Uncle Snake

Yue waved his hand, signaling Hikari to remain calm.

He had long anticipated that Fugaku would refuse.

If Fugaku Uchiha were a man of decisive action and courage, the Uchiha Clan would never have met their total annihilation as depicted in the original story.

This man's greatest weakness was his indecisiveness; he craved the benefits of his clan while being unable to sever his attachments to the village, ultimately failing to secure either.

"Sit down, Fugaku."

Yue's voice remained steady.

"I am not asking you to make a decision right now, nor am I expecting you to pack your bags and leave with me tonight."

Fugaku sat back down stiffly, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

"I am simply leaving a way out for you—and for the Uchiha Clan."

Yue pointed to the metal token.

"On the Night of the Nine-Tails a month from now, you can go ahead and pledge your loyalty to the village as you intend, trying to salvage the situation. But if... and I mean if, you find that things are truly as I described, that the Uchiha have been pushed to the edge of a cliff and driven into the corners of the village to struggle for survival..."

Yue's gaze became incredibly profound.

"Remember, there is a door here left open for you, and a token that can be used to communicate."

"Consider this token an 'insurance policy' I've provided, out of respect for our shared Uchiha blood and for the sake of a deceased old friend."

Fugaku stared fixedly at the metal token.

He wanted to refuse, to demonstrate his loyalty to Konoha, but... keeping a backup plan was always acceptable.

After a long silence, he reached out with a trembling hand, gripped the token in his palm, and tucked it into his innermost pocket.

He had not agreed to relocate, but he had not rejected this "insurance" either.

"The Night of the Nine-Tails... I will certainly stop it."

Fugaku took a deep breath, seemingly regaining some of his dignity as clan head. "If that Masked Man truly appears, I will personally purge the traitor."

"As you wish. It would be even better if you dared to defy the orders from above."

Yue shrugged indifferently and stood up.

His goal had been achieved.

He had never expected to convince the entire Uchiha Clan to relocate in one go.

This group of red-eyed patients was arrogant to the core; unless they were severely beaten by reality, they would never lower their noble heads.

But the seed had been planted. When the storm arrived, this metal token would become the Uchiha's only lifeline.

By then, what he would harvest would not be a group of arrogant "Konoha elites," but a "revenge legion" with nowhere else to turn, forced to rely on Rōran.

"In that case, farewell."

Yue turned and walked out, with Hikari following closely behind.

As they reached the door, Yue suddenly stopped and spoke to Fugaku without turning back:

"Oh, and for the sake of that little guy Sasuke being quite cute, I'll give you one last piece of advice."

"On the Night of the Nine-Tails, no matter what happens, no matter what orders Danzo gives... do not send the Uchiha elite to their deaths. The waters that night are much deeper than you imagine; there is more than one faction involved."

"Also, that child named Itachi—don't indoctrinate him with too much of that ethereal 'Will of Fire.' Sometimes, the clan and the village are never a black-and-white multiple-choice question."

With that, the two figures vanished instantly from the courtyard, leaving behind only a few fallen leaves stirred by the wind.

Fugaku sat alone in the empty Japanese-style room, the cold metal token in his pocket feeling as if it had turned scorching hot.

He turned to look out the window at the bright, peaceful day.

Yet, he felt a bone-chilling cold slowly seeping out from the deep underground of Konoha.

"Nine-Tails... Masked Man... Rōran..."

Fugaku muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with confusion and struggle.

After a long time, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

"Where... exactly does the future of the Uchiha lie?"

After leaving the Uchiha district, Hikari tugged on Yue's sleeve.

"Yue, that clan head doesn't look very bright."

The young girl offered a sharp assessment. "He kept hesitating, just like those small clan heads during the Warring States period who would ponder whether to surrender or break out while already surrounded. They usually ended up dying miserably."

"Indeed, indecisiveness is a fatal flaw."

Yue walked along the bustling street, his mood seemingly unaffected. "But it is precisely because of his indecisiveness that we have the opportunity to take over this massive family legacy."

"If he isn't forced to lose all hope, he will never be willing to come to Rōran."

"So, where are we going next?" Hikari asked.

"Let's go meet a truly intelligent man."

Yue Uchiha looked up toward the gloomy building in the distance; it was the Root base of Konoha, and also the site of Orochimaru's former secret laboratory.

"Since we've come to Konoha, we must bring back some local specialties. For instance... the cells of Hashirama Senju, or the forbidden jutsu research Orochimaru left behind."

"That snake-loving guy might be a pervert, but his scientific achievements are priceless treasures."

Several days later.

Deep within the intricate sewer system beneath Konoha.

It was dark, damp, and the air was permeated with a strange stench, a mixture of formalin and rotting flesh.

Water droplets slid down the moss-covered stone walls, producing a "drip, drip" sound that echoed through the deathly silent passage.

"How disgusting."

Uchiha Hikari frowned, covering her nose and mouth with her hand. Her beautiful red and white casual shoes were stained with a bit of sludge, which she found deeply repulsive.

"The smell here is even more nauseating than the trenches filled with corpses during the Warring States period. That was the scent of death, but this... is just pure filth."

Hikari's fingers rested on her short blade. Although her Mangekyō Sharingan was not yet active, her keen intuition told her that countless cold eyes were lurking in the darkness.

"Be patient, Hikari."

Yue Uchiha walked in front, calmly stepping over a puddle of unknown viscous liquid.

"Scientific progress is always accompanied by stench and sacrifice. The person we are about to meet is the madman in the Ninja World closest to 'truth'."

The two stopped in front of a stone wall that appeared to be a dead end.

Yue did not weave hand signs, nor did he search for a mechanism.

He merely raised his right hand and tapped his index finger lightly against the void.

"Yin Style: Spirit Piercing."

A highly concentrated burst of Yin Release chakra instantly pierced through the rock wall before them, stabbing directly into the sensory hub hidden behind the barrier.

"Rumble..."

The stone door disguised as a rock wall slowly shifted aside, revealing a long, dim corridor leading deeper inside.

The candles on both sides of the corridor flared to life simultaneously with a "whoosh," casting the shadows of the two into long, distorted shapes.

"Hehehe..."

A hoarse, chilling laugh, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, drifted from the end of the corridor.

"What a rare guest, S-rank missing-nin Yue Uchiha, and that little girl in red who caused such a ruckus in the Land of Wind..."

A pale figure slowly stepped out from the shadows.

He had long black hair, and his golden, slit-like pupils emitted a bone-chilling cold light, while the purple eyeshadow made him look both eerie and dangerous.

Orochimaru.

At this time, he had not yet defected. Although Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, had already sensed something amiss, he still wore the skin of one of Konoha's "Sannin," conducting his unspeakable immortality experiments in this underground lair.

"Not only did you not hide like rats, but you actually took the initiative to find my laboratory."