Hidden Surging Tides

The owner of this massive hand, a being at least four meters tall, emerged from such a tiny place—utterly unreasonable.

The great hand grabbed the corpse of the Kumogakure Envoy Leader like a morsel of food and withdrew.

In Jinghuo Uchiha's mind, a faint, cold, and violent ripple surfaced, as if someone were asking: "What do you desire?"

"Talent for tempering the body."

The ripple vanished. Within Jinghuo Uchiha's body, something not originally his appeared.

Demon's Window—this was the ability of Jinghuo Uchiha's Mangekyo.

He could sacrifice what was his to gain power not his own.

This was also why Jinghuo Uchiha could now trade blows with Sarutobi Hiruzen on equal footing.

He could offer up everything he had in exchange for overwhelming strength.

As for whether he could sacrifice the system, he didn't know yet. When the time came and there was no other choice, he could try—but it might also mean instant death.

For now, he looked at his status panel.

[Name: Jinghuo Uchiha]

[Attributes: Fire, Yin]

[Abilities: Mangekyo Sharingan (Demon's Window), Fire Style Chakra Mode]

Jinghuo Uchiha revealed a faint smile and headed back toward the Uchiha Clan Land.

The next day.

At the break of dawn, the Hokage Building was in an uproar.

The recently arrived Kumogakure envoy group was filled with fury and agitation.

"They murdered our captain!"

"I see Konoha has no intention of signing the Armistice Agreement with us!"

"Hand over the killer! Or it's war!"

"That's right! Hand over the killer, or it's war!"

These words made Sarutobi Hiruzen's scalp crawl.

He immediately launched an investigation, but this time, he didn't find the body among the Hyuga Clan—he found nothing at all.

"A man just disappears in Konoha like that?" Sarutobi Hiruzen found it absurd.

But Uchiha Shisui thought it was par for the course—after all, Jinghuo Uchiha's parents had vanished just as silently.

"It must be the Uchiha Clan's doing!" Shimura Danzō declared, as if he saw through everything.

Uchiha Shisui: "???" Do you even think before you speak? The Uchiha Clan is on the front lines of the war, suffering the heaviest casualties! Why would we do this?

Shimura Danzō ignored Shisui's stunned gaze and continued: "The Uchiha Clan, driven by War Merit, disregards the village's wishes and only wants the war to drag on."

At these words, Uchiha Shisui fell silent.

True, the Uchiha Clan wanted War Merit—but they also didn't want their Clan Members to throw away their lives.

So in his view, the Uchiha Clan would never do such a thing.

But in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, it seemed somewhat plausible.

No—rather, this guess was the most likely scenario at the moment.

"Shisui, what do you think?"

"This..." Uchiha Shisui didn't know what to say.

Was he supposed to tell Sarutobi Hiruzen that the Clan Members were dissatisfied with the war, no longer wanted War Merit, no longer craved the Villagers' goodwill, and only wanted their people to survive?

That would just sound like the Clan Members were only thinking of themselves.

But Uchiha Shisui's hesitant demeanor made Sarutobi Hiruzen think he'd glimpsed the truth.

Shimura Danzō seized the opening: "Since the Uchiha Clan stirred this up, let the Uchiha Clan settle it."

"No, Lord Danzō..." Before Uchiha Shisui could finish, Shimura Danzō tapped his cane on the floor, each strike landing with a chilling sound as he walked away.

Seeing this, Uchiha Shisui could only turn to Sarutobi Hiruzen and said urgently: "Lord Hokage, this matter has nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha Clan is under surveillance right now—they couldn't possibly do something like this."

"Mm, I understand."

Uchiha Shisui breathed a sigh of relief.

Several days later, the disappearance of the Kumogakure Envoy Leader remained unsolved.

The Kumogakure envoy group clamored to return and call the Fourth Raikage to war, making Sarutobi Hiruzen break out in cold sweat as he hurriedly placated them.

In the end, it was decided that the various clans in the village would offer something to compensate Kumogakure.

But Kumogakure looked down on such offerings—they only wanted Sharingan or Byakugan.

Bloodline limits like the Sharingan or Byakugan were far too precious.

Not to mention the Hyuga Clan's harsh Main Family and Branch Family system—even the Uchiha Clan had dragged their feet for quite a while before agreeing to let Hatake Kakashi keep Uchiha Obito's eye. Now they were supposed to hand over a Sharingan to another village?

Impossible!

Even if the Uchiha Clan agreed, the village wouldn't.

Just then, rumors spread through the village: "I heard the Kumogakure Envoy Leader was secretly killed by the Uchiha Clan!"

No one from the other clans was stupid; they could see at a glance what a shoddy lie this was.

But since it didn't concern them, they adopted a hands-off attitude toward the Uchiha.

After all, better the other guy die than me.

The villagers, however, started kicking up a fuss.

"The Uchiha caused this—let them fix it!"

"Send the Uchiha to appease Kumogakure!"

"We haven't even settled the Nine-Tailed Night with them yet!"

"Why should we bear the consequences of what they stirred up!"

Under the wave of outcries, Fugaku Uchiha's scalp went numb, and he had no idea what to do.

Just then, Danzō proposed: "Since the Uchiha Clan is always complaining about being short on funds, ten Sharingan—my Root will pay to buy them, and I'll smooth things over with Kumogakure."

"Impossible!" was Fugaku Uchiha's first reaction.

But after Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Better to give them to our own village than to another," Fugaku Uchiha ultimately handed over one Sharingan in exchange for a considerable sum of money.

The other clans paid a small price to Shimura Danzō as well.

Even the Uchiha now had money, and the clan was overjoyed—but they had no idea it had been bought with a Sharingan.

Uchiha Shisui and Fugaku Uchiha, who knew the truth, looked at their jubilant clansmen and cracked a faint smile.

On the surface, it seemed a win-win for everyone—only Jinghuo Uchiha's expression flickered between dark and uncertain.

[Quest Name: And you call yourself the Uchiha Clan Head?][Quest Content: Kill Fugaku Uchiha!][Quest Reward: Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear + Impure World Reincarnation]

[Quest Name: And you like scheming against others?][Quest Content: Kill Shimura Danzō!][Quest Reward: Fire Style Chakra Mode · Emperor Flame Mode]

[Quest Name: And you think you're fit to be Hokage?][Quest Content: Kill Sarutobi Hiruzen!][Quest Reward...]

[Quest Name: And you're not afraid of war?][...]

[...]

[...]

The days that followed passed somewhat slowly, probably because Jinghuo Uchiha was growing restless.

While the Uchiha clansmen still didn't know that Fugaku Uchiha had traded a Sharingan for money, the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village grew increasingly fierce.

The suspicion from the Nine-Tailed Night, the resentment toward the Police Force, and the Armistice Agreement incident—all of it had the Uchiha clansmen fuming with anger.

They hadn't done a thing, yet they were constantly gossiped about, and sometimes even spat on.