A Warning

"Ao, Orochimaru is not a good person."

"Stay away from him."

Shisui kept his back to Ao, burying his head as he hurried along, his soft voice drifting through the air.

It sounded like advice given to a friend.

Yet, aside from the fact that they had graduated in the same year, there was no connection between the two.

The words he spoke at this moment.

Aligned perfectly with the personality he displayed to the outside world: gentle and reliable!

The Uchiha clan possessed over two thousand ninja members.

And Uchiha Shisui was recognized as the most gifted genius among those two thousand-plus Uchiha ninjas today.

In a few more years, once Shisui grew a little older.

He would become the number one person in the Uchiha clan.

Even the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, needed to seek Shisui's opinion on certain matters.

And yet, Shisui was currently just a nine-year-old child who had recently been promoted to chunin.

He was a few years younger than Kakashi and the others.

But he had graduated in the same year as Ao.

His talent completely crushed Ao's.

In front of Shisui, Ao was nothing but an overlooked bottom-feeder.

Their statuses within the clan were two complete extremes.

Not yet nine, he had already awakened the Sharingan and become the talent the clan valued most.

"My business is none of your concern! You, the super genius of the Uchiha, should keep a low profile for a while, lest you meet with some misfortune."

Ao acknowledged the sentiment and offered a warning in return.

Although Orochimaru looked dangerous, he wasn't safe to be around; various experimental processes could cause irreversible effects on the body.

These were the unavoidable side effects of biological experimentation.

But compared to waiting for death within the Uchiha, he was still willing to become a blade in Orochimaru's hand—at least he could die on the laboratory table he loved, rather than having his throat slit in his sleep.

Shisui was a good person, but that was all he was—just a good person.

"Thank you, I understand..."

Shisui took a deep look at Ao, realizing he had never truly understood this clansman of his.

Ao's family background was simple, and his talent was abysmal.

He was not valued within the clan.

He had never received much attention.

It was only when they participated in the same graduation exam that Shisui paid attention to his peers and learned of such a person's existence.

Originally, he hadn't cared much.

It wasn't until he heard that Uchiha Ao was getting close to Orochimaru that it caught his attention.

And he had reported it to the clan's high-ranking officials.

The Uchiha could not tolerate betrayal above all else.

Uchiha Ao's actions had touched exactly upon this taboo.

He would face the clan's most severe interrogation.

Shisui led Ao to Kaga Shrine, which the clan had established outside the village; it was not far from the Valley of the End.

Standing at the highest point of the shrine, one could still see the statue of Uchiha Madara.

The sound of flowing water echoed not far away.

The shrine was silent.

Several seemingly ordinary clansmen were cleaning the grounds of the shrine.

An old man wearing a dark kimono knelt before the ancestral tablets of the Uchiha, holding a wooden mallet and gently tapping the wooden fish in front of him.

The wooden fish emitted a rhythmic sound.

The old man's mouth moved with the faint sound of chanting.

Shisui did not linger here; he led Ao through the main hall and arrived at a secret room in the backyard.

Several important high-ranking members of the Uchiha were already seated, a tea set placed on the table in front of them, the tea in the cups already cold.

"Clan Head, I have brought Ao here."

Shisui replied respectfully.

After graduating from the Ninja Academy, he was assigned to work at the shrine, becoming an attendant at the clan's shrine.

He followed the clansmen who were meditating within the shrine to cultivate.

After meditating here for a year, he would be dispatched to the Police Force to hold an important position.

"You are Uchiha Ao?"

The person in the central seat of honor raised his head, his gaze sweeping over like a torch, so intense it felt as if it would melt him.

Uchiha Fugaku.

He had a stern, square face with deep nasolabial folds that looked as if they had been carved by a knife, and his eyes were profound as he carefully scrutinized the changes in Uchiha Ao's expression.

Ao nodded gently, scanning the entire secret chamber without a hint of timidity.

It was a simple tatami-mat layout.

Seven small tables were arranged, and in front of each table sat an elderly clansman kneeling.

Among them, Uchiha Fugaku was the youngest.

He looked to be about twenty years old.

"Why did you betray the clan!"

The old man sitting to the left of Fugaku slammed his hand onto the table, questioning him with a stern tone.

His eyes were slightly clouded, and there was a knife scar running across his eye on his wrinkled face.

"Great Elder... when did I ever betray the clan?"

Ao asked with a look of confusion, his gaze fixed directly on Uchiha Setsuna, showing not a shred of guilt.

He knew exactly what the clansmen were thinking.

A bunch of stubborn, feudal, and insular old fogies.

They couldn't accept even the slightest bit of novelty.

The Uchiha clan appeared peaceful on the outside and didn't seem to have many restrictions, but in reality, they were more closed-off and conservative than the Hyuga clan.

They rarely had any significant interaction with the village.

It was all due to the restrictions imposed by these old guys.

The Uchiha rarely participated in the various affairs of the village, confining themselves entirely to the small patch of territory that was the Police Force.

It looked like they were guarding the peace and stability of the village, but in reality, it was a prison.

In contrast, the Hyuga clan, although the main family was conservative and never showed their faces in public, maintained very close ties with the village through the branch family.

Branch family members were arranged to participate in various missions within the village, earning the favor of the villagers.

Therefore, the reputation of the Hyuga clan in the village was much better than that of the Uchiha.

"You colluded with Orochimaru in private; isn't that an attempt to sell out clan intelligence in exchange for your own future!?"

Uchiha Setsuna said sharply.

He was old, but he was not blind.

The movements of every clansman were firmly held in his grasp.

He knew that Uchiha Ao had gone out to find Orochimaru many times in recent days, and had even stayed overnight at Orochimaru's residence.

That was why this scene was happening now.

Relying on his extremely high prestige, even when the coup d'état failed, he had not lost his power within the clan.

The new clan head he had supported, Uchiha Fugaku, was still very young and posed no threat to his position at all.

Within the Uchiha clan, his word was an absolute command.

"How could that be!? I approached Orochimaru for the sake of the clan. Now that the clan is facing accusations from all sides of the village and some clansmen have developed grievances against the clan head, with internal strife and external pressure, I could only do my best to use my own strength to find a new way out for the clan."

Ao answered without blushing or skipping a beat.

The Uchiha... didn't have many experts at playing schemes and tricks; even compared to the tech geeks in his office in his past life, they were still lacking.

They were all just a bunch of simple-minded people.

Although his words were full of loopholes, they caught the attention of several elders.

"Great Elder, let him continue! What if he really did approach Orochimaru for the sake of the clan?"

A chubby, round-faced old man said, trying to ease the atmosphere. He was Uchiha En, the fourth elder of the clan and also Uchiha Ao's grand-uncle.

"What can Orochimaru do to help the Uchiha?"

Uchiha Setsuna's tone softened a little, no longer as aggressive as it was at the beginning.

"Orochimaru—he can draw away some of the attention at a time when the clan is being feared by the village."

Ao replied, looking at everyone with a smile in his eyes.

"The clan should also be aware of what Orochimaru has been doing; his actions have already touched the bottom line of the village's top brass, and it is impossible for them to let him continue his research..."

Ao's words made Uchiha Setsuna slightly startled.

It was as if the thoughts in his heart had been seen through.

"What is he researching?"

Fugaku asked with a frown. He glanced at the elders present and found that none of them had the slightest doubt about Uchiha Ao's words.