Clan Assembly (2)

The Uchiha Clan's gathering place was a vast, empty hall within Naka Shrine.

Aside from the wall lamps around the room, there were few decorations, and the floor was uniformly paved with bluestone.

To outsiders, the Uchiha Clan appeared highly united and cohesive. In truth, however, its members often refused to concede to one another.

During clan assemblies, whenever words failed to persuade someone, fights were often unavoidable. After all, the Uchiha Clan was exceptionally easy to persuade through physical means.

The moment Uchiha Yushu entered, he saw his grandfather standing together with two elders.

He walked toward the three of them.

"Grandfather, Elder Wei, Elder Zhiyuan!"

Uchiha Yushu greeted them first.

The three old men and women, whose combined ages exceeded two hundred, immediately brightened.

"Yushu, how is it? Are you confident?" Uchiha Yan asked impatiently as he looked at Yushu.

"I wouldn't call it confidence. The odds of success and failure are roughly fifty-fifty."

Uchiha Yushu shrugged.

"Fifty-fifty is already quite good. Since it was launched in such haste, achieving this much is not bad."

Uchiha Yan pondered.

"Kid Yushu, you have to succeed. You have no idea what I've been through these past two days. If you fail, you'll have let all my efforts down."

Uchiha Wei spoke to Yushu from the side.

"I'll do my best, Elder Wei," Uchiha Yushu replied.

At this moment, Uchiha Yan spoke to Yushu with a somewhat solemn expression. "Be careful of Fugaku. He may choose to voluntarily surrender the position of clan head."

"Under normal circumstances, that would not be a problem. But if he does that now, his presence will continue to influence you in the future."

Grandfather could even guess that? He really is a wily old fox!

Uchiha Yushu had considered that possibility: what if Fugaku voluntarily relinquished the position of clan head? At that point, let alone reclaiming the clan head's authority—

He would likely not even be able to compare to Fugaku as he was now. Though Fugaku might give up the position, he would still retain part of his power.

For the Uchiha Clan's future, the entire clan needed to be united under a single voice. So, for the sake of the clan, Clan Head Fugaku, sorry—but he would not be allowed to step down so easily.

"You brat, what do you mean, wily old fox? If Fugaku had not allowed things to develop these past two days, do you think you could have had it so easy? If I couldn't see through that little scheme of Fugaku's, this old man would have died who knows how many times over."

As the time for the gathering approached, the clan members began finding their seats.

Uchiha Yushu stopped chatting with the three of them and headed straight toward the center, passing one clan member after another, then passing the elders.

In the end, he arrived at the clan head's seat, but Uchiha Yushu did not sit on it.

Instead, he sat cross-legged directly on the floor slightly to one side of it.

His actions were clearly noticed by everyone, and the clan members began whispering among themselves.

"Is that Uchiha Yushu? They say he's the strongest among the clan's younger generation."

"Nonsense. The strongest is obviously Shisui!"

"But I just saw Shisui following behind Yushu. Doesn't that mean Shisui is inferior to Yushu?"

"Maybe Shisui just happened to be walking behind him. Besides, they're close, so perhaps they simply do not care about that sort of thing."

"I'm close with you too. From now on, whenever we're together, you can walk behind me."

"Get lost..."

The entire gathering place instantly grew somewhat noisy. As the younger members looked at Uchiha Yushu sitting cross-legged, most of them had eyes full of passion and anticipation.

Some of the older ninja looked at him with disgust, while even more merely glanced at him before no longer paying attention.

In a spot by the wall, someone stared intently at Uchiha Yushu, trying to glean more information from his actions. This person was Itachi Uchiha, sent by the Third Hokage to gather intelligence on the clan assembly.

At this moment, the clan head, who had yet to appear, finally arrived amid the sound of footsteps.

He wore the uniform of the Konoha Military Police Force and had a blank expression. Six clan members followed behind him, also dressed in Konoha Military Police Force uniforms. Uchiha Yushu swept his gaze across the six and immediately knew who they were.

One of the six, a somewhat younger ninja, stared at Uchiha Yushu with eyes full of fury. If he knew Amaterasu, Uchiha Yushu would likely not even have ashes left.

Fugaku Uchiha came to the center of the crowd, but did not head toward his own seat. The six behind him did not look for seats either.

