It Was You, Fugaku Uchiha, Who Caused All This

"You Uchiha only know how to bully us powerless commoners. If you have the ability, go arrest ninjas from those major clans."

"Exactly, I just drank a little too much alcohol, and you even used violence when arresting me."

"And me, I paid for the food I ate at the restaurant, but I just got drunk, argued a bit, and accidentally broke a few things, and I got arrested for this? As expected, none of you people from the Uchiha are any good."

The buzzing sounds of arguing and cursing by his ear forced Uchiha Kyu to end his midday nap. He opened his eyes to look at those commoners wearing ugly expressions, his brows slightly furrowing to reveal a hint of impatience.

These people really didn't know what was good for them.

Relying on the so-called Hokage, they dared to talk wildly about ninjas who could easily dictate their life and death. They were truly courting death.

Damn useless clan head.

Damn coward Fugaku.

Whenever Uchiha Kyu thought of the clan's current awkward position in the village and the yet-unnoticed crisis of clan extermination, he couldn't help but curse that weak and incompetent Fugaku Uchiha in his heart.

"Men, arrest all these troublemakers obstructing official business. Don't let a single one of them go."

"Understood, Deputy Captain."

Uchiha Fire, who had been suppressing his anger at the side, immediately waved his hand and ordered the other Military Police Force members to execute the deputy captain's orders.

Right and wrong were none of his concern, nor did he have the ability to care; he was only responsible for obeying and executing orders.

These emboldened and trouble-making commoners panicked instantly when they saw the Uchiha ninjas actually making a move to detain them.

"What are you doing? I'm going to report this to the Hokage. I'm going to accuse you of abusing your power and enforcing the law violently."

"Let me go. You Uchiha needn't think you can bully others by throwing your weight around. Lord Hokage will uphold justice for us."

No matter how emboldened these troublemaking commoners were, how could the power of the Uchiha be something they could resist? They were immediately dragged away and locked up in the prison.

"Deputy Captain, how should we explain this to the clan head?"

The deed was already done, and worry began to show on Uchiha Fire's face.

"What is there to fear? If there's any issue, let Fugaku come find me himself."

Uchiha Kyu sneered coldly, his icy gaze shifting toward the direction of the Hokage Building.

"Some people fear the power of the Uchiha Clan and constantly squeeze our living space. Our clan has never lacked geniuses, only someone who can step forward at dangerous moments to shield our clansmen from the wind and rain."

Uchiha Kyu sighed with emotion and left the scene.

Everything that needed consideration had been considered, and everything that needed preparation was prepared. It was also time to let Konoha hear the voice of the Uchiha.

"The person you spoke of... is it you?"

Uchiha Fire watched Uchiha Kyu leave and remained still for a long time. The choice that had previously wavered in his heart now became incomparably firm.

"Kyu, I need to talk to you about something."

Having received the news, Fugaku Uchiha could not approve of Uchiha Kyu's actions. Wishing wholeheartedly to draw closer to the village, he had always chosen to make concessions precisely to prevent the Uchiha's situation in the village from worsening.

Now, Uchiha Kyu's actions were undoubtedly pushing the Uchiha into an irreversible abyss.

The villagers were not terrifying; what was terrifying was the human heart.

In Konoha, the Uchiha had long since lost the hearts of the people, and their reputation was equally in shambles.

In the courtyard, beneath a cherry blossom tree, sat a coffee table, a cup of hot tea, and a youth in white with flowing black hair, sitting leisurely.

Uchiha Kyu was not surprised by the arrival of Fugaku Uchiha.

"Should I call you clan head, or cousin?"

Sitting opposite him, Fugaku Uchiha frowned. Stern and unsmiling, his face was full of solemnity. "Just call me cousin. There's no need to be so formal in private."

"So cousin, are you here to advise me to restrain myself a bit?"

Uchiha Kyu looked at him with an ambiguous smile, pushing the hot tea in front of him forward as his tone gradually turned cold. "If that's the case, then the clan head might as well head back."

Fugaku Uchiha lowered his gaze with a complex expression as he looked at the cup of hot tea before him. Once upon a time, he too had been as passionate as this cup of tea, but by now he had long since seen through reality.

If he wanted to restore the Uchiha's status and reorganize the Uchiha's plight, he had to lean toward the Hokage faction.

"Kyu, in the entire clan, you and I are the only ones who can recognize the clan's predicament."

"If we cannot work with one heart and one mind, then revitalizing the Uchiha is nothing more empty talk."

"Oh?" Uchiha Kyu let out a mocking laugh, casting a teasing look at Fugaku Uchiha. "May I ask, what heart are we sharing? And what effort are we exerting together?"

"When all is said and done, you, Fugaku Uchiha, must bear the primary responsibility for the Uchiha's current awkward position."

Uchiha Kyu's tone suddenly shifted as he slammed his palm onto the table, causing the tea to slosh and spill out. Fixing an intense, burning gaze on Fugaku Uchiha, he interrogated him coldly.

"Is it that the Uchiha lacks the courage to burn our boats and break our cauldrons with Konoha?"

"Is it that the Uchiha is suffering from a generational gap and lacks geniuses?"

"Or is it that the spine we lost after our defeat to the Senju back then has never grown back?"

"No, no, no... none of those are it."

"The biggest reason is you, our good clan head, who personally stifled the growth of all this."

Uchiha Kyu shook his head with self-deprecating laughter at his own rhetorical question, picked up his teacup, and drained the tea in one gulp.

"Kyu, I didn't expect you to become so radical now."

Fugaku Uchiha looked at him with a face full of disappointment.

"Is this considered radical?"

Uchiha Kyu had long since abandoned any hope of changing Fugaku Uchiha's mindset.

Having transmigrated to the ninja world for almost a year, he had long deeply understood how stubborn Fugaku Uchiha's worldview and cognition were; changing them was simply impossible.

The only thing that could be changed was to subtly influence the filial paragon Uchiha Itachi.

The reason he had just said so much was that he had accumulated too much unhappiness in his heart and simply wanted to rebuke the other person face-to-face, to vent his thoughts without holding back. It immediately made him feel much more comfortable inside.

Surest of all, wanting to make the Uchiha Clan great again couldn't be achieved by relying on others—it could only depend on oneself. Fortunately, he had made plans long ago.

"Kyu, you are still young. Many things are not things you can just do because you want to. Konoha's strength and foundation are deep. If the Uchiha Clan really ends up as you say, we will only bring about our own destruction in the end."

"This is no longer the chaotic Warring States Era of the past. Our Uchiha Clan can no longer achieve hegemony."

"Things that our ancestor Madara Uchiha couldn't accomplish back then are even less possible for us to achieve now."

The self-pitying Fugaku Uchiha grew emotional in his demeanor.

"The Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and I have a very good relationship. As long as we help Minato solidify his position, the clan's predicament will naturally be resolved smoothly by then."

"Subtle changes, without high-level targeting, without bloodshed and sacrifice—this is the only way out for our Uchiha Clan."

Fugaku Uchiha earnestly tried to persuade Uchiha Kyu to abandon this dangerous idea.

Uchiha Kyu inverted his teacup onto the table, his sharp words piercing straight into Fugaku Uchiha's heart.

"I also want to tell you one thing: Konoha is Konoha, and the Konoha higher-ups are the Konoha higher-ups. The two cannot be lumped together."

"Placing one's hopes on others—is this still my Uchiha?"

"What you, Fugaku Uchiha, dare not imagine, I have imagined."

"What you, Fugaku Uchiha, dare not do, I will do."