Just how much of the village's resources did these three people embezzle to develop themselves?

Uchiha Jin originally thought that the claim of 'three thousand Sarutobi soldiers' during the Fourth Shinobi World War was just a joke circulating online. But there's no smoke without fire. Now it seems that if Hiruzen Sarutobi had been in power for another ten years or so, the Sarutobi clan would probably have had two thousand Sarutobi soldiers by the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War!

Think back to the original story when the Allied Shinobi Forces besieged the Ten-Tails. The Wind Release team called out to the Sand Village, the Earth Release team called out to the Rock Village, the Lightning Release team called out to the Cloud Village, and the Water Release team called out to the Mist Village. But when it came to the Fire Release team, those Konoha ninjas called out to the Sarutobi clan. The difference is obvious!

Uchiha Jin shook his head, clearing these distracting thoughts from his mind, and then looked at Shimura Danzo and said, "Elder Shimura, the Sarutobi, Utatane, and Mitomon clans already have more than a hundred Jonin on the surface. Adding these one hundred Jonin in secret, that makes more than two hundred Jonin, which is almost the same number as my Uchiha and Hyuga clans."

"Although you control the Root, the Anbu are also under Hiruzen Sarutobi's control."

"Among the small and medium-sized families in the village, the 'big families' like Ino-Shika-Cho are definitely supporting Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group."

"Among the remaining civilian ninjas, Orochimaru is on our side and can garner some votes for us, but Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group also have Jiraiya, who is also one of the Legendary Sannin."

"Furthermore, Hiruzen Sarutobi has a higher prestige in the village than you, and his support in the village is definitely higher than yours!"

"I've even heard that Hiruzen Sarutobi has tried to win over the Shimura clan, from which you belong..."

"It seems that Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group have a clear advantage!"

As Uchiha Jin analyzed Shimura Danzo's current situation, Shimura Danzo's face darkened with each sentence he spoke. By the time Uchiha Jin finished speaking, Shimura Danzo's face was as black as the bottom of a pot!

Judging from Shimura Danzo's appearance, he must have anticipated all of this, otherwise he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to confirm the Uchiha clan's attitude!

Danzo Shimura narrowed his one eye and gritted his teeth, saying, "The outcome is still uncertain, and it's impossible to know who will win or lose! Besides confirming whether your Uchiha clan has cooperated with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, I have another matter to discuss with you today!"

"I want to buy insurance for what will happen tomorrow!"

A few days ago, Shimura Danzo had secretly garnered considerable support by traveling among the various clans in the village. However, that was only because Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group hadn't yet entered the fray!

In the past few days, after Hiruzen Sarutobi left the battlefield, the family that had originally agreed to support him became ambiguous in their attitude towards him, which made Danzo Shimura, who was originally full of confidence, feel uneasy!

So Danzo Shimura is mainly here today to prepare a backup plan for himself, of course, on the premise that the Uchiha clan has not sided with the Sarutobi clan!

After the conversation, Shimura Danzo has confirmed that although Uchiha Jin does not like him, his attitude towards Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others is not much better!

This means it will come down to who can bring greater benefits to the Uchiha clan, him or Hiruzen Sarutobi!

On this point, Shimura Danzo wasn't too worried, after all, with Sarutobi Hiruzen's hesitant nature, how many good things could he possibly produce?

On the contrary, the conditions he offered to the Uchiha clan were already the limit!

In comparison, Danzo Shimura believed that the Uchiha clan was still trustworthy, so he revealed his plans for contingency!

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin's heart stirred, and he tentatively asked, "What does Elder Shimura intend to do?"

Danzo Shimura's eyes flashed with malice as he said, "The former head of the Anbu, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, is dead, and Hiruzen Sarutobi is unable to exercise the authority of the Hokage. The Anbu is now leaderless. Tomorrow, I will, in my capacity as an elder of Konoha, have the Root ninja take over the covert defense of the election site."

"The official security for the election venue is handled by the Konoha Police Department of your Uchiha clan, which means the entire venue, inside and out, is staffed with our people!"

"If I win the election tomorrow, everything will proceed as usual; but if I lose..."

Danzo Shimura's single eye flashed with murderous intent, and his voice grew even colder as he said, "Then let's go all the way, kill Sarutobi, imprison Namikaze, and behead Utatane and Mitomon!"

Uchiha Jin was stunned by what he heard, never expecting that Shimura Danzo would be so ruthless!

"You're plotting a rebellion!"

Uchiha Jin felt a chill run down his spine and gasped.

"Failure is rebellion, success is revolution!" Shimura Danzo said firmly. "As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others are dead, I will have enough evidence to prove that they deserved to die!"

"Minato Namikaze can't be killed. You just need to hold him off for me. Then have Orochimaru hold off Jiraiya. Leave the rest to me!"

"I've made my position as the Fourth Hokage permanent. Even the Sage of Six Paths would have to give way!"

Chapter 269 Hesitation will lead to defeat!

Danzo Shimura's plans were not decisions made on a whim, but rather choices made after careful consideration.

In Shimura Danzo's view, after decades of rule by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha Village had inevitably been tainted by some of Hiruzen Sarutobi's personal vices!

That is, always compromising for the sake of the so-called "big picture"!

The village's high-level decision-making group, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, always compromises when things are already a fait accompli, in order to avoid further deterioration of the situation!

As the saying goes, "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." With the top influencing the bottom, the entire Hidden Leaf Village also habitually follows this set of procedures!

