Chapter 254 - The Uzumaki Clan Must Be Saved.
[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
...
...
The moon had reached its highest point in Konoha, while the village seemed quite serene that night, unaware that some schemes were being devised even far from the Hokage's ears and those of other members.
"It's time..." Minato commented as they were in a large room.
"Yes, as I already spoke with everyone we could trust and the time they should be ready, they must be waiting right now." Nawaki said beside Minato, as Minato nodded.
"Let's begin with this." Minato announced and crossed both hands making a seal, and in the next moment, a group of people began to appear. One by one, more than a dozen people in total, counting Minato and Nawaki.
Everyone looked surprised at that, while they held the kunai with Minato's Raijin seal in their hands, used to pull them to that place, while each one had received two tracking kunai so Minato could send them back to where they came from once they were done there.
The gaze continued as one stared at another.
"I hope you all know what you're doing..." one of them commented, while the others nodded slightly. This was no joke.
Those present were...
Nara Clan, Their Leader: Shuran Nara (OC), father of Shikaku, and even his son was there with him.
Yamanaka Clan, Their Leader: Inosho Yamanaka (OC), father of Inoichi.
Akimichi Clan, Their Leader: Chōsuke Akimichi (OC), father of Chōza.
Hatake Clan, Their Leader: Jirō Hatake (OC)
Aburame Clan, Their Leader: Shidan Aburame (OC)
Inuzuka Clan, Their Leader: Ryoma Inuzuka (OC)
Kurama Clan, Their Leader: Reiji Kurama (OC), and father of Mirage (Former companion of Minato in the ANBU from the war until he left his team years later.)
And those who were already there:
Senju Clan, Their Leader: Nawaki Senju.
Namikaze Clan, Their Leader: Minato Namikaze.
Although the latter was not officially a clan, everyone in the village considered the Namikaze family very powerful, especially when the village's hero, already with his immense strength and contributions to the village, was about to marry multiple wives from powerful clans, being the only one to do so since the village was founded. It was expected that Minato would have many children and his clan would explode in power if more of his children inherited his abilities.
Shikaku appeared alongside his father, probably by the elder's choice to have his son analyze the situation and learn, while the others wanted to preserve their children.
"It was warned that this was risky." A member of the Inuzuka clan said, as they looked at each other.
"Either way, I came here because of the call. I'm surprised to even see Sakumo Hatake, even after his supposed reputation was tarnished and made him retire." Reiji Kurama murmured, seemingly mocking.
Sakumo kept his gaze neutral. Minato heard this and didn't like it.
"Sakumo is a great ninja of the village. Just because he failed a mission — of which you don't even know the real losses — doesn't mean he stopped being a ninja who did everything he did during the war and before it. Please, don't mock his contributions to the village like the rest of the village is being manipulated to do." Minato spoke in a stern tone, while the ninja who had spoken looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Tell me then, why are we here? What makes you think we should hide from the Hokage, having a secret meeting to the point of teleporting us here? Why hide this from the village leadership?" the leader of the Kurama clan spoke again.
"I know I might be risking all of you by bringing you here, but unfortunately, the village has reached a point I can no longer ignore. And I want to ask your opinion on this, because I do not intend to let it happen." Minato said, while many narrowed their eyes at him, not knowing what was going on, only Nawaki and Sakumo aware of the matter beforehand.
"What would that be, for you to call this meeting, and without some of the clans..." the leader of the Nara clan said, noticing the absence of the two main clans of Konoha — the Hyuuga and the Uchiha.
"The Uzumaki clan will be destroyed." Minato said, making everyone's eyes immediately widen at that.
"The Uzumaki were handed over as a gift to the other great villages, something to be sacrificed for peace, just like in the Second World War. They wanted something to weaken Konoha's power, which had grown greatly in the Second Ninja War." Minato said, while many raised their eyebrows, still not fully understanding why they were there, despite the shocking statement.
