Tonight.
Aside from the handful still on duty at the Police Force and those away on missions who hadn't returned, the remaining fifty or so people were all gathered in this Secret Room.
As for the number of Jonin—
First, let's talk about Konoha.
The village currently had around a hundred Jonin in total, counting both the active and inactive ones.
Although the Uchiha were Konoha's foremost clan, they had been suppressed for decades since the Second Hokage's era, and their clansmen had few opportunities for promotion.
At present, the clan had only ten bona fide Jonin.
Half of those had earned their rank during the Third Shinobi World War, fighting desperately against Kirigakure Ninja on the eastern front.
However, as everyone knew,
Uchiha who awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan had the strength to become Jonin, and the clan currently had a full thirty members with the Three-Tomoe.
In other words,
the Uchiha effectively had thirty Jonin. Among them were elite Jonin like Fugaku and Shisui, and the clan's talent could be said to surpass all others in Konoha.
What's more, the Uchiha were said to be unbeatable in one-on-one combat.
Those thirty Jonin could muster a fighting force on the battlefield equivalent to at least seventy or eighty ordinary Jonin—far beyond the "Jonin" Iwagakure had lost by the dozens to a single move from Namikaze Minato.
Seen in that light,
the Uchiha certainly had the confidence to launch a Coup d'état, and the strength to fight to the death against the leadership represented by the Konoha F4.
Unfortunately,
in the Original Work, after Shisui's suicide, Fugaku gave up resistance as Clan Head, and Itachi and Obito, both wielders of the Mangekyo, slaughtered the Uchiha.
Nearly a hundred pairs of Sharingan were divided between Obito and Danzo.
After learning all this,
Dan began to consider how he could get the Uchiha to follow the script he'd written, charge out in full force to fight Konoha, and make the whole affair as chaotic as possible.
Just then, the host of the Clan Meeting—Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku—finally appeared, last of all.
As soon as Fugaku entered, the Secret Room fell silent.
He had been Clan Head for quite a few years, and his standing among the clan was fairly high.
Fugaku folded his arms and stood before the stone tablet left by their ancestors. His stern gaze swept over the crowd as he counted heads.
Once he saw that everyone who was supposed to be there had arrived,
"Cough, cough."
He cleared his throat and said, "Before we begin, I'd like to introduce the newcomers attending this Clan Meeting."
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Fugaku pointed to Dan, seated in the front row, and said:
"I'm sure some of you already know him. This is my brother-in-law, Uchiha Dan. He's very skilled at Taijutsu and has opened a Fitness Gym in the village. If you're interested, feel free to check it out."
At Mikoto's birthday banquet, Fugaku had promised her he'd advertise her brother's Fitness Gym at the Clan Meeting.
He hadn't forgotten, and he didn't dare go back on his word—not with his wife watching from below.
"Dan."
As Fugaku finished speaking, Mikoto quickly tugged at her younger brother's sleeve.
Dan understood what his sister meant.
He didn't think his sister and brother-in-law's kind gesture was necessary, but he still stood up, bowed slightly to the gathered clan members, and gave a perfunctory bow.
Some formalities still had to be observed.
A wave of whispers rose in the Secret Room.
A Fitness Gym?
Most of those present looked unconvinced when they heard those three words.
Did the Uchiha need to go to a place like that? Did the Uchiha need muscles?
No. The Sharingan was enough.
As the Kekkei Genkai that let the Uchiha look down on the Ninja World,
those eyes not only granted them powerful dynamic vision, but also enhanced the physical abilities and reflexes of whoever awakened them.
The more Magatama in their pupils, the greater the boost to their Taijutsu.
That meant the Uchiha didn't need to deliberately train their bodies. Improving their Pupil Power was the right path.
Besides, the Sharingan let the Uchiha cast powerful Genjutsu, resist their enemies' Genjutsu, and copy Ninjutsu. They truly had no weaknesses in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.
Why would anyone abandon the "gold mine" of the Sharingan and take the long way around by lifting weights at a Fitness Gym?
Unless they'd lost their minds.
Just as most of the clan members were losing interest,
"Sure. Once the Clan Meeting is over, we'll be sure to show our support," Uchiha Yashiro suddenly said loudly, voicing his agreement.
He even gave Dan a friendly look.
Hm?
At his words, many of the clan members looked astonished.
Yashiro was always at odds with the Clan Head. Why had he changed his tune today and publicly shown goodwill toward the Clan Head's brother-in-law?
Dan glanced at Yashiro but said nothing. He sat back down on the floor.
The night he fought Obito, Yashiro must have been there too, hiding nearby and watching the whole thing.
Had seeing Dan defeat Obito, who claimed to be Madara Uchiha, made him want to recruit Dan again?
Dan thought it over briefly and saw through Yashiro's intentions.
"So Uncle really has gotten in touch with Yashiro and the others."
Watching the scene, Itachi's expression turned grave. What he'd feared had come to pass.
If Dan joined forces with Yashiro and the others, the Radical Faction would become even more formidable and gain greater influence.
Hearing that, Shisui replied with calm confidence:
"It doesn't matter. I'll handle it."
Fugaku was puzzled by Yashiro's show of support, but didn't think too much of it. After finishing the advertisement, he announced:
The Clan Meeting was officially underway.
"Itachi, have you heard any news around the village lately?"
Fugaku began by questioning his son in front of everyone.
The clan had discussed Itachi joining the Anbu at the previous Clan Meeting, and Fugaku had clearly told them that he wanted Itachi to act as a spy.
Whether that move had been the right one depended on what intelligence Itachi could bring back to the Uchiha.
Under everyone's gaze, Itachi slowly stood up.
"From what I've observed, the village leadership and my Anbu colleagues are wary of the Uchiha, but when you get down to it, it's only out of fear and jealousy. We shouldn't keep magnifying these feelings and blaming every problem on them."
He spoke with a calm expression.
After he finished, some of the clan members found his point reasonable and nodded.
It was only natural for people to envy and ostracize the Uchiha. Who could blame them when the Uchiha were so exceptional?
Only the mediocre were never envied.
Most of them belonged to the Moderate Faction. They didn't want tensions between the clan and the village to escalate, so they supported Itachi's view.
But the others disagreed.
Yashiro shot to his feet, brows furrowed, and challenged Itachi on the spot:
"Itachi, whose side are you on? Are you saying the Uchiha are imagining persecution and falsely accusing the village leadership?"
Itachi and Yashiro had been at odds for a long time.
A year earlier, after Itachi had been promoted to Chunin, Fugaku had said at a Clan Meeting that he wanted his son to join the Anbu and become the Uchiha's spy in the village.
Itachi had spoken up then, saying that the Uchiha were part of the village and should stop pushing the two sides toward hostility.
As a result,
his remarks had undoubtedly enraged Yashiro and the Radical Faction. Yashiro had accused Itachi of taking the village's side and argued that he couldn't be trusted to do the job as a spy.
In the end, Clan Head Fugaku mediated, and the matter was settled when Itachi apologized to Yashiro.
Who would have thought
that a year later, Itachi's views were still the same as before, unchanged in the slightest.
So Yashiro challenged Itachi once again.
Before you continue