And Then?

Uchiha Mikoto felt quite cheerful as she brought her son home.

But the moment they stepped through the door, both mother and son keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the house was stifling.

Uchiha Fugaku and the four elders were sitting in the living room, their faces as gloomy as water. The thick, inescapable exhaustion etched into their brows proved they had just been through a heated argument.

Seeing Uchiha Mikoto and her son return, the four elders squeezed polite smiles onto their faces.

Elder Sifang asked, "Mikoto is back. How is Itachi's illness?"

Mikoto bowed gently and replied, "Thanks to your concern, Itachi has fully recovered."

Uchiha Itachi bowed with a smile and greeted them, "Hello, Grandpa Sifang, Grandpa Setsuna, Grandpa Ximi, and Grandpa Yuichiro."

Uchiha Setsuna had a fiery temper, but he valued the clan's interests and the younger generation above all else.

Seeing Uchiha Itachi break away from his past coldness and greet them like a normal child rather than a miniature adult, he felt genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart.

"Haha, so he really is cured."

"This is how a child should be. That previous demeanor looked fake no matter how you sliced it."

Elder Ximi remarked, "It wasn't fake; his spirit was just stretched too thin, much like a longbow pulled to its limit by a warrior."

"This current state is the right one. At a glance, he is a fine child with infinite potential."

Uchiha Fugaku felt a sense of relief as well, grateful that the mistake he had made was being mended, sparing him from a lifetime of regret.

The good news diluted the gloomy atmosphere in the living room, and the five men each let out a sigh of relief before beginning their discussion once more.

Uchiha Itachi sat obediently to the side, quietly listening to his father and the elders deliberate.

It turned out that Fugaku had gone to the Hokage Building earlier that day to speak with the Third Hokage about seizing real estate and the relocation of the Uchiha clan grounds.

As a result, he had once again been besieged by the Konoha F4.

Shimura Danzō was responsible for being unreasonable, using his status to pressure others and flatly denying the evidence Fugaku brought with his eyes wide open.

When Fugaku was both furious and anxious, feeling lightheaded and overwhelmed, Mitokado Homura played the "good cop" to smooth things over, further muddling Fugaku's train of thought and softening his stance.

Utatane Koharu was responsible for playing along, pacing the conversation to slow down at the right moments to prevent Fugaku from flipping the table in a fit of rage and causing the situation to spiral out of control.

Once the three of them had finished their "tearing off the roof" routine, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had remained silent throughout, finally "opened the window" by once again proposing that the Uchiha relocate to their ancestral lands.

The only difference was that the reason Hiruzen Sarutobi used this time was no longer the inescapable suspicion cast upon the Uchiha during the Night of the Nine-Tails, but rather a pretense of helping the Uchiha avoid the storm of public opinion.

He promised with utmost sincerity, "Once time allows public opinion to settle, I will help the Uchiha."

And then—and then Uchiha Fugaku had agreed in a daze, returning home completely muddled.

But no matter how Uchiha Fugaku relayed Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, the result of the Uchiha clan having to relocate could not possibly satisfy the elders.

Consequently, they couldn't even wait to reach the conference room and began arguing right there in Fugaku's living room, until Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Itachi returned.

Once the atmosphere eased, the five men finally calmed down enough to continue their discussion, reviewing the entire matter from start to finish until they finally grasped the full sequence of events.

To be honest, Uchiha Fugaku was furious, but he sighed helplessly, "Regardless of everything, I gave my word as the Uchiha clan head to the Third Hokage's request. I can't... I can't just go back on my promise, can I?"

Uchiha Setsuna slammed the table hard: "Nonsense! You would have the entire clan abandon their homes and livelihoods just for the sake of your own face? Do you even deserve to be the head of the Uchiha clan?"

Unfortunately, the other three elders did not see it that way; they all felt that since the clan head had already conceded, everyone else should follow suit.

Four to one!

The situation was set!

Uchiha Setsuna could no longer turn the tide, and even though he was so angry his hair stood on end, he could only sit back down while breathing heavily.

Just then, Uchiha Itachi, who had been quiet the whole time, asked, "And then?"

Uchiha Fugaku was stunned: "And then? What do you mean, 'and then'?"

Itachi looked at his father with his dark, clear eyes: "Our Uchiha clan relocates, and then when will Hiruzen Sarutobi fulfill the promise he made to Father?"

After a long pause, Fugaku frowned and said, "You shouldn't address the Third Hokage by his name."

Uchiha Itachi countered, "Why? Is the name Hiruzen Sarutobi something that cannot be spoken?"

Fugaku was dumbfounded: "It's not that—it's just not polite, not respectful enough..."

Itachi shook his head: "Father, please don't concern yourself with such trivial details as how to address him."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi said he would help the Uchiha once public opinion settles. What exactly counts as public opinion settling? Until there is no one left in Konoha who remembers us, the Uchiha?"

"Is there a deadline for this so-called settling? A month? Half a year? A year? Or ten years, or perhaps it will never end..."

Without waiting for Uchiha Fugaku to answer, Itachi asked again: "Furthermore, how exactly does Hiruzen Sarutobi intend to help our Uchiha?"

"Is he going to help us move back to our current homes? Or will he announce in the name of the Hokage that we are innocent and our suspicions have been cleared?"

"Or perhaps he will just say 'sorry' to you alone in the Hokage's office?"

"Or even... does he have no intention of doing anything at all?"

Uchiha Fugaku was left dumbstruck. He had never even considered these questions, and naturally, he had no idea how to answer them.

But Uchiha Itachi wasn't finished yet. He asked with an innocent tone: "Father, I remember that land in Konoha has increased in value many times over. Our Uchiha clan grounds are in the center of the village; the price of the land and the houses must be very high, right?"

"If our entire clan moves away, what will happen to our clan grounds and our homes?"

"Are you renting it out for others to live in, or are you selling it to them?"

"Or perhaps, does Third Hokage mean that the village intends to seize it without compensation?"

Bam!

Uchiha Setsuna was extremely agitated; he slammed his hand down, shattering the coffee table into pieces, and shouted excitedly, "Uchiha Itachi is right!"

"I knew it! Hiruzen Sarutobi is just lying to us. Every promise he made lacks concrete implementation terms, let alone a time limit; it's all vague and ambiguous."

"In the future, as long as he shamelessly denies it, we won't have a shred of evidence to hold him accountable!"

Uchiha Fugaku furrowed his brows, hesitating as he said, "But this is a promise from Third Hokage; surely he wouldn't..."

Uchiha Itachi spoke up once more, "When Fourth Hokage was in power, wasn't Hiruzen Sarutobi still commanding the Anbu?"

This time it was Uchiha Shiho who slammed his hand—well, slapped his thigh—and stood up: "Itachi is right! If the Third could sideline the Fourth and turn Namikaze Minato into a puppet, what wouldn't he be capable of?"

"We were truly blinded by our own perspective, deceived by the little tricks Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō played in tandem!"

"It is fortunate that this child, Itachi, can use his pure eyes to see straight through Hiruzen Sarutobi's hypocrisy!"