Meeting

Conference room.

Everyone who had been present had just gone out and seen the grieving clansmen. The atmosphere grew somewhat stifling again.

Zhi Ming seemed unaffected. He said to Shien, "Since you've taken on this identity, Shien..."

"Once the clan gets through this period, we can discuss your formal succession as clan head."

Shien did not care much about that. He waved a hand. "That's for later. This isn't the time to discuss it."

Zhi Ming nodded slightly, then reported to Shien:

"The numbers you asked us to tally have just come in."

"The clan lost 212 combat personnel and 125 civilians."

"Among them, Dadi, Yangshu, and Luren had their eyes taken. Their bodies were found on the road between the clan compound and the Military Police Force headquarters."

"We have 204 combat personnel remaining."

"A total of 337 people died at Itachi and that masked man's hands, including the First Elder and Second Elder."

"There are also over seven hundred ordinary clansmen."

As the foremost clan in the ninja world, the Uchiha Clan had a population of over a thousand. However, more than half of them were ordinary clansmen who bore the Uchiha name but were not ninja.

For example, Uchiha Shoushao and his wife, who sold flatbreads.

[As expected, we lost half our combat personnel.]

Shien drew in a quiet breath. Even with the Mangekyō Sharingan, he could still die if surrounded by enough people.

For now, he lacked the strength to openly turn against the Third Hokage.

After giving it some thought, Shien decided to reassure everyone first:

"Right now, the Uchiha Clan has not reached its worst point yet."

"As long as we Uchiha do not make any mistakes in public, we remain part of Konoha."

"The Third Hokage has no reason to target us."

The mistake Shien meant was naturally a coup.

That was no longer an issue. Forget staging a coup—even keeping the Uchiha Clan from being wiped out would be an achievement.

"Also, before Fugaku and Itachi left, I warned him that if Konoha targeted us, we would kill Sasuke."

"Even for Sasuke's sake, they will warn the Third Hokage."

"They will become a sharp sword hanging outside Konoha."

"We do not need to worry about open retaliation."

"From now on, the clan is under a gag order. No one is to tell Sasuke the truth."

Everyone present nodded thoughtfully, visibly relaxing somewhat.

"Of course, given our current situation, the clan only has two paths."

"One is to seek strength within, and the other is to seek help from outside."

Knowing that the people below him were all illiterate, Shien explained in the simplest terms:

"One is to strengthen ourselves, and the other is to seek outside support."

"In Konoha, neither the Hyuga Clan nor Ino-Shika-Cho will stand by and watch the Uchiha Clan be destroyed."

"Learn from the past to prepare for the future."

Konoha was a village formed by the union of many ninja clans. If the Third Hokage and the others dared to openly destroy the Uchiha Clan, whether the other ninja clans would still submit to them was another matter.

Seeing that everyone was listening intently, Shien continued:

"The Konoha Military Police Force has always been a burden to us."

"All these years, it has done nothing but make enemies for us everywhere."

The expressions of those present shifted. They seemed to think Shien made sense, so no one objected.

"Furthermore, with so many clansmen dead and Fugaku's defection, the Uchiha Police Force exists in name only."

"I intend to use the Military Police Force positions as terms for an alliance with the Hyuga Clan."

"Have the Hyuga Clan send people to patrol and stand watch in our compound every night."

At those words, the room erupted in muted protest:

"No, Shien! How can we let outsiders enter the clan compound?"

"The Hyuga have the Byakugan. They'll learn many of our secrets!"

Shien smiled softly. "Then what secrets does our clan have that the Hyuga or Konoha cannot know?"

At that question, everyone's words caught in their throats.

That was right. Previously, the clan had been preparing for a coup, so everything had to be hidden.

Now that they were no longer staging a coup, there was naturally nothing to fear.

The Byakugan had a wide field of vision. With Byakugan users helping them keep watch at night, the Uchiha Clan would naturally be impregnable.

Shien added, "Besides, having these Hyuga clansmen come is only a temporary measure. Once we recover, we naturally won't need them anymore."

Everyone hesitated briefly, then nodded in agreement.

However, Shien had two plans in mind. Besides receiving help, he also needed the Hyuga to leak certain information he wanted Konoha to know.

"First thing tomorrow morning, spread word that there was internal strife in the clan, and that Fugaku and Itachi betrayed the clan. Don't say anything else."

"Let the outsiders make their own guesses."

"Zhi Ming, visit the Ino-Shika-Cho clans. I'll visit the Hyuga Clan."

Zhi Ming rose to his feet. "In that case, it would be more convenient to have an identity when we go out."

"Shien, serve as acting clan head for now."

Shien nodded slightly. "Then you can be the First Elder."

No one had any objections. Though this self-appointment seemed somewhat childish, it was actually born of necessity.

After all, all the elderly clan elders were dead.

They could hardly call the clansmen together to hold an election now.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Everyone, get to work. For the time being, handle the funerals for the clansmen first, then we can make plans again."

Everyone present had friends or family who had died in this incident, and they all went to handle the aftermath.

"Shisui, come with me."

Hearing this, Shisui did not ask any questions. He simply followed silently behind Zhenyan.

The two walked to a secluded place.

"Shisui, in your current state, can you still use Kotoamatsukami?"

Shien asked. If Shisui could still use Kotoamatsukami, the Uchiha would be much safer.

Shisui shook his head, guilt still written across his face.

He had probably remembered again that if he had not told the village about Kotoamatsukami, he would not have died, and Itachi would not have gone down this path.

Shien shook his head repeatedly. "What a pity. It would have been great if you still had your eyes."

Shisui looked up at that moment. "Danzo took one of my eyes. I gave the other to Itachi."

Shien naturally knew he had given his eye to Itachi, but Shisui had forgotten to mention it when he fought Itachi earlier.

"What a pity. I forgot to make Itachi leave your eye behind."

After thinking briefly, Shisui formed hand seals. With a bang, a crow appeared in his hand.

"Caw, caw, caw..."

"As expected, it's here." There was a hint of joy in Shisui's voice.

He reached out and stroked the crow's head. In its eye was his Kotoamatsukami eye.

This time, Shien was the one who was surprised. "How can you summon the crow?"

A nostalgic look appeared on Shisui's face. "I raised this flock of crows."

Naturally, the clan had cultivation tanks for preserving Sharingan. This time, Obito had not taken so many of the clansmen's eyes.

Even Dadi, Yangshu, and Luren's three pairs had been dug out by Obito before Shien arrived.

That meant Obito had not returned to the clan compound.