Either agree to my demands, or let Konoha be buried alongside the Uchiha Clan

"Suit yourself." Natsu curled his lips into an almost cruel smile, utterly unfazed by Fugaku's imposing presence. "Uncle, you've clung to the Uchiha Clan's past glory for so long that you've forgotten the most fundamental rule of the Ninja World—survival of the fittest."

"You still think Konoha will seek common ground with us? Do you know how many Sharingan are hidden in Root's underground laboratories? Do you know what Shimura Danzō keeps beneath those bandages he wears every day?"

He leaned forward, his gaze like two poison-dipped daggers stabbing straight into Fugaku's eyes. "Do you dare go to the Hokage Building right now and force Shimura Danzō to unwrap those bandages so you can see for yourself?"

"As an Elite Jonin, do you truly believe my parents died in some accident at the border?"

"The route for their top-secret mission was known only to you and the Hokage. Who else knew? Why were they ambushed so precisely on their way back?"

"Over the years, haven't enough clansmen died under suspicious circumstances? Can you really not see any of it?"

Each question struck Fugaku's heart like a heavy hammer. Natsu's voice grew deeper and colder with every word.

"Uchiha Fugaku! Fifty years ago, when Konoha was first founded, the Uchiha Clan had more than thirty thousand people and a full three thousand ninja capable of taking the field! We were undeniably the foremost great clan in the Ninja World!"

"And now?"

"The entire clan has fewer than ten thousand people left, and we can't even scrape together a thousand ninja capable of wielding Kunai!"

"In just fifty years, we've lost more than two-thirds of our people. Do you truly think the Uchiha Clan is still the same Uchiha Clan that once stood on equal footing with the Senju Clan?"

"Do you know how many people the Sarutobi Clan has now? Fifty thousand! More than two thousand registered ninja! And that's only the number on the surface!"

"And the Mitokado Clan? When Konoha was first built, their whole clan had barely over a hundred people. Now? More than ten thousand clansmen, with eight hundred ninja!"

"What did they rely on to grow so powerful? Don't you know? They fed on the fallen Senju Clan and the exterminated Uzumaki! The wealth accumulated by those two great clans over centuries fattened Konoha higher-ups' four major clans!"

"But fifty years have passed. No matter how much wealth there was, it could eventually be drained dry. Three Shinobi World Wars have long since emptied Konoha's reserves! Even now, more than half the death benefits owed to the ninja killed in the Third Shinobi World War still haven't been paid!"

Natsu's voice suddenly rose, filled with ruthless resolve. "How are they supposed to fill a hole this huge?"

"War reparations? The higher-ups divided those up long ago!"

"The military funds granted by the daimyo? They aren't even enough for daily expenses!"

"Are Sarutobi and the others supposed to pay out of their own pockets? If it were you, would you spit out meat that had already reached your mouth? Would you sacrifice your own clan's interests to fill this hole?"

The tea room fell deathly silent.

At some point, Fugaku had sat back down. Cold sweat ran from his temples along his jaw and dripped into the tea that had long gone cold, sending tiny ripples across its surface.

He wasn't an idiot.

It wasn't that he couldn't see these things. He just hadn't dared think about them, much less tear away that final veil.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words—"Konoha will always be the Uchiha Clan's home"—were like bait. Fugaku had bitten down on them for so many years that the hook had sunk deep into his flesh. Pulling it out would mean blood.

He had even clung to the ridiculous hope that sending Itachi into the Anbu had placed a piece on the board. Natsu's words had shattered that illusion to pieces.

Shisui's death, Kagami's fate, the clansmen who had died one after another in missions under unclear circumstances—their faces flickered through his mind.

His chest heaved as he gasped for air. His Sharingan had long faded, but his eyes still turned away in disarray, unable to meet Natsu's ice-cold gaze. The hand resting on his knee trembled uncontrollably.

"Natsu, many things aren't as simple as you think."

After a long silence, Fugaku stared fixedly at the grain of the low table, his voice heavy as lead. "Lord Hokage has already promised me that he'll give the Uchiha Clan an explanation..."

"Uncle, I've already found a place no one knows about." Natsu looked at him, his tone calm but absolute. "The Uchiha Clan can't afford to keep suffering like this. We need time to recover."

"It's too risky. I won't agree."

"Uncle, you should have heard of a trap master named Genno from Blazing Sun Village during the Second Shinobi World War." Natsu's voice was utterly flat, yet every word carried bone-deep chill. "He buried a full hundred thousand Explosive Tags beneath Konoha."

Fugaku's pupils contracted sharply. He abruptly looked up, scarlet Sharingan surging into view as he roared, "Are you insane?!"

"I'm not insane." Facing Fugaku's towering fury, Natsu instead became completely calm, his gaze as cold as an icebound lake in winter. "Unlike you, I won't give up resisting for the sake of my son. My Shadow Clone is with Uncle Kei right now. The moment it disappears, Uncle Kei will immediately carry out the plan."

The words hit like a thunderbolt, leaving Fugaku cold from head to toe.