Fugaku found a suitable angle from which to address everyone. "My deepest apologies. Matters within the department delayed me and made everyone wait."

He then turned to look at Uchiha Yushu, who was sitting cross-legged beside the clan head's seat, before looking back at the crowd.

"At this clan assembly, there is something I wish to announce..."

"Hold on!" Uchiha Yushu, who had been silently watching Fugaku speak, finally spoke up and interrupted him.

Everyone looked at Yushu in surprise. Even Fugaku turned toward him, confusion in his eyes.

"Before the meeting begins, I want to throw out the people who are unfit to attend it." As he spoke, he looked toward a corner by the wall.

Following his gaze, everyone immediately spotted Itachi Uchiha sitting in the corner.

"That's Itachi, right? Clan Head Fugaku's son. I heard he awakened his Sharingan at a very young age."

"Your news is outdated. I heard the Third Hokage personally invited him to join the Anbu not long ago. He should already be an Anbu now. Truly impressive!"

"Hey, is there something wrong with your brain? What is so good about the Third Hokage's Anbu? He did not join the Military Police Force—that's betrayal!"

"..."

With Itachi's discovery, the crowd began another round of hushed discussion.

Uchiha Yushu paid no attention to their murmurs. Once everyone knew who Itachi was, he raised his voice above the discussion and demanded, "I have wanted to ask this for a long time. On what basis does Itachi Uchiha attend clan assemblies? What identity does he have to stand here?"

Fugaku was somewhat displeased as well. Being interrupted was one thing, but making an issue out of his son seemed rather underhanded.

He immediately said to Uchiha Yushu, "Itachi is my son. When he was young, I brought him to several clan assemblies so that he could broaden his horizons. Although he has attended every gathering since then, he has never voiced an opinion and has only watched from the side. As the clan head, surely I have the privilege of bending the rules slightly to train my son?"

"As the clan head of our clan, it is no problem for Clan Head Fugaku to bend the rules a little. But Clan Head Fugaku's eyesight is clearly poor enough that he cannot even see what kind of person his own son is."

Uchiha Yushu shook his head, disappointment written on his face. Then, with a sharp gaze, he looked at Itachi. "Itachi Uchiha, step forward. In front of your father and every clan member, say that you are not the Third Hokage's spy, and that you did not attend clan assemblies to gather clan intelligence and report it to the Third Hokage!"

Uchiha Yushu's words clearly shocked everyone. Even Fugaku became hesitant, and amid their confusion, many turned questioning eyes toward Itachi Uchiha.

Under everyone's gaze, Itachi Uchiha still maintained his expressionless face. He was equally shocked inside, unable to understand why Uchiha Yushu had discovered him the moment he received his mission.

In truth, Uchiha Yushu had no idea that Itachi had already gained the Third Hokage's initial trust and become a spy. He simply did not want to see that ungrateful traitor again.

Under the eyes of the crowd, Itachi Uchiha said nothing. He neither stepped forward to deny Yushu's accusation nor affirmed his loyalty to the Uchiha Clan.

This scene was enough for some people to realize that Itachi might truly be a spy planted by Konoha. The most shocked of all was Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Itachi, are you truly a spy sent to the clan by the higher-ups?"

Itachi Uchiha recalled the care, encouragement, and expectations his father had shown him from childhood to adulthood. He could not remain unmoved as he had when facing Yushu. In the end, his gaze hardened, and he said coldly, "I'm sorry, Father. I am Anbu. I am a Konoha ninja!"

The moment those words were spoken, it was as though a bomb had exploded among the crowd.

"Itachi, you bastard! The clan invested so much effort into raising you, and this is how you repay it?"

"Get out of here! You lackey of Konoha's higher-ups—you have brought disgrace upon the Uchiha Clan!"

"Itachi, you have tarnished the Uchiha Clan's glory."

"..."

Angry shouts rose one after another. Some agitated ninja even awakened their Sharingan as they cursed.

Listening to their denunciations, Itachi merely found them noisy. Seeing the clan members constantly speaking of the Uchiha and the clan filled him with disgust. These narrow-minded, arrogant, selfish people would never understand the Will of Fire. They were a clan beyond saving.

Knowing he could no longer stay, he headed straight outside.