Therefore, Shimura Danzo was certain that as long as he swiftly eliminated Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, the people below the village would hesitate, and hesitation would lead to defeat!

At this point, as long as he produces evidence of the crimes committed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, the people below the village will be further weakened by internal strife over the village's strength, and they will take advantage of the situation he has provided to back down!

As for the evidence against Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado... Danzo Shimura had already prepared it. It included not only evidence of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado's embezzlement and corruption, but also a lot of things that involved himself.

Once Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado are dead, Danzo Shimura can then unscrupulously shift all the blame onto them, even the things he did on his own initiative!

After all, the dead can't speak up and argue, so whatever they say goes!

Uchiha Jin pondered for a moment, but did not directly refuse. Instead, he said, "Elder Shimura, you should know that tomorrow is a big event for the village. Even if we exclude the Jonin who are guarding the frontier, there will still be about a thousand Jonin present tomorrow!"

"It's almost impossible for the Uchiha clan and your Root ninjas to stop them on their own; at most, they can only delay them for a few minutes!"

"Are you confident you can take down Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two in a few minutes?"

Uchiha Jin was not optimistic about Shimura Danzo's plan. He knew that although Sarutobi Hiruzen was old, a Kage-level stunner was still a Kage-level stunner!

Without the appearance of a master at the level of Super Shadow or Six Paths, it is not an easy task to defeat a Shadow-level expert in a short period of time!

Moreover, Shimura Danzo might not even be able to defeat Sarutobi Hiruzen!

Upon hearing this, Danzo Shimura confidently replied, "You don't need to worry about that. I don't expect the Uchiha clan to be able to hold them off for me. Just delay them for a moment and create an opening!"

"My Root unit has several talented individuals with special skills. Although they are not Jonin, the combined strength of a few of them is enough to hold off thousands of Jonin!"

"Then, as long as your Uchiha clan sends someone to hold off Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya, the rest is up to me!"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin's eyes flickered, and he looked at Shimura Danzo's right eye and right arm, which were wrapped in bandages.

Danzo Shimura gouged out his right eye himself, but the possibility that he had another Sharingan implanted cannot be ruled out.

Mangekyou Sharingan is hard to find, but Danzo Shimura definitely had some three-tomoe Sharingan in stock.

Danzo Shimura also severed his right hand himself. At that time, Danzo Shimura had not yet transplanted the special arm that fused Hashirama's cells and the three-tomoe Sharingan.

However, it's highly likely that Danzo Shimura has now replaced that special arm!

If you ask why, Uchiha Jin severed Shimura Danzo's arm at the root, and although Shimura Danzo's right hand is now wrapped in bandages and hanging in front of his chest, his right hand is still real!

It can be said that the current Shimura Danzo is the complete Shimura Danzo!

In terms of combat power alone, Shimura Danzo with several more lives is definitely much stronger than the previous Shimura Danzo!

Furthermore, the presence of Hashirama's cells can also provide a certain amount of boost to Shimura Danzo's chakra, allowing him to use some basic Wood Release techniques!

If Hiruzen Sarutobi is unaware of Danzo Shimura's current situation, he might actually suffer a great loss at Danzo's hands!

After all, ninja battles are, to a certain extent, battles of intelligence!

Hiruzen Sarutobi knows very little about Danzo Shimura, while Danzo knows Hiruzen Sarutobi inside and out!

After pondering for a moment, Uchiha Jin said, "It's worth a try, but you have to tell me how you managed to hold off the village's Jonin's attack first, otherwise I won't risk it with you!"

Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo did not hide anything and asked directly, "Have you ever heard of the Four Purple Sun Formation?"

If Uchiha Jin hadn't pressed the matter further, Shimura Danzo might have continued to doubt Uchiha Jin's true intentions. After all, rebellion is a serious matter that could cost one's head. If Uchiha Jin had placed the entire Uchiha clan on his shoulders without knowing anything, then Uchiha Jin was either foolish or had ulterior motives.

Therefore, Danzo Shimura had already prepared to inform Jin Uchiha of some things.

"The Four Purple Sun Formation?"

Uchiha Jin was indeed familiar with this barrier formation, after all, in the original story, Orochimaru used the Four Purple Sun Formation to block Konoha's thousands of troops, giving him time to kill Sarutobi Hikaru.

Above the Four Purple Sun Formation is the upgraded Four Red Sun Formation, which requires four Kage-level or higher powerhouses to perform together. Even the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball cannot destroy it!

Using the Four Purple Sun Formation could indeed block most of Konoha's ninjas!

After thinking for a moment, Uchiha Jin said, "We Uchiha can help you create an opening for using the Four Purple Sun Formation, but we will not fight to the death with the Konoha ninjas!"

"We can help you stall Minato and Jiraiya, but we won't break ties with them. We'll only hold them off for ten minutes at most!"

"Furthermore, our Uchiha clan will never acknowledge any cooperation with you... You should understand what I mean, Elder Shimura, right?"

Uchiha Jin's eyes flickered. Although he was saying things to distance himself from the situation, he was actually already considering the feasibility of eliminating Konoha's F4 in one fell swoop during tomorrow's election ceremony!

Let Shimura Danzo kill Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura, and then, under the pretext of protecting the emperor and quelling the rebellion, eliminate Shimura Danzo and his Root organization in one fell swoop.

The feasibility of this is undoubtedly very high!