"Master… are we really going to bring them to the mortuary?"
Under the blazing midday sun, Qiu Sheng leaned closer to Uncle Jiu, lowering his voice as he subtly jerked a thumb toward the two figures behind them.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…"
"That one with the glasses looks gentle, but when he fights, he's scarier than a ghost!"
"And that Mo—he was injured and still unleashed that level of firepower. Where did these people even come from?"
"…We might be inviting trouble into our own home."
"..."
"Silence. What do you know?"
Uncle Jiu frowned deeply, his voice equally low as he shot Qiu Sheng a sharp glance.
"It's true their origins are unclear, and their methods are unusual."
"But they did eliminate the zombies."
"And that young man Mo was injured because of it."
"We who walk the Dao—how can we turn our backs on others out of suspicion alone?"
He paused briefly.
His tone softened—almost as if he were convincing himself as much as his disciple.
"Besides…"
"Keeping them within sight is safer than letting them roam freely."
"We'll learn more about them in time."
"Watch your words. Don't stir up trouble."
Qiu Sheng shrank back under the reprimand, no longer daring to speak loudly, though he still muttered under his breath:
"I just don't feel right about this…"
...
Behind them—
The two Uchiha had heard everything.
Perfectly.
"It seems our guides are quite wary of us," Uchiha Xiuren said calmly.
"Understandable," Uchiha Mo replied. "We're strangers with unusual abilities. Anyone in their position would be cautious."
Then—
His tone shifted.
His gaze settled on Xiuren.
"But you…"
"What are you planning?"
Planning.
Xiuren fell silent for a moment.
He understood the weight behind that question.
Not just his stance regarding the Uchiha's future—
But why he had hidden his strength all this time.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves above, casting shifting reflections across his glasses—
Concealing the complexity in his eyes.
"Mo…"
"Do you know who the Uchiha's real enemy is?"
Mo didn't answer.
He simply gestured for him to continue.
Xiuren went on.
"The Hokage faction?"
"Yes… but not entirely."
"Don't be fooled by the divisions within the clan."
"At their core…"
"They're all the same."
"The conservatives want to kneel—become tools of the Hokage—beg for scraps."
"And those radicals shouting the loudest?"
"They're still trapped within the same system."
"If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to lower his head…"
"Offer a false apology…"
"Most of them would lay down their weapons."
"And choose to believe him again."
"And then…"
"Our clan head."
Xiuren let out a faint, bitter breath.
"He looks like he supports rebellion."
"But in truth…"
"He's being pushed forward."
"He doesn't want to fight."
"And he doesn't dare to."
The more he spoke—
The more his voice tightened.
Years of suppressed frustration—
Finally surfacing.
Then—
He stopped.
Realizing it.
A breath.
A pause.
He adjusted his glasses.
"Apologies."
"I lost my composure."
But that moment—
Was enough.
Uchiha Mo had seen it clearly.
This man—
Cared deeply.
Far more than he let others see.
"So…"
Mo continued calmly,
"You hid your strength…"
"…to step off the board?"
Xiuren nodded.
"When everyone believes you're insignificant…"
"You can see the whole game."
"For example—"
"The real enemy I mentioned."
"The Sharingan user who appeared during the Nine-Tails incident."
"He's the one who truly wants the Uchiha destroyed."
Mo's eyes sharpened slightly.
The Nine-Tails incident—
Of course he knew.
But—
How did Xiuren know?
Xiuren noticed.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Surprised?"
"That I know?"
Mo didn't respond.
But that silence—
Was an answer in itself.
Xiuren continued.
"When the Hokage's wife gave birth…"
"She was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki."
"Security should have been absolute."
"And yet—"
"The location was leaked."
"A masked man broke in."
"Killed the Hokage's wife."
"Killed ANBU."
"Took Naruto."
"And released the Nine-Tails."
"Shattering the relationship between the clan and the village."
"This information was buried."
"Almost no one knows."
"I only started investigating…"
"Because something felt wrong."
His voice grew colder.
"It took time."
"But I found an ANBU survivor."
"He retired. Changed his identity."
"I still found him."
Mo's heart stirred.
As expected—
Xiuren wasn't just hiding.
He had been acting.
Investigating.
Moving in the shadows.
To extract information from an ANBU—
That alone spoke volumes.
"So…"
Xiuren exhaled slowly.
"Our enemy isn't just the Hokage faction."
"There's also…"
"A lunatic in the shadows."
"Someone beyond reason."
He paused.
Then—
Relaxed slightly.
"That feels better."
"I've been holding that in for years."
The tension in his shoulders eased.
For years—
He had walked a narrow line.
Maintaining a façade within the clan.
Hiding his strength.
Investigating in secret.
Watching his clansmen argue—
Blindly.
Meaninglessly.
It had been exhausting.
Because they didn't understand.
Fighting within someone else's rules—
Was defeat from the start.
What weighed on him most—
Was suppression.
His Sharingan—
Only activated in darkness.
His training—
Hidden.
His true self—
Buried.
Sometimes—
He wondered.
If he had never uncovered the truth—
Would he have lived like them?
Clinging to false hope?
Until the end?
But now—
Standing beside Uchiha Mo—
Another man who hid his depth—
For the first time—
He felt something different.
Maybe—
Just maybe—
The Uchiha still had another path.
The road ahead—
Was full of thorns.
But at least—
He wasn't walking it alone anymore.
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