First Meeting with a White-Eyed Wolf!

The next day!

The news that Uchiha White Dove intended to establish a "New Uchiha" was known to almost everyone in the village.

If this had been any other minor ninja clan, it naturally wouldn't have caused such a stir.

After all, it was not unheard of in the ninja world for clans to proactively branch out.

However, this was the Uchiha.

Ever since the Senju disbanded, the Uchiha had been the premier clan of Konoha, and arguably the entire ninja world, making them the center of attention. Furthermore, the villagers held little affection for the Uchiha, who were always scowling and devoid of human warmth, so they were naturally extremely interested in such juicy gossip.

Consequently, the village was abuzz with discussion from the early morning.

To hear them talk, it was as if the Uchiha were on the verge of splitting apart immediately.

As for why an event that occurred last night was common knowledge by dawn, it was, of course, due to the cooperation of two parties.

One side was the news White Dove had leaked himself, and the other was naturally the handiwork of Danzo.

For a schemer who viewed the eradication of the Uchiha as his life's ambition, how could he possibly pass up an opportunity to weaken them? Even if the news had been false, he would have made it a reality.

In short, while other matters might be complicated, Danzo would always lend a hand to anything that proved detrimental to the Uchiha.

It was precisely because of the efforts of the Root that the news spread so rapidly.

Otherwise, one would have to be naive to think rumors in Konoha could travel with such efficiency.

Whoosh!

A figure wearing an animal mask, having just returned from a mission outside the village, happened to overhear the news and immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to head toward the Uchiha district on the edge of the village.

On the streets of the Uchiha clan.

White Dove was walking toward the Police Force building with Tekka and Inabi.

"It seems the news has already spread throughout the village, hasn't it?"

Listening to the whispers of his clansmen, White Dove glanced at Inabi and Tekka beside him, his tone seemingly inquisitive, though he clearly already knew the answer.

"That's right, first thing this morning, all the villagers were discussing this news!"

Inabi nodded in confirmation.

If Konoha had a trending list, their "New Uchiha" project would have undoubtedly occupied the top ten spots—without any real competition.

There was no helping it; the Root was truly formidable when it came to spreading rumors.

"Well done. Your bonuses for this month will be doubled!"

White Dove gave his reward with satisfaction.

Bonuses!

Naturally, he had started paying "wages" to his few followers.

"Thank you, Captain!"

Inabi raised his eyebrows triumphantly at the jealous Tekka, clearly showing off.

Whoosh!

Just then, a figure instantly appeared in front of them.

It was a youth wearing an Anbu uniform with a ninja sword strapped to his back. He was not very old, yet deep nasolabial folds were already etched into the sides of his nose.

Uchiha Itachi!

At the same time, he held another identity.

The son of the clan head.

He had joined the Anbu alongside Shisui, rather than following the tradition of other Uchiha by entering the Police Force.

Shisui and Uchiha Itachi were the only two members of the Uchiha clan to have joined the Anbu.

They were also the two with the greatest potential, and the easiest to manipulate.

One could only say that this was quite interesting.

"Uchiha White Dove!" Itachi forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart, staring at the Uchiha White Dove before him as he demanded, "Are you truly planning to betray the Uchiha clan?"

He had always held this "rebellious" senior in extreme contempt.

The man often spouted treasonous and dangerous words, possessed a narrow mind and short-sighted vision, and was weak in strength. Even though the man was a few years his senior, Itachi was confident he could easily defeat him, so he had never truly regarded him as a threat.

No!

It would be more accurate to say that apart from Shisui and his younger brother Sasuke, he looked down on the entire Uchiha clan.

"That has nothing to do with you, does it?"

White Dove looked at the ungrateful wolf before him—who was a head shorter than himself, yet had joined the Anbu at such a young age to start wielding a blade for the Third Hokage—without the slightest intention of showing him any respect.

Although the man was known as "Itachi-god" before his transmigration, White Dove felt absolutely nothing for him.

If it weren't for the fact that his status as the clan head's son was too important, he would have long since found a way to eliminate this hidden danger.

Where you stand determines what you see!

After all, he was an "Uchiha" now; if the other party were to carry out the clan extermination as they did in the original history, he would undoubtedly be on the list.

It was precisely because of this consideration that White Dove naturally stood at odds with this white-eyed wolf.

