The Peace Faction, You Think You Don't Deserve to Be Flamed?

"Elder Setsuna, Senya has already said everything I wanted to say."

"Given the clan's current strength, a coup is nothing but a joke."

"Did the Battle of Yomi not teach you enough of a lesson last time?"

"To think that instead of learning, you've only doubled down—do you want our Uchiha clan to perish in this generation!?"

Uchiha Yashiro sipped his tea, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Setsuna slammed his teacup onto the floor.

His body trembled with rage, words failing him as he pointed a shaking finger at Yashiro.

The clansmen below dared not speak in such an atmosphere; although Senya's words were harsh, they were the bitter truth, and everyone knew he was right.

For Elder Yashiro to suddenly chime in like this—wasn't he just stealing Senya's thunder? Senya had never even joined any of the clan's factions.

Senya, who had risen to his feet, had intended to continue schooling people like Elder Setsuna.

He hadn't expected the elders of the moderate faction to be so shameless, hijacking his points to make it seem as if he were their mouthpiece.

What kind of person was Senya? He certainly wouldn't let that slide.

"What do you mean by 'I said everything you wanted to say'? Can an elder just act recklessly and invert the facts? If you wanted to say it, why didn't you say it yourself? If you lack the competence to come up with such arguments, don't try to gild your own face with them."

"Look at the pathetic mess you've made. You have the nerve to call yourselves the moderate faction? You sent Itachi and Shisui to the Anbu, hoping to beg for scraps from Hiruzen so the clan could 'reconcile' with the village?"

"And has the relationship between the clan and the village eased? Is this your brilliant strategy? Truly impressive—giving away two geniuses to be dogs for the Anbu, brainwashed until their heads are full of the Will of Fire, thinking only of the village and never considering the clan!!"

"Elder Yashiro, did you take bribes or favors from Danzo? Since when has our Uchiha clan needed to rely on the charity of others? Our Uchiha clan has always conquered through our own strength! Absolute power is the foundation of our clan! Not bowing and kneeling to others like dogs! Where has your Uchiha pride gone!!?"

As the situation flipped, Elder Yashiro's blood pressure spiked, his face flushing with fury as he pointed at Senya and cursed.

"At least what we're doing preserves the lives of our clansmen! The Uchiha is no longer the Uchiha it once was!"

"Ever since Uchiha Madara left the clan and the village, all these years! Not a single Mangekyo Sharingan has been awakened!"

"When Tobirama was in power, he restricted our clan, but at least he wasn't this excessive. Now that Hiruzen is in power, that old thief Danzo is still lurking in the shadows."

"The clan's situation is becoming increasingly dangerous! What else can we do but bow our heads? Who wants to see their own kin die? Since you're so eloquent, why don't you come up with a solution to lead the clan onto the right path!!"

Elder Yashiro's words resonated with the sentiments of the moderate faction.

The Uchiha Sharingan requires intense emotional stimulation to awaken or evolve—some due to grief, some due to hatred, and others due to the terror of life-and-death crises.

The members of the moderate faction had all experienced the loss of loved ones, and they were unwilling to see such scenes repeat themselves.

That was why they had always opposed the hardliners; even if it meant bowing their heads and abandoning their dignity and honor, they wanted their living "loved ones" to survive!

As a member of the Uchiha, Senya naturally understood the moderate faction's mindset, but he had to admit, this was the negative side effect of the Sharingan—it caused one's thinking to become one-sided.

As the Sharingan upgrades and ocular power increases, one's mindset becomes increasingly extreme, prone to either excessive impulsiveness or pessimism.

But Senya was different. In his past life, he had weathered too many entanglements of love and hate. With nearly ninety years of experience across two lifetimes, he had long since learned to control his own thoughts and judge rationally.

He was a brand-new Uchiha; while he felt love and hate clearly, he would not let his emotions interfere with his reasoning.

Hearing Elder Yashiro's words, Senya continued right where he left off.

"I can only say that the thinking of you moderates is too naive. What makes you think that just by the Uchiha bowing to the village, these contradictions can be solved?"

"Do you still think the current Hokage is Tobirama Senju? Is the Senju clan not the best example? Hashirama thought that dissolving the clan and becoming commoners would solve the conflict between the clan and the villagers."

"And what was the result? In the Second Shinobi World War, the Senju clan was wiped out on the battlefield! Aside from Tsunade—if not for her having a Daimyo as a grandfather and being Hiruzen Sarutobi's student, do you think she would have survived until now!?"

"If the clan wants to continue existing, it absolutely cannot do so by merely clinging to life! Without sufficient power, everything else is empty talk! Living while abandoning your dignity only leads the clan into a quagmire, stepping closer to death with every move!!!"

The clan meeting fell into silence once more. It was true; the Hokage in power now was not Tobirama Senju, but his student, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He lacked Tobirama's breadth of vision; otherwise, the clan wouldn't have been pushed to this point, targeted to such an extent.

Not to mention that Danzo was still targeting them from the shadows.

Everyone finally realized that the clan's situation had reached such a dire point that whether they launched a coup or submitted to the Third, they could not avoid the clan's destruction—it was merely a matter of how fast it would happen.

Uchiha Dayi's mental defenses broken, Uchiha Nantong's mental defenses broken...
Cumulative 32 people broken, Sharingan ocular power increased by 10%.

The system provided feedback on the gains. This increase wasn't bad; ocular power was much harder to raise than chakra.

Fugaku tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought. He had known all of this for a long time, which was why he constantly balanced the hardliners and the moderates, trying to stabilize the internal equilibrium of the clan.

It was under his guidance that the neutral faction led by him had formed.

At this moment, someone from the moderate faction below spoke up.

"Uchiha Senya, according to your logic, doesn't that mean the Uchiha is destined to perish sooner or later, no matter what we do?"

As soon as these words were spoken, they sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd.

"It's true, it seems there's no way out after all..."

"It looks like we Uchiha are going to follow in the footsteps of the Senju clan."

"Damn it, then I'd rather die in battle than die so miserably!"

Senya was left speechless by these clansmen who changed their faces faster than flipping a book—faster than any of his ex-girlfriends in his past life. Was this really the Uchiha...

Just then, Fugaku slammed his hand onto the table.

"Enough! The purpose of this clan meeting is to find a way for the clan to continue surviving, to find hope!"

"What use is blind pessimism!"

"The Uchiha are not brutes! And we are certainly not cowards!"

"I believe we will definitely find a way!"

Fugaku's speech reignited a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the clansmen; that was right, as long as they followed their clan head, they would surely find the correct path forward.

But Senya no longer knew how to even begin mocking this; it was over, this agitator had started feeding the clansmen his toxic chicken soup again...