Heart Convinced

"What is strong is never the sword in one's hand, but the heart of the person wielding it!"

Yu looked at Uchiha Lieyang, who was covered in blood and lacked a single patch of uninjured skin, with a calm gaze.

There was no levity in his eyes, nor disdain, and certainly no mockery or triumph over a defeated foe; there was only a profound sense of indifference.

Yet, it was precisely this look that made the kneeling Uchiha Lieyang feel the vast, insurmountable gap between them.

If he had been the one to win, he would surely be reveling in wild triumph right now! Perhaps, out of consideration for the unfairness of this match, he might have suppressed such feelings, but afterward, he would undoubtedly have boasted about it throughout the clan.

"Why are you so strong?" Uchiha Lieyang looked at Yu with a dazed expression.

Yu stared straight into Uchiha Lieyang's scarlet eyes. "Because I have always believed in myself, not in a pair of eyes!"

Uchiha Lieyang fell into silence.

"Why do you refuse to submit to me?" Yu asked calmly.

Uchiha Lieyang lowered his head in silence for a moment, then raised it to look at Yu. "Because I believe that only by fighting the village to the end will the Uchiha find hope, rather than yielding again and again like Clan Head Fugaku!"

"And as his son, although you possess immense potential, you will inevitably inherit your father's will. That is why I said that our battle was never a personal grudge, but a gamble on the future of the Uchiha clan!"

Watching the stubborn look in Uchiha Lieyang's eyes, a flash of disappointment crossed Yu's gaze, along with a hint of frustration at his inability to live up to expectations. "Is that what you truly believe?"

"Isn't it?" Uchiha Lieyang met Yu's disappointed gaze, feeling a sudden, inexplicable panic in his heart.

"Then let me ask you in a different way: am I strong?"

Uchiha Lieyang nodded.

"Then, compared to the Hokage, who is stronger?"

Uchiha Lieyang pursed his lips, but in the end, he answered Yu's question honestly. "Of course, it is the Third Hokage. He is the man known throughout the Shinobi World as the strongest Hokage, the Shinobi Hero!"

To Uchiha Lieyang's astonishment, Yu nodded.

"If that is the case, are the Sannin Jiraiya, Tsunade, Danzo, the Nine-Tails, and the heads of the various Konoha clans strong?"

Uchiha Lieyang fell silent.

The forces and individuals Yu mentioned were the pillars of Konoha. Having lived through the Third Great Ninja War, Uchiha Lieyang had a certain understanding of these figures.

Yu was indeed strong, but facing any one of them would certainly not be easy, let alone when these people acted as a collective representing Konoha's interests. With Yu's current strength, he was still far from enough...

"I do not deny that the Uchiha as a whole must be firm, but your extreme and paranoid attitude is truly forcing the village into a position where they have no choice but to annihilate the entire Uchiha clan. How would you and I face such a calamity of extinction then?"

"Then what should we do! The village is pressing us step by step; what exactly have we Uchiha done wrong?" Uchiha Lieyang practically roared, desperate tears welling up in his eyes.

Watching Uchiha Lieyang, who had completely lost his composure, Yu could not help but sigh softly.

"Only one's own strength is the fundamental solution to everything. This is true for an individual, and it is true for a clan. Look at the Uchiha now; where is even a trace of the glory we had during the Warring States period? If our ancestors could see us now, they would likely mock our incompetence!"

"Instead of blaming everything on ourselves, you blame the village's pressure. Why do they do what they do? In the final analysis, isn't it because the current Uchiha lack the power to resist?"

Uchiha Lieyang slumped to the ground. Yu's direct comparison made him feel incredibly oppressed, to the point where he barely noticed the pain in his body anymore.

Imagining the Uchiha of the past and looking at the stifled Uchiha of today, he had to admit that what Yu said was the truth.

"But is strength really that easy to attain?"

Uchiha Lieyang looked up at Yu once more and asked.

"Heh! Hasn't Brother Lieyang become much stronger today?"

Looking at the faint smile on the corner of Yu's mouth, Uchiha Lieyang was momentarily dazed. That's right! He is now an Uchiha who has awakened the eyes of our ancestors; it is not impossible for him to face the village in the future...

"But that alone is not enough. Our enemies are watching us closely in the open. Only by uniting all the Uchiha and accumulating strength can we deliver a fatal blow when the enemy reveals a flaw. Do you understand?" Yu looked at Uchiha Lieyang with cold eyes.

"Is our enemy the village?" Uchiha Lieyang asked with a hint of excitement. At that moment, he suddenly felt that Yu was not so different from him after all.

"Naturally, it is the Konoha Elder Council!" Upon hearing Yu's answer, Uchiha Lieyang showed a trace of disappointment.

"You look disappointed!" Yu chuckled.

"Isn't it Konoha's..." Suddenly, Uchiha Lieyang froze. They had been clamoring about resisting the village, but when he tried to name the enemy, he found he didn't know who to say.

"This is where you are ignorant. In truth, the enemy of the Uchiha has never been the entire village. Without the village, where would we go? Our enemies have always been nothing more than the disciples of the Second Hokage. Their paranoia is the primary reason for the current discord between the Uchiha and the village."

When Yu voiced his understanding, Uchiha Lieyang felt as if a thunderclap had gone off in his head. It was as if the haze had been cleared away, revealing the sun in the sky. He stared blankly at the young clansman before him, who was only half his height.

"Therefore, the Uchiha must know who their true enemy is, rather than being blindly reckless and turning the entire village into our enemy. There is a saying: the more friends you have, the easier the path. This has been true since ancient times—those who follow the Way have many helpers, while those who lose it have few. Do you submit to me now?"

Yu looked at the stunned Uchiha Lieyang with a smile.

After a long while, Uchiha Lieyang's expression slowly became solemn, as if he had made a firm decision. He rose, enduring his pain, limped over to pick up the two broken halves of his katana, and then knelt on one knee, holding them high before Yu with both hands.

"I, Uchiha Lieyang, shall henceforth follow the lead of the Young Clan Head, Uchiha Yu!"

Yu looked at the now-submissive Uchiha Lieyang and gently grasped the broken blade. A flash of intense heat passed through it.

Under Uchiha Lieyang's puzzled gaze, Yu pulled his small hand away. "I don't like using incomplete blades. Now it's done; it has become even stronger! Hahaha! Hahaha!" Yu burst into laughter.

Uchiha Lieyang looked at the now-intact tachi in his hand and then at the laughing Yu. As if realizing something, he immediately lowered his head and said, "I shall henceforth become the strongest weapon in the Young Master's hands!"