This Moment, Just Like That Moment!

"The Cloud Hidden Village delegation came to obtain the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai."

Uchiha Mirai leaned back in his chair and spoke calmly.

Everyone's eyes turned toward him in an instant.

"Mirai, is what you said true?"

Choza Akimichi asked in a deep voice.

"Of course."

Uchiha Mirai chuckled.

"When I discovered them, I noticed that their escape route had been precisely calculated. They avoided the ANBU patrols at night and happened to take the most concealed route in the village."

"To identify such a route in Konoha would require a long period of intelligence gathering. This proves that they may have been planning this from the very first day they arrived in Konoha."

"Furthermore, the entire Cloud Ninja delegation mobilized to abduct Hinata. Clearly, they intended to flee Konoha altogether, which further confirms my speculation."

"As for this matter, I believe Lord Hiashi can testify as well. He was also pursuing them at the time."

Uchiha Mirai smiled and turned his gaze toward Hiashi Hyuga across the conference table.

"Hiashi, is what he says true?"

Choza Akimichi stared at him seriously.

"Yes."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded.

"I was leading my clansmen in pursuit as well. Their escape route had clearly been planned in advance. Otherwise, with the abilities of my Byakugan and my familiarity with Konoha's terrain, it would have been impossible for me to take so long to catch up to them."

The meeting room fell deathly silent once more.

Quite a few ninja fell into silence.

They might not have believed Uchiha Mirai.

But Hiashi Hyuga, as the head of the Hyuga Clan, enjoyed immense prestige in Konoha. He could not possibly lie about something like this.

There was only one truth.

Uchiha Mirai had been telling the truth!

The so-called ceasefire agreement had been a smokescreen from the very beginning!

Cloud Hidden Village's true objective had been to abduct Hinata and obtain the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai!

"Hiruzen!"

Choza Akimichi stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen with utter resentment.

He hated him for failing to meet expectations, yet mourned his misfortune!

This intelligence had not been difficult to deduce. A slight investigation by the ANBU would have uncovered it easily.

Yet despite knowing the truth, Sarutobi Hiruzen had still chosen to pressure the Uchiha in order to curry favor with Cloud Hidden Village.

That had undoubtedly crossed his bottom line!

"How am I supposed to talk to you now?!"

Choza Akimichi glared furiously at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent.

He could only remain silent.

The looks of those around the conference table as they watched Sarutobi Hiruzen had completely changed, carrying a trace of dissatisfaction.

As Hokage, despite knowing of Cloud Hidden Village's conspiracy, he had actually taken the initiative to curry favor with them.

Just thinking about it made them feel sick.

In contrast, there had been Uchiha Mirai's words just now: "Have the Fourth Raikage come to Konoha to find me!"

What boldness! What spirit!

The difference between them was obvious!

Danzo gritted his teeth and stared unwillingly at Uchiha Mirai.

Everything had gone wrong!

Everything had fallen apart!

This was not the outcome he wanted.

Amid the dead silence, Uchiha Mirai looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Looks like the matter is already very clear. Do you still want to repeat what happened three years ago?"

The surrounding Konoha ninja frowned slightly. This was the second time Uchiha Mirai had mentioned three years ago.

Three years ago, Konoha had likewise been filled with condemnation of Uchiha Mirai, and the higher-ups had likewise pressured him.

But now, the mindsets of these ninja around the conference table had undergone enormous changes.

What happened today was already crystal clear: it had been nothing more than a farce orchestrated by Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo to pressure Uchiha Mirai.

But what about three years ago?

Could it be that three years ago had been the same as well...?

As they thought of this, their hearts grew heavy.

"Tell me your choice, Third Hokage!"

Uchiha Mirai stared straight at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

How similar was this scene to the one from three years ago?

This moment was exactly like that moment!

Only, the one applying pressure had changed from Sarutobi Hiruzen to Uchiha Mirai.

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent.

He could only remain silent.

As someone in power, silence was his best response.

"Pfft!"

Uchiha Mirai suddenly sneered.

His eyes were filled with intense disdain.

"How laughable! As Konoha's Third Hokage, your lack of magnanimity is truly pathetic. So-called Hokage are nothing more than people who toy with power like this."

"Hahaha..."

Behind him, the younger Uchiha clansmen burst into hearty laughter.

That was satisfying!

It felt incredible!

