After the Clan Assembly ended, the clansmen were visibly excited. Even on the way home, they seemed eager to act.
But they all remembered the clan head's instructions: forget everything that had happened at today's Clan Assembly. Even the clansmen who had not awakened their Sharingan kept their mouths shut.
Secrecy brought success; loose lips brought failure.
Most Shinobi were not highly educated, but they understood that much.
All the Uchiha had to do now was wait for the perfect moment!
At the back of the group, Shisui walked with a troubled heart.
He did not know what path the Uchiha should take. So deep was his worry that he failed to notice anything unusual about Xuanye and the clan head, Fugaku.
Uchiha Genya and the clan head had left together. They were probably discussing the details of a coup.
Shisui knew that if this continued, it would spell disaster for the clan.
The Uchiha were powerful, but they could never stand against all of Konoha.
Shisui clenched his fists.
After turning it over in his mind, Shisui decided to report what had happened at today's Clan Assembly to the Lord Third first.
He was sure the Lord Third would have a way to stop the Uchiha from marching toward destruction.
Since awakening his Mangekyō, Xuanye had grown far more confident.
Before, he had needed to scheme and take certain steps. He had even needed Fugaku out front as his shield.
But now that he had awakened his Mangekyō, Uchiha Genya was convinced that only a handful of people in the entire Ninja World could stand against him.
The abilities in his left and right eyes were absurdly powerful, too. No one could blame him for acting a little more brazenly now.
At that moment, he understood why Uchiha Sasuke had become so insufferably cocky after awakening his Mangekyō, looking at everyone as if they were already dead.
Xuanye felt much the same.
It was something written into Uchiha blood, something they could not shake once they awakened their Mangekyō.
The Mangekyō's power was simply too overwhelming. No ordinary person could surpass it, no matter how hard they worked for a lifetime.
If the setting had been right, he would have burst into the infamous Uchiha laugh on the spot.
But he knew the Ninja World was still dangerous. Powers that could kill him remained hidden in the shadows.
Aside from Black Zetsu, who had secretly played each generation's Indra and Asura against each other, there were even more dangerous Otsutsuki lurking somewhere in the world.
Because he knew that, Xuanye allowed himself only a brief moment of swagger before returning to his usual composure and caution.
Uchiha Genya followed Fugaku to the Police Force chief's office.
Fugaku entered and sat at his desk, fixing the calm-faced young man before him with an unfriendly stare.
No one else was there. Only successive clan heads and those who had truly awakened a Mangekyō knew its secret.
As for everyone else, even the Elders who had seen blood run from the corner of Xuanye's eye, they merely thought he had been shaken and his ocular power had grown.
It never occurred to them that he had awakened the legendary Mangekyō of their ancestor, Uchiha Madara.
In truth, awakening a Mangekyō sometimes had nothing to do with talent.
Obito had been at the bottom of his class at the Ninja Academy, and even after going to war, he had been a second-rate ninja.
Yet after watching the person he loved most die, hadn't he leaped straight from two Tomoe to the Mangekyō?
All it took to awaken and strengthen the Sharingan quickly was intense emotion, whether love or hatred. A Shinobi's talent had little to do with it.
Xuanye had more or less figured it out now. It probably had not been the system's Yin Release power. The words he had spoken earlier had genuinely convinced even himself.
The thought felt strange, and he almost wanted to laugh.
So I really do want to change this world with all my heart!
Once inside the office, Xuanye dropped into the seat opposite Fugaku. He casually picked up the teapot in front of him and poured himself a cup.
To an old stickler like Fugaku, such behavior was rather rude.
But since he suspected Xuanye had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, he forced down his displeasure.
After all, a pair of Mangekyō possessed enough fighting power to change the clan's situation. Even as clan head, he had to show Xuanye proper respect.
That was the one good thing about the Uchiha: seniority meant nothing to them.
If you were strong enough, you earned everyone's respect, from the top down.
Still, Fugaku found it hard to believe what he was seeing. Xuanye sat there so casually, as though he had no regard for Fugaku's authority as clan head.
Which Uchiha before him had awakened a Mangekyō without wading through mountains of corpses on the battlefield, losing someone dear to them, and coming through that pain with a profound realization?
Of course, Xuanye had also fought in the war. Fugaku would never deny his strength or his contributions to the Uchiha.
But Xuanye had somehow awakened his Mangekyō in the middle of that impassioned speech. Wasn't that a little too easy?
It made those predecessors who had suffered every hardship and lost everything before awakening theirs look like fools!
Fugaku steadied himself, but curiosity finally got the better of him. He asked the most pressing question first.
"What exactly are you thinking? Why did you stir up the clan's emotions?"
That was right. To Fugaku, what Xuanye had done at the Clan Assembly was incitement.
It was dangerous. The Uchiha were a warlike, quick-tempered clan, and their pride had already left them on poor terms with the people of Konoha.
In fact, the Uchiha had no allies in Konoha at all.
Under those circumstances, stirring up the clan's raw emotions could easily create a situation that even a pair of Mangekyō could not control.
Xuanye tasted the tea. Unfortunately, he was not much of a tea drinker and could not judge its quality.
All he knew was that its fragrance lingered on his lips. It was good tea.
He set down his cup, looked up, and met Fugaku's gaze.
"Clan head, before we begin our discussion, I want to ask you something."
Fugaku looked at Xuanye without speaking.
Xuanye went on. "You fought in the Third Great Ninja War too. So tell me: why did the war break out?"
"Or let me put it another way. Why did all four of the other Great Ninja Villages, without exception, choose to invade the Land of Fire?"
The question was not hard to answer. Fugaku replied without a moment's thought:
"Because the Land of Fire has the richest land. The other four ninja villages all coveted it."
If any village had no designs on the Land of Fire's territory, it was probably Kirigakure in the Land of Water.
Kirigakure lay overseas, in terrain that was easy to defend and hard to attack.
Even if its forces landed and seized a piece of the Land of Fire, they would never be able to hold it.
But they had their own objective: while Konoha was busy fighting on every front, they would rush in and tear off a fat piece for themselves.
In essence, then, all four of the other Great Ninja Villages had started the war to seize resources and land.