Want to Turn Uchiha Kagami? No, It Was Time to Tell Him to Change Leaders!

For others, three days of confinement might have been an agonizing eternity.

But for Uchiha Xuan, it was a golden opportunity for complete transformation.

The Advanced Chakra Refinement Technique, Eye-Power Enhancement Liquid, and a whole pile of miscellaneous system items that he had stuffed into his body like candy...

Compared to the boy who had relied on verbal sparring at the Hokage meeting three days ago, his strength had increased by far more than double.

He stood in the shadows of his room with his eyes closed.

His sensory ability spread like invisible tendrils, silently passing through the walls and extending around the courtyard.

"Three on the roof to the left, two in the blind spot by the front gate, and another three hiding among the rockeries in the backyard."

A cold smile curled Xuan's lips. Those Root shinobi who believed themselves perfectly concealed were as conspicuous as light bulbs in the night to his current senses, with nowhere to hide.

"Do they really think a few small fry can keep watch over me?"

He neither used the front door nor climbed over the wall.

He simply formed a very simple hand seal.

"Poof!"

A faint muffled sound rang out.

All that remained in the room was a lifelike Shadow Clone, sitting at the desk and reading.

Meanwhile, his real body had used the terrifying explosive power granted by the Sage Body and a newly exchanged stealth movement technique to merge into the night like a ghost, slipping silently through a gap in the Root shinobi's perimeter right beneath their noses.

He did not go directly to find the old men of the radical faction.

Though they were also the main force opposing Konoha, their heads were full of nothing but muscle and hatred. They were easy enough to manipulate and could be kept in his grasp whenever he wished.

The person he wanted to see was the toughest bone to chew within the Uchiha clan.

The leader of the pro-Konoha faction, once the First Hokage's guard and one of the Second Hokage's most prized disciples—Uchiha Kagami!

To complete the system's ultimate mission, "Take the Entire Clan and Run," he had to unite every force that could be united.

Especially an elder like Kagami, who held tremendous prestige within the clan and whose heart leaned toward the light.

Winning him over meant winning nearly half the voices within the Uchiha clan.

Behind Nanga Shrine lay a secluded forest.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, scattering mottled patches of light and shadow.

Uchiha Kagami had a habit of coming here late at night to think alone about the future of the clan and the village.

Too much had happened lately.

Lord Tobirama's suppression of the Uchiha had become increasingly blatant, while the resentment of the clan's radical faction had grown greater and greater, ready to erupt at any moment.

What gave him an even worse headache was that boy named Uchiha Xuan.

He had already heard what the boy had done at the Hokage meeting.

Though he admired Xuan's courage and wisdom, this had undoubtedly pushed the Uchiha clan into the eye of the storm.

"Ah..."

Kagami let out a deep sigh. He felt like a sandwich caught between two enormous boulders, liable to be crushed at any moment.

Just then, a faint rustle of leaves came from behind him.

"Who's there?!"

Kagami's gaze sharpened. He spun around instantly, one hand already reaching for the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

"Kagami-senpai, don't be nervous. It's me."

A calm voice came from the shadows.

Uchiha Xuan slowly emerged from behind a tree, moonlight falling across his young yet unusually profound face.

"Xuan?!" Kagami's pupils contracted, his face full of shock. "Weren't you confined by the Hokage? How are you here? And those ANBU outside..."

"Those small fry can't keep an eye on me." Xuan gave a casual wave of his hand. "Kagami-senpai, I came to see you tonight because there are a few things I want to discuss with you face-to-face."

Kagami looked at the boy before him, who seemed like a completely different person, and the doubts in his heart deepened.

He did not lower his guard. "What do you want to discuss? If you came to persuade me to join your radical faction and oppose the village, then save your breath."

"I, Uchiha Kagami, have received the grace of the First and Second Hokage. I will never do anything that harms Konoha!"

His tone was firm and resolute, filled with loyalty toward Konoha.

Xuan looked at him. Rather than becoming angry, he showed a faintly pitying smile.

He knew that explaining things like "clan honor" and "a crisis of survival" to an honest man deeply brainwashed by the Will of Fire would be useless.

People like this always clung to the naive hope that if they endured enough and yielded enough, they could earn the higher-ups' understanding and acceptance.

The only way to deal with such people was with strong medicine.

"Kagami-senpai, you misunderstand. I'm not here to persuade you."

Xuan took a step forward and met Kagami's eyes directly. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a suffocating coldness.

"I only came to repeat something to you."

"Something I heard with my own ears at the Hokage meeting."

Xuan's voice was low, but every word pierced the heart.

He repeated Senju Tobirama's words—"The Uchiha always crave war; their evil bloodline cannot be restrained"—as well as Shimura Danzo's—"The Uchiha are a cancer that must be completely eradicated"—to Uchiha Kagami word for word, without changing a single syllable.

As he recounted them, he even imitated the two men's lofty tones, laden with disgust and killing intent.

As he listened to Xuan's retelling, Uchiha Kagami's face grew paler and paler.

His body began to tremble slightly. His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deeply into his flesh.

"No... Impossible..."

Kagami staggered back a step, his voice hoarse as though he were desperately trying to deny something. "Lord Tobirama... How could he possibly say such things? We Uchiha have shed so much blood for the village and earned so many merits..."

"Merits? In their eyes, the Uchiha's merits are the sword hanging over their heads!"

Xuan cut him off without mercy, his voice like icy water in the dead of winter, extinguishing the last shred of unrealistic hope in Kagami's heart.

Step by step, he pressed forward, staring fixedly into Kagami's wavering eyes as he threw out a question that struck straight at the soul.

"Kagami-senpai, wake up!"

"In their eyes, are we the 'Uchiha of Konoha,' or 'a threat that must be eliminated'?!"

The words were like a heavy hammer smashing brutally into Uchiha Kagami's heart.

He opened his mouth, wanting to refute him, only to find that he could not utter even a single word.

That was right.

The Police Force's authority had been cut away again and again, the clan grounds had been pushed to the fringes, and ANBU surveillance was everywhere...

Weren't these bloody facts enough to explain everything?

Did the so-called Will of Fire truly include their Uchiha clan within it?

Watching Uchiha Kagami sink into silence and painful struggle, Xuan knew his objective had been achieved.

The seed of doubt had already been planted in the heart of this pro-Konoha faction leader.

All that remained was time to nurture it.

He did not press him any further. Instead, he slowly stepped back and disappeared into the darkness once more.

"Kagami-senpai, I know it will be difficult for you to accept this all at once."

Xuan's voice drifted out from the darkness, carrying a calm confidence.

"In three days, my prophecy will come true. When you see the incompetence and ugliness of Konoha's higher-ups, when you see their fear and killing intent toward us..."

"Then think carefully about what I told you today."

As his words fell, the forest returned to dead silence.

Uchiha Kagami was left standing alone beneath the moonlight, like a statue that had lost its soul, struggling bitterly in the cold wind.