The mighty Hokage was actually being put in such a miserable position before Brother Mirai?

Never had the Uchiha name felt so triumphant!

The surrounding shinobi watched the scene. Some wanted to speak up in Sarutobi Hiruzen's defense, but the moment they opened their mouths, the words caught in their throats.

Their expressions were incomparably bitter.

After what Sarutobi Hiruzen had done, how could they defend him?

"Third Hokage, may I leave now?"

Uchiha Mirai asked.

The response was still silence.

Uchiha Mirai gave a soft laugh and shook his head. He rose from his seat, and the clansmen behind him rose as well.

No one tried to stop them, and no one dared to.

Uchiha Mirai simply pushed open the door and left.

Behind him, the meeting room was deathly silent.

Only the sound of Danzo gritting his teeth remained.

Below the Hokage Building.

"That was satisfying! So satisfying!"

"Brother Mirai, I never thought we'd get to see the Third Hokage in such an awkward state today!"

The younger Uchiha gathered around Uchiha Mirai, laughing loudly.

Today was perhaps the happiest day of their lives.

Uchiha Mirai said nothing. He gazed at a blond-haired child across the street.

Three-year-old Naruto wore filthy clothes, biting his finger as he looked expectantly at the dazzling array of masks on the shelf.

"Stinking demon fox! Get lost!"

Smack!

The middle-aged stall owner grabbed a mask beside him and viciously hurled it at Naruto's forehead.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

The sharp pain made Naruto immediately clutch his forehead, baring his teeth in agony.

"That's the child, right?"

"Yeah, the demon fox that brings misfortune!"

"Someone like that should just die. Why is the Third Hokage still keeping that walking disaster around?"

Naruto's hand stopped rubbing his forehead. A glistening drop slid down his cheek, as though an invisible boundary between light and shadow separated him from the villagers around him.

A warm touch suddenly landed on his shoulder, making his body tremble slightly.

He looked up and saw a pair of gentle eyes.

"How much is this mask?"

Uchiha Mirai pointed at a mask on the shelf. He had noticed that it was the one Naruto had been looking at earlier, painted with an adorable fox face.

"N-Ninja-sama, it's 3... 300 ryo..."

The middle-aged stall owner did not recognize Uchiha Mirai.

But from the suffocating pressure he gave off, he knew the man before him was someone he absolutely, absolutely could not provoke—or the consequences would be terrible!

Uchiha Mirai took out 500 ryo, placed it on the stall, and picked up the fox-face mask.

"I don't want to see you bullying him again. Understand?"

There was no emotion in his voice.

Yet the stall owner was already drenched in sweat, nodding frantically like a pile driver.

"I understand! I understand!"

Uchiha Mirai handed the fox-face mask to Naruto and smiled faintly.

"It's yours."

"Huh? Huh??"

Naruto clearly had not processed what had happened yet, staring at Uchiha Mirai in shock.

"If anyone bullies you again in the future, tell them my name."

Uchiha Mirai gently stroked young Naruto's hair, then turned and left.

Naruto clutched the mask, only coming back to his senses after a long while.

"Big brother, you haven't told me your name yet!"

His raised foot paused.

Without turning around, Uchiha Mirai chuckled.

"Uchiha Mirai."

Uchiha Mirai???

Calamity Uchiha???

A chill ran down the stall owner's spine, and his legs went limp, nearly causing him to collapse to the ground.

I actually provoked that guy...

Uchiha Mirai looked up at the sky. It was clear and cloudless, just as it had been when he first met Namikaze Minato.

Back then, he had also held onto a sliver of hope, hoping that he and Minato would become a bridge between the Uchiha and the village.

But later, he understood.

He had been wrong.

On the eve of Namikaze Minato succeeding the position of Hokage, he had been forced into retirement, disappearing from the public eye.

Three years. A full three years.

He had spent three years lying low before rising once more.

Three years had passed. Things had changed, and people were no longer the same.

"Let's go get a bowl of ramen!"

Uchiha Mirai suddenly felt hungry and laughed as he walked away.

Only after the immense pressure he brought had completely vanished did several ANBU hidden nearby emerge and nervously inspect Naruto and the mask in his hands.

"Damn it! How did Uchiha Mirai come into contact with Naruto?"

"No, we need to report this to the Hokage immediately!"

The ANBU were so frightened that they could barely keep their masks in place.