"Don't—"
Just as tensions reached a breaking point, a black figure suddenly stepped between them.
Uchiha Mikoto spread her arms in front of Wuye, tears streaming down her face.
For a moment, the atmosphere froze.
"Mikoto..."
Kushina clenched her fists, her face full of worry.
"Whose side is she on?" Konan frowned.
Terumi Mei glanced at her. "People are contradictory. If Wuye wanted to destroy the Land of Rain, what would you do?"
Konan: "..."
"You want to stop me?"
Wuye's golden skeleton withdrew its fist, its massive form looking down at her.
"No!"
Uchiha Mikoto shouted through her tears. Then she abruptly turned to face the Uchiha clansmen, pointing at Uchiha Fugaku. "Clan Head! Are you really going to drag the entire clan down with you?!"
Everyone froze before turning suspicious eyes toward Uchiha Fugaku.
"What are you trying to say?"
Uchiha Fugaku actually appeared calm and indifferent.
Pointing at him, Uchiha Mikoto shouted, "Kushina told me! You were involved in plotting against her! She recognized your voice!"
"What?!"
The crowd erupted.
The Uchiha Clan Head had attacked the Hokage's wife!
No one could believe the accusation, yet they had no choice but to believe it.
After all, it had been exposed by one of the Uchiha's own people.
For a time, many ninja looked at the Uchiha with even greater wariness and disgust.
"Mikoto, even if you and Uzumaki Kushina are close friends, you can't just slander the Clan Head!"
An Uchiha clansman shouted, "Don't forget that the Grand Elder died for you! Is this how you repay the clan?!"
Uchiha Mikoto's body shook violently. With a thud, she dropped to her knees, overcome by grief.
Could it have been Father?
Holding Sasuke, Itachi Uchiha thought calmly, *Given the clan's current relationship with the village, there was no