Konoha Is Not the Hokage's Konoha!

"Uchiha?!" Kazuma, standing to one side, looked furious. He stared at Uchiha Shisui and demanded in a grave voice, "What does Konoha mean by this?! Sneaking into the Royal Palace at night—are you trying to assassinate the Daimyo?!"

Kazuma was a steadfast supporter of the Daimyo's faction. He had always held Konoha's ninja in rather low regard, and seeing Uchiha Shisui disregard the rules so blatantly now left him utterly enraged!

Meanwhile, Chiriku had thought of much more, but he did not speak up. He merely stood quietly to the side, intending to watch how things unfolded!

Uchiha Shisui's expression did not change in the slightest under Kazuma's questioning. He calmly explained, "I have not come here as a Konoha Ninja, but as a member of the Uchiha Clan!"

"I represent only the Uchiha Clan!"

Kazuma was no fool. Upon hearing Uchiha Shisui's words, he realized something and narrowed his eyes slightly!

The Daimyo said nothing, merely looking at Uchiha Shisui thoughtfully.

After a moment, Chiriku could no longer sit still. He spoke up, "What do you mean by that, Shisui? Could it be that the Uchiha Clan intends to defect from Konoha?"

Chiriku was a Ninja Monk from the Temple of Fire and could be considered the Temple of Fire's spokesperson.

The Temple of Fire was the third power in the Land of Fire, alongside Konoha and Daimyo Manor. Though it usually stayed out of worldly affairs, it silently safeguarded the peace of the Land of Fire!

Chiriku understood the delicate relationship between Konoha and Daimyo Manor. That was why, when Daimyo Manor had been threatened years ago, he had stepped forward to become the Daimyo's guardian, maintaining balance and stability within the Land of Fire!

Uchiha Shisui's appearance had once again made Chiriku see danger!

Uchiha Shisui shook his head. "Master, you overstate things! The Uchiha Clan is one of Konoha's founders. How could we possibly defect from Konoha?"

Naturally, Chiriku would not be dismissed by just a few words from Uchiha Shisui. With his eyebrows tightly furrowed, he pressed, "Then what is Shisui's purpose in coming here?"

"As a member of Konoha, yet bypassing the Hokage in private and approaching the Daimyo in this manner, what exactly is the Uchiha Clan's purpose?"

Chiriku's words were extremely forceful. He was just short of pointing at Uchiha Shisui's nose and asking whether the Uchiha Clan was plotting rebellion!

Uchiha Shisui's expression remained utterly unchanged. He said calmly, "The Uchiha Clan has merely come to ask the Daimyo for a way out!"

After a pause, Uchiha Shisui added, "Perhaps a way to survive as well!"

Uchiha Shisui had humbled himself greatly, but his words caused Chiriku and Kazuma's expressions to change drastically!

"Hehe..." The Daimyo chuckled softly and said, "Uchiha Shisui, I have heard of you! You are Kagami Uchiha's descendant, aren't you?"

Uchiha Shisui's gaze shifted slightly. He was somewhat surprised that the Daimyo knew of him!

Seeing this, the Daimyo continued, "Back when the Second Hokage was still alive, your grandfather Kagami Uchiha was his personal guard. I met him several times as well!"

"You shone brilliantly in the recent war against Kirigakure. You have not tarnished Kagami Uchiha's reputation!"

Uchiha Shisui replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Thank you for your praise, Daimyo. Shisui merely survived the war by chance."

The Daimyo neither agreed nor disagreed. He continued, "You need not be modest. I recognize your abilities, and I do not doubt your sincerity! But can you truly represent the entire Uchiha Clan now?"

"With your seniority, you do not have much right to speak within the Uchiha Clan, do you?"

The Daimyo had indeed met Kagami Uchiha before, and Uchiha Shisui gave him the feeling that he was another Kagami Uchiha!

His evaluation of both of them was the same: they were so modest that they hardly seemed like Uchiha at all!

If Uchiha Shisui had come in his own capacity, the Daimyo would have been very pleased and might even have accepted his allegiance outright!

But this oddity within the Uchiha Clan claimed to represent the entire Uchiha Clan, which struck the Daimyo as exceedingly strange no matter how he looked at it!

Uchiha Shisui explained, "Within the Uchiha Clan, strength has always spoken for itself! Please rest assured, Daimyo. I can now absolutely represent the entire Uchiha Clan!"

The Daimyo narrowed his eyes slightly and suddenly asked, "Just you alone?"

Uchiha Shisui shook his head. "Of course not!"

A trace of surprise flashed through the Daimyo's eyes as he asked again, "Are you the leader?"

Uchiha Shisui still shook his head. With a hint of reverence in his voice, he said, "I am merely Jin Big Brother's messenger!"

"Jin?" The Daimyo's eyes flickered. After pondering for a moment, he said, "You mean the Red Sun, famed alongside the Yellow Flash?"

"That's right!" Uchiha Shisui nodded. "Jin Big Brother said that once this war ends, he will become the new Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan!"

After thinking for a moment, the Daimyo said, "Does he want to become Konoha's Fourth Hokage?"

The Daimyo knew that the Uchiha Clan's position within Konoha was not good. They had always been targeted by the Hokage Faction!

The Uchiha Clan had also been trying to change this situation!

The best solution was undoubtedly for the Uchiha to enter the village's Core Circle or become Hokage directly!

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had managed Konoha flawlessly. The Uchiha Clan did not even have a single ally, making it difficult for them to cause any real disturbance!

Under such circumstances, the Uchiha Clan could only seek a breakthrough outside Konoha!

And as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, he was undoubtedly the Uchiha Clan's best choice!

However, if that was all there was to it, then Uchiha Jin was being far too naive!

Becoming Hokage was not so easy!

Yet under the Daimyo's astonished gaze, Uchiha Shisui shook his head!

Uchiha Shisui said, "Jin Big Brother has no intention of becoming Hokage!"

"Oh?" The Daimyo became interested upon hearing that and asked, "Then what does he want?"

"An opportunity! An opportunity for the Uchiha to no longer be controlled by others!" Uchiha Shisui did not beat around the bush and said directly, "I want to join Daimyo Manor and become one of your Twelve Guardian Ninja, Daimyo!"

The Daimyo did not answer immediately. Frowning slightly, he said, "Has the Uchiha Clan truly been driven to such a desperate state?"

Uchiha Shisui slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. "In this war, a total of Sixty-Eight People from the Uchiha Clan died in battle, and twenty-nine of them vanished without explanation!"

"They are acting so brazenly, and with what happened to the Senju Clan as a warning, the Uchiha Clan has no choice but to seek a way out!"

"But the Uchiha will always be Konoha's Uchiha, and Konoha is absolutely not merely the Hokage's Konoha!"

"The Uchiha Clan will never betray Konoha!"

"That is why I could only come to Daimyo Manor!"

The Daimyo smiled upon hearing this. "How rare. Your Uchiha Clan has actually produced someone who understands!"

In the Daimyo's eyes, there was nothing to criticize about the Uchiha Clan's abilities, IQ, and the like, but their Emotional Intelligence was practically zero. They had always been toyed with by Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others!

Who would have thought that the Uchiha Clan had now produced someone capable of using his brain?

Uchiha Shisui immediately went down on one knee. "I ask the Daimyo to take us in!"

The Daimyo pondered for a moment, then smiled. "Rise! It is rare for something interesting to happen in these dull days. Helping you out is not impossible!"