I Am Uchiha Shōji

For the time being, he set aside the matter of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Being able to perfectly inherit all of the original owner's memories was extremely important to Liu Heng. Not only did it completely exempt him from the identity issue he had previously worried about, but more importantly, it allowed him to fully integrate into his current "ninja identity"!

Otherwise—

All of a sudden—

To go from an ordinary person in his previous life to a ninja—

An average person would truly find it difficult to adapt.

But now that he had these complete memories, Liu Heng could naturally adapt to his "ninja identity"!

Yet because of this—

Liu Heng had also been thoroughly influenced by the original owner's emotions.

That was why, the moment he opened his eyes and saw the little boy and little girl kneeling beside his bed, Liu Heng behaved with such natural familiarity. It was also why he could remain so composed when looking at that old man.

Uchiha Shōji!

That was the name of this body's original owner.

Now that Liu Heng had replaced everything about the original owner—or, more accurately, their souls had completely fused—at most, it could be said that Liu Heng's consciousness had become the dominant personality. In truth, however, Uchiha Shōji's personality and emotions had likewise seeped deep into Liu Heng's heart.

But no matter what, this is the world of Naruto. And now, I should be called Uchiha Shōji!

A trace of coldness appeared in Liu Heng's—no, Shōji's—eyes. He slowly closed them, took a deep breath, then opened them again.

His pupils had already returned to their clear black-and-white state.

Shōji looked out at the bright scene beyond the courtyard.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, let's have a fight. I will never allow the Uchiha Clan to die in humiliation like they did in the Original Work!

There was no path of retreat, nor any need to retreat. Especially when some matters could not be taken into consideration, he might as well put them aside completely. For Shōji, the only thing he needed to establish was that he belonged to the younger generation of the Uchiha Clan.

And that he was not alone.

Protecting himself and his family was what he needed to prioritize most right now.

Of course, Shōji only had a rough plan for resolving the Clan's current predicament. But regardless of the plan, helpers were essential. The several hundred able-bodied members of his Clan, along with those dozens of Elite Jōnin, were the most crucial part.

Shōji greatly liked a saying from a great man in his previous life: seek peace through struggle, and peace survives; seek peace through compromise, and peace dies!

That was precisely the Uchiha Clan's current situation.

Shōji would not give up even the slightest possibility of peacefully resolving the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the Konoha High Command, but he also needed to make full preparations for the worst possible outcome.

Shisui might be somewhat better.

But the traitorous son of his Clan Head—Uchiha Itachi!

He was someone Shōji absolutely had to guard against. Even though he was only five years old now and had not yet become as deranged as he was in the Original Work.

Still, it was necessary to take precautions before anything happened.

At the very least, Shōji did not believe Shisui would make a proposal as insane as Itachi's.

Whatever decisions Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō made, one could at most call them cruel or dark. But one could never call them insane or absurd, because they had never stood on the wrong side from beginning to end.

They had always been the Uchiha Clan's "enemies"!

But Uchiha Itachi was different.

As the son of the Clan Head, no one was saying that he had to sacrifice his life for the Clan.

But he could not truly become a vile traitor who abandoned his Clan, could he?

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if he wanted to wipe out those fanatics who sought to launch a rebellion, that could still be considered a "reasonable" choice. It would even be understandable to implicate some people closely tied to them. But to mercilessly kill the elderly and children in the Clan who clearly had nothing to do with the rebellion—that had already betrayed basic human nature.

Therefore, Shōji knew very clearly that in the series of plans to come, no matter what he did within the vast Uchiha Clan, he had to prevent Uchiha Itachi from finding out!

Otherwise—

Only a future of death awaited him.

Find like-minded people—try to persuade his Clan Head—even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, seek a path to peaceful resolution from Sarutobi Hiruzen—and if it ultimately could not be avoided, launch a coup!

Over the course of that day—

Shōji more or less sorted through his thoughts and clarified what he needed to do next.

This included, but was not limited to, approaching the younger generation of the Clan, Uchiha Fugaku as the Clan Head, and, if possible, Sarutobi Hiruzen as the Third Hokage.

And if he wanted to accomplish those things—

Shisui Uchiha was also a hurdle he could not avoid.

Just as Shōji finished organizing his plans and thoughts—

Having barely dealt with the aftermath of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, and the other members of the Konoha High Command impatiently convened a high-level meeting with the heads of the major Ninja Clans on the fourth day.

At this meeting—

They put forward a seemingly ordinary proposal that was in fact aimed directly at the Uchiha Clan!

The instant he heard this proposal—

Uchiha Fugaku, who had attended the meeting, instinctively intended to reject it.

But under the good-cop, bad-cop coordination of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō afterward—

The hesitation and softness deep in his bones came into play.

Although Uchiha Fugaku was extremely unwilling to accept the proposal, he ultimately nodded in agreement.

After the meeting ended, Uchiha Fugaku returned with an exceedingly grim expression and immediately ordered all Jōnin in the Clan, except those assigned to patrol and security duties, to gather at the Clan's forbidden ground—Naka Shrine—for an internal high-level assembly of the Uchiha Clan!

Although Shōji had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan on the night of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack a few days earlier—

As far as the Clan was concerned, Shōji was still only an Elite Chūnin with a Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and he was not qualified to participate in the Clan Assembly.

Shōji did not take the initiative to say that he wanted to attend this assembly either. For one thing, he could roughly guess what it would be about. For another, he had only just recovered, and he intended to focus on adapting over the next couple of days.

But beginning with the next assembly—

Shōji was determined to attend.

If he wanted to gain an appropriate voice within the Clan, the Clan Assembly was extremely important.

Of course, Shōji did not intend to reveal his Mangekyō Sharingan so early. Only an idiot would do that.

It would be enough to indicate that he had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Within the Uchiha Clan, while a Three-Tomoe Sharingan did not guarantee it one hundred percent, it represented Jōnin-level strength in most cases.

Shōji stayed home peacefully and waited for the assembly to end.

Sure enough—

After those Clan members returned—

News that enraged nearly everyone in the Uchiha Clan spread through the Clan.

They had to relocate their residence once again.

And this time, they were being moved to the most remote outskirts of the village!