Hokage: Ryo's Path

But on the other hand, the Uchiha have been living in the center of the village for so many years, and they would certainly not agree easily to leave. This included Fugaku himself.

He had no sleep on that night; but he could not find a way out. In the end, easing the conflict between the villagers and the Uchiha was what mattered most, and Fugaku decided to relocate his clan.

The next day, Fugaku shared the idea of moving with the rest of the Uchiha. Obviously, they were all against the idea, and expressed their opposition.

However, what surprised Fugaku the most was that Katachi stood up, asked everyone to stop talking, and then was the first to announce his support to the relocation!

None of the Uchiha spoke for a while. With the clan’s elder and head both agreeing, their opposition lost much of its weight.

Nevertheless, their silence also spoke for their sorrow, as they could not just accept leaving their homes in which they’ve lived for so long without any good reason.

“Fugaku dono, why are we moving? At least tell us why?!”

“Yes, grand elder! Why?”

Under the questioning of the clan, Fugaku sighed and decided to tell the truth. However, Katachi did not leave him time to speak: “Obviously, it’s for the pride and dignity of the Uchiha clan!”

Upon hearing that, everyone looked at each other in surprise, not understanding what he meant.

“Don’t you understand? It’s very simple! Our clan is the greatest in Konoha. Recently, the civilians and Ninjas of the village have been provoking us. These fools are being used by someone who wants to target our clan!”

“Then why would we want to relocate? Shouldn’t we just keep on catching them?”

“Don’t be a fool! What’s the benefit in that? That would only bring us further down our hidden enemy’s trap! We are the Uchiha; how can we ever steep so low?”

Katachi’s words moved the pride within the Uchihas’ hearts. Just this change of perspective made a portion of them agree to the relocation.

Hammering the iron while it’s hot, Fugaku added: “Moving away will also allow us to determine the ones conspiring against our clan from behind the scene. If we move, their plans will fail, and they would move on to another. If we’re vigilant enough when that happens, we might be able to catch them red handed! Then, Konoha’s center will be wide open for us!”

After hearing Fugaku’s words, the opposition in the clan essentially disappeared, and most of the Uchiha agreed with moving.

The few who still did not agree could only bury their complaints.

After the meeting, Fugaku stopped Katachi, saying sincerely: “Thank you, grand elder!”

“This is about the survival of the Uchiha. I’m not going against you when you go for the right thing. I’ve been anxiously thinking of what should be done to avoid the conflict between our clan and the rest of the village, and I did not expect you to come up with this solution.”

Fugaku nodded, and then said: “You’ve hit the nail on the head back when you mentioned that an enemy of the clan is acting behind the scenes. Do you have any guesses on who that might be?”

“I have only speculation. Whoever this is, he’s being very secretive. I’ve sent people to investigate, and they found nothing. However, I think it should be one of two: The Sandaime, or Danzo!”

Fugaku nodded, as the elder’s guess wasn’t far off his.

“Do you agree?” Katachi asked.

“Well, yes. But I think it should be Danzo, not the 3rd. This is more in line with his methods.”

“Those two are both the 2nd Hokage’s disciples. He was a Senju, and was always hostile to our clan. You should expect the same from his disciples, and you should never trust them!”

Fugaku did not answer, still feeling that the 3rd had nothing to do with this incident.

After that, the two discussed the details of the relocation before they went back to make the necessary preparations.

..........

Soon after in the Hokage’s office, Sakumo received an official application for relocation from Fugaku.

When reading it, Sakumo could not wait to sign it and agree!

After Ryo visited him, his Anbu continued their investigations, and indeed confirmed that the Root Ninjas were lurking among the 3rd’s Anbu.

Now, the Uchiha’s relocation was the best possible thing that could possibly happen, as it could ease the conflict and opens ways to counter Danzo.

After obtaining Sakumo’s approval, the Uchiha immediately began to move. The Ninjas remained at first, while the children and the elderly went again of them.

Watching the clan move, the civilians of Konoha had much less of a grudge in their hearts.

At the same time, Sakumo also took the opportunity to send his Anbu spreading out rumors in the village: The one to control the Kyubi was not an Uchiha.

With that news spreading fast, the villager’s conviction of the Uchiha’s guilt started to waver. ‘The Uchiha are moving; they had no benefit out of this, and for people able to control the Kyubi itself, they are not putting up resistance.’ Most of the villagers even started feeling guilt: They had no proof, but they brought to much trouble to the Uchiha!

In this way, Konoha regained its calm, and the only one still agitated was probably Danzo.

In Roots’ headquarters, he and Homura were discussing their next move.

Counting on their pride, Danzo never expected the Uchiha to actually retreat and relocate. This move rendered all his previous plotting useless.

“So, we have to find another way to target them?” Asked Homura.

“No! The Uchiha clan is probably ready for our next move. Instead of doing that, we should make our target the son of Minato and Kushina!”

“You mean.... Danzo, that’s not a good target; not at all! That kid is to become a future pillar of Konoha. If the news is to be spread out, I fear that the other villages might take advantage of that!”

“Don’t worry about that kid; he has enough people protecting him to take down any enemy! We should now focus on seizing the opportunity to gain leverage in Konoha and prepare for the election of the Godaime!”

Homura thought about the matter for a while, and then finally nodded. He and Danzo together mobilized their forces, spreading another rumor throughout the village.

“Hey! Did you hear? The Yondaime’s son is the tailed fox demon!”

“Is that true? How is that possible?

“Of course it’s true! I heard that when the Yondaime died, he sealed the Kyubi into his child’s body. Now, that child is the tailed fox demon!”

“Wow! Then we should be careful in the future, and keep our children away from that fox!”

As the two women were whispering, a man passing by said to them: “How ungrateful could you be! The Yondaime put his son’s life on the line to seal the Kyubi into his body, and you’re out here right now spouting out such nonsense? Like his father, that child should be considered a hero!”

The man’s words made the two women feel ashamed, but could did not calm their fear of the Kyubi...

A few days later, the villagers and the Ninjas of Konoha were divided into two camps: One thought that Naruto should be secluded or separated from the village, and the other camp considered him a boy born a hero, a hero worthy of respect.

Sakumo naturally learned of the matter, and did not make any comments, letting these people carry on arguing.