Father and Son Talk

However, he did not notice a stray spark drifting toward his hiding spot.

Yu's lips curled into a cold sneer. In the eyes of a cultivator, the profession of a ninja was simply beneath notice. The Root ninja, who thought he was well-hidden, had nowhere to escape under Yu's powerful Divine Sense.

"Heh, I'm afraid you won't be going back! Danzo, is it? Let that old thing jump around for a while longer!"

Thinking this, a cruel glint appeared on Yu's lips, and his figure vanished in an instant.

The Root captain had just turned to leave when, suddenly, the spark the size of a fingernail in front of him expanded instantly.

A figure wreathed in flames emerged from the inferno, and a small, burning hand instantly clamped around his throat.

"Sizzle!"

The scent of charred flesh wafted through the air, and a look of disbelief filled the Root captain's eyes. "When exactly did..."

However, his thoughts lasted only a few seconds before a searing heat pierced every nerve in his body. The intense agony of being burned alive made him unable to hold back a shrill, miserable scream.

"Ah..."

Accompanied by his screams, this Root ninja quickly crumbled into charred ash in Yu's grip and scattered into the wind.

"A bunch of overconfident fools!"

Yu slowly retracted the flames from his body and the fire that had spread across the battlefield. Before the clan meeting, such an ambush might have left him flustered, but now, killing a Jonin was as easy as crushing an ant.

Itachi and Izumi stood inside the Fire Avoidance Barrier, staring blankly at the scene.

Itachi's small throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. Brother is too strong. Is this really my own brother? At the same age, he can easily defeat enemies that even I find terrifying, and he did it four-on-one.

"What's wrong? Are you two little ones stunned?" Yu chuckled lightly at the two dazed figures.

"Yu-kun! Have you already become this strong?" Izumi muttered in disbelief.

"Brother, who exactly were these enemies? Could they be spies from other villages?" Itachi quickly regained his senses and asked.

Yu patted Itachi's small head. "Didn't you see? Besides Anbu ninjas, who else wears masks like that!"

"How could that be? Why would the Third Hokage do such a thing?" A hint of disbelief flickered in Itachi's small eyes.

"Enough, don't concern yourself with the affairs of adults! Let's go, let's head home! Since no Konoha ninjas have arrived after all this time, it's clear this was just a test." As he spoke, a coldness crept onto Yu's face.

Heh, can Konoha no longer tolerate even a six-year-old child? A trace of mockery surfaced in Yu's heart.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage, who had been watching the scene through a crystal ball, remained incredibly silent.

Across from him, Danzo was no better. "Sarutobi, this little wild seed must not be left alive. Look at the ruthless methods he used against the village's own ninjas; there's no telling what he'll be like when he grows up."

"Then what do you suggest? Should we find an opportunity to kill him? Are you certain the Uchiha won't riot if we do that?" Sarutobi glanced at Danzo indifferently.

Danzo wanted to say more, but the Third Hokage cut him off. "Let the matter rest for now! The Uchiha cannot be moved against yet."

"Sarutobi, we cannot just let this matter go!" Danzo roared.

A wave of frustration washed over Sarutobi. "Then what do you propose?" he asked in a low voice.

A sinister light flashed in Danzo's eyes. "In a year or so, find a way to have him graduate early, then send him out on a mission!" He made a throat-slitting gesture.

Sarutobi's hand trembled as he tapped the ash from his pipe. "What if he refuses? You must remember, he is only six years old!"

"Doesn't that second son of Fugaku, the one beside him, have a favorable opinion of you? If his brother won't go, have that little one graduate early instead!"

Danzo wore a sinister smile. "With the Uchiha's pride, I'm sure this little wild seed won't be able to sit still. Being surpassed by his younger brother isn't something he'll take lightly."

Back home, while his mother was washing the dishes, Yu recounted the ambush he had encountered on the road to Fugaku.

Fugaku's pupils constricted slightly. "Yu, you weren't injured, were you?"

Yu spread his hands. "Do I look like I've been injured?"

"You said it was the Anbu!" Fugaku still hadn't fully processed the news.

"Yes, Father!" Yu replied calmly.

Fugaku's eyes turned cold. "I am going to question the Third Hokage about what is going on!" He prepared to stand up.

"Father, forget it! You won't get any results from questioning him, and you might even be slapped with the charge of attacking the Anbu! Tell me, who will the ninjas of the village believe—the Third Hokage or you?" Yu spoke leisurely. Having watched the anime in his past life, he had a thorough understanding of the shamelessness of the Konoha Elder Council.

Fugaku's body stiffened, and he slowly sat back down. "Yu, what are your thoughts?" Fugaku looked earnestly at his exceptionally talented eldest son.

"What could I think? The higher-ups have no intention of letting our Uchiha clan survive. Father, do you still hold expectations for the Konoha leadership?" Yu looked at Fugaku with sharp, piercing eyes.

Fugaku's expression froze. "But! He is the Hokage, after all."

"Heh! Father, should I call you indecisive, or should I say you lack a backbone? To be so restricted by the mere title of Hokage—isn't the leadership's intent to suppress us obvious enough?" Yu said, feeling a sense of frustration at his father's lack of foresight.

Fugaku's face darkened. "It's all a misunderstanding! Yu, the Uchiha live in Konoha, after all."

"Yes! The Uchiha live in Konoha, which is exactly why we should fight for the clan's interests against the higher-ups!" Seeing Fugaku's face growing darker, Yu was determined to make his stubborn father understand today.

"Father, do you know what it means to boil a frog in warm water?" Fugaku, who was about to speak, was interrupted by Yu. He stared at his son, bewildered, not understanding what the village and the Uchiha had to do with frogs.

Fugaku sat quietly, waiting for Yu's explanation.

Yu glanced at his face-saving father, rolled his eyes, and continued.

"If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will jump out immediately. But if you place it in lukewarm water and slowly heat it up, it will believe it is safe until the moment it dies."

"Is our Uchiha clan not that very frog right now? The Third Hokage and his cohorts are slowly boiling us to death in that lukewarm water."

"The new Uchiha compound—what a fine place that is! Flanked by mountains on the left, with the Barrier Team not far ahead. It would be the perfect graveyard; it has mountains, it has water, and the scenery is truly exquisite."

"Tell me..."

Yu looked at Fugaku, whose expression had grown increasingly dark, smoothed back his long hair, and continued, "Tell me, if war breaks out and the barriers are raised, wouldn't the entire Uchiha clan be like a trapped beast, easily buried in that place nestled between the mountains and the water?"

"Father, how can you not see such an obvious burial ground for what it is!"

Hearing Yu's final, stern words, beads of cold sweat began to trickle down Fugaku's forehead.

"Yu, how could things have reached such a point?" Fugaku asked, his voice strained as he began to believe him.

"Heh, Father, the truth is that you have never understood one thing: we are not fighting the entire village, but the Konoha Elder Council led by the Third Hokage. They are the true enemies of the Uchiha clan. Therefore, never mistake the Third Hokage and his circle for the village as a whole!"

Fugaku froze, his thoughts suddenly breaking through a barrier. When the Fourth Hokage was in power, the Uchiha had never fallen to such a state. Not to mention the distant past, even during the time of the Second Hokage—who was so suspicious of the Uchiha—the clan's reputation in the village had never been this poor.

It was only under the Third Hokage that the Uchiha had been almost entirely pushed to the fringes of the village.

The more he thought about it, the gloomier Fugaku's eyes became. In that moment, he seemed to understand something.

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