Third Raikage

The guard's report exploded through Third Raikage Ai's office like a thunderclap.

"What? The Uchiha Clan? They're requesting an audience outside the village? And they revealed their Sharingan?!"

Third Raikage Ai, built like a mountain with dark skin, a thick beard, and dressed only in a white cloak and loincloth, abruptly rose from behind his massive desk.

His voice boomed like a great bell, making the windows hum. His sharp gaze was filled with shock and scrutiny.

"Yes, Lord Raikage! They claim to be Uchiha from Konoha. Their leader is a young man, and there is also a child among them. There are twelve in total."

"They say they have an urgent matter to report to you in person."

The guard dropped to one knee and delivered his report swiftly and clearly.

"Uchiha... defectors? Or envoys?"

Ai's thick brows furrowed.

As the leader of a shinobi village that had openly and covertly struggled against Konoha for years, he knew far more about the Uchiha than most.

He understood full well the strength of that clan and the terror of the Sharingan.

At the same time, the discord between the Uchiha and Konoha's upper ranks was no secret among the higher echelons of the shinobi world.

"Let's go. I'll see them myself!"

Raikage Ai did not hesitate. With a wave of his hand, before he could even gather more guards or advisers, his hulking body flashed and vanished from the office, leaving behind only a blurred afterimage and a gust of wind.

He wanted to see just what these Uchiha were plotting.

Less than ten minutes after the guard left, a violent, swift, and oppressive figure tore through the air like a human-shaped bolt of lightning and crashed down outside Kumogakure's gates.

It was none other than Third Raikage Ai.

Simply standing there, he was like an immovable iron tower. His muscles bulged with explosive power, while invisible Lightning Release chakra seemed to flicker around him, slightly warping the air.

The pure pressure of a top-tier powerhouse spread out without the slightest concealment.

The guards and nearby Kumogakure shinobi immediately bowed, their eyes filled with reverence.

The Uchiha group instantly felt that tangible pressure bearing down on them.

Aside from Shaoyu, even jōnin such as Lianhuo and Tiehuo felt their breathing tighten slightly. Several chūnin could not help taking half a step back, terror flashing through their eyes.

This was the Third Raikage, the "Strongest Spear" and "Strongest Shield." His reputation was well deserved.

Only Uchiha Shaoyu remained as calm as ever, without so much as a ripple in his gaze.

He tilted his head slightly and met Raikage Ai's sharp, searchlight-like stare. Their gazes collided in midair.

At over six feet tall, Uchiha Shaoyu looked practically like a loli in front of the seven-foot-tall Third Raikage.

Raikage Ai's gaze swept across the thirteen of them like a scanner.

His brow lifted slightly... they were all very young, and their leader was unexpectedly young.

Yet his composed bearing, profound eyes, and the faint elite aura exuded by the clansmen behind him showed that, even with children and wounded among them, this was no rabble.

They carried the weariness of a long journey and... a faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood? Had they just fought a battle?

Uchiha Shaoyu was also observing the Raikage.

Powerful, domineering, and brimming with strength, yet deep within those eyes was not merely the courage of a brute. There was also the shrewdness and caution of one in power.

He was a leader who had combined strength and intelligence remarkably well.

After a brief silence, Raikage Ai spoke first, his voice rolling like muffled thunder.

"I am the Third Raikage, Ai. Which one of you is the leader?"

Uchiha Shaoyu stepped forward and gave a slight nod.

"Third Raikage, I have long admired your name. I am Uchiha Shaoyu."

"Uchiha... Shaoyu?"

Raikage Ai repeated the name under his breath, rapidly searching his memories.

As the Raikage, he kept track of Konoha's important figures. Soon, he remembered.

A genius youth from Konoha's Uchiha Clan who had risen to prominence in recent years, one of the Hawk Faction's representative figures. His strength was said to far surpass those of his age, and some intelligence reports had even listed him as a potential threat requiring close attention.

