The Uchiha Clan Meeting

Uchiha Setsuna, having lost his composure, failed to control his strength and yanked Uchiha En hard enough to make him wince in pain.

But he still endured the pain and said, "Today, while I was patrolling the Clan Compound, I discovered a battle."

"By the time I arrived, the enemy was already gone. There was only a Brat standing there."

"After that... after that, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan pressured me to the ground, and then he left with the ANBU."

As he spoke, he hesitated for a moment. After all, being defeated by a child was rather humiliating.

But he understood what mattered, so after hesitating, he told them the entire course of events.

Uchiha Setsuna had worn an excited expression as he listened. Only after hearing that this genius had left with the ANBU did he understand why Uchiha En had come to inform him.

What did a Three-Tomoe Sharingan at six or seven years old mean? In the Uchiha Clan's thousand-year history, there had never been such a monster.

Awakening the Sharingan at six or seven was already the mark of an extraordinary genius, let alone awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

With such talent, Uchiha Setsuna simply did not believe the boy would fail to awaken the Mangekyo after growing up.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, he ordered his servants to investigate Hoshiryu Uchiha's information. At the same time, he used his authority as Great Elder to convene a meeting.

As the representative of the Hawk Faction, Uchiha Setsuna longed to wrest power back from the Senju Clan and had even incited Uchiha Clan Members to rebel and cause trouble.

Unfortunately, before he could succeed, the Second Hokage had thrown him into prison. He was only released after the Second Hokage died in battle.

The purpose had been to placate the Uchiha Clan so that the Third Hokage could smoothly assume office.

Ever since the Second Hokage imprisoned him, Uchiha Setsuna had been constantly thinking about why the Uchiha Clan could not produce a Hokage.

In the end, he arrived at an answer: the Uchiha were not strong enough.

Although most Uchiha with Three-Tomoe Sharingan were elite Jonin, that level of strength was not enough to become Hokage.

Uchiha Setsuna knew his own limits. He could not awaken the Mangekyo.

But things were different now. A seedling capable of awakening the Mangekyo had suddenly appeared before him.

Like a drowning man, Uchiha Hoshiryu's appearance was like the last straw. Uchiha Setsuna would not let go.

"Lord Setsuna, the information has all been gathered. The Clan Head and the elders have also arrived."

Just as Uchiha Setsuna was envisioning the future, his butler arrived, having completed everything he had been instructed to do.

Everything was ready now. All that remained was Uchiha Setsuna.

He walked to the meeting room, pushed open the door, and entered. Before he could even sit down, a sarcastic voice rang out.

"Elder Setsuna, what an impressive display. You summoned us over something concerning the entire clan, yet you were the last to arrive. Truly... tsk tsk."

Uchiha Setsuna looked over and saw the Second Elder, Uchiha Ang, who had always been at odds with him.

Uchiha Setsuna was the representative of the Hawk Faction, while Uchiha Ang represented the Dove Faction.

As for Clan Head Meitoku Uchiha, seated to one side, he supported neither faction.

Normally, Uchiha Setsuna would certainly have argued with him after receiving such mockery. But today, he had more important matters to attend to.

Uchiha Setsuna gave a cold snort and ignored the Second Elder. After sweeping his gaze around the room, he slowly said, "I have gathered you all today because there is a matter concerning the fate of the Uchiha Clan."

Seeing that Uchiha Setsuna ignored him, and hearing how grave his words were, Uchiha Ang did not continue mocking him.

"Today, my subordinate, Uchiha En, discovered a genius—the most gifted talent the Uchiha Clan has seen in a thousand years."

As he spoke, he took out the information he had just retrieved and passed it around to everyone present.

"This is the information on that genius. You may all take a look."

Uchiha Ang picked it up and saw Hoshiryu Uchiha's photograph and name on the first page.

Uchiha Hoshiryu... I feel like I've heard that name somewhere. Let me think.

Just as Uchiha Ang was still pondering the somewhat familiar name, Uchiha Setsuna continued excitedly, "Even I could hardly believe it when I saw it. The information says that this Brat named Hoshiryu is actually the child of two Chunin."

"And he is only six years old this year. He never received any ninja education while growing up, yet he has already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!"

"We have all been through this ourselves. I need not explain what such talent means. The light of the Mangekyo will soon shine upon the Uchiha once more."

At those words, the entire meeting room erupted.

Everyone lost their usual decorum, and some even began cheering.

"Heaven blesses the Uchiha!"

"A Three-Tomoe Sharingan at six years old—the Mangekyo in the future! The Uchiha will surely rise to glory once more!"

"That's right! What Clan Head Madara failed to achieve in his time, this boy will certainly accomplish—he will lead us to seize the Hokage's seat!"

Upon hearing "six years old," Uchiha Ang recalled what Uchiha Sen had told him after returning that morning.

A Brat named Uchiha Hoshiryu—the child whom the clan had half-abandoned—had been chosen by Mito Uzumaki and would be formally adopted tomorrow.

This is bad!

At the thought of this, Uchiha Ang immediately felt a sense of urgency and hurriedly flipped through the documents in his hands.

As every item in the documents matched up, Uchiha Ang's heart sank.

Even the Uchiha of the Dove Faction understood the importance of the Mangekyo.

At the time, he had been delighted that Mito Uzumaki was willing to give the Uchiha a chance, building a bridge of communication to ease the Uchiha's exclusion. He had never expected that a future Mangekyo would end up being taken away.

Uchiha Ang's unusual behavior naturally drew the attention of everyone else at the meeting.

Uchiha Setsuna also stopped his speech and fixed a serious gaze on Uchiha Ang.

The silence in the hall brought Uchiha Ang back to his senses. Looking at the Clan Members watching him, he gave a bitter smile and said, "I'm afraid there's a problem. This child named Hoshiryu Uchiha has already caught Lady Mito Uzumaki's eye."

Hearing Uchiha Ang's words, Uchiha Setsuna suddenly recalled Hoshiryu Uchiha leaving with the ANBU.

For a moment, it seemed he understood something, and he asked urgently, "What do you mean, he caught Mito Uzumaki's eye? Explain yourself!"

Uchiha Ang helplessly raised the documents in his hand and pointed to the page with Hoshiryu Uchiha's photograph.

"This child told Xuan and me this morning that he has already been adopted by Lady Mito Uzumaki."

Uchiha Ang's words were like a bomb, setting everyone present off.

"This is outrageous!"

"How can a Mangekyo be taken away by someone else? I refuse to accept this!"

"That's right! Let's go settle the score with that woman Mito right now!"

Just as everyone in the meeting room was united in their outrage, a sudden suggestion caused the room to fall silent once more.

Everyone looked toward the person who had made the suggestion. Under the stares of so many people, he sheepishly sat back down and did not dare bring it up again.

Going to settle the score with Mito Uzumaki—how was that any different from asking to be beaten up?