Uchiha Kei was his father's brother-in-arms, a man his father had pulled from a pile of corpses. He was also one of the few Elite Jonin in the clan who possessed a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Ever since Natsu's uncle and aunt had died, Kei had become Natsu's sharpest blade and most dependable support. He obeyed only Natsu's orders and might not even listen to Fugaku, the clan head.

If those hundred thousand Explosive Tags truly went off, more than half of Konoha would be blown apart.

No matter how Fugaku explained it afterward, Hiruzen Sarutobi would use it as an excuse to brand the Uchiha Clan traitors and wipe out the entire clan with full justification.

Fugaku felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. His scalp prickled as he gritted his teeth and growled, "You really are insane!"

"Uncle, there are only two paths now." Natsu's voice remained flat, but it hammered relentlessly against Fugaku's heart. "Either come with me and save Sasuke, save the entire Uchiha Clan. Or cling to that illusory hope of yours and wait for every last member of the clan to die."

Fugaku's chest rose and fell violently. He stared at the boy before him for a long time before forcing out the words through clenched teeth. "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now?!"

"Of course I am." Natsu tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile devoid of warmth. "That's why I arranged everything beforehand. Uncle Kei is waiting for news with everyone willing to leave with me."

"If you refuse today, I'll certainly die. Either way, I'm dead, so why shouldn't I drag all of Konoha down to be buried with the Uchiha Clan?"

Deathly silence spread through the tea room. It lasted so long that even Mikoto's clenched fingertips turned white, and she unconsciously softened her breathing.

Fugaku looked at his eleven-year-old nephew, at the ruthless determination in his eyes to shatter rather than bend. At last, like a deflated shell, his shoulders slowly slumped. His voice trembled uncontrollably. "What exactly are you planning?"

"I awakened a special ability that can take the entire clan to an unknown New World." Natsu finally reined in the hostility surrounding him, and his tone deepened. "That land is broader than the Land of Fire. There are no Konoha spies, no enemies watching us like tigers, and no one who knows where we come from."

"Before we leave, we'll sell off all the clan's assets at low prices and exchange them for enough supplies and provisions."

"At the same time, we'll activate the clan compound's Defense Formation to buy time, then detonate the Explosive Tags and throw the entire city into chaos."

"Amid the chaos, I'll open a Portal and take every clansman and all our supplies out of Konoha as quickly as possible."

"Other than me, no one will know where we're going."

He paused before adding the most crucial point. "We don't have much time to hesitate. My ability showed me that Shimura Danzō has already joined forces with Orochimaru and developed a way to suppress Hashirama Cells."

"Hashirama Cells?" Fugaku froze, as though he couldn't believe his ears. His voice cracked. "You mean... the cells of Lord Hashirama, the First Hokage?"

"What else?" Natsu sneered. "Shimura Danzō has been secretly digging up the First Hokage's grave and researching his cells for more than a decade."

"Hashirama Cells can defy fate, greatly improving a person's physique, chakra reserves, and talent. Those with enough talent can even awaken Wood Release directly."

"But you know how terrifying the vitality of the First Hokage's cells is. Ordinary people simply can't withstand them. They'll only be devoured by the cells and turned into a lump of rotten flesh."

"Guess how many lives Danzo has wasted on his experiments."

His gaze suddenly turned cold, like an ice-tempered dagger. "In the end, he set his sights on our Uchiha Clan. He discovered that the Uchiha Clan's Three-Tomoe Sharingan could suppress the backlash from Hashirama Cells."

Those words were like a blade, piercing straight through Fugaku's final layer of self-deception.

All strength drained from his body. He slumped where he sat, with nothing but utter despair left in his eyes.

So from beginning to end, Konoha higher-ups had never left the Uchiha Clan even half a path to survival.

What they had been watching was never whether the Uchiha Clan would rebel. They wanted their Sharingan—their bloodline capable of suppressing Hashirama Cells.

He thought of Itachi, who had rarely returned home after Shisui's death and could not even be bothered to attend clan meetings. It felt as if an invisible hand had clenched around his heart, squeezing so hard that he could barely breathe.

"Can you guarantee that world will truly let the Uchiha Clan survive?" He lowered his head, his voice hoarse as if scraped by sandpaper. He didn't dare look Natsu in the eyes.

Natsu raised his chin. His brows held a ruthlessness and certainty far beyond his years, and every word rang with force. "As long as you follow me, the Uchiha Clan won't just survive—we'll rise again! Even the hatred of nine generations can be avenged. Every humiliation Konoha has inflicted upon the Uchiha Clan today, I will repay a hundredfold someday!"

Fugaku looked at the boy before him and recalled his words about dragging all of Konoha down to be buried with them. Only four words came to mind: he never forgot a grudge.

He had guarded for so many years, endured for so many years, retreated at every step and compromised at every turn, only to receive extermination in return. Since his own path led nowhere, he might as well gamble on this once.

He took a deep breath, as though expelling decades of restraint and grievance. When he spoke again, his voice carried ruthless resolve. "Fine! Natsu! I'll trust you this once! Since Hiruzen Sarutobi refuses to leave us a path to survival, then the Uchiha Clan will not be helpless prey for others to slaughter!"