Setsuna's Plan

Time flowed with agonizing slowness inside the home of Uchiha Setsuna.

After sending off Shaoyu and the others, he did not rest. He merely sat rigidly before the stone table, his cloudy eyes drifting between the heavy night sky outside the window and the spot where Shaoyu had just been sitting, his fingers unconsciously tracing the cold rim of his teacup.

The room seemed to retain the resolute and fervent aura of those young men, yet now he remained alone, accompanied only by the boundless silence.

He was calculating the time.

The length of the secret passage, the speed of the group's advance, the minor delays they might encounter, the precise timing required to clear the perimeter of the Konoha barrier...

Every detail played out repeatedly in his mind.

This old man, who had survived the end of the Warring States period, witnessed the founding of Konoha, and endured decades of internal strife and high-pressure suppression within the clan, was now pouring his lifelong patience and strategy into securing the most precious "time gap" for those fledglings leaving the nest.

"Almost two hours now..."

He whispered to himself, his voice barely audible in the empty stone room.

According to his estimates, given the abilities of Shaoyu and his companions, three hours was enough for them to traverse the secret passage, move far away from the core area of Konoha, and perhaps even infiltrate the complex mountainous forests along the border of the Land of Fire.

Once they reached that point, the difficulty for Konoha to precisely track and intercept them would increase geometrically.

It was time.

He could wait no longer.

For every moment he delayed, the probability increased that others in the clan would discover the disappearance of Lianhuo and the others, or that a patrol would notice something amiss.

He had to trigger the event himself, bringing the fact of their "defection" to light in a way that was relatively favorable to Shaoyu and his group.

At the same time, he had to completely extricate himself from the role of "accomplice," or even... play the role of a "victim" and a "loyalist," so that he might continue to preserve a shred of leeway and information channels for the Uchiha, and perhaps for the departing Shaoyu and his friends, within the muddy waters of Konoha.

The gaze of Uchiha Setsuna gradually grew resolute.

He stood up slowly and walked to the corner of the stone room. There sat a ceramic water jar he usually used for watering his flowers.

He lifted the jar and, without hesitation, smashed it hard against his own temple!

"Thud!"

A muffled sound echoed.

The jar shattered, and cold well water mixed with ceramic shards splashed all over him.

Sharp pain radiated from his temple, and warm liquid trickled down his aged cheek—it was blood.

He had carefully controlled his strength; the wound was not deep, but it was striking enough to be alarming.

Next, he staggered a few steps, deliberately knocking over a wooden rack beside the stone table. Old scrolls and artifacts cascaded to the floor, creating clear signs of a struggle.

He tore at his sleeves with force and rolled on the ground, letting dust and blood stain his previously neat clothing.

Finally, he chose a position near the door where he would be easily discovered from the outside, lay down on the floor, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing to become shallow and irregular, as if he were severely wounded and unconscious.

He ensured the wound on his temple continued to ooze blood slowly, staining a small patch of dark red on the cold floor.

After doing all this, he remained completely still, as if truly unconscious, with only the imperceptible rise and fall of his chest. The rest was just waiting.

The wait did not last long.

Perhaps it was the faint noise from the stone room, or perhaps it was time for a routine patrol or delivery.

Less than three minutes after he "fainted," careful footsteps and low calls came from outside the stone room.

"Elder Setsuna? Are you there? I've brought tonight's patrol report..."

The visitor was a young chunin responsible for clan affairs. He was not a core confidant of Setsuna, but belonged to the level that could access an elder.

There was no response.

The young man called out twice more, sensing something was wrong. After a moment of hesitation, he gently pushed open the stone door, which had not been locked from the inside.

Moonlight mingled with the corridor lights, spilling into the room and illuminating the chaotic floor, the overturned rack, the shattered ceramic jar, and... Elder Uchiha Setsuna, lying in a pool of blood, completely unresponsive!

"E-Elder Setsuna!"

The young chunin turned pale with fright. He rushed inside, flustered and wanting to check on him, yet afraid to move him carelessly.

He saw the wound on the elder's temple, the disheveled clothing, the signs of struggle around him... this was clearly an attack!

"Help! Someone come quickly! Elder Setsuna has been attacked!!!" The shrill, terror-filled cry instantly shattered the relative tranquility of the Uchiha compound's night.

The alarm was sounded.

The first to arrive were nearby Uchiha clansmen, followed by members of the Uchiha Military Police Force who had heard the news. Soon, the clan's leadership, including the clan head, Uchiha Tiandao, and several powerful elders, arrived with grim expressions at the chaotic stone room.

A medical ninja (a confidant of Setsuna) quickly performed a preliminary examination and treatment on the unconscious Setsuna.

The wound was bandaged, and his vital signs were confirmed to be stable, albeit weak.

Amidst the anxious waiting and questioning of the crowd, the young chunin who discovered the scene described everything he had seen in a disjointed manner.

"When I came in... it was already like this... the Elder... he lost so much blood... it looks like there was a fight here..."

Uchiha Tiandao frowned, his sharp gaze sweeping over every detail in the room.

The signs of a struggle were obvious, but it did not seem particularly intense; it looked more like a quick suppression where one side was caught off guard or possessed a significant gap in strength.

No obvious valuables appeared to be missing... was the target Elder Setsuna himself? Why?

Just then, the Military Police Force members responsible for inspecting the room and searching for clues made a discovery.

"Clan Head! Elders!"

A jonin walked over with a look of extreme distress.

"When we gathered just now, we found that many young ninjas were missing from the clan—about a dozen or so. And they were all leaders of the younger generation, including Uchiha Shaoyu, Uchiha Lianhuo... and Uchiha Shisui..."

"What?!" "Shaoyu?!" "And Shisui?!"

The stone room erupted in an uproar. Those missing were indeed the elite of the younger generation, most of whom were dissatisfied with the status quo and classified as "Hawk Faction" members or potential risks!

Uchiha Tiandao's face turned as dark as water in an instant. He looked sharply at Uchiha Setsuna, who had just been "slowly awakened" by the medical ninja's ninjutsu and was breathing weakly.

"Elder Setsuna!"

Tiandao's voice carried suppressed anger and urgency.

"What happened? Who attacked you? Shaoyu and the others... what is going on?!"

Uchiha Setsuna struggled to open his cloudy eyes, his gaze filled with "shock and anger," "grief," and "weakness."

He opened his mouth, as if using his last ounce of strength, and hissed in a voice filled with "resentment" and "disbelief":

"It... it was Shaoyu... that unfilial wretch!"