Leaving behind the solemn atmosphere of the Hokage Building, Kagami Uchiha and several trusted clansmen who had attended the meeting with him walked back toward the Uchiha Compound.
The afternoon sunlight filtered through Konoha's lush trees, scattering dappled shadows across the ground, yet it could not fully dispel the lingering unease on the faces of the Uchiha elites.
The silence lasted for a moment before an older Elite Jonin, known for his steadiness even within the Dove Faction, finally could not hold back any longer and spoke in a low voice:
"Clan Head, at the meeting just now... weren't we too hasty and... thorough in stating our position?
"We're committing all of the clan's elite to such a dangerous long-range support mission with an uncertain outcome.
"If the losses are severe, and the Hokage's subsequent... 'return' falls short of expectations, wouldn't we be sacrificing our strength for nothing and giving those old Hawk Faction diehards something to use against us?"
His concern was not without reason.
The Uchiha Clan's strength, especially its elite who had awakened the Sharingan, had always been the foundation of the clan's survival, its special status in the village, and its voice in village affairs.
Mobilizing them on a large scale for an overseas mission whose outcome was unknown, one that might even develop into a direct clash with the elites of the Four Great Ninja Villages, carried enormous risks.
Kagami Uchiha did not slow his pace. His gaze remained calm as he looked straight ahead, and though his voice was not loud, it clearly reached the ears of his trusted men.
It carried the steady, broad-minded air they had gradually become familiar with, so unlike the Uchiha clan heads and radical leaders of the past:
"Your concern stems from the shackles of old ways of