Time to Show Our Cards

"Time really flew by."

Standing at the gate of his home, Habara looked at the clear sky, a smile unconsciously appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Time had indeed passed quickly. A month had quietly gone by since he used Waterfowl Dance to let those Root shinobi experience the 'blade from Miquella.'

And over that month, quite a few interesting things had happened.

First, just as Habara had expected, he had taken out so many Root shinobi, and his methods had seemed excessively cruel.

Thus, while Konoha loudly promoted his formidable strength, it was likely also spreading word of his 'brutal' side behind the scenes.

The words the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had spoken before so many people that night naturally could not have been forgotten by those shinobi.

Likewise, rumors had spread through Konoha that Habara's attitude toward the 'Demon Fox' was rather unusual.

Habara did not need to think much about it. Before long, the village would probably revive the old rumor that the Sharingan could control the Nine-Tails.

But Habara had long been mentally prepared for this and did not care in the slightest. After all, he had sent more than a dozen of their shinobi straight to the Pure Land.

They had suffered such a huge silent loss and could not retaliate, so it was only natural for them to gossip a little.

As for killing with soft knives, there was indeed some truth to that. But the Uchiha already had a terrible reputation, so a little more was no big deal.

In truth, Habara did not want to remain in such a passive position forever, but the propaganda machine was not in his hands, and there was No Way for him to change it.

"But none of that matters. What matters is the change in that kid Shisui after that night, as well as the change in the clan."

Shisui had indeed complained somewhat about Habara being so heavy-handed that night, because in his eyes, those people were all Leaf Ninja.

But Habara had only asked him one question: if someone drew a blade against you and had even made up their mind to kill you, would you just wait to be killed?

That question truly left Shisui silent. In the end, he said nothing more. Besides, the people were dead, so there was no meaning in continuing to dwell on it.

Especially since Habara's question had forced him to seriously think things through.

Though Shisui still had major shortcomings in experience, the month of dialectics Habara had drilled into him had probably given his logical thinking a decent improvement.

After spending a week on it, he came to find Habara late one night.

"I think I understand what you mean. If they had succeeded, the clan would have become enraged by your death—enraged by Konoha's recklessness, enraged by what Konoha had done.

"And Konoha would probably be happy to see the Uchiha in that state. In the end, irreconcilable conflict would erupt between the clan and the village, right?"

Shisui's words made Habara nod in satisfaction. It had taken him a week to figure it out, but compared to before, it was already a tremendous improvement.

"But I still don't understand. Why would Konoha do this?" Even after receiving Habara's acknowledgment, Shisui was clearly not satisfied. "Isn't the Uchiha a part of Konoha?"

Habara was truly pleased that he could ask that question. Even though Habara had once told him about the issues between the Second Hokage and the Third Hokage.

Still, there were things Shisui would definitely investigate for himself, and this was likely the result of that investigation.

"Didn't I tell you about this already? The roots of it all go back far too long. I think you should have investigated most of it by now, shouldn't you?"

Habara remained extremely calm in the face of this question, but what he said next made Shisui's heart sink completely.

"Setting aside those old issues, let's talk about Konoha itself.

"Have you noticed that ever since Hizashi Hyuga was sent away five years ago, the Hyuga Clan has also become much colder toward them?

"And not just the Hyuga Clan. Quite a few clans have probably become distant as well, because they all fear they might be next.

"Besides that, you must have encountered Root personnel in the Anbu, right?

"Those Root members are like machines, without any will of their own. Yet many of them come from Kekkei Genkai Clans. How do you think Root got its hands on them?"

Hearing Habara's words, Shisui seemed to begin understanding. Though he did not know how Habara knew Root so well.

But Shisui had no intention of asking. Everyone had their own secrets, and digging to the bottom of everything had never been a good thing.

"So these clans have long become dissatisfied with the Third Hokage. He should have resigned over the immense losses of the Third Great Ninja War.

"Yet after the Fourth Hokage died, he took power again, and now he has caused something like this.

"And for their own interests and so-called village stability, the Third Hokage and his people naturally need to find a way to resolve these problems.

"What is the best way to solve them? Personally, I think it is killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, and the best target is naturally us.

"After all, the Uchiha are unruly, and they do not like us either."

Habara's words left Shisui completely silent. This was an answer he truly did not want to accept, but for now, it was also the most logical one.

And in the time that followed, Habara's words seemed to come true. Even though nothing had happened to Habara, the clan had sensed that something was wrong with this incident.

Voices of dissatisfaction within the clan began to intensify. Sometimes, even a blunder was not necessarily a bad thing.

Though Habara looked as though nothing had happened and continued doing what he did every day, Shisui knew that if this continued, something serious was truly going to happen.

And Uchiha Fugaku continued to suppress and balance things. This approach no longer dissatisfied only Shisui; both the Hardliners and the Moderates were now somewhat dissatisfied as well.

If this continued, once one side completely gained influence, Uchiha Fugaku would likely join them without hesitation.

After all, as Clan Head, standing with the majority within the clan was only natural.

"But how could I allow something like that to happen?"

Habara pondered silently. If that happened, would it not mean everything had returned to its original track?

Habara was utterly resistant to that possibility. Though there was still some time before Clan Massacre Night, no matter what, Habara needed to accelerate things and go further.

Some things could not be rushed, but others absolutely could not be delayed.

He had no intention of resolving the problem during Clan Massacre Night. If he was going to deal with it, he would settle it in advance. Only then could he handle even more problems!

"Today is a fine day. Hopefully, it will bring a good result as well."

Thinking this, Habara headed directly toward Uchiha Zong's residence.

Today, he was going to demand an answer. And regardless of whether Uchiha Zong gave him an appropriate result, he would make that man give him a satisfactory response!

If Convince with Reason did not work, then he would convince him with 'reason'!

Though Habara truly did not want to resort to force—mainly because he worried it would affect prosperity—he had long prepared himself mentally and already figured out what he needed to do.

If it truly came to that, then it would be better to suffer brief pain than prolonged pain. Let the future make up for the losses of the present.

With that thought in mind, Habara had already arrived at where Uchiha Zong lived.

But after entering, Habara discovered that besides Uchiha Zong, other people were there as well.