You're Slamming the Table and Yelling at Me?

Uchiha Itachi left calmly.

Though he had, in a sense, taken the side opposite the Uchiha Clan, and by all rights the Uchiha's enemies should have been his friends,

he was, in truth, standing on Konoha's side.

Why had he chosen to wipe out his clan? Not because he had lost his mind, but because Konoha would have been destroyed after an Uchiha coup.

Thus, he despised clans like the Hyuga even more, clans that placed their Clan Rules above Konoha.

They were a clan even more narrow-minded than the Uchiha who wished to launch a coup.

If not for the fear that the chaos caused by the Hyuga Clan's destruction would lead to Konoha's downfall, he would merely have stood by and watched.

Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga, who were in the Police Force, saw the orange meteor headed straight for the Hyuga Clan Land. Their usually stern faces lost all composure.

They panicked and hurried over.

Along the way, they ran into Nara Shikaku and his group, all drenched in cold sweat.

Their destination was also the Hyuga Clan Land.

This made Hyuga Hiashi think of a flat-top youngster.

"Orange... was that him?"

He clenched his fists, filled with unease and apprehension.

In his mind, the image of his timid, cautious daughter kept shattering, reforming, shattering, reforming, shattering...

The endless cycle blurred the image beyond recognition, and his heart ached as though being cut by knives.

"Hinata... Hinata..."

He moved faster and faster.

He rushed there at full speed, regardless of the cost.

Seeing how frantic Hyuga and the others were, Nara Shikaku gave a bitter smile.

He had thought Jinghuo Uchiha would not make a scene at the Hokage Building. He had thought Jinghuo Uchiha would, at most, use underhanded methods in secret.

But instead, he had charged straight at the Hyuga Clan Land.

"Could you not be so hot-headed?" He practically wanted to call Jinghuo Uchiha "brother" and beg him.

His scalp was tingling now.

He had no idea how many Hyuga Clan Members had died already.

But whether one had died or a hundred, Konoha was bound to descend into chaos.

The Hyuga Clan would certainly demand that Jinghuo Uchiha pay the price;

the Uchiha Clan would certainly protect Jinghuo Uchiha.

With the two clans in conflict, Konoha as a whole would be dragged into internal strife.

Then, if spies from Other Villages killed Uchiha Clan Members at any cost and claimed the Hyuga Clan had done it, or killed Hyuga Clan Members and claimed the Uchiha Clan had done it,

Konoha would be thrown into complete chaos!

At that thought, he seemed to see a war-torn Konoha, with the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans displaced from their homes.

I just hope Jinghuo Uchiha hasn't started a fight to the death with the Hyuga Clan yet, he prayed.

When he hurriedly arrived, however, he saw a group of Uchiha Clan Members surrounding Jinghuo Uchiha, their faces full of concern.

"Jinghuo, it's good that you're all right."

"Don't be this hot-headed next time."

"Exactly. We Uchiha are practically the Root; if we don't like someone, we have plenty of ways to deal with them!"

"Right, right. Don't act impulsively! It wouldn't be good if you got hurt. There are plenty of ways to deal with the Hyuga Clan."

Nara Shikaku: "..."

What did they mean by, "We Uchiha are practically the Root; if we don't like someone, we have plenty of ways to deal with them"?

What did they mean by, "It wouldn't be good if you got hurt. There are plenty of ways to deal with the Hyuga Clan"?

If you can't find a book by its title, try searching for the author. It may simply have been renamed!

He sighed and walked over, calling out, "Jinghuo!"

Jinghuo Uchiha glanced at him. "No one died. Don't worry."

With that, he left without looking back.

Nara Shikaku: "..."

He seemed to feel Jinghuo Uchiha's disdain for the way he thought.

For some reason, that made him feel a little wronged.

He was the Nara Clan Head. It was wrong to watch Konoha gradually go bad, but what could he do? No matter what, he could not gamble his entire clan's lives on choosing a side!

Still, Jinghuo Uchiha's words that no one had died put him at ease.

The next day.

Hokage Building.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the Hokage's seat, rubbing the space between his brows with a headache as he looked at the seven-year-old youngster before him.

"Jinghuo, we're all from the same village. Could you be a little more tolerant?"

Who went crashing into someone else's clan land just because they did not like the look of them?!

"What tolerance? I said my experiment with a new technique failed, and I accidentally entered the Hyuga Clan Land. I even got injured and reduced its power. Not a single Hyuga died, so why are you shouting nonsense at me now?" Jinghuo Uchiha was furious enough to unleash a powerful move at the slightest disagreement.

It was as though he were saying, "I, Jinghuo Uchiha, have always been honest and well-behaved. You want to falsely accuse me? I won't stand for that grievance!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."

"Jinghuo Uchiha!" The Hyuga Great Elder was so enraged that his beard trembled. He wished he could kill Jinghuo Uchiha.

Yes! No one had died, but with the clan land reduced to that state, where was the Hyuga Clan's dignity?!

"Why are you shouting nonsense?" Jinghuo Uchiha asked.

"Jinghuo Uchiha!!!" The Hyuga Great Elder had not expected the perpetrators to have such an attitude. He was so furious that even the wrinkles on his face turned red.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took one look and knew that if these two stayed together any longer, they might start fighting.

So he directly interrupted their tense confrontation. "The Uchiha Clan will compensate the Hyuga Clan for its losses."

He looked at Jinghuo Uchiha. "Any objections?"

The Hyuga Great Elder snorted coldly, somewhat dissatisfied that Sarutobi Hiruzen had not consulted him, the Great Elder, and had instead asked that Uchiha child.

Jinghuo Uchiha glanced at the Hyuga Great Elder and narrowed his eyes.

Then he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and smiled. "Of course. Damage caused by the Uchiha Clan should naturally be compensated by the Uchiha Clan."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled at that. "Then we'll settle it this way..."

Before he could finish, Jinghuo Uchiha said with a smile, "Just deduct it from the funds promised to us Uchiha for relocating our clan land back then."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression shifted. The smile vanished from his face, and he said with a forced smile, "That was promised to you by Danzo. You can ask the Root for it."

"Oh, I see! So that's what you mean!" Jinghuo Uchiha put on an enlightened expression and said to the Hyuga Great Elder, "Although I, Jinghuo Uchiha, promised to compensate the Hyuga Clan for the damage to your clan land, the Uchiha Clan never said it would compensate you, so it doesn't have to."

After saying that, Jinghuo Uchiha gave an "Mm," as though confirming his own interpretation. He looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a smile. "Is that right?"

Bang!

The sound of a hand slamming onto the table rang out. The ever-kind Sarutobi Hiruzen became ferocious and terrifying, his eyes filled with fury. "Jinghuo Uchiha!"

Jinghuo Uchiha smiled. "You're slamming the table and yelling at me?"

As he spoke, the smile curling his lips gradually fell, and his gaze became oppressive and terrifying.

A flicker of orange flame ignited around him. The scorching high temperature made the atmosphere dry and dreadful.

Watching the two confront each other, the Hyuga Great Elder's expression changed slightly. He took a small step back and swallowed.

At that moment, a streak of gold appeared within the orange flame around Jinghuo Uchiha.

The instant that golden streak appeared, Jinghuo Uchiha's terrifying aura grew hundreds of times stronger.

It was as though a noble emperor above countless people had flown into a rage, and the whole world was about to become a hell awash in blood.

It made fear rise in his heart, filling him with panic and unease. He even wanted to lower his head, kneel, and beg for forgiveness.