A Clan United

Just as Utatane Koharu was making her calculations, the Uchiha Clan compound also grew lively.

Yet beneath the bustle lay a solemnity and gravity unlike usual.

After their parents' repeated instructions last night and this morning, the Uchiha children left home early.

Rather than departing as they usually did through the gates of areas divided among the different factions within the clan compound, they followed the new arrangements and gradually converged along the broad main road.

Uchiha Yashiro of the Hawk Faction, dressed in dark clan attire, calmly watched the other end of the road—

Where Uchiha Hazuki, the Dove Faction's representative, was approaching gracefully with a group of children of her own.

The moment their eyes met, both smiled in mutual understanding.

Uchiha Yashiro nodded. "Sister Hazuki, let's go together."

"Alright."

Uchiha Hazuki answered softly, a gentle smile spreading through the fine lines at the corners of her eyes.

This was the plan Uchiha Ren and Mikoto had finalized together last night—

Starting with the younger generation, they would gradually dissolve the invisible barriers between the Hawk and Dove Factions.

They would make the long-divided Uchiha truly unite as one.

As the two called to the children and led them out through the clan gates together,

Uchiha Fugaku arrived in haste with the children of the Clan Head Faction after hearing the news.

The ever-composed Fugaku's lips twitched almost imperceptibly when he saw Yashiro and Hazuki standing side by side.

The Hawk and Dove Factions had acted jointly while leaving out the Clan Head Faction, making Fugaku, the eldest among them, somewhat dissatisfied—and somewhat wistful.

The clan's improvement should have been cause for comfort, but this tide of change had not been led by him. It left the man who aspired to restore the Uchiha unable to suppress a sense of loss.

Yet that confusion lasted only a moment before he cast it from his mind. No matter what, the clan's well-being was what truly mattered. Everything else was unimportant.

"Yashiro, Hazuki, I'm late." Fugaku adjusted his emotions and stepped forward with a hearty greeting.

Yashiro and Hazuki exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised.

Neither the Hawk nor Dove Faction had concealed this operation. If the Clan Head Faction had been willing, it could easily have joined them.

They had expected the Clan Head Faction's children to come, but they had not expected them to be led by Fugaku, whose status was akin to that of a young clan heir, rather than Uchiha Yakumi.

"We were early, Lord Fugaku." Yashiro returned the greeting respectfully.

"Let's go together, Lord Fugaku." Hazuki smiled and stepped aside to make room.

Seeing their attitudes, Fugaku understood the stance of both factions, and his stern face gained a little more warmth.

The young Uchiha behind them were all sizing one another up, their clear black-and-white eyes filled with curiosity.

These children, who should have been familiar with one another, now seemed as awkward as strangers meeting for the first time, with even a trace of hostility mixed in—

Many of them interacted less often than they did with classmates at the Ninja Academy. They might not exchange a single word over an entire year.

Their parents' and elders' factional teachings, drilled into them over the years, clashed with these suddenly changed words like their left brains fighting their right brains.

Still, they were children, at the age when their values were easiest to shape and their natures most lively.

Their initial restraint and awkwardness gradually melted away as they walked shoulder to shoulder under the lead of the three at the front.

When the Uchiha children appeared on Konohagakure's streets for the first time in such an orderly formation, every ninja along the way turned to look.

Especially at the sight of the three leading representatives—the Hawk Faction's capable officer, the Dove Faction's elite, and the Clan Head Faction's heir—walking side by side.

Everyone from the ninja clans who witnessed the scene was stunned.

The news spread like wildfire.

By the time this unusual procession reached the Ninja Academy, rumors that the Uchiha's three major factions were about to integrate had spread to every corner of Konohagakure.

At the same time, tea fragrance curled through the Hyuga Clan's reception room, but it could not dispel the invisible heaviness in the air.

"Elder Danzo's personal visit deeply honors the Hyuga Clan."

The Hyuga Clan Head sat in seiza at the seat of honor, his voice as steady as a mirror-like lake, with no emotion visible in his pale eyes.

"However, members of the main family must strictly abide by clan rules and safeguard the secret of the Byakugan. They cannot leave lightly."

"Most members of the branch family are serving in the various ninja forces, while the few remaining members must protect the main family."

"Each has duties to fulfill, and we cannot spare anyone to accompany Elder Danzo to the northeastern front. The Hyuga Clan truly cannot be of assistance."

His words were courteous and well-reasoned, his excuses lofty and impeccable.

Yet that calm refusal infuriated Shimura Danzō even more than a direct confrontation would have.

His gaunt fingers clenched beneath his sleeves until they turned white, but he merely snorted coldly, said no more, and abruptly rose to his feet.

Then, without looking back, he strode out of the hall, which was filled with the Gentle Fist's soft yet piercing air.

The instant he stepped beyond the Hyuga Clan compound's solemn gates, a Root ninja wearing an animal mask appeared like a ghost and silently dropped to one knee before him.

"Lord Danzo."

The ninja reported in a low voice, "Latest news. This morning, Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Hazuki, and Uchiha Fugaku led the children of the three factions to the Ninja Academy together."

"For the first time, the Hawk, Dove, and Clan Head Factions have appeared publicly side by side. Their coordination was seamless, and every clan in Konohagakure has witnessed it."

"Those Uchiha, evil by nature, are pulling this stunt right before a war...!"

"What are they trying to do? Are they planning to unite and rebel?"

Danzo forced the curses through clenched teeth, the anger in his chest like an ignited explosive tag, nearly breaking through his habitual gloom.

The frustration of being turned away by the Hyuga and the news of the Uchiha's united front became tangled together.

They made his already sinister face even more twisted and ferocious.

He suddenly drew a deep breath and forcibly pressed the surging fury back into his heart, leaving only an increasingly icy, piercing gaze.

"Move!"

He practically forced the word from his throat. His figure became a gust of wind as he sped toward the next clan compound.

His recruitment plan could not stall over such a minor setback. Sarutobi Hiruzen had given him only one day.

But those Hyuga who refused a kindness when it was offered... he would remember this debt.

Shimura Danzō's next visit was to the secret technique clans bound by close ties and their oath of earrings—the Ino-Shika-Cho.

Within Konohagakure, the three clans were often regarded as one large, united family that supported one another, their strength and status second only to the Uchiha and Hyuga.

Among them—

The Yamanaka represented the "Ino." They excelled in sensing and mental control, handling target detection and linking the minds of the three in battle.

The Nara Clan represented the "Shika." They possessed the Shadow Possession Jutsu and exceptionally high intelligence, responsible for the squad's tactical planning and core control.

The Akimichi represented the "Cho." They possessed the Yang Release Secret Technique: Multi-Size Technique and served as the squad's offensive attacker.

The three clans had been close to the Sarutobi Clan since the Warring States Period. After Sarutobi Hiruzen became Hokage, they received considerable support and became staunch members of the Hokage Faction.

Yet Shimura Danzō arrived full of anticipation—and left disappointed!