Courtesy Before Force

Silvery moonlight lit the earth as Habara slowly walked out of Uchiha Zong's room.

What result his conversation with Uchiha Zong would ultimately have—honestly, Habara didn't know. Even if Uchiha Zong had already wavered somewhat at this point, truly getting him to make the final call was no simple matter.

Their faction was a whole. To put it more bluntly, it was an interest group with a shared faith. It was hard to say that, back when Uchiha Madara left, they had simply refused to follow him.

Getting them to change their beliefs was not easy. After all, they were not Shisui. At Shisui's age, he was still at the point where he could recognize mistakes and correct them, where once he knew he was wrong, he could change.

But now, even if they knew, there were always invisible hands behind them pushing them along, making it impossible for them to change. They could only keep walking down this dark road to the end.

Or perhaps the convictions in their inner hearts would not allow them to change. They had held on for a lifetime already. If they changed just because of a few words, that would probably be far too unrealistic.

After all, everyone has something they insist on in their heart. Even if it's wrong, they'll still cling to a fluke mentality. Just like how I know liking legs isn't quite right, but I still can't change it.

Habara muttered a few words silently to himself, then saw Shisui waiting at the door. That made him cannot help but smile.

"Thank you." Habara walked over and spoke directly. "It was just a little urgent. You could have rested a bit before starting to act."

"There's no time to rest. The clan's affairs make it impossible for me to sleep easy." Shisui shook his head and said seriously, "I heard everything you talked about. Habara, you really are amazing!"

Habara looked at Shisui like this and cannot help but find it a little funny. In truth, he had never wanted to get involved in such a mess at all.

If he hadn't been forcibly kidnapped by this damned system, he might already have fled Konoha by now and found some quiet place to hide.

When he had nothing to do, he could sunbathe and read Icha Icha Paradise, or maybe go fishing by the river or something. How relaxed and pleasant would that be?

How was that anything like now? One moment he had to go kill Cloud Ninja, the next he had to go kill Mist Ninja, and he even had to constantly transform into a politics teacher to explain materialism and dialectics to Shisui.

He also had to become a Mind Mentor and pour chicken soup into Shisui while painting grand promises for him, and even had to act like a charlatan to guide Shisui into predicting the future.

On top of that, he had to make some kind of plan, and after coming back he still had to meet with that damned elder to talk about the future.

There were so many messy things, and each one was troublesome. If it weren't for his own life, Habara really would have left it to whoever wanted to do it.

"It's nothing amazing. It's all for the clan's peace and the village's stability." Although he was very unhappy inside, Habara was still very good at saying the right things for the occasion. "But I'll still say the same thing. People need to know when to tighten and when to loosen. Staying tense all the time will only make you more likely to snap and shatter. Learning to rest is what truly matters in the end."

"All right. But in a few days, I may have to return to the Anbu." Shisui sighed softly, then continued, "After I go back to the Anbu, I'll have less time. Even if I want to withdraw from the Anbu, it'll take time to go through the procedures. That's why I'm even more anxious."

Habara had never been to the Anbu, but he still had some understanding of just how busy Anbu missions were.

Just looking at how Shisui and Itachi often disappeared made that clear. And when they disappeared, it was not just for a few days. Sometimes it was a week, and when it was longer, it could reach over a month.

Now was a critical period for the clan. Once he returned to the Anbu, he would have to start getting busy.

There would be many things he could not handle, and he would not be able to see Habara's next moves. The anxiety in his inner heart was easy to imagine.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. This was the choice he had made back then. Who else could he blame?

Actually, it was not that Habara had never thought of using the most direct and violent method. For example, he and Shisui could both activate their Mangekyo and start slaughtering people inside the clan.

They could kill everyone who refused to listen, then force Uchiha Fugaku to step down.

In any case, the Uchiha clan did indeed have a servile streak in their inner character. Maybe doing that would directly solve the problem.

The problem was that while this could seize power, forcibly using strength to make everyone submit—never mind whether those people would be willing in their hearts, whether Shisui would agree in the first place was already an issue.

Even if Shisui agreed, the chain reaction that would follow after Habara did this was not something he wanted to face.

A raised slap was often most intimidating before it fell. Once it truly landed, all that remained was pain and hatred.

That was why, even though Habara clearly knew this method was useful, he had basically never considered it. He even had very little desire to make a move against the spiritual leaders of the various factions in the clan.

If time could be turned back a few years, before the Nine-Tails Night when Orochimaru was still in the village, Habara would not have hesitated to strike at these people. In any case, he could dump the blame on Konoha and Orochimaru.

And back then, it had been the era of the Fourth Hokage. Namikaze Minato had no ill will toward the Uchiha, and with him there, the Uchiha had actually lived fairly well.

But now everything was already different, so naturally, he could no longer do that.

If Habara acted as cold and arrogant as Danzo, even striking at the slightest provocation, that would stir up everyone's instinctive resistance.

No one liked living under the shadow of fear. This had nothing to do with strength or weakness. It was simply human nature.

And if I do that, I won't win people's hearts either. If people aren't united, what am I supposed to use to start a revolution? The Mangekyo isn't omnipotent after all.

Habara sighed inwardly. This was also why he was still following the rules for now.

Of course, if things really developed to an irreversible point, then he would not care about all those messy concerns anymore.

His own life was already tied to the clan. How could he let them mess around however they wanted?

If they died, then they died. But if he died, that would be a devastating loss. Rather than wait for Konoha to make a move and kill everyone, it would be better for Habara to do it himself and wipe them out!

At least if they died by his hand, they could be considered the foundation stones for the clan's future strength.

Thinking of this, Habara's inner heart became firm. He had indeed had such thoughts before, but after today's meeting, he had completely settled his mind.

As the saying went, courtesy came before force. If he reasoned with you and you refused to listen, then do not blame him!

"Handle the Anbu matter as you see fit. If you decide to withdraw, then withdraw." Habara pondered for a moment before speaking. "You've worked hard, Shisui."

"Mm, I know. I'll handle these things properly." Shisui nodded seriously. Then, seeing Habara walk outside, he cannot help but ask curiously, "It's so late. Where are you going?"

"Naturally, I'm going to test my swordsmanship and abilities. Do you want to be my sparring partner?"

"I see. No wonder you're so strong. So you've always been training hard. No problem. I'll go back and report in, then come over."

"I'll wait for you at Training Ground Three. Oh, right—remember to bring me a Ninja Sword."