Take Advantage of Itachi's Youth and Kill Him? Fugaku Compromises!

"Uchiha Hanjō, the clan is facing difficulties right now. We asked you to make some sacrifices for the clan, yet you refused outright?"

Uchiha Itachi stared at Uchiha Hanjō as he questioned him. Though his brows were furrowed, his face remained mostly expressionless. "As an Uchiha clansman, not only do you refuse to contribute to the clan, you even want to drag it down. You are a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan!"

As he spoke,

the tear troughs beside his nose seemed even deeper.

Yet,

even as Uchiha Itachi spoke to his own father like that, Uchiha Fugaku did not stop him. Instead, there was even a trace of satisfaction in his eyes.

Itachi truly was his son. He had said everything Fugaku himself did not want to say. Everything was for the clan, yet Uchiha Hanjō actually wanted to refuse to help it.

After all, the reason Uchiha Hanjō's Merchant Guild had flourished was also because of the Uchiha Clan's status behind it. Otherwise, it would have long since been carved up by other clans.

"Uchiha Itachi, how are we dragging the clan down?" Xuanyu stepped forward and met Itachi's gaze. Under everyone's stunned stares, he continued, "Not only did we take in Uchiha clansmen when the clan was in trouble, but my father is now spending a huge amount of money to build a hospital that will accept patients from both the clan and Konoha. Everything we have done has been for the clan!"

At that,

Xuanyu stared at Uchiha Itachi and took several more steps forward, anger on his childish face. "You came here demanding money right away. What, does only giving money to the clan count as contributing to it? If that is the case, my father's contributions over the past few years have been far greater than the Clan Head's. How much money have you donated to the clan?"

Xuanyu's words rang out forcefully, every point striking at the heart of the matter.

Especially that last point: just how much had anyone besides his father donated to the clan?

"You are being unreasonable. Every clansman has their own duties!" Itachi grew somewhat angry under Xuanyu's repeated questioning. "The Clan Head has the Clan Head's responsibilities, just as you donate money to the clan and the clan protects you!"

"The clan protects us?" Xuanyu laughed when he heard that. Looking at Uchiha Itachi's righteous expression, he continued, "We donate so much money to the clan every year, yet in your eyes, we are nothing but lowly, inferior merchants. And you claim you will protect us? How laughable."

Xuanyu had no doubt that if the Merchant Guild had run into trouble a few years ago, Uchiha Fugaku would never have helped.

"You..." Uchiha Itachi was left speechless by Xuanyu's string of questions, but he still seized on the main issue. "Let's not talk about anything else. The Uchiha Police Force is the foundation of the Uchiha, yet you recruited its members into your Merchant Guild. Are you trying to ruin the Uchiha's future?"

He intended to hold onto this matter and turn Uchiha Hanjō into a sinner of the clan. No, Uchiha Hanjō already was a sinner of the Uchiha Clan.

"If the Merchant Guild had not recruited those clansmen, the Uchiha would not have fallen into this situation!" The more Uchiha Itachi thought about it, the angrier he became. Looking at Lu, who stood in front of him and was younger than him, his confidence returned. "This is all your fault. It is not good for a merchant to involve himself in too much!"

In Uchiha Itachi's heart, the village and the clan came first, but Uchiha Hanjō had clearly broken the rules.

"Ha ha. Our fault?" Xuanyu laughed loudly, his tone dripping with mockery. "The Military Police Force has no wages now, and my father stepped in to hire them. Is that wrong? If even that is wrong, then the ones who advocated giving up half of the Military Police Force are the true traitors to the clan!"

Facing Itachi's questioning, he showed no fear whatsoever.

Moreover, his later words were clearly another jab at Uchiha Fugaku, mocking him for giving up half of the Uchiha Police Force.

Hmph, Uchiha Itachi had slandered his father so freely. It was only proper to return the favor. Since Itachi dared to slander his father, he could not blame Xuanyu for being impolite.

"Brat... giving up half of the Military Police Force was decided at a full clan meeting!" Uchiha Fugaku was visibly enraged upon hearing Xuanyu's last words.

"The whole clan? Not necessarily. There were so many voices in opposition within the clan, yet you never listened to them, did you?" Xuanyu took two steps back when he saw Fugaku's posture, as though he was about to hit him, but his mouth did not stop.

"You dare speak to me like this? You have no manners at all. Today, I will teach you a proper lesson in your father's place!" Uchiha Fugaku was left speechless. Unable to win the argument, he stepped forward to hit Xuanyu.

But Xuanyu reacted quickly and hid behind his father.

Uchiha Hanjō's expression darkened as well. He looked at Uchiha Fugaku and said, "Clan Head, I am not dead yet. There is no need to trouble yourself with disciplining my son in my place!"

With him standing right there, Uchiha Fugaku still wanted to punish his son. That was a complete disregard for him.

As soon as Uchiha Hanjō stepped forward, the dozens of ninjas behind him also followed, glaring at Uchiha Fugaku.

Their intentions were obvious. If Uchiha Fugaku dared to make a move, they would intervene.

They also knew who had given them their current lives.

If the Clan Head wanted to destroy their current lives, then he was their enemy. Clan Head or not, he could not lay a hand on Uchiha Hanjō.

"You want to fight?" Itachi stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the dozens of fellow Uchiha behind Uchiha Hanjō, sharp Killing Intent in his gaze.

In truth,

he had long been displeased with these Uchiha clansmen who had betrayed the clan. If possible, he wanted to teach them a lesson.

"They are going to fight?"

A glimmer flashed through Xuanyu's eyes as he saw Itachi arrogantly step out alone to confront dozens of fighters.

If he makes a move here, can I take the opportunity to cripple Itachi? Then the threat of Uchiha Itachi carrying out the Clan Massacre will be gone.

Then Xuanyu shook his head.

Leaving aside whether the Third Hokage would move against the Uchiha Clan ahead of time if Itachi were killed, Uchiha Fugaku had already awakened the Sharingan. If he unleashed Susanoo here, things would become troublesome.

After all!

The Sharingan's Susanoo was the Uchiha's pinnacle combat power, capable of reaching Super Kage-level strength. However, it also had a weakness: Susanoo consumed Doujutsu Power.

The people present could exhaust Uchiha Fugaku to death, but the Merchant Guild's people would likely suffer losses of half their number as well.

Now was not the best time to make a move against Itachi.

"Itachi, come back!" Uchiha Fugaku had not expected things to escalate to this point. With a dark expression, he called Itachi back before looking up at Uchiha Hanjō. His tone softened.

"Hanjō, you also know the clan's current difficulties. How about you send those clansmen resting at the Merchant Guild to work at the Military Police Force first, so as to ease the burden on the other clansmen there?"

This time, his tone was one of negotiation rather than arrogance.

He knew that even as Clan Head, he could no longer control Uchiha Hanjō.

"You want to use our Merchant Guild's clansmen? Fine." Hearing Uchiha Fugaku's softened words, Uchiha Hanjō pondered for a moment before saying, "There are indeed dozens of clansmen in my Merchant Guild without escort assignments right now. As long as you pay them wages, I will let them work at the Military Police Force!"

As he said that, afraid Uchiha Fugaku would not understand, he added, "I forgot to tell you—their base salary with me is 12,000 Ryo!"

12,000 Ryo!

I've been a little busy these past two days, so there have been fewer updates. Things will return to normal tomorrow!