A Clan-Wide Assembly: I'm Laying It All Out—Follow Me, and You'll Eat Meat!

Thanks to Senju Tobirama's practically perfect "divine assist," Uchiha Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest. That very night, he convened an emergency assembly of the entire clan at Nanga Shrine.

Aside from the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who truly could not move, along with the very few who were away on missions and could not return in time, nearly every Uchiha clansman had gathered here.

The small plaza before Nanga Shrine was packed solid with a sea of people.

Torchlight illuminated faces slightly twisted by anger, humiliation, and even a hint of despair.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, as though a single spark could set off an earth-shattering explosion.

"This is too much! They're not treating us like people at all!"

"Cutting our ranks would have been bad enough, but now they want to drive us to that godforsaken corner in the northwest to work! That's right on the border between the slums and the prison!"

"The Hokage is trying to destroy the Uchiha foundation! He's forcing us to rebel!"

"Then let's rebel! We're dead either way, so we might as well fight them!"

The clansmen's discussions grew louder and louder. The crowd was worked into a frenzy, nearly enough to blow the roof off the shrine.

Uchiha Yan even drew his ninja blade and slashed viciously at a nearby stone pillar, sending sparks flying.

"Lord Xuan! Just give the word, and our Police Force will storm the Hokage Building right now and drag that blind old bastard out!"

"That's right! Make them give us an explanation!"

"Fight them!"

Watching the enraged, nearly uncontrollable clansmen below, Uchiha Xuan stood atop the high steps with an expressionless face.

He neither stopped them nor joined in. He merely watched in silence.

He needed this anger.

He needed the anger that would completely burn away the shackles Konoha had placed upon the Uchiha for so many years!

When the atmosphere had reached its peak, when everyone's emotions were on the verge of erupting.

Xuan finally moved.

Slowly, he raised his right hand and pressed it gently downward in midair.

He did not use much force, nor did he unleash any chakra pressure.

Yet with this simple gesture.

The noisy plaza seemed to have had its mute button pressed.

Every sound came to an abrupt halt.

Thousands of eyes turned in unison toward the youth standing at the highest point.

Their king.

"Demand an explanation?"

A deeply mocking sneer curled at the corner of Xuan's lips.

His voice was not loud, yet it rang especially harshly in the deathly silent night.

"Who do you intend to demand an explanation from?"

His blade-like gaze swept across the clansmen who had shouted the loudest moments ago.

"From the Second Hokage, who calls us the 'evil clan' and sends ANBU to watch us day and night?"

"Or from Shimura Danzo, who is always plotting to lock us in Root's dungeons and use every dirty trick imaginable against us?"

With every word he spoke, the hearts of the clansmen sank a little deeper.

That was right.

Demand an explanation from them?

How was that any different from bargaining with a tiger?

"Wake up, everyone."

Xuan's sneer vanished, and his voice turned low and cold, like the bitter wind of midwinter blowing straight into everyone's bones.

"In Konoha, there is no explanation for the Uchiha."

"From the moment we helped build this village, we were branded 'unstable elements.'"

"They fear our power and dread our eyes, so they use hollow slogans like the 'Will of Fire' to numb us, power to suppress us, and schemes to divide us!"

Xuan pointed toward Hokage Rock, golden flames igniting in his eyes.

"Do you really think this relocation order is merely a simple restructuring?"

"Wrong!"

"This is their first move to completely marginalize us, strip away our last bit of living space, and even prepare to wipe us out with justification in the future!"

A few suppressed sobs rose from the crowd.

They were cries of despair in the face of cruel reality.

Uchiha Kagami stood below Xuan. Listening to those words, he closed his eyes in pain.

Everything he had once believed in without question was now being mercilessly torn apart by Xuan.

"Here, we are criminals! Prisoners! Discarded pawns who can be sacrificed at any time!"

Xuan's voice suddenly rose, exploding like thunder!

"Since this village has already rotted to the core, since they can no longer tolerate us!"

"Then why should we remain here, wagging our tails and begging like dogs?!"

Xuan abruptly spread his arms wide. His Golden Flame Divine Eyes radiated a divine brilliance in the firelight that no one could look directly at.

"I, Uchiha Xuan!"

"Tonight, right here, I will lay it all out before you!"

He looked at the pairs of shocked, confused, and faintly hopeful eyes below.

"I have no intention of leading you to demand some damn explanation!"

"Nor do I intend to lead you into a fight to the death with Konoha's higher-ups!"

"I will lead you..."

He drew a deep breath and clearly laid that grand blueprint before every clansman.

"Out of this trash prison!"

"Overseas! To find a land that truly belongs to us!"

"There, there will be no suspicion and no oppression!"

"There, we will be the masters! The pioneers! The makers of the rules!"

"We will establish a true divine kingdom upon this earth, one a hundred times stronger than Konoha!"

Boom!

The entire crowd erupted into an uproar!

Defection?!

Building a nation overseas?!

Those two words were like massive bombs, leaving every Uchiha clansman dizzy and stunned.

This was insane!

It was ten thousand times crazier than storming the Hokage Building!

But why...

Why did it sound so blood-stirring?!

"I know what you're afraid of."

Xuan sharply caught the traces of hesitation within the crowd.

"Afraid of the Hokage hunting you down? Afraid of the ninja villages outside? Afraid you won't have enough food or warm clothes?"

He chuckled, his tone full of disdain.

"These past few days, I had Inabi convert all the clan's fixed assets into hard cash and move it somewhere safe."

"Our money is enough to buy half the Land of Water!"

"As for safety..."

Xuan's gaze passed over the crowd and turned toward the secret chamber deep within Nanga Shrine.

"All I can tell you is that tonight, even if Hashirama Senju climbed out of his grave, he still could not stop the Uchiha from leaving!"

He withdrew his gaze, his eyes becoming incomparably resolute, like a sharp blade that had severed every path of retreat.

"Those willing to follow me! Those who wish to create a future for our Uchiha!"

Xuan's voice roared like thunder, resounding through the heavens!

"Tonight! Leave this prison with me! Follow me, and you'll eat meat! You'll have dignity! You'll have everything that belongs to us!"

"Those unwilling..."

He paused, and his tone became utterly emotionless.

"I will not force you."

"But from this day onward, you will no longer be a member of the Uchiha! Your life and death will have nothing more to do with me or the clan!"

Silence.

After a brief silence.

Came a deafening response, like a volcano erupting!

"I'll follow you, Lord Xuan!"

"I've had enough of this bullshit! Fuck them!"

"I swear to follow Lord Xuan until death! Leave Konoha!"

Countless clansmen, eyes red, raised their fists and shouted themselves hoarse.

At that moment, the Uchiha clan—the blade that had slept for far too long—had finally... fully left its sheath!

Watching the boiling crowd below, Uchiha Xuan smiled in satisfaction.

He turned to look at Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Kagami beside him.

"How are the preparations?"

"My lord!" Setsuna forcefully suppressed his excitement. "All combat personnel are in position! The supplies have been packed! We await only your command!"

"Very good."

Xuan nodded. Then he turned his gaze toward the youth at the very front of the crowd, whose fists had remained tightly clenched and whose eyes burned with fervor.

"Uchiha Fugaku."

Xuan spoke calmly, but the youth's entire body trembled.

"Here! Brother Xuan... no, Lord Xuan!"

Fugaku dropped to one knee, his voice shaking with excitement.

"You said before that you were willing to follow me for all eternity."

Xuan looked at the future Uchiha clan head, a meaningful curve lifting at the corner of his mouth.

"Now is the time to prove your loyalty."