Will of Fire? The Uchiha Clan Would No Longer Serve!

Swish, swish, swish!

After a moment of silence, everyone turned to look at Uchiha Hanjō at the same time, their gazes seeming to ask whether what Xuanyu had said was true.

Under everyone's scrutiny!

Uchiha Hanjō finally gritted his teeth and said stiffly, "I called you all here to discuss what Xuanyu mentioned. I need several top-tier ninja right now, and rather than let outsiders benefit, I wanted to find people from our own clan to join the Merchant Guild!"

"Uchiha Hanjō, you want us to work for you as merchants?"

After confirming Uchiha Hanjō's intentions, Uchiha Da Cun looked as though he had been insulted. When he looked at Uchiha Hanjō again, his eyes had turned hostile!

They were proud Uchiha clansmen. How could they possibly become ninja for a Merchant Guild? They should be going to the battlefield and carrying out the village's missions.

Uchiha Hanjō inviting them into a Merchant Guild was no different from insulting the Uchiha Clan!

The Uchiha would never be slaves, nor would they become anyone's vassals!

"Don't misunderstand me. I want you to serve as the Merchant Guild's honored retainers. You would only need to act if the guild encountered an accident or emergency!" Uchiha Hanjō phrased it somewhat tactfully. What he really meant was escorting goods.

But calling them honored retainers sounded better, and others would have nothing to criticize.

"No, Hanjō, I understand what you mean, but we cannot join the Merchant Guild!" Uchiha Da Cun shook his head decisively. Then, looking at Uchiha Hanjō, he said seriously, "Hanjō, if you run into any trouble, we can help you solve it. But joining your Merchant Guild is out of the question!"

The other Uchiha clansmen nodded seriously as well. They had thought it through clearly: they could not join Uchiha Hanjō's Merchant Guild!

Otherwise,

they would be mocked, alienated, and even despised by the Uchiha Clan!

Therefore,

they could not join Uchiha Hanjō's Merchant Guild!

"Da Cun, you should think this through. This time, I sincerely want to invite you into the Merchant Guild!" Uchiha Hanjō looked at them and spoke again.

Since everything had been laid out in the open, he wanted to make things clear.

Whether it worked or not would depend on the outcome. If they truly refused, he would go persuade other clansmen.

"How could the Uchiha Clan possibly work for a mere merchant? That would damage the Uchiha's honor!" These Uchiha still could not let go of their pride and began defending themselves.

"Everyone, I've said it several times already. It isn't working for me. You would be honored retainers!"

Uchiha Hanjō repeated himself. For the sake of the Uchiha's dignity, he emphasized it again: "It's just like accepting Konoha missions. Some Konoha missions involve escorting merchant caravans. Do you refuse those too?"

Xuanyu was speechless. Because of Konoha's exclusion, they were already struggling to afford three meals a day, yet they were still thinking about Uchiha honor!

"Hanjō, stop talking. This concerns the Uchiha's honor!" Uchiha Da Cun hesitated, glanced at the others, and finally shook his head.

For the Uchiha's honor, they still could not be allowed to enter commerce!

Even though Uchiha Hanjō was wealthy enough to rival a village, he was still shunned by the Uchiha Clan. There was even less reason to mention them.

"Fine, but... Da Cun, I just want to ask you one question!" Uchiha Hanjō laughed, then looked seriously at Uchiha Da Cun and the other Uchiha clansmen who had come with him. "Can you still receive missions assigned by Konoha?"

His gaze swept across the other ninja who had come along.

At once,

several members of the Uchiha Clan fell silent. None of them spoke again, and some even clenched their fists.

Ever since the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, began his rule after Madara left Konoha, he had started driving the Uchiha Clan away from the political center. Later, the Uchiha's status within the village sank lower and lower. Although they now controlled the Konoha Police Force, no one truly respected them. The people of the village felt only wariness and fear toward the Uchiha Clan.

Especially in recent years, after the Fourth Hokage's death and the Third Hokage resumed his position, the Uchiha clansmen had been excluded from Konoha even more severely. In the vast Uchiha Clan, only a few could enter the Konoha Higher-Ups—more accurately, only one.

Uchiha Shisui.

The other Uchiha clansmen had almost all been ignored by Konoha.

"Da Cun, you have two children at home, don't you? If you keep having no income, are you, a proud jonin, going to rely on support from the clan?"

"Uchiha Kai, your child was just born too, wasn't he?"

"And there's more."

Uchiha Hanjō laid all of these matters bare.

Indeed, in recent years, Konoha had treated the Uchiha rather unfairly.

The group gradually fell silent and simply listened as Uchiha Hanjō continued.

"Since Konoha wants to push our Uchiha Clan out of the political center, why should we give a damn about them? We might as well work with me. Then we won't have to put up with that old bastard's attitude, nor suffer the disdainful looks of the Konoha People!" Uchiha Hanjō grew more impassioned as he spoke. What he needed now was to stir up their emotions.

"As for when Konoha runs into trouble in the future, let them find someone else to deal with it. The Uchiha Clan will no longer serve them!"

Uchiha Hanjō spoke eloquently while the others listened in silence.

Indeed,

Konoha had always suppressed them. Top-tier ninja like them could not even receive village missions!

No one knew how long passed before Uchiha Kai, who had been standing beside Uchiha Da Cun in silence, suddenly slapped his thigh and said resentfully, "That's right. I quit!"

He was also a jonin. In the past, they had worked tirelessly for Konoha's peace, yet Konoha wanted only to alienate and suppress them.

Even when they were assigned missions, they were sent on dangerous ones, supposedly because Uchiha Clan ninja were strong enough to complete high-difficulty missions.

But because they carried out those dangerous and difficult missions, the Uchiha had lost quite a few powerful ninja over the past few years. Their families, young and old alike, had struggled even more, surviving only through subsidies from the Uchiha Clan and Uchiha Hanjō.

"Kai!" Uchiha Da Cun rebuked him sternly, but it was clear that his eyes held a trace of hesitation as well.

"Da Cun, don't you understand even now? Konoha has always been suppressing our Uchiha Clan. They want us to risk our lives for Konoha without paying any price. Why should we listen to them? Why should we serve the Konoha Higher-Ups?"

Konoha's attitude toward the Uchiha Clan disgusted him.

"Da Cun, working for Konoha is what truly humiliates the Uchiha Clan's dignity. They suppress us, yet we still have to curry favor with them!" Uchiha Kai's tone became increasingly resolute. "I'm quitting anyway. I'm following Hanjō!"

He had already made up his mind. He would stay and remain with the Merchant Guild.

"Da Cun, Uchiha Kai is right. Risking our lives for Konoha is just a joke!" At that moment, two others nodded as well. They too agreed with Uchiha Kai and chose to follow Uchiha Hanjō.

Konoha did not treat them well, so why should they serve Konoha?

What bullshit Will of Fire.

At that moment, they finally came to their senses.

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