Do You Trust the Sharingan, or Do You Trust Them to Show Mercy?

Inside the shrine, the eyes of the radical clan members changed completely.

If they had supported Uchiha You before because he dared to fight back and speak his mind for the clan,

then now, they supported Uchiha You because he possessed the true strength to lead the Uchiha Clan in resistance.

Mangekyo Sharingan.

That was the strongest source of confidence.

Uchiha Chuan was so excited that even his fists trembled.

He knew You was strong.

But he had never expected You to have already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!

No wonder You had been so composed from beginning to end.

No wonder he had dared to go to the Land of Water alone.

No wonder he had dared to question Danzo in front of the Hokage.

Because he truly had something to fall back on!

Shisui looked at Uchiha You's eyes, his emotions tangled to the extreme.

He had never imagined that his friend had hidden himself so deeply.

Meanwhile, Itachi stared fixedly at Uchiha You's Mangekyo pattern.

That pattern was far too strange.

It did not resemble the markings of an ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan.

It was more like some sort of mark of calamity.

Dangerous.

Ominous.

Yet it carried an overwhelming pressure.

Itachi thought to himself:

Is this the confidence You has to provoke the higher-ups?

Fugaku Uchiha sat in the seat of honor, and his expression finally changed noticeably.

He was equally shocked.

Though he possessed a Mangekyo Sharingan himself, that was precisely why he understood what those eyes represented.

Uchiha You's Mangekyo Sharingan had been hidden far too well.

Even he, the clan head, had known nothing about it.

That meant Uchiha You had been concealing his strength all along.

It also meant that he might have long prepared for the Uchiha Clan's current predicament.

Fugaku asked in a deep voice:

"You, when did you awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Uchiha You looked at Fugaku.

"A long time ago."

Fugaku frowned.

"Why didn't you report it to the clan?"

A cold smirk crossed Uchiha You's face.

"And then what?"

"Let the clan head use my Mangekyo Sharingan to keep negotiating with the Third Hokage?"

Fugaku's expression darkened.

The atmosphere inside the shrine tightened once more.

But Uchiha You refused to yield.

"Clan Head, I am not trying to humiliate you."

"I am only stating the facts."

"The Uchiha Clan does not lack strength."

"Shisui has the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"So do I."

"There are plenty of Three-Tomoe Sharingan elites within the clan."

"The Police Force members are even familiar with Konoha's streets and defenses."

"So why have we still been forced into this situation?"

"Because from top to bottom, everyone in the clan is still waiting."

"Waiting for the Third Hokage to uphold justice."

"Waiting for Danzo to stop."

"Waiting for the villagers to understand."

"Waiting for the conflict to disappear on its own."

Uchiha You's voice suddenly turned cold.

"But what have you been waiting for?"

"Root's blades!"

Inside the shrine, the clan members fell silent again.

Those words cut too deeply because they were too real.

Uchiha You looked at everyone, his Mangekyo Sharingan slowly spinning.

"I did not come here tonight to force everyone into launching a coup immediately."

"Nor do I need you to charge into the Hokage Building with me right now."

"I only want to ask you one question."

"If Konoha's higher-ups truly intend to move against the Uchiha Clan,"

"will you keep believing that they will show mercy,"

"or will you believe in your own Sharingan?"

There was almost no hesitation.

Uchiha Chuan was the first to rise.

"I believe in my own Sharingan!"

Then came the second, the third, and the fourth.

One Police Force member after another stood up.

"I believe in the Uchiha Clan too!"

"I believe in our own strength!"

"The higher-ups cannot be trusted!"

"Root cannot be trusted!"

"We cannot keep passively waiting to die!"

Inside the shrine, more and more clan members rose to their feet.

The anger that had originally been scattered rapidly condensed into a force beneath the pressure of Uchiha You's Mangekyo Sharingan.

The conservative elders wore ugly expressions.

They wanted to stop it, but they could no longer speak.

Because the clan members' emotions had now been thoroughly ignited by Uchiha You.

He had presented evidence while also displaying his own strength.

The evidence proved that Konoha's higher-ups were already making their move.

The strength proved that the Uchiha Clan had the right to resist.

That was the most direct slap in the face.

It struck Konoha's higher-ups across the face.

It also struck the conservative faction that still wanted to keep enduring.

At last, one conservative elder could not hold back any longer:

"Even so, we cannot act rashly."

"No matter how strong the Uchiha Clan is, we cannot fight all of Konoha alone."

"The Hyuga Clan, Ino-Shika-Cho, the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, and ANBU, not to mention ordinary ninja..."

"If war truly breaks out, the Uchiha Clan will suffer devastating losses!"

Uchiha You looked at him.

"You are right."

The elder froze.

He had not expected Uchiha You to admit it.

Uchiha You continued:

"That is why I never said I wanted the Uchiha Clan to go to war with all of Konoha right now."

"My target is not all of Konoha."

"It is Danzo."

"It is Root."

"It is those hiding behind the Hokage Building, preparing to push the Uchiha Clan onto the butcher's blade."

The elder frowned.

"Easy to say, but Danzo is hiding in Root, surrounded by countless powerful people."

"How do you plan to deal with him?"

Uchiha You said calmly:

"That is what I am about to explain."

He raised a hand and took out several scrolls.

"These are Root's surveillance routes around the Uchiha Clan Grounds."

"These are ANBU's rotation patterns."

"These are the Shimura Clan's activity records from the past three months."

"This is a draft by Konoha's higher-ups to strip the Police Force of its authority."

"And this last one..."

Uchiha You tossed the final scroll into the center of the shrine.

"It is Root's watch list for core Uchiha Clan members."

Uchiha Chuan immediately stepped forward and unrolled it.

One name after another was written clearly upon it.

Fugaku Uchiha.

Shisui Uchiha.

Itachi Uchiha.

Uchiha You.

Uchiha Chuan.

As well as numerous Three-Tomoe Sharingan Police Force members.

There were even records of several children within the clan.

Among them was Sasuke Uchiha's name.

That instantly sent the entire shrine into an uproar.

"They are even watching children?"

"How old is Sasuke?"

"Have they gone mad?"

"What exactly does Root want?"

Mikoto was not seated among the core members, but she was in the listening area.

The instant she saw Sasuke's name, her expression changed.

Itachi's eyes darkened sharply as well.

No matter what Uchiha You had said before, Itachi had been able to remain calm.

But when Sasuke's name appeared on Root's watch list, cracks finally appeared in that calm.

Sasuke.

He was his younger brother.

And the softest place in his heart.

Uchiha You took in Itachi's reaction completely.

Good.

The first blade had already gone in.

Someone like Itachi could not be swayed by angry condemnation alone.

He had to see for himself that the so-called righteousness of Konoha's higher-ups would eventually fall upon Sasuke.

Only then would he truly waver.

Fugaku Uchiha looked at the list, his expression turning completely grim.

If they were merely watching him, Shisui, You, or even Itachi, he could still understand it as the higher-ups guarding against an Uchiha coup.

But even a child like Sasuke had been included on the watch list.

That was no longer simple precaution.

They were preparing for the worst possible purge.

Fugaku asked in a deep voice:

"You, where did this list come from?"

Uchiha You answered calmly:

"From those three Root members."

Of course, that was not entirely the truth.

Part of the list came from Root's memories, part from his deductions based on the original plot, and the rest had been compiled with the system's assistance.

But with truth and falsehood mixed together, it was enough.

Because Root really had been monitoring those people.

Konoha's higher-ups really had been preparing to make a move against the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha You was not slandering them out of thin air.

He had merely placed the blade of the future onto the table in the present.