Noticing Orochimaru's gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed lightly and exchanged glances with his two old companions beside him. Then, he took the initiative to explain.
"This is a sealed secret. As of now, only a few people from back then know the full story." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fire·net
"I'll explain," Koharu Utatane picked up where Hiruzen left off.
"Uchiha Setsuna was a radical from the Uchiha clan during the time when Lord Tobirama was in power. He was one of the earliest representatives of the Uchiha hawks. He secretly incited rebellion with the Uchiha clan, which Lord Tobirama eventually discovered."
When Koharu mentioned Setsuna's name, a clear dislike flashed in her eyes.
"The Uchiha uprising never materialized. Setsuna, the mastermind behind it, was captured by Lord Tobirama along with the ANBU and imprisoned."
"This is one of the reasons we've always been cautious of, and have suppressed, the Uchiha clan. Lord Tobirama didn't target them without cause."
"Uchiha Setsuna was extremely dangerous! After Lord Tobirama's death, Kagami once proposed that Setsuna be released from prison and placed under house arrest within the Uchiha clan itself."
"The reason was to calm the hawkish Uchiha factions, who had become unstable after Tobirama's sacrifice. At the time, Hiruzen had just taken over as Hokage. In order to maintain stability between the Uchiha and the village, he agreed to Kagami's suggestion and appointed him as Setsuna's supervisor."
"But in the end, Kagami—because of his kindness and soft heart—was killed by the treacherous Uchiha Setsuna."
"After that, Hiruzen and Danzo had Setsuna imprisoned once again. They forbade the Uchiha clan from visiting him and prohibited any dissent regarding the village's handling of the matter."
Mitokado Homura's expression was also grim.
Back then, the six of them—Hiruzen, Danzo, Kagami, Koharu, Torifu, and himself—were all very close partners.
The death of Kagami was almost like cutting off the last bit of goodwill they had toward the Uchiha.
"We must capture Uchiha Setsuna! He is a fanatic who claims to carry on Madara's will. He considers himself the representative of Madara's will within the Uchiha clan after Madara's death.
If we let him go, once he allies with Madara, who knows what trouble he might bring to the village.
We must take him seriously! He's a cunning and ruthless Uchiha who won't hesitate to use any means to achieve his goals," Koharu said as she looked toward Orochimaru, reminding him.
On the other side, Uchiha Fugaku felt uneasy hearing Koharu's harsh words.
Uchiha Setsuna was a name even the clan itself tried to avoid. Not for other reasons, but because his hands were stained with the blood of clan members.
Although Kagami didn't fit well with other Uchiha and was trusted by the Second Hokage, his views leaned more toward the Senju Hokage's faction, he was still an Uchiha—extremely talented and powerful.
If it was just a clash of ideals, and they fought a duel with a clear winner, the clan would have no objections.
But Setsuna's method of killing Kagami was disgraceful—so disgraceful that his name and actions became a taboo that no one wanted to mention inside the clan.
"That won't be easy. First, we need to find where Madara is," Orochimaru said softly.
"Haven't we already captured many White Zetsu? Can't we get information from them..." Koharu said, still unwilling to give up.
"They're not really even human. It's hard to say whether they're more like trees or people. Their memories are completely blank, more like puppets being controlled. At least, for now, their empty minds hold no useful information."
"Our understanding of the White Zetsu isn't enough yet. It's hard to tell if Madara has some hidden backup plan involving them. So for now, the White Zetsu route is on hold," Orochimaru shook his head.
He was very interested in the White Zetsu, especially because their bodies were so unique—almost like the Shin clones!
In the past, it was amazing enough that a single Shin could adapt to anyone's body system, but every White Zetsu was like that.
From experiments, transplanted organs were almost as good as those from a Shin clone.
"Why did Madara put in so much effort to take Uchiha Setsuna away?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was puzzled.
If Uchiha Setsuna was truly useful to him, why hadn't Madara taken him sooner?
Had he only just realized something valuable about Setsuna?
Also, the village's secret birth sites were known to only a few high-ranking members, and the Anbu stationed there had all been carefully screened.
But judging from White Zetsu's attack, they clearly had their own intelligence sources.
While thinking about this, the Third Hokage even glanced sideways at Shimura Danzo, who had stayed silent and expressionless the whole time—too calm, almost unlike himself.
It wasn't that the Third wanted to doubt Danzo, but this old comrade had a long history of questionable deeds.
Whenever trouble arose, he was the first person suspected—people instinctively thought it was his doing.
But that thought only crossed the Third's mind briefly before he pushed it away.
Despite Danzo's dark past and his so-called cooperation with Madara, when it came to the safety of the village, he was still someone the Third could trust.
It was precisely because of this that the Third Hokage had tolerated him throughout his term.
"Maybe he's already old and near death, and wants to find a passionate follower within the Uchiha clan who can inherit his ideals and legacy," Kagetsu said quietly.
"So, he chose Uchiha Setsuna?" Hearing Kagetsu's words, everyone felt a little speechless for a moment.
Kagetsu believed this might be a choice made out of necessity.
After the war with Iwagakure ended, the village recalled many young genin who had quickly graduated from the academy and ninja ranks.
Especially now in the Uchiha clan, almost no one inside was loyal to Madara anymore. Even many Uchiha jonin knew that the famous ancestor was still alive.
Within the Uchiha clan, there were still the dove faction and the hawk faction, but their main disagreement was about how long Itachi had to wait to become Hokage.
Now, even the most radical Uchiha hawks in the clan wouldn't think about rebellion.
With what could they start a rebellion? The clan's two Mangekyo Sharingan?
The clan leader was a loyal follower of Orochimaru, and his son Itachi was a disciple of the future Fifth Hokage.
According to promises, as long as Itachi was outstanding enough, he was the definite Sixth Hokage.
Now the clan leader even replaced Tsunade as the acting advisor, becoming a key high-ranking official of the village! He was not excluded from the core of power!
Unless he had gone mad, he wouldn't allow or join the extreme hawks in rebelling.
He was Kagetsu's loyal follower and was almost certain to become Kagetsu's right-hand man in the future.
His personality didn't fit the typical Uchiha style and was somewhat like his deceased ancestor, Uchiha Kagami.
Both were the black sheep of the Uchiha clan.
Even many Uchiha believed that when the time came, Shisui might side with Kagetsu, turning his blade against his own clan to forcibly suppress the rebellion.
Neither of the two major forces within the clan had any intention or thought of rebellion.
Moreover, the environment for the Uchiha within the village had indeed changed.
Those extreme ideas from the past were already outdated and unpopular.
Now, most Uchiha were quite satisfied with the village's arrangements, especially the task of overseeing Root and Danzo.
This pleased many of the Uchiha hawks.
Besides, the Technology Development Department's medicines targeting the Sharingan abilities, and powerful figures like Tsunade and Jiraiya, were not forced to exile.
So why take such an extreme path?
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