Father and Son Heart-to-Heart

Yet he failed to notice that a few tiny sparks had already drifted to where he was hiding.

A cold smile curled Hane's lips. The profession of ninja was simply beneath the notice of cultivators. The Root ninja who thought he was well hidden had long since been completely exposed beneath Hane's powerful Divine Sense.

"Hehe, I'm afraid you won't be going back! As for Danzo... let that old bastard jump around for a while longer!"

At that thought, a cruel smile appeared on Hane's lips, and his figure vanished in an instant.

Just as the Root captain turned to leave, the spark before him, originally no bigger than a fingernail, suddenly swelled.

A figure wrapped head to toe in flames emerged from the blaze. A tiny hand wreathed in fire instantly seized his throat.

"Sizzle!"

The scent of roasting flesh filled the air. Disbelief flashed through the Root captain's eyes. "When exactly...?"

Yet his thoughts only lasted a few seconds before the searing heat across his entire body stabbed into every nerve. The agonizing pain of being burned alive finally made him let out a shrill scream.

"Aah..."

Along with the scream, the Root ninja quickly turned into a puff of charred ash in Hane's hand and scattered away.

"A bunch of overconfident fools!"

Hane slowly withdrew the flames covering his body and the inferno spread across the battlefield. Before the clan meeting, an attack like this might have left him somewhat flustered. But now, killing a Jonin was as easy as crushing an ant.

Itachi and Izumi stood inside the Fire-Repelling Shield, staring blankly at the scene.

Itachi's small Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably. "Brother... he's so strong. Is this really my brother? We're the same age, yet he can easily defeat enemies that even frighten me—and he fought four of them alone."

"What is it? Did you two little ones get scared silly?" Hane asked with a light smile.

"Hane... you're already this strong?" Izumi murmured in disbelief.

"Brother, who exactly were those enemies? Were they spies from another village?" Itachi hurriedly came back to his senses and asked.

Hane patted Itachi's little head. "Didn't you see? Other than Anbu ninja, who else wears masks like that?"

"How could that be? Why would Lord Hokage do something like this?" Disbelief showed in Itachi's young eyes.

"Enough, don't concern yourself with grown-up matters. Let's go home. No Konoha ninja have come after all this time, so this was clearly only a test." As he spoke, a trace of coldness appeared on Hane's face.

Hehe, Konoha couldn't even tolerate a six-year-old child now? Hane mocked inwardly.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage watched the scene through a crystal ball in utter silence.

Danzo, seated across from him, did not look much better. "Sarutobi, that little bastard absolutely cannot be allowed to live. Look at how ruthlessly he dealt with the village's ninja. Once he grows up, who knows what he'll become!"

"Then what do you suggest? Find an opportunity to kill him? Are you sure the Uchiha