I am "Madara"

Hokage Office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his spacious office chair. Hearing Uchiha Yan's words, he took a puff from his pipe and said, "You mean to say that Uchiha Yan trapped you in a genjutsu with just a single glance?"

Uchiha Itachi lowered his head in shame. "That is correct, Lord Hokage. Uchiha Yan caught me in a genjutsu with nothing more than a look."

Upon hearing Itachi's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke through his nose, his thoughts growing heavy.

He found this hawk-faction figure, Uchiha Yan, to be a massive headache.

He possessed immense personal strength and held significant influence within the Uchiha clan.

Furthermore, he had that group of Uchiha hawk-faction lunatics backing him.

He had tacitly allowed Danzo to monitor Uchiha Yan, but according to intelligence from his Root informants, it seemed that trouble had arisen within Danzo's Root as well.

Feeling somewhat agitated, he set down his pipe and said, "Itachi, I understand. Keep a closer eye on Uchiha Yan next time and report any movements to me."

Uchiha Itachi kept his eyes lowered and replied, "Yes, Lord Hokage."

Uchiha Compound, Naka Shrine.

The Uchiha clan was holding another clan meeting here.

Izumi followed cautiously behind Uchiha Yan, not daring to stray even an inch.

As for why Izumi's parents were not present, the reason was simple: those who were not ninjas had no qualifications to attend the clan meeting.

This was Fugaku's indirect way of protecting his clansmen.

However, he had clearly underestimated the severity of the coup and the resolve of the Konoha high command.

Izumi followed behind Uchiha Yan, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, "Yan, these clan meetings are becoming more and more frequent. Do you think..."

Uchiha Yan glanced at Izumi and squeezed her hand to comfort her. "It's just a routine meeting, don't worry."

Yet, in his mind, he was weighing strategies to break the deadlock.

This was the most decadent period for the Konoha Hokage faction.

The Sannin had either defected or left.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had aged several more years.

Even so, the collective power of Konoha was not something the Uchiha could contend with, and the regime of the Konoha Hokage faction remained extremely stable.

But what if external forces were added to the equation?

At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku asked his confidant beside him with a gloomy expression, "Have Itachi and Shisui not arrived yet?"

The confidant replied, "Reporting to Clan Leader, there is indeed no sign of the two of them."

Meanwhile, Itachi and Shisui were sitting on a large tree outside the Uchiha compound.

Shisui looked at Itachi with some hesitation. "Itachi, is it really okay for us to skip the clan meeting like this?"

Itachi stood on a tree branch, arms crossed as he leaned against the trunk. "What's the point of going? Isn't it just shouting about the glory of the Uchiha?"

His eyes were filled with disappointment toward his clansmen; aside from Shisui, the capacity of the entire Uchiha clan was simply too small.

All they did was obsess over the Uchiha, never considering the difficulties facing the village.

Shisui lowered his head, lost in thought.

Half an hour later, the Uchiha clan meeting concluded.

At this time, Itachi stood up and said, "I'm going out for a walk."

Shisui nodded, then used the Body Flicker Technique to go and report to Danzo.

Itachi arrived at a clearing and waited patiently.

Just then, the space in front of him distorted, and a figure wearing a tiger-skin mask and holding a katana stepped out.

Itachi looked at him and said, "Madara, you've come."

"Madara" nodded and said, "My time is precious. Speak, what do you want?"

Uchiha Itachi stared at him intently and asked, "What is your true objective?"

The expression on "Madara's" face beneath the mask remained unchanged as he said dismissively, "I am merely revisiting old haunts, feeling a bit nostalgic."

With that, the space distorted, and "Madara" vanished from before Itachi.

Itachi tried to speak, but realized it was too late.

At this same moment, at the Root headquarters, Shisui knelt on one knee before Danzo to report his work.

Danzo looked at the proud Uchiha genius kneeling before him like a dog.

The frustration he had felt earlier regarding Uchiha Yan dissipated quite a bit.

He nodded and said, "Well done, Shisui. Continue to work hard for the sake of the village."

Shisui indicated that he understood, then slowly backed out of the Root headquarters.

Danzo suddenly called out to Yamanaka Fu, who was beside him, "Yamanaka Fu, tell me, are some people just pathetic? Even when their necks are being gripped, instead of resisting, they try to reconcile with their oppressor?"

Yamanaka Fu lowered his head from the side and said, "Indeed, it is rather strange."

Danzo continued, "That fellow Sarutobi Hiruzen is the biggest fool among fools. Praising a seven-year-old child for having the 'mind of a Hokage' a few years ago—is Sarutobi Hiruzen's own mind really on the same level as a seven-year-old's?"

"He truly isn't afraid of being laughed at by the other villages."

Yamanaka Fu's mouth twitched, and he lowered his head further, not daring to respond.

After finishing dinner, Uchiha Yan lay alone on the roof, gazing up at the starry sky.

He suddenly glanced at the empty space beside him and said indifferently, "Come out, you rat hiding your head and showing your tail."

The person was clearly surprised; this was his first time surveilling Uchiha Yan, and he had not expected to be discovered so quickly.

A figure appeared in Uchiha Yan's courtyard, and he said in a hoarse voice, "It seems our Uchiha clan has produced an outstanding junior after all."

Uchiha Yan cast a cold glance at him and asked a question he already knew the answer to: "A rat hiding its head and showing its tail—who exactly are you?"

Obito's tone was very flat as he lifted his chin and said, "I am Uchiha Madara."

He watched Uchiha Yan, expecting to see an expression of shock on his face.

However, Uchiha Yan disappointed him; Uchiha Yan merely said calmly, "Madara? Imitating the dead is not a good habit."

The expression beneath Obito's mask darkened slightly as he said, "Arrogant juniors need to be taught a lesson."

Uchiha Yan turned his head and stared at him intently with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Beneath his mask, Obito also revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Decent ocular power, but it is a pity that my Sharingan is superior to yours."

In that brief exchange of gazes, Uchiha Yan and Obito had already completed a contest of ocular power.

Uchiha Yan had even gained a certain advantage.

Watching his old classmate, who had been in the same year as him but now shone with such brilliance, Obito's expression became somewhat complex.

Uchiha Yan said in a flat tone, "Let's find a quieter place. I'll see you at the Forest of Death."

As his voice fell, he vanished before Obito using a Body Flicker Technique.

It was as if he were certain Obito knew exactly where that was.

A vein throbbed on the face beneath Obito's mask, and he muttered to himself, "You guy, your personality is still just as nasty as ever."

With a distortion of space, he also vanished from the spot.

At the Forest of Death, by the time Uchiha Yan arrived, Obito had already been waiting for some time.

However, at this moment, Obito seemed to have become so immersed in his own performance that he couldn't pull himself out.

He said in a hoarse voice, "Arrogant junior, as your senior, I really must teach you a lesson."

But before he could finish, Uchiha Yan's first wave of attacks arrived.

Uchiha Yan casually threw three shuriken, and the moment they were released, they transformed into a sky full of feathers, assaulting Obito from all directions with no blind spots.