Elder Shana: Where Did You Take the Young Clan Head?

The moon hung above the treetops, and a gentle breeze stirred.

The cherry trees swayed, their soft pink petals falling like rain.

Moonlight spilled over the stone path. Spring had already arrived, yet for some reason, the night felt unusually cold.

Perhaps it was because of last night's rain...

The Hyuga Clan compound, main family estate.

Hyuga Hiashi stood in the courtyard, gazing silently at the cold moon with his Byakugan.

[Uncle Hiashi, my father once said that some people are alive, yet already dead. And some people have died, yet live on in the hearts of others...]

The words Ryuu Uchiha's son had spoken last night still echoed in his ears.

Hyuga Hiashi slowly closed his eyes. The brat's teasing face only grew clearer. He would never forget the disrespectful way the boy had acted when they first met.

Ryuu Uchiha! Is this your son? He's just as ill-mannered as you!

After cursing him out in his heart, Hyuga Hiashi let out a breath and slowly opened his eyes. His all-seeing gaze swept over his younger brother, standing behind him. The man's desperate, awkward expression was impossible to hide.

A faint smile tugged at Hiashi's lips.

So Hizashi is already dead?

Does social death count as death, too?

What a strange expression...

Beneath the same moonlight.

Naka Shrine.

Silence was like the clear chime of wind bells in the night breeze: unbroken, but met with no response.

The meeting room.

Footsteps sounded.

"Come on in."

Fugaku stood at the door. This time, he wasn't eavesdropping. Instead, he nudged Itachi forward, and Itachi reached for the closed paper door.

Beyond the spotless paper door, everything was perfectly quiet.

Though only a door separated them, a heavy atmosphere lurked on the other side, prickling Itachi's skin.

It was an unsettling atmosphere...

He had no idea what was behind the door, but his keen instincts told him the place was oppressive.

"Itachi."

Itachi looked up. Fugaku had urged him on.

He had no choice but to slide the door open.

The room was vast and spacious, and he never would have guessed that it was already filled with people.

The lights were off, so everyone appeared as a shadow.

Itachi finally understood where the oppressive feeling came from.

"We've been waiting for you for a long time, Clan Head!"

An old voice rang out from the crowd, as if suppressing something.

The other clan members remained silent, but that silence seemed to express their collective displeasure, tacitly endorsing the old man's rude remark.

Fugaku's expression was calm. He merely gestured for Itachi to enter, then stepped over the threshold himself and slid the door shut behind him.

In that instant, the darkness grew heavier.

A few indistinct figures stood up and lit the candles in the room's four corners. Their faint flames illuminated the room.

One pair of Sharingan after another filled the room, reflecting the candlelight.

Under the gazes fixed on him, Itachi felt an immense pressure unlike anything he had ever experienced.

Did Qing Xuan go through this when he first came here, too?

Itachi quietly asked himself, and his expression turned grave.

"Just sit over there and listen."

Facing the clan members' stares, Fugaku couldn't even be bothered to activate his Sharingan.

He pointed to the very back, where people sat packed together on the floor. It was the only place with an empty spot.

Itachi walked through the crowd. As he passed the altar, a series of clear taps rang out—Elder Shana was striking a battered scabbard with a kunai.

Qing Xuan had told him that the old man was a bit of a crank, and to ignore him if they met.

So Itachi walked straight past him and took the spot his father had indicated, sitting down quietly.

Once his son was seated, Fugaku squeezed through the crowd and took his place at the very front, facing the others.

"Let the regular meeting begin."

After Elder Homen, seated to Fugaku's right, announced this expressionlessly, he continued:

"Starting today, Fugaku's son, Itachi, will also attend the regular meetings."

"My son is seven this year. Though he's already a Genin and is eligible to attend, he's still very young. I want him to learn about the clan's current situation from an early age. That's my personal wish as his father, so I've brought him here. I hope you'll all look after him."

Fugaku's words drifted from the front as casually as if he were chatting. A series of gazes swept over Itachi once more, sizing up the Clan Head's son, who resembled the Young Clan Head.

"Hmph!"

Elder Shana's voice rang through the silent room, neither loud nor soft.

Fugaku raised an eyebrow and looked at the old man. He was still holding the battered scabbard.

"What is it, Elder Shana? Are you dissatisfied with Itachi?"

Elder Shana respectfully placed the scabbard back on the altar.

"Leaving Itachi's abilities aside, we certainly wouldn't refuse to let him attend the meeting with a face like that."

Fugaku's eye twitched at those words. He nearly wanted to stab the old bastard to death with a kunai on the spot.

But he couldn't.

"Then what are you trying to do?"

Elder Shana turned to face him, meeting his gaze with eyes that burned like the Scarlet Eyes, utterly unafraid. "I only wanted to ask Clan Head Fugaku where Young Clan Head Qing Xuan has gone!"

Elder Shana's voice carried an air of determination—the kind that wouldn't rest until he got an answer.

He spoke each word slowly and clearly. "Why haven't we seen Qing Xuan since this morning?"

Under the watchful eyes of all the clan members, Fugaku felt the pressure himself. Yet his expression remained calm and untroubled. "Qing Xuan? He left!"

"Left?"

"Where did he go?"

"Who took Young Master Qing Xuan away?"

The meeting room erupted into a clamor.

"Quiet!"

Elder Shana shouted. His face was filled with a fury they had never seen before. He glared at Fugaku, then turned to look at Itachi.

The old man, who had always been fond of intrigue, was furious at the suspicion forming in his mind.

"Why?"

He stood up and pointed at his Clan Head, fuming. "Can't the Uchiha Clan keep its hopes alive?"

Fugaku looked at the old man. This was the first time he had seen him so genuinely angry.

Was he about to accuse him of being a jealous Clan Head who had driven away his talented nephew out of fear that he would stand in Itachi's way?

"He's only going away with Tsunade to train for a while."

Fugaku frowned as he explained, "The whole world of shinobi is far bigger than Konoha. There's no harm in letting him go out and see it for himself!"

Elder Shana sat back down, as if he hadn't just been about to point at his Clan Head's nose and curse him out.

The clan members deactivated their Sharingan.

"Now, let's pick up where we left off last time. Today's topic is 'Submitting a proposal to the Hokage regarding the isolation of our clan's settlement.'"

As soon as Elder Homen finished speaking, everyone in attendance began discussing the matter.

Some thought they should take a hard line with Konoha; others believed they should assess the situation calmly and proceed step by step. Some watched everyone's expressions, considering which side to support. Though their opinions differed, everyone seemed eager to take part in the meeting.

It was as if nothing had happened just moments before.

Itachi watched, bewildered. Then he suddenly felt someone's gaze from behind him.

He immediately looked toward it.

It was Shisui.

Shisui also seemed unable to blend in with the noisy atmosphere of the meeting. He sat quietly, and their gazes met.

From his friend's smile, Itachi seemed to sense that they shared the same feelings.

Qing Xuan had left?

This younger brother of his had appeared out of nowhere, come and gone in a flash.

It was like a dream that had appeared in his otherwise peaceful life. When he woke, things were a little different, yet it was as if nothing had happened at all.