Even for the likes of the King of Pots Danzo, he wouldn't mind acknowledging him as a "foster father" if it meant securing benefits from him, but for this brain-damaged white-eyed wolf, he truly wasn't willing to give even a shred of a pleasant look.

"As an Uchiha, if you do not abandon this plan, I will certainly not let you off!"

Itachi's tone was incredibly earnest, his gaze carrying a hint of coldness.

It was precisely because people like him existed that the Uchiha were viewed with such wariness by the village high-ups.

"Are you speaking to me as the clan leader's son or as an Anbu ninja? Clear up your own identity before you start saying things like that!"

White Dove had no intention of continuing a war of words with him, silencing the other party with a single retort.

After all these years, he had come to understand one thing.

Ninjas were all paranoid.

And the Uchiha were the most paranoid among the paranoid, to the point where one could even say they had mental issues.

Because the more paranoid one was, the stronger they became.

That was why there was the common saying: "Turning to the dark side makes you ten times stronger, while washing yourself clean makes you three parts weaker."

This happened because chakra was refined from a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy.

The degree of paranoia determined the strength of one's spiritual energy, which naturally influenced one's chakra.

Therefore, it was no wonder that the more powerful an Uchiha clansman was, the more "sick" their brain was.

And among ninjas, paranoia had another name.

The Way of the Ninja!

To persist in one's own Way of the Ninja—was that not, in itself, a form of paranoia?

Perhaps this was why, once a ninja's Way of the Ninja was shattered, their strength would instantly drop by more than ninety percent.

It was precisely because he had researched and understood this point that White Dove had given up on trying to persuade Shisui and prepared to take matters into his own hands instead.

As for Itachi, that white-eyed wolf?

Please, the guy was willing to slaughter his own clan "for the sake of the village"; he would have to be insane to risk trying to talk him down.

If "Prince Naruto" could succeed with his talk-no-jutsu, it was because he was the protagonist and the biological son of the Sage of Six Paths; just try that as an ordinary person and see what happens.

White Dove himself was the best example.

As a transmigrator who knew the plot, he should have been invincible with his words, right?

Yet, Shisui was able to completely ignore his rhetoric; no matter how reasonable his points were or how realistic his examples, it was all useless.

Damn it!

Having witnessed this, he finally gave up on the idea of saving the Uchiha through talk.

Rather than placing his hope in others, it was better to believe in himself.

After silencing the other party with a single sentence, White Dove led the three men forward.

"Damn it..."

Tekka looked at Itachi's back as he stood frozen in place, feeling quite angry. After all, the guy had come over to interrogate them for no reason, as if they had committed some heinous crime. Just as he was about to go and cause trouble for him, he was held back by White Dove.

"Forget it, we have things to do today. You are not allowed to go and find trouble with him in private. This is an order, do you understand?"

He was terrified that Tekka would go off on his own and get "taught a lesson."

In terms of pure strength, don't let the fact that he had just graduated from the Ninja Academy fool you; he was at least at the Jonin level, and the type of combat-hardened fighter who could unleash even greater power in a real battle. For Tekka to go and provoke him in private would be courting death.

Therefore, he had to nip this possibility in the bud.

In the original plot, his three trusted aides were the "villains" who went to interrogate Itachi after Shisui died, and he was deathly afraid that some unexpected accident might occur.

He had recruited many people within the Uchiha, but the ones he trusted and found most useful were Tekka, Inabi, and Yashiro; naturally, he didn't want to see anything happen to them.

"...Understood!"

Tekka pondered for a moment before nodding slowly.

Although he felt indignant about that guy's attitude, he had one hundred percent faith in White Dove. With a direct order, he certainly wouldn't act one way to his face and another behind his back.

Seeing Tekka nod, White Dove stopped worrying.

Although the man had an impulsive personality, he had never had any issues with obedience. With his order in place, there would definitely be no such cliché plot as them going over to get their faces slapped.

Soon, they arrived at the side of the Police Force... at a building with a banner hanging that read "One Heart Department Store." In front was the storefront, and in the back was a warehouse, where carriages were currently entering the rear.

(Konoha Police Force)

Compared to the Police Force building, which resembled an owl in shape with sliding wooden doors on both sides and a bulletin board in the middle displaying the Uchiha Gunbai crest, the One Heart Department Store was much livelier.