OK! It's time for yet another chapter of the Will of Fire! Will be leaving poor clone Minato for a while and focus on the genuine article. He may have just left from a fight with his wife but he has a huge problem to solve. He still has no idea how to stop the Uchiha from revolting. That is the topic of today's post.

Now as a final reminder: I do want to mention that I will be trying out Mondays as a post day. As I stated last week that my work schedule has changed. I no longer have Tuesdays off. So will try out Monday. I don't really have much more to say since there really isn't any new news since last week. I do want to thank all of you for your reviews both for the last chapter and the chapters before that. And I will always welcome you input. With that let's get onto the chapter!

THE WILL OF FIRE

PART ONE

Chapter 44 - Shisui's Plan

Minato sat alone in his office after storming out of the house. He didn't mean to get so angry, but the very idea of risking Naruto scared him. People accused Minato of coddling the boy, but this was different. His wife suggested that he send BOTH of them into a war-zone! Without any guards to boot! Sure, he knew that he was being a baby but he couldn't bare losing them like that. What if the two of you got hurt or died? Kushina, don't you think things through? Minato put his head in his hands. Naruto is seven years old. He's too young to be used that way. You remember the last war, don't you? Do you really want to repeat that?

The horrors of the last great ninja war hadn't truly left him. Sometimes he could see the dead in his dreams. His hands were forever stained with blood. A fact that he had to live with. How many lives had been lost? How many were children? How many were Naruto's age? They shouldn't be used as tools of war. Not unless there was no other way. They might grow up to become weapons, but for this moment in time they should be protected.

Of course, Kushina knew that all too well. She had lived through the war as well. It had left it's own scars on her as well. Still, Kushina always acted first, thought second. This trait served her well in combat, but it also led her to make some bad choices. Like risking our son needlessly. He sighed as he remembered her words:

"What is the alternative? Bloodshed?!"

She had a point. Right now, he didn't have a better alternative. That didn't mean that he should go with the most ridiculous one. He was not going to send his family into the Lion's Den! It was his job to protect them. It was clear that he needed a better idea. He needed something a little less crazy. A plan that didn't feature his seven year old being put in danger. He may consider such a plan only if he had no other choice. Children had no place in war. Kushina should know that. He needed a new plan as soon as possible.

But that's when it was handed right to him. Shisui had returned to his office. It had been the better part of the day since he had reported to him about the Uchiha. Minato hadn't expected him back so quickly. They weren't going to revolt tonight. They had some time left before that happened. Valuable time that he needed to stop it once and for all. Why are you back so quickly? Minato wondered as the man spoke.

"Lord Hokage, please forgive this intrusion."

Minato waved him off. "My office is always open, Shisui. Especially, now. If you have something to report do not hesitant to enter. If you need me for any reason, feel free to pester me. I hate paperwork anyway."

Shisui nodded. "Thank you." The room was silent for a minute then he continued. "I have no news regarding the coup. As you may have summarized, there has been too little time for that to have transpired. Instead, I wish to offer an option to end this without bloodshed."

Minato looked at the Uchiha. He was looking for a solution, any solution other than Kushina's crazy plan. Still, he had not expected one to present itself so quickly. Nothing ever went that way for him. It was always a struggle. Yet, this was exactly what he needed. Something told him to be cautious.

"Go on."

His eyes changed as he activated his sharingan. At first it had the typical pattern that one would expect. Then it changed again. The pattern was one that Minato had never seen before. It must be the Mangekyou sharingan. To think that he has mastered it. Amazing!

"As you may be aware; I have learned the Mangekyou sharingan. With it I can cast a unique jutsu. One that may help us with this situation."

Shisui outlined his plan to use his sharingan to cast a powerful genjutsu that even the Uchiha could not detect. It would make the conspirators change their minds. He explained that his eyes gave him the ability to stop the coup without any bloodshed. He would "convince" the conspirators that they didn't want to rebel. That they wanted to protect the village at all costs. He would implant this idea into them then make them think that it was their own.

"It will stop the coup in it's tracks without any bloodshed. I don't offer this lightly. I don't wish to use this power on my clan, but the alternative is far worse. If it will stop this nightmare, then so be it. I am willing to use what should never be used. I just hope that they forgive me."

Minato closed his eyes. He liked Shisui's plan only a little better than Kushina's. It was doable. It didn't risk his family. It had a good chance of working. Those were all good things, but it was still not something that he really wanted to do. He did not want to turn on his comrades. He did not want to hurt them. This would harm them but would not inflict casualties. Something that Minato liked a lot. It was difficult to stomach, that was for sure. Then again he did worse things during the war. At least this time there would be no bloodshed. So, I can live with this. He could deal with this.

He reopened his eyes. "I will consider your plan. It's too early to use it though. We need to have a way to cast the jutsu on everyone at once. That way no one suspects. Right now, we don't know who exactly is responsible. Keep up with your surveillance. Do everything you can to learn the depths of this conspiracy. However, don't act until I tell you. Understood?"

Shisui nodded, "Yes!" Then he disappeared.

Minato sat back in his chair then ran a hand through his hair. This situation was getting out of hand. I am going to have to call in the old wind bags. He sighed. He hated the lot of them. He most certainly didn't trust them. Minato had wanted to keep them out of it for as long as he could. For they were guaranteed to muck things up. Which wasn't what he needed right now. If he left them out of the loop for much longer he would never hear the end of it. They had far too much power in the Leaf Village for his tastes. Alas, he could do nothing about it for now. He just had to try to work around them as much as he could.

Which was not going to happen today. He was going to have to tell the Elders. He had no choice. He couldn't enact a plan like this without informing them. They would insist on getting involved. Providing insight or making moves on their own. No, they were going to complicate things, a lot. It was clear: Minato was going to have a huge headache.


That's it for this chapter. I really didn't get enough reviews to have a review chapter so I'm not going to include it. Besides, review chapters take twice as long as those without. So I'll see you next week!