All Villains, All Best Actors

The noon sun baked the bluestone road of the Uchiha Clan Compound with savage heat.

"Are you blind?! Can you afford to pay for the vegetables you ruined?"

A shrill curse shattered the afternoon calm.

In the middle of the street, a middle-aged woman in an apron was pointing at an Uchiha Police Force member's nose and hurling abuse. A basket lay overturned on the ground, and several tomatoes had rolled everywhere, smashed to pulp.

The police force member refused to back down. He stiffened his neck and shoved the woman. "You damned hag! You were the one who wasn't watching where you were going! The police force is carrying out official duties. You dare obstruct us?"

"Oh! He hit me! The police force is hitting people!"

The woman took the chance to flop onto the ground, throwing a tantrum as she rolled around and wailed to the heavens.

The surrounding clansmen quickly gathered in a circle to watch the show.

"So this is the quality of the police force? They even hit aunties?"

"Good hit! This woman always cheats people on weight. Serves her right!"

"Come on, come on, place your bets! Bet on whether this kid dares draw his blade!"

Not only did the crowd show no intention of breaking up the fight, they split into two sides and began jeering. Some even pulled out coin pouches and started setting up bets. The scene was utter chaos, foul smoke and miasma everywhere.

In the shadow of a rooftop.

An Anbu ninja wearing a cat-faced mask crouched behind the roof tiles, watching the scene coldly.

He took out the small notebook he carried with him and wrote swiftly:

"June 18th, noon. Conflict occurred on the main road of the Uchiha Clan Compound. The clansmen are extremely hostile, the police force's prestige has collapsed, and they even came to blows with civilians. Onlookers are indifferent and obsessed with infighting, lacking basic clan cohesion."

After writing, he closed the notebook, a trace of contempt flashing through his eyes.

This was the legendary number one noble clan?

They were nothing but a mob of rabble who only knew how to throw their weight around at home.

He did not notice that the auntie rolling on the ground had, in the gaps between her thrashing, swept an extremely covert glance toward his hiding place. And that police force member who seemed furious—although his hand was pressed to his sword hilt, his thumb was locked tight against the guard, with no intention of drawing it at all.

Night fell.

The Uchiha Clan Compound, noisy for an entire day, finally quieted down.

The lights on the streets gradually went out, leaving only a few streetlamps giving off dim yellow halos.

Naka River Shrine, Underground Training Ground.

This place lay fifty meters directly beneath the shrine, a vast space carved out by the Uchiha Clan over a thousand years, large enough to hold several hundred people training at once.

At this moment, hundreds of torches lit up on the stone walls around the training ground.

"Barrier Squad, raise it!"

With a low shout, four elderly elders stood separately in the four corners of the training ground and formed hand seals.

Buzz—

A layer of pale purple light slowly rose, covering the entire underground space.

This was the highest-level isolation barrier. From this moment on, not a single sound or chakra fluctuation from anything that happened here would reach the surface.

In the center of the training ground.

More than three hundred Uchiha clansmen stood in neat ranks.

There was no clamor, no whispering, and even their breathing seemed to be in perfect sync.

Standing in the first row was none other than the auntie who had rolled around throwing a tantrum during the day. At this moment, she had changed into a black, tight-fitting combat uniform. Her long hair was tied into a high ponytail, and her gaze was sharp as a blade. How was there even the slightest trace of a marketplace shrew left in her?

And the police force member who had "fought" with her stood beside her, meticulously checking his ninja tool pouch, his gaze cold.

This was the real Uchiha.

Uchiha who possessed Sharingan, had undergone the baptism of war, and now carried the heavy duty of changing fate.

Xuan Shi stood on the high platform, looking down over this silent army.

"The acting during the day was pretty good."

Xuan Shi's voice echoed through the training ground.

"That Anbu has already gone back to report. In his report, we are a pack of hopeless fools. Very good."

"But don't forget, that was a performance for dead men to watch."

Xuan Shi suddenly drew the ninja blade at his waist, its edge pointing upward.

"Now, take off your masks! Bare your fangs! The real training begins!"

"Yes!!!"

The roar of three hundred people rang out as one, shaking even the stalactites overhead until they trembled slightly.

Xuan Shi closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into the system.

[Family prosperity consumed: 50 points.]

[Function unlocked: Simulated Battlefield: Tailed Beast Arrival (Genjutsu Projection).]