"Are you saying Konoha handed over the Uzumaki? Why would we do that? They gave us great support during the war." one of the clan leaders murmured, looking at Minato, visibly confused about where he was getting this from.
Minato still kept a serious look. "It's more complicated than that, which is why I'm so outraged. I managed to hear the entire conversation that took place at the Kage summit. I have abilities that allow me to hear conversations even within barriers, and even from a distance, as I was, still in Konoha's camp. So, I've been preparing ever since." He paused before continuing.
"At the peace meeting, they wanted us to hand over our most powerful ninjas, like me, Sakumo, and the Three Sannin, but the Hokage refused. However, he gave another option — to hand over an entire clan — the Uzumaki. It would be easier for the Hokage to do that, while the clan would be attacked by all the villages. And Konoha won't lift a finger to help them." Minato said.
"If that's true..." Shikaku Nara murmured, looking at Minato, trying to grasp the truth of his words.
"They are beginning to act." Minato spoke again. "After all, when I was with my old team in the ANBU, while your daughter was part of it, Reiji Kurama. He can confirm this." He first turned to the man and then back to everyone as he continued.
"I was leading on the eastern coast border of the Land of Fire, when we found a group of Sand ninjas meeting with Mist ninjas. They were gathering information about the Uzumaki. Don't you find it strange that no Uzumaki was invited to the Kage summit? When they should've been there? But Konohagakure didn't even call them, and there's a reason. After all, they're a form of sacrifice, being a clan outside the Land of Fire. Even though they're allies, Konoha can very well let them be destroyed... or am I wrong?" Minato said to the leader of the Nara clan.
"It is possible..." Shuran Nara nodded, understanding Minato's reasoning.
"You all are really believing this? That Konohagakure intends to hand over the Uzumaki?" another clan leader murmured, looking at the situation with caution. He was skeptical of something like this based on words alone.
"When I passed the information to the Hokage's offices after reading the scrolls, they immediately told me not to share this information with anyone. However, I broke that rule by speaking about it here. But I already knew about the attack and how Konoha had handed them over since the Kage meeting. I won't stand still and watch an allied clan be destroyed. It doesn't matter if Hiruzen doesn't have strong ties like Hashirama and Mito did — we can't just forget Konoha's history if it's destroyed like this. I wouldn't want to spit on their graves by simply letting the village leadership make this decision."
The place fell silent after Minato's words. He had some disagreements with Hashirama, after all, Hashirama had captured all the bijuu in the name of peace and made all the villages enslave them, only for the wars to become even greater in size and destruction. But that wasn't the point.
"I heard you were transferred... was it because of this?" someone asked Minato, and he nodded.
"Yes. Today I'm surrounded by a team made up of Root members, under Danzō. A squad he's been building since the beginning of the Second World War. They act as hidden ANBU, doing very dirty work, and my team is only there to keep watch on me after what I discovered on the eastern coast. The Hokage even transferred me to missions on the opposite side of the country." Minato said.
"So this meeting is to carry out a coup d'état?" another asked cautiously, as the atmosphere quickly grew tense among them at the thought that this might be an attempt to overthrow the Hokage.
"I don't intend to carry out a coup d'état." Minato said, after all, there was no way to overthrow the Hokage now. "But I know his actions will lead to nothing. We will lose an ally and friends who fought by our side, just to satisfy the petty desire of some old men from other villages, who lost to Konoha when all of them were fighting against us. And the Hokage is accepting that." Minato said, pausing and looking at each of them before continuing.
"I want to propose that we all put pressure on the Hokage for this. When the time comes, and you see with your own eyes that the village will do nothing to protect them, even with several Uzumaki at our gates asking for help, I'm not asking us to fight against Konoha. I want us to reaffirm our ideal.
The Will of Fire has always been about protecting our family, comrades, friends, and especially the next generation, so that Konoha may always flourish in peace. However, we cannot build that peace through the sacrifice of comrades — a clan that fought by our side, bled and sacrificed in the Second War.
