Uchiha Setsuna

When Uchiha Shaoyu first transmigrated here, he had already considered the path of defection.

Anyone who has watched Naruto knows that the Uchiha clan is hated by everyone in Konoha—even the dogs despise them.

This is especially true of the high-ranking officials in Konoha; those old fossils, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo, are the prime examples.

That old man, Shimura Danzo, thinks about the destruction of the Uchiha clan every single waking moment.

The hatred toward the Uchiha clan began with the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. That old thing even created the Konoha Military Police Force, which caused the Uchiha clan to be completely ostracized throughout the village.

However, although that naturally evil little brat of the Senju clan, Senju Tobirama, hated the Uchiha, he had not yet reached the point of wiping them out; at most, he had carried out a series of suppressions.

But ever since Senju Tobirama died on the Cloud Hidden Battlefield and Sarutobi Hiruzen ascended to the position of Hokage, life for the Uchiha clan could be said to have become increasingly difficult.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo, one singing the good cop and the other the bad cop, have been constantly suppressing the Uchiha clan.

That would be one thing, but not only have the Uchiha offended the high-ranking officials, they don't even have a good reputation throughout the entire village of Konoha.

Among the other ninja clans, who looks at the Uchiha with anything but disdain?

But this is also an unavoidable situation.

The Uchiha clan's powerful innate talent brings with it formidable strength, which leads to their inherent arrogance, making them incompatible with the rest of Konoha.

As for the other villagers of Konoha, there is no need to even mention them.

The title "Konoha bumpkins" wasn't earned for nothing.

Shaoyu felt that if he didn't defect and continued to stay here, he would sooner or later be suffocated to death.

With such powerful strength, where could the Uchiha clan not be embraced and respected? Yet here in Konoha, they are ostracized into this pathetic state.

With his Six Eyes active, he saw the situation outside. Uchiha Shaoyu already knew that Danzo had come to kill, but the clan leader had indeed blocked him. It seemed that the current clan leader was not the spineless coward Fugaku would later become; he still had some backbone.

However, the clan leader was a dove after all. Uchiha Shaoyu decided that if he were going to defect, it would be better to find the leader of the hawks, Uchiha Setsuna.

Uchiha Setsuna was a smart man; he would know what needed to be done.

With the clan leader there, Danzo wouldn't be able to get through, which just happened to give him some time to prepare.

Danzo looked at the group of Red Eye users surrounding him and felt a bit uneasy.

Although he hated these Uchiha, he had to admit that their combat effectiveness was truly superior; ninjas of the same rank found it difficult to contend with them.

He knew that if he tried to force his way in, he would definitely be chopped into mincemeat by these Uchiha clansmen.

Although he was still relatively young, even without using his trump cards, he was undoubtedly at the Kage level in terms of combat power. But facing so many Uchiha, he certainly wasn't their match.

"So many Three-Tomoe Sharingan. These damn Uchiha still possess such powerful strength; they must be weakened."

After all, the Root ninjas he had brought with him weren't of much use.

"Damn it, after I go back this time, I must get Hiruzen to sign the papers to get some clan-bloodline ninjas into our Root. Otherwise, I'll have no one to use."

"And what is going on with Fox and Bear? Why haven't they succeeded yet? Could it be that they can't even take down a heavily injured person?"

After waiting for a long time, Danzo saw that his subordinates still hadn't returned. He knew these pieces of trash had likely failed and wouldn't be coming back.

"Clan Leader Tiandao, we shall meet again."

Danzo left the Uchiha compound with a gloomy face, seething with resentment.

Seeing Danzo leave, Tiandao also relaxed.

He really didn't want to come into conflict with Danzo, but if Danzo were to break in right under his nose and take away a genius of their Uchiha clan, then he wouldn't be fit to be the clan leader anymore.

"Sigh, what a troubled time."

Uchiha Shaoyu walked through the moonlight on the stone path of the compound, his footsteps light yet steady.

Deep in the compound, the gathering place of the hawks was hidden behind an old pine forest. It was an unassuming stone house, perpetually permeated with the faint scent of gunpowder.

Those were the marks left behind by the hawks' constant private training and sparring.

He raised his hand and knocked on the stone door; the rhythm of three longs and two shorts was the secret code of the hawks. Soon, steady footsteps came from inside.

The door was opened by an old man with a hunched frame but a straight spine. His silver hair was like frost, combed meticulously, and his forehead was etched with deep wrinkles—the marks left by time and the battlefield.

There was an old scar running across the brow bone of his left eye, which looked particularly ferocious in the dim light. It was Uchiha Setsuna.

He was over seventy years old, dressed in a dark, stiff, washed-out ninja outfit. The fan crest on his collar had faded with age, and his withered finger joints were swollen, yet he could still hold a weapon steadily.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his cloudy whites slowly rotated. When he saw that the visitor was Shaoyu, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, and he stepped aside to let him in. His voice was husky with age but still held strength.

"Shaoyu? Coming to see me at this hour—is there something urgent?"

The stone house was simply furnished, with only a chipped stone table and a few low stools. Bundles of firewood were piled in the corner, and the ninjutsu diagrams hanging on the wall were yellowed and frayed at the edges.

As soon as Shaoyu sat down, he spoke directly.

"Elder Setsuna, I've come to tell you that I am going to defect from Konoha."

The reason he said it so directly was that, in the memories of Uchiha Shaoyu's predecessor, Elder Setsuna was someone who could absolutely be trusted regarding the matter of defection.

Uchiha Setsuna was one of the few smart people in the Uchiha clan; he would know how to make the right choice.

As his words fell, the air in the stone house instantly froze. Uchiha Setsuna's hand, which was holding a coarse pottery teacup, paused; his knuckles turned white from the force. He didn't immediately refute, only raised his eyes to look steadily at Shaoyu. The tomoe in his Sharingan rotated slowly, as if weighing the gravity of his words.

"Do you know what this means? Defectors are hunted by Konoha; from that moment on, no matter how vast the world is, there will be no place for you. I have lived for over seventy years and have seen the ends of too many defectors."

There was one more thing he didn't say.

"The last Uchiha to defect was named Uchiha Madara."

"I am clearer on that than anyone."

Shaoyu met his gaze, his Six Eyes quietly activating, a sharp light flashing in the depths of his eyes.

"But staying in Konoha is a dead end. Danzo's Root has already reached the edge of our compound. If the clan leader hadn't stopped him just now, he probably would have already broken in."

"You and I both understand that the high-ranking officials' suppression of our Uchiha has never been for the sake of Konoha's order, but to eliminate those who dissent. If we wait any longer, we will either be slowly drained to death or face the end of total annihilation."

He paused, his tone growing more resolute.

"My Uchiha clan possesses the most top-tier bloodline and the most powerful Sharingan. Why should we take abuse from those old fossils in Konoha? Why should we be ostracized as monsters by the villagers? Instead of being stifled to death here, it is better to carve out a bloody path and find a place where the Uchiha can truly stand."