"Open!"

Xuan Shi's eyes snapped open, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly.

Roar—!!!

A deafening roar erupted.

At the center of the training ground, a vast amount of red chakra gathered out of thin air, instantly turning into an enormous demon fox dozens of meters tall.

Nine tails thrashed wildly in the air, and the ferocious beast head radiated a suffocating pressure.

Although it was only a genjutsu projection with no physical attack power, that terrifying coercion from a tailed beast was real. Quite a few younger clansmen went pale and instinctively wanted to retreat.

"Do not retreat!"

Fugaku stood at the very front of the formation and likewise activated his Mangekyo. A powerful aura erupted from him, forcefully withstanding the Nine-Tails' pressure.

"That is the ultimate terror we must face! If you're afraid of even a shadow, then what will you use to protect your families that night?"

Fugaku's furious roar awakened everyone's fighting spirit.

"First echelon, suppress with Fire Release!" Xuan Shi ordered.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

More than a hundred clansmen formed seals at the same time.

Boom!

More than a hundred enormous fireballs converged, forming a sea of red flames that instantly swallowed the simulated Nine-Tails. Heat waves rolled outward, illuminating the entire underground space as bright as day.

"We're not done! Second echelon, Barrier Squad, prepare to bind!"

Dozens of clansmen skilled in sealing techniques flung out special chakra chains, accurately wrapping them around the Nine-Tails' limbs.

"Third echelon, Sharingan genjutsu interference!"

The remaining clansmen opened their Sharingan one after another. Countless streams of ocular power converged into a torrent and struck the Nine-Tails' mind.

Coordination.

It was a kind of tacit understanding that made one's scalp tingle.

There was no individual heroism, no fighting alone. Everyone was meshing together like precise gears for a single shared goal.

This was what they had failed to do on the Night of Clan Extermination in the previous life.

And in this life, they were turning that regret into the sharpest weapon.

No one knew how much time passed.

When the first rays of dawn pierced through the cracks in the ground and fell upon the shrine's roof, the special training in the Underground Training Ground finally ended.

The barrier was withdrawn.

The clansmen collapsed to the ground one by one, drenched in sweat, their chakra almost completely exhausted.

But in their eyes, an unprecedented light flickered.

That was confidence.

It was the feeling of control over power, the desire to change fate.

Xuan Shi stood on the high platform, watching it all as a system notification sounded by his ear.

[Hell training ended.]

[Family average combat strength slightly increased (+0.5%).]

[Family prosperity gained: 10 points.]

Although the increase was not large, little drops made an ocean. As long as they persisted, this army would shock the entire ninja world sooner or later.

"Everyone, go back and rest. Remember, once you step out of this door, you are that group of 'fallen' Uchiha again."

Xuan Shi waved his hand.

Everyone forced their bodies up and dispersed in an orderly fashion.

Just then.

A clear eagle cry cut through the morning silence.

Xuan Shi and Fugaku looked up at the same time.

A ninja hawk bearing Konoha's Hokage mark circled once, then dove down and landed steadily on Fugaku's outstretched arm.

Fugaku removed the scroll from the eagle's leg and opened it for a glance.

His expression changed slightly.

"It's here."

Fugaku handed the scroll to Xuan Shi, his tone grave. "Cloud Village is gathering heavy forces at the border. The Raikage is getting restless and seems to want to take another bite while Konoha has only recently ended the Third War."

"The Fourth Hokage has issued an S-rank mobilization order."

"He specifically named the Uchiha Police Force and requested that we dispatch an elite squad to accompany them to the border as support."

Xuan Shi took the scroll, his gaze sweeping over the golden "Fourth Hokage" seal on it.

This was not merely a transfer order.

This was a test, and also an opportunity.

If the Uchiha refused, or performed poorly, then all their previous performances would go to waste.

But if the Uchiha could show a side in this mission that was both powerful and loyal, yet without ambition...

Xuan Shi closed the scroll, the corner of his mouth curving into a sharp arc.

In that instant, the exhaustion in his eyes vanished completely.

"It's finally here."

He looked at Fugaku, a trace of irrepressible excitement in his voice.

"Father, this is not a crisis."

"This is our ticket... to the center of the stage."

"Notify Shisui and Itachi. The three of us will personally go on this mission."

"We'll let that Golden Flash see what the true number one noble clan of Konoha really is."