"I have heard your name. The Uchiha Clan's genius."

Raikage Ai's eyes blazed as he stared intently at Shaoyu.

"So then, Uchiha genius, why have you brought your clansmen to the gates of my Kumogakure? Are you envoys from Konoha, or... something else?"

His question went straight to the heart of the matter, carrying undisguised probing and a faint... anticipation? If they truly were defectors...

Uchiha Shaoyu met the Raikage's gaze without evasion and calmly spoke two clear words.

"Defectors."

Though he had already suspected as much, when those two words came so decisively from Uchiha Shaoyu's mouth, Raikage Ai's pupils still contracted slightly, and undisguised surprise appeared on his face.

"Defectors?"

He repeated it, his tone thick with doubt.

"With your talent and the Uchiha Clan's standing, your future in Konoha should not be bad. Why defect? And why bring..."

He glanced at the clansmen behind Shaoyu. "So many of your people?"

This was a crucial question. Their reason for defecting would determine their sincerity, their value, and the trouble they might bring.

But the drool nearly dripping from the corner of his mouth showed that he was not exactly calm right now.

Uchiha Shaoyu let out a soft sigh. There was a trace of complexity in it, but even more cold mockery.

"Lord Raikage may not know, or perhaps... may be unwilling to fully believe it," he said slowly, his gaze sweeping over Kumogakure's impregnable gates and the towering buildings in the distance.

"The Uchiha Clan's situation in Konoha has long ceased to be as glorious as that of a 'founding clan of Konoha.'"

His voice was quiet, yet tinged with sorrow.

"Ever since the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, established Konoha's Military Police Force and confined the Uchiha within it, the seeds of suspicion and division were planted."

"By the time the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzō came to power, that suspicion had turned into pervasive suppression, surveillance, and marginalization."

"The Uchiha were shut out of Konoha's core of power. The Military Police Force became the shackles binding us, as well as a high wall separating us from ordinary villagers."

"Any Uchiha clansman with talent or ideas would receive special 'attention' from the higher-ups. Either they would be guided onto the path the higher-ups deemed correct, or... they would quietly disappear."

"In the eyes of Konoha's upper ranks, our Sharingan was not an honor, but a threat; not a source of power, but a tool that needed to be watched and controlled."

"To remain in Konoha meant either becoming numb and despondent in an increasingly stifling environment, like most of our clansmen, until we were assimilated or forgotten."

"Or, like us, choosing to resist, and then... being branded inherently evil, accused of plotting rebellion, and purged."

Shaoyu's tone gradually turned sharp.

"It was not as if we never tried to communicate or fit in. But all we received in return was more sophisticated political maneuvering to divide us, tighter surveillance, and Root watching us like tigers stalking prey."

"Until recently, the higher-ups even began planning a purge of the Uchiha. We merely discovered it in advance."

He looked at Raikage Ai, his gaze open and direct.

"Konoha has long ceased to be a place where the Uchiha can survive. If we stayed, there was only death, or a fate worse than death. So we chose to leave."

"We are not betraying Konoha's villagers, nor are we betraying the so-called Will of Fire. We simply... no longer wish to be fish on the chopping block. We do not want the Uchiha's Sharingan to be completely tarnished amid suspicion and suppression."

Raikage Ai listened quietly, the surprise on his face gradually giving way to deep thought.

He did not fully believe Shaoyu's one-sided account, but some of the details mentioned matched intelligence he already knew.

More importantly, Uchiha Shaoyu's group truly possessed the aura of people who had burned their bridges behind them, as well as genuine combat power.

If all of this was true... then what would these thirteen Uchiha mean for Kumogakure?

No matter how wealthy Konoha was, they probably would not send so many geniuses as spies.

He could see it clearly. He could not read the Uchiha brat before him, but among the others were two Uchiha at jōnin level, while the rest were all chūnin. Most importantly, they were all still so young.