"Hey, brother Yakushi, you can't say it like that." Setsuna spoke again from inside the courtyard gate, his tone still leisurely and intentionally irritating. "I'm not being cowardly; I'm being responsible for the Village."
He put down his teacup and raised his voice slightly to ensure everyone outside could hear. "Clan Chief Fugaku specifically instructed me before he left to keep a close eye on the Konoha Military Police Force and guard the safety of the Clan Compound and the Village."
"It's wartime now, and there are spies from the Hidden Mist and Iwagakure everywhere. If they were to take advantage of the situation to sabotage the Village or sneak into the Clan Compound to harm the elderly, women, and children, I would become a sinner of the Uchiha for all eternity!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Yakushi roared. "The Village has the main force of the Konoha Military Police Force and Anbu patrols. Why would it need you to guard it with such a grand display? You're just making excuses! You're standing by and watching people die!"
"Excuses?" Setsuna let out a soft laugh, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Brother Yakushi, speak from your conscience. How has Konoha treated us Uchiha over the years?"
"During the Second Great Ninja War, they used us as cannon fodder. Over three hundred people died, and they even withheld the pension funds."
"In times of peace, they suppress our promotions and snatch our mission resources."
"Now that the front lines are under pressure, they want us to send fifteen-year-old children to their deaths—is such a Village worth protecting with all our might?"
This sentence was like a needle, piercing deep into the hearts of the surrounding Clan Members.
Many of the spectating Ninja showed looks of indignation, and their low whispers turned into open agreement: "Elder Setsuna is right! Konoha has never treated us as their own!"
"Why should our children be sent to die? Why don't their children go?"
Yakushi's face instantly turned pale, his lips trembling, yet he couldn't say a single word in rebuttal.
He knew Setsuna was telling the truth, but having been a member of the Moderate Faction his whole life, he had long grown accustomed to compromising with Konoha. He was used to numbing himself with the idea of 'considering the bigger picture' and had never thought of resisting.
Inside the courtyard gate, Setsuna picked up his teacup. Looking at Yakushi's dejected figure outside, a satisfied smile curled on his lips.
This old geezer, how majestic he was back then when he followed Konoha to suppress the Radical Faction, grabbing resources and seizing power, pressing him at every turn. Now, he finally had a day of being exasperated and powerless!
He secretly felt lucky that he had joined Lord Shine early on. Otherwise, his current fate would probably be no better than Yakushi's.
"If you truly care for the Clan Members, you should persuade Fugaku to stop being Konoha's Puppet." Setsuna's voice came again, with a subtle hint of guidance. "If the Clan Members on the front line can come back alive, they might still make it in time for the Uchiha's rebirth. If they remain stubborn, they will likely only become sacrifices under Konoha's schemes."
Yakushi's whole body shook, and he stumbled back two steps.
He looked at the closed courtyard gate and the complex gazes from the surrounding Clan Members, suddenly feeling the world spin around him.
He roared with all his might, "Uchiha Setsuna! You will regret this! You traitor!"
After saying that, he could no longer hold on. His vision went black, and he collapsed straight down.
The two Three-Tomoe Elite Jōnin standing by him rushed forward to support him, calling out his name with anxious faces. Seeing this, the surrounding Clan Members also gradually dispersed, leaving only a wave of sighs.
Inside the courtyard gate, Setsuna put down his teacup, his expression gradually becoming serious.
He knew that Yakushi's collapse was only the beginning. Under Lord Shine's leadership, the Uchiha's storm had arrived, and Konoha, along with those stubborn moderates, would eventually be swept away by this storm.
He stood up, looked toward Shine's courtyard, and whispered in his heart: "Lord Shine, everything is proceeding according to plan."
In Uchiha Xia Yin's courtyard, the scent of Gardenias mingled with the aroma of tea. The celadon teacup on the stone table was still steaming, forming a sharp contrast with the undercurrents surging in the clan grounds outside.
Uchiha Senba stood by the stone table, his brow furrowed deeply. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the old ninja sword at his waist—it was the blade he had carried when he led the old members of the Moderate Faction. The scabbard still bore scratches from the battlefield, and at this moment, it seemed to be speaking of the concerns in his heart.
"Shine," Senba's voice carried an imperceptible urgency as his gaze fell on his son's calm face. "Among those Clan Members on the front line, many are my old subordinates."
"They went through life and death with me back then. What they carry in their hearts is the Uchiha, not being Konoha's Puppets."
"And those young people of the neutral faction were merely blinded by Fugaku's 'moderation.' Their nature isn't bad... are we really going to just ignore them?"
Shine's hand holding the teacup paused, the warm tea reflecting the ripples in his eyes.
He naturally understood his father's concerns. Among those old subordinates, there were Elders who had taught him how to refine Chakra and older brothers who had practiced Ninjutsu with him; they weren't all chess pieces to be discarded.
He took a small sip of tea. The tea's fragrance dissolved on the tip of his tongue, suppressing a hint of softness in his heart, yet his tone remained calm: "Dad, I didn't say I wouldn't care."
He put down the teacup, his fingertips tapping lightly on the stone table in a steady rhythm, as if he were calculating something. "It just so happens that I need to go to the Hidden Mist border. I'll bring them back while I'm at it. Those who truly favor the Family, as well as your old subordinates, not a single one will be left behind."
At this point, a cold arc curled at the corner of his mouth. "As for those who are dead set on following Fugaku and are willing to be Konoha's lapdogs... their deaths would actually be beneficial."
Senba's brow relaxed slightly, but then quickly furrowed again. "You mean..."
"The Konoha High Command is inherently stingy," Shine took over the conversation, his eyes sharp with insight. "The pension funds for the Clan Members who die on the front line will inevitably be withheld. They might even be framed with the crime of 'poor combat performance' and won't even get a tombstone."
"When that time comes, the remaining Clan Members will see this coldness with their own eyes, and their dissatisfaction with Konoha will completely explode—this will be more effective than us saying 'Konoha cannot be trusted' ten thousand times."
He stood up, his black robes fluttering in the wind. The youth's figure was as upright as a pine tree, having long lost any trace of childishness. "Aka, En, let's go."
"Shine!" Senba hurriedly took a step forward and reached out to stop him, his tone resolute. "You are now the leader of the Uchiha; you cannot personally venture into danger! The Hidden Mist Battlefield is treacherous, and there are Konoha spies watching. If an accident happens..."
Shine turned to look at his father, a reassuring smile appearing on his face, though an unquestionable confidence was hidden in his eyes. "Don't worry, Dad. In today's Ninja World, except for those old geezers hiding in the shadows, no one can keep me here."
... Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808