Uchiha's Internal and External Troubles!

Inside the Uchiha Clan's Naka Shrine.

Listening to everyone's indignant words, Uchiha Fugaku opened his eyes and looked toward his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, at the back of the crowd.

Mikoto looked worried, one hand resting on her slightly swollen belly. She had been pregnant for several months.

Beside her, the five-year-old Uchiha Itachi seemed to see through his mother's concerns and thoughtfully took Mikoto's hand.

"Itachi." Mikoto looked at him.

"Mother, no matter what happens, I will definitely protect 'Sasuke,'" Itachi said solemnly.

A relieved expression appeared on Mikoto's face. "We don't even know whether it's a boy or a girl yet. How do you know it'll be Sasuke?"

Itachi smiled gently without answering.

Mikoto thought, Itachi, you're such a thoughtful child.

Uchiha Fugaku withdrew his gaze, looked around at everyone present, and raised his voice. "Everyone, listen to me."

The crowd gradually fell silent.

Fugaku said, "The village is in crisis right now. If we make any rash moves, we will only deepen the village's dissatisfaction with us and place the Uchiha Clan in an even more unfavorable position!"

"Captain! We have no way back now! How could things possibly get any worse?!"

"That's right! If we keep swallowing our anger, the village higher-ups will only think we're easy to bully. That would be the real disaster!"

Uchiha Fugaku's imposing voice rang out. "Then let me ask you this: if we go to war now, what chance does the Uchiha Clan have of winning?!"

The crowd fell silent once more, and many lowered their heads.

Indeed, the Uchiha Clan only had the confidence to rebel later because the clan was filled with powerful experts.

They had a genius ninja like Uchiha Itachi, who had earned the higher-ups' trust and whose strength was nearing the very peak, as well as a supreme expert like Body Flicker Shisui, renowned throughout the Shinobi World and no weaker than a Hokage!

But right now, Itachi's talent had yet to reveal itself, and Shisui had not yet made a name for himself...

"B-but..." Some were still unwilling to accept it.

Uchiha Fugaku interrupted, "I know what you want to say. The Third Hokage is seriously injured, but don't forget that Tsunade has returned to the village because of it! She is the First Hokage's granddaughter, one of the Legendary Sannin. How weak could she possibly be?!"

"But the Fourth—"

"Have you forgotten the Fourth Hokage's title?!" Uchiha Fugaku's words jolted everyone awake.

The Yellow... Flash!

"That man—even if he is thousands of miles away, as long as he wishes it, he can appear in any corner of Konoha in the next instant!"

"Moreover, as the Fourth Hokage, he oversees all of the village's affairs. At a time like this, would he leave the village without making arrangements? His informants have likely already been stationed in every corner of the village!"

Uchiha Fugaku's words directly crushed the crowd's soaring fervor.

There was no helping it. Everything he said was the truth!

"Damn it, does our proud Uchiha Clan really have to bow to the Senju Clan's rule?!"

"Right, Captain! There is Uchiha Riu! That Uchiha Riu who fought Hanzō to a draw, defeated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and the Mizukage, beat the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, and then defeated the Third Hokage! He's one of us Uchiha! Why not invite him back into the clan? Then this great undertaking can succeed!" an Uchiha clansman suddenly said excitedly.

Upon hearing this, the other clansmen immediately chimed in.

"That's right! Why didn't I think of that?"

"If that Uchiha Riu returns, why would we fear the Legendary Sannin? Why would we fear the Yellow Flash?"

On the lawn, Riu placed a dango into his mouth and chewed as he muttered, "A leaf before the eyes blocks out the sky. The Uchiha truly are a narrow-minded clan. Their Sharingan can only ever see their own little clan. Only Itachi and Shisui truly suit my tastes..."

"Itachi and Shisui?" Yūhi Uzuki asked curiously from beside him.

Riu slightly shifted the crystal ball's viewpoint, revealing the scene behind the crowd. "See those two children sitting in the back? Those two..."

"But they're only children," Xiyang said.

"Those two children will sooner or later bring immense changes to the Shinobi World. If you ask how I know..."

"Is it the future your absurdly powerful Sharingan showed you again?" Yūhi Uzuki teased as she looked at Riu.

"My, you're so clever. You already know what I was going to say..." Riu said with a smile.

Inside Naka Shrine.

"Are all of you blind?!" Uchiha Fugaku's angry voice echoed through the hall.

"Captain?!"

"Uchiha Riu—setting aside whether he is even a member of our Uchiha Clan, do you know his background, his strength, his beliefs, or his goals? We know nothing about him, yet he knows us inside out. Cooperating with such a dangerous person is no different from seeking a tiger's hide. It would bring disaster upon ourselves and push the Uchiha Clan into the abyss of destruction!"

"Therefore, not only can we not cooperate with him, we must distance ourselves from him as much as possible! I have clarified this to the higher-ups more than once: there has never been anyone named Riu in the Uchiha Clan genealogy. Not in the past, not now, and not in the future... nor will there ever be. So I forbid anyone present from mentioning that name again. Anyone who violates this will be severely punished!"

"Then Captain, please tell us: where is the Uchiha Clan supposed to go from here? Are we supposed to keep swallowing our anger like this?"

After a moment of contemplation, Uchiha Fugaku said, "I will find a way to negotiate. The Third Hokage is still a reasonable man. The Fourth was personally promoted by the Third and inherited both his will and his methods. The ones truly responsible for putting the Uchiha Clan in this difficult position are the village's other higher-ups. In short, as long as we can earn the trust of these two Hokage, there is still room to turn things around. That is all. Meeting adjourned!"

The doors of Naka Shrine opened, and Uchiha members wearing varying expressions walked out.

"Captain Fugaku is being far too cautious!"

"I think he's only worried that his unborn child might suffer! Hmph, if that child died, the Captain probably wouldn't hesitate anymore!" one Uchiha member actually said.

"..." Upon hearing this, the eyes of several radical Uchiha clansmen began to flicker.

From the forest, Riu watched the scene as clearly as a fire. "Heh, it's that person again. He was the one using my name to stir things up earlier, and now he's the one inciting them again. He should be a spy Danzo planted within the Uchiha Clan. He can't wait for the Uchiha to rebel immediately."

"Why would Danzo do that?" Yūhi Uzuki asked.

Riu merely smiled faintly and did not answer.

Wasn't it because Danzo had been scared by what Riu did to him last time and wanted to replenish the Sharingan in his right arm as soon as possible...

But none of that mattered to Riu. He needed Danzo to stay alive for the time being, so he could help bring about certain things.

Otherwise, in a peaceful and stable environment, when would Shisui's and Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan ever awaken...

"Hm?" Suddenly, a young man walking at the back of the crowd stopped and glanced toward the dark shadow in the forest.

"Shisui, what's wrong?" Itachi asked.

"Nothing. It was probably... just my imagination," Shisui said. "Also, Itachi, tell your father to protect Aunt Mikoto. Something is off about the clan's atmosphere. Someone might target the child in her womb in order to bring about an Uchiha coup..."

"Ah, I've noticed it too. I definitely won't let anything happen to Sasuke!" Itachi's gaze turned sharp.

"Itachi... your eyes!" Shisui stared in astonishment at the Single Tomoe flickering in Itachi's pupils!

The corner of Riu's mouth curled upward. As expected, hardship... makes people grow.

After leaving the Uchiha residential district, a group of people suddenly appeared before Riu and Xiyang.

"The famous Uchiha Riu—that's you, isn't it? To actually come into the village so openly..." Kakashi stepped forward.