Are we going to destroy the history of Konoha, from its very beginning until now, for the sake of a false peace?"
He paused again, as everyone continued to absorb his words.
"War will come either way. There's no such thing as a world of complete peace, there will always be conflict. But I will not stand by and watch comrades be massacred without being able to do anything. I'd rather run from Konoha and fight alongside them than simply stand still and wear a forehead protector with no meaning. That would be throwing all my values and the Will of Fire in the trash."
He finished, while the room fell into complete silence, with only the flames of the torches lighting the space.
They were in an area beneath the Senju property, sealed with the best barriers and seals, a place created by Mito herself, built during the time when she and others would talk about important matters for the village while Hashirama was still Hokage.
"I believe in Minato and everything he said." Nawaki stepped beside Minato as he spoke to the representative of the Senju clan. He lifted his head, staring at the other clan leaders of Konoha who were present.
"We've started doing missions in the west, and I felt the forces are weakening vigilance on the western coast. Something is happening there, and I believe in Minato's words." he said.
"I trust Minato as well." Sakumo spoke for the first time. "If Konoha is planning this, we can't stand idly by." he said.
"Why should we believe you? What if you're trying to seize power? Sakumo could very well take over, or even Minato." one of them said with suspicion. Obviously, all kinds of questions were bound to arise after such a revelation.
"How could I want the position if my reputation is already ruined? You all know I'm not exactly beloved in the village." Sakumo said in a calm tone, though tinged with anger.
"Sakumo is also proof of how wrong our village leadership is. I don't want to take the Hokage's place, I just want to uphold Konoha's rights and values through our actions.
Sakumo was said to have caused great harm to Konoha by saving his comrades, but I believe he did the right thing. We should be more concerned about our friends, brothers, and fellow villagers before anything else.
What they did to Sakumo was surely a blow to any chance he had of becoming the next Hokage."
"Hiruzen is getting old, while Sakumo represents the strength to be the ideal next Hokage. But there are people in the village's leadership who don't want that — maybe even the Hokage himself... I can't say for sure, but Danzō certainly wants to become Hokage.
And he sees an opportunity for that if Sakumo no longer has his strength and reputation. Either way, I'll never condemn him as the village did. To me, he's a precious comrade."
"I won't go on much further about this, but I want you all to observe the village over the coming months. When the attack happens, watch how they react. Then we'll return here.
At that moment, we'll decide. Not to take the Hokage's place, but to pressure them to help the Uzumaki. That's all I ask. And I'm not committing any treason here." he said.
They looked at each other for a moment.
"Well, it's only fair to observe how the village reacts to a possible attack on the Uzumaki by the other villages, if it really happens as Minato Namikaze is saying. We have nothing to lose by doing that." the leader of the Nara clan said, and the others nodded, finding Minato's words reasonable.
"In any case, I'll send you all back to your clans. When the time comes, we'll make contact and truly decide what to do. Are we clear?" he asked, as the others nodded.
"Good luck." he said, and in the next moment, he made a seal, and everyone vanished, leaving only Minato and Nawaki in the now empty place once again.
"You don't think they'll report us?" Nawaki asked cautiously.
"Even if they do, we're not trying to overthrow the village leadership. So, they can't accuse us of anything beyond me just breaking an S-Rank mission order by revealing something the Hokage asked to keep secret." Minato shrugged.
"Either way, none of them truly showed any negative intent. Let's see what they decide, but I believe until then, they'll stay quiet. And when it happens, we'll know their answer." Minato said, and Nawaki nodded.
This was the first step in trying to stop Konoha from withholding aid to the Uzumaki when they were attacked — and, somehow, make the village help them.
Until then, he wouldn't need to flee. But if it came to that, he had a plan B.
-------------Nexts Chapters ----------------
Chapter 259 - Kurama.
Chapter 264 - The despair of the Uzumaki clan.
Chapter 274 - The Dark Night in Konoha Begins.
Chapter 283 - Konoha Civil War 07.
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