The Clan Meeting Begins

After all, it was nothing more than a dead object.

Uchiha Madara had been deceived largely because of his own shortcomings.

Shōji's interest in that Stone Tablet had only remained at the surface level; he had no desire to investigate it any further. Walking lightly to his seat, he found that Shisui had already arrived ahead of him and was kneeling there. When Shisui saw Shōji arrive,

he smiled faintly.

Shōji nodded in return.

Shōji had originally intended to say something.

Tap tap tap tap tap!

All of a sudden,

a low, dense series of footsteps came from beyond the basement entrance. In almost an instant, several figures stepped out from the passageway. When the broad, imposing build and utterly solemn expression of the man at their head entered the eyes of every Uchiha present,

everyone's expressions tightened.

The newcomer was none other than the Uchiha Clan's highest authority, the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku.

So long as he did not face opposition and impeachment from five or six of the Eight Great Elders at once, Fugaku could practically decide any clan matter with a single word. He was a clan head who possessed both prestige and strength. That was why, in the Original Work, Fugaku had been able to suppress the resentment within the clan time and again.

Even when the clan's resentment had grown ever deeper, reaching the point where a coup had to be launched, those clansmen still had not dared to make a move against Fugaku directly. Instead, they had wanted to force him and drag him into joining the coup.

That alone was enough to prove just how high Fugaku's status, prestige, and power were within the Uchiha Clan!

As Fugaku stepped inside,

the several figures who followed close behind him were Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Tekka, Uchiha Arashiyama, Uchiha Gen'en, and other staunch supporters of Fugaku within the clan.

Not only did each of them possess at least Jōnin-level strength, they also held important posts in the Military Police Force overseen by the clan. They could be said to be Fugaku's most loyal and dependable subordinates.

If the future plan did not go smoothly

and Shōji was forced to deal with Fugaku, the clan head, then how to handle these people would also be a major problem.

They were the core backbone of the Uchiha Clan.

Of course, that was a matter for later. Shōji also did not believe the situation would truly deteriorate to that extent. He genuinely believed that Fugaku had chosen to die in the Original Work because he had completely lost the initiative, and the clan had already been on the verge of total destruction.

For the sake of his two sons, he had then chosen to die without hesitation.

If that was not the case, and Fugaku had intended from the beginning to use the entire clan as a burial offering to protect his two sons,

then you would be the eternal sinner of the clan, Uchiha Fugaku!

Shōji watched Uchiha Fugaku step to the seat of honor and kneel in the middle of the Eight Great Elders, silently thinking to himself.

"Is everyone here? The reason I gathered you all this time is because the friction between Konoha and Kumogakure along the northeastern border has intensified. The Kumo Ninja have suddenly increased their troop deployment, placing enormous pressure on Konoha's northeastern border. This morning, Lord Third summoned the heads of all the major Ninja Clans to discuss the number of troops each clan would send. This concerns the clan's vital interests, so I wish to hear everyone's opinions at this Clan Meeting."

As Fugaku stepped onto the seat of honor, he naturally had no idea what Shōji was thinking below. At that moment, his mind was entirely occupied with weighing the conflict between the clan and the village. Especially regarding this special conscription order, Fugaku had honestly been deeply shocked the moment he first heard about it. He truly felt that under the current circumstances,

no matter how Third considered it, he should not have deployed members of the Uchiha Clan to the front lines.

After all, the suspicions surrounding their clan had yet to be cleared.

Therefore, Fugaku also leaned toward the belief that Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, had concealed some special intention within this conscription order.

He had wanted to refuse outright,

but he seemed unable to find any reasonable excuse to do so.

Fortunately, this was not something that could be decided in a single meeting. Every major Ninja Clan needed to return and consult with its own members before determining the proportion of troops it could send. Fugaku naturally followed the general course of action and convened this secret Clan Meeting immediately after returning to the clan.

The clansmen below more or less knew some of the details. After all, they were all Jōnin and had their own intelligence channels to some extent. Only Shōji still bore the label of "Chūnin."

Therefore, when Fugaku finished speaking,

not one of the forty or fifty clansmen showed surprise.

Some furrowed their brows tightly.

Some wore cold sneers.

Others directly revealed looks of dissatisfaction and anger.

"Hmph! They suspect our clan on one hand, yet still want to order us into battle on the other? They're dreaming!"

"That's right. I think we should just refuse. Our clan is responsible for the village's security; we have no such obligation! This isn't wartime!"

"Exactly! Clan Head, I think we must make our stance clear. We can't let the village push us around as it pleases!"

"There's no such good deal in this world!"

At every Clan Meeting, the most hot-tempered clansmen would always be the first to jump out and vent their dissatisfaction toward the village. In the three or four Clan Meetings Shōji had attended, this had already become an ordinary sight.

Yet most of them were merely venting their anger and dissatisfaction.

There were practically no genuinely constructive suggestions. Even regarding the so-called "coup," not only in this life, but even in the Original Work, until the Uchiha Clan was completely annihilated, not a single person had proposed a complete and feasible coup plan. From beginning to end, these clansmen had only shouted slogans and vented their discontent.

This was what disappointed and worried Shōji the most.

They had strength but no brains, while constantly shouting "rebellion slogans." Weren't they simply asking to be wiped out?

That was why Shōji found it truly difficult to trust this group of "clan companions," and it was also the greatest reason he had to act with even greater caution.

These days,

he was truly not afraid of godlike opponents.

What he feared were pig-headed teammates.

At the head of the room, when Fugaku once again heard these clansmen's complaints, which varied in form but never in substance, his expression appeared unchanged on the surface. Yet deep inside, he let out a helpless sigh. Changing the clan's predicament was clearly not something he could accomplish alone.

But within the vast Uchiha Clan now,

he could not even find a single reliable person he could truly trust and discuss matters with.

It had to be said that this was an exceedingly tragic thing.