Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help grinning.
"Haha, he's strong? Who told you that? Why don't you ask his classmates at the Ninja Academy?"
Uchiha Mikoto pressed her lips together, about to argue.
Uchiha Setsuna strode out of the shrine and said in a cold voice,
"The meeting's about to start. What are you chatting about? Get inside!"
Uchiha Setsuna wore a black, high-collared robe and carried a Ninja Blade on his back. He exuded an imposing aura.
Though he was as expressionless as Danzo, there was something dangerous about him, and he gave off a powerful sense of oppression.
Danzo, on the other hand, looked like his mother had just died. He was nowhere near as intimidating.
Uchiha Fugaku smiled at Uchiha Setsuna.
"Mikoto brought Kurohane over. She wants him to attend the clan meeting."
Uchiha Setsuna shot Uchiha Kurohane a cold glance. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a chilling, half-smile.
"You're just in time. That saves me the trouble of going to find you. Get inside."
After speaking, Uchiha Setsuna turned and walked into the shrine.
Uchiha Fugaku looked completely baffled. He couldn't make sense of it.
Why would Clan Head Setsuna go looking for Uchiha Kurohane?
Fugaku knew that Uchiha Setsuna looked down on Uchiha Kurohane and considered his existence a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan.
He'd expected Setsuna to throw Uchiha Kurohane out.
But Uchiha Setsuna had agreed to let him attend the clan meeting, and even seemed to have planned to seek him out and invite him. Fugaku couldn't understand it at all.
He was only a nine-year-old kid, and the dead last in his class. What right did he have to know about clan affairs?
Uchiha Mikoto ignored Fugaku and hurried over to Uchiha Kurohane, quietly trying to comfort him.
"Don't mind what Fugaku said. Let's go in."
After speaking, she took Uchiha Kurohane's hand, and they hurried into the shrine together.
Uchiha Fugaku stared at Uchiha Mikoto's little hand, and his heart gave a violent thump.
That dead last was holding Mikoto's hand?
I've never even touched her hand. What gives him the right?
A wave of anger and jealousy surged through Uchiha Fugaku. Suddenly, it felt like he couldn't breathe...
Inside the shrine, candles burned on both sides, and Uchiha Clan members filled the center.
Their expressions solemn, everyone waited silently for the meeting to begin.
Uchiha Mikoto held Uchiha Kurohane's hand as they stood together at the back of the crowd.
Uchiha Setsuna stood imposingly in the middle of the hall and announced the start of the clan meeting.
"There's a reason I called this meeting on short notice. Kagami, explain."
A young man with dull, gray-blue hair and vacant eyes stepped into the hall and spoke in a calm voice.
"Today, someone from our clan injured three Genin who were supposed to head to the front lines in the Land of Rain. More specifically, he stabbed them in the kidneys. They'll need several months to recover and can't go to the front."
"Lord Hokage hopes the Uchiha Clan can send others in their place to fight in the Land of Rain."
The crowd erupted into an uproar.
"Fight in the Land of Rain? It's squeezed between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, attacked from both sides. Now the Land of Rain has changed sides and allied with them, so Konoha is facing enemies on three fronts. If we go fight there now, will we even make it back?"
"That's the territory of Hanzo, the God of Shinobi! There's no antidote to Ibuse Venom. Whoever goes will die. No one's coming back!"
"Who injured those three Genin? They've really dragged the Uchiha Clan into a mess!"
"Yeah, who did that? Tell us his name!"
Everyone talked over one another. They all felt they'd been dragged into a disaster for no reason, and their furious voices sent the meeting into chaos.
Uchiha Setsuna spoke in an imposing voice. "Quiet!"
At his words, everyone immediately fell silent, and the hall settled down.
Uchiha Kagami continued.
"I heard Kurohane was responsible."
"What? That dead last did it? What was he thinking? He's really dragged us into a mess!"
The clan members already looked down on Uchiha Kurohane as a disgrace to the Uchiha. Now that they knew he'd caused trouble, they were even more displeased with him.
Some were so angry their teeth clenched.
Since no one wanted to go to the Land of Rain to die, the crowd was in an uproar.
Uchiha Fugaku stood to one side, secretly gloating.
So that was why Clan Head Setsuna had invited that dead last to the meeting—to make him explain himself. This was going to be good!
Uchiha Mikoto looked worried.
"Kurohane must have had a reason for doing this. Everyone, please calm down and hear him out first."
Everyone was surprised to hear Uchiha Mikoto speak up for him.
Why was the young lady helping that dead last?
When they turned to look at her, they saw Uchiha Kurohane standing beside her, and their agitation grew.
"Well, look who's here—the culprit himself! Tell us what made you injure the Genin who were supposed to go to the front!"
Facing the angry crowd, Uchiha Kurohane replied calmly,
"Mikoto is right. There really was a reason behind it."
Uchiha Fugaku immediately tried to rile everyone up.
"You've caused so much trouble, and now you want to make excuses? You've got no shame!"
Uchiha Fugaku laid the groundwork, labeling whatever reason Uchiha Kurohane gave as an excuse before he could even speak.
Uchiha Kurohane saw through his little trick, but didn't care. He had plenty of reasons.
He smiled faintly and said,
"At the time, the three of them surrounded me and said they dared to fight in the Land of Rain, while the Uchiha Clan didn't. They mocked us for calling ourselves the strongest clan of shinobi, when we were all cowards."
At those words, everyone's faces flushed red, and the angry shouts directed at Uchiha Kurohane stopped.
They were too furious to speak. The hall fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
Objectively speaking, this was only Uchiha Kurohane's account. A mature shinobi wouldn't take it at face value; at the very least, they'd verify it.
But the Uchiha Clan believed Konoha owed them a Hokage, and had long resented the village.
And after Uchiha Setsuna's coup failed, Konoha's other shinobi clans had realized that the Uchiha Clan was a threat.
On top of that, the Uchiha Clan had become Konoha's Military Police Force, the village's hated security guards.
The other clans' relationship with the Uchiha had become extremely hostile.
The other clans must have often mocked and taunted the Uchiha in private.
Besides, these Genin really were heading to the Land of Rain, while the Uchiha Clan wasn't sending anyone.
They really would have said that!
And it wasn't just them. Even if the other clans hadn't said it aloud, they'd have thought it.
Uchiha Kurohane's seemingly crude attempt to provoke them had struck right at the Uchiha Clan's sore spot.
The Uchiha Clan's hostility toward Konoha's other clans had been roused in full!
After the hall had been silent for a moment, a middle-aged Jonin glared and said,
"What do those Genin know? Our Uchiha Clan is fighting the Cloud Ninja on the northern front! The Third Raikage has combat strength on par with a Tailed Beast!"
"Who besides the Uchiha Clan would dare fight the Third Raikage head-on?"
"We're holding the northern front, and now we're supposed to go to the Land of Rain too? The Uchiha Clan isn't the only clan in Konoha. Send shinobi from the other clans!"
Uchiha Kurohane listened to their complaints and nodded repeatedly.
"That's what I said too. I told them that since our Uchiha Clan was holding the northern front, the other shinobi should go fight in the Land of Rain."
The clan members praised him.
"You're clever. Well said! What did they say?"
"They said the Uchiha Clan was only defending on the northern front and didn't dare fight the Raikage head-on. They called us cowardly turtles who hid in our shells."
The crowd erupted into another furious roar.
"What the hell do they know? The Hokage ordered us to defend!"
"Konoha's fighting on three fronts, and they still expect us to attack? Are they idiots?"
Uchiha Kurohane pretended to sound aggrieved.
"That's what I told them too. This was the battle plan Lord Third had set. It had nothing to do with our Uchiha Clan."
Everyone nodded excitedly.
"You're absolutely right. They had nothing to say after that, did they?"
"No. They said..."
Before you continue