Naruto: The Flame That Reshapes Fate

To give or not to give?

That was the dilemma.

If Uchiha Rēn hadn't stirred things up like this, the Third Hokage and his faction had indeed planned to use the pressure from Kirigakure to cut back the wings of the Uchiha—to leverage the larger political situation to force the clan into severing its own limbs. Even if they couldn't harm Uchiha Rēn directly, killing Uchiha Shisui wouldn't have been a wasted effort.

Torune, Danzō's right-hand man, had been unable to gain the upper hand against Uchiha Shisui.

Clearly, the threat posed by the Uchiha wasn't just from Uchiha Rēn. Shisui was also an unstable danger point.

But after Uchiha Rēn stirred up the situation involving the Kirigakure envoy, they could no longer continue with the original plan. If they now demanded the Uchiha hand over Shisui, it would be tantamount to yielding to Kirigakure's threats—a humiliation that would deal a severe blow to the Third Hokage's authority. Anyone could see that.

Furthermore,

Uchiha Rēn would absolutely refuse such a demand. The initial idea was to use the threat of war to unite the clans in pressuring the Uchiha, but now, with Kirigakure applying pressure, the clans were unlikely to work together. Being forced to fight each other under foreign coercion—even against the Uchiha—was unacceptable.

But if they abandoned the plan,

How could they face the Hyūga?

Back when Kumogakure threatened Konoha, the Third Hokage had personally gone to persuade the Hyūga to prioritize the village. As a result, Hyūga Hiashi's younger brother, Hizashi, had been sacrificed. While Hiashi had shown no signs of holding a grudge, looking back now, the wound had never truly healed.

It simply hadn't been touched for two years.

But today, someone found it—and pressed down hard.

If the village refused Kirigakure's demands this time, what would the Hyūga think?

'Why did they not refuse the last time?' that question would be something that needed to be answered for.

Koharu's face turned ashen. Faced with Rēn's questioning, she opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word. Her mind turned to mush, utterly at a loss for how to handle this unexpected situation. The same gloom clouded Homura's face.

The decision to sacrifice a Hyūga to avoid war with Kumogakure had been made by the Third and the two elders. The event had come so suddenly that there hadn't even been time to pull in Danzō to take the fall. Hiruzen had gone to the Hyūga himself, so even now they couldn't shift the blame to Danzō.

Hiashi was no fool.

Nor was he a block of wood.

If they tried to treat him as such, it would only backfire.

As for postponing the issue—

That would be the stupidest choice. It would only make the decision-makers look weak and incompetent.

Trapped in a bind, the Third Hokage hesitated briefly before responding with righteous resolve: "Konoha does not like war, but we do not fear it. If Kirigakure has no intent for peaceful coexistence, then we will not hesitate to let them know that Konoha is not theirs to trample."

As soon as those words left his mouth—

"Ridiculous!!!"

Hiashi slammed his chair over with a bang, stood up, spat out that single word—"ridiculous"—and left without looking back.

No one stopped the Hyūga clan head.

No one criticized his rudeness.

None of the clan leaders mocked the Hyūga—instead, a wave of shared sorrow and deep disappointment rippled through the room.

The Third was no longer the hero of the village he once was.

He swallowed insults from foreign enemies, but tirelessly suppressed allies within. Everyone in the room knew what this meeting had really been about. It wasn't about Kirigakure. It was about suppressing the Uchiha. Maybe some had once been swayed by the Third's narrative of the Uchiha threat, but now they couldn't muster any interest in getting involved in this farce.

So what if the Uchiha looked down on people?

Those arrogant guys were still comrades of the village—far better than those bastards from Kumogakure or Kirigakure.

The air in the meeting room grew unbearably heavy.

Only Rēn leaned back in his chair with a relaxed smile. His goal was achieved: a clean break between the Hyūga and the Third Hokage. It was a delightful performance.

The only slight regret was that Hiashi hadn't lost his temper completely. He had simply left the meeting—there had been no open clash with the Third.

"Let's end today's meeting here. We'll reconvene another time to address the Kirigakure matter."

The Third, sounding tired, formally closed the meeting. Hiashi's departure had removed any reason to continue. In truth, the meeting had never been about handling Kirigakure—it had been a pretext to suppress the Uchiha.

That plan had completely fallen apart, and with it, the need for the meeting.

As the saying goes, great decisions whisper behind closed doors; small ones echo in crowded halls. Going to war with Kirigakure didn't need this many people all talking over each other—five to seven would be enough to set a framework.

The meeting ended.

The clan heads walked out of the Hokage building in silence, each one visibly weighed down with concern.

Outside the village, Kirigakure harbored ill intent and sought to ignite war. Inside, the village was divided. The rift between the Hokage's faction and the Uchiha was now in plain sight. And even the Hyūga seemed to be pulling away from the Hokage…

These thoughts swirled endlessly in their minds, impossible to shake off.

"Clan Head Uchiha!"

An unexpected voice stopped Rēn as he exited the building.

"Clan Head Hyūga. What can I do for you?"

Rēn was surprised to see Hiashi approach. For a moment, he didn't know what the Hyūga leader was planning. Was he here to start trouble because his old wounds had been reopened during the meeting?

That was, of course, impossible.

"This isn't the place to talk. The food at Shōchikutei is quite good. I wonder if you have time to share a drink?" Hiashi extended an olive branch.

"Though I'm not of drinking age, if you don't mind me substituting tea, I'd be honored to try Shōchikutei's cuisine. To be honest, I've never been to a place like that," Rēn replied with a smile.

"Tea is fine. Too much alcohol isn't good for the body." Hiashi took the cue easily.

The sight of Uchiha Rēn and Hyūga Hiashi talking outside the Hokage building was seen by the other clan heads as they were leaving. The image hit them like a shockwave, instantly flooding their minds with wild speculation.

Uchiha and Hyūga—

If these two clans stood together… it was unimaginable. Unthinkable even.

Was this a sign… of a coming upheaval?

Akimichi Torifu looked up at the clear blue sky. His mood was so heavy, even eating didn't appeal to him for now. He sighed deeply. "How did it come to this? Shikaku, you've got the brains—what do you think is going on?"

Nara Shikaku wore a deeply bitter smile.

What was going on?

It was the consequence of the seeds the Third had sown long ago.

If the Third had held on to absolute power, the Hyūga would likely have kept enduring for the greater good. But the Uchiha's sudden assertiveness had shaken the Hokage's authority, and the Hyūga saw their chance. That they would act was no surprise.

In Shikaku's memory, Hiashi and Hizashi had been extremely close as brothers.

Not even the rift between the Hyūga's main and branch families had severed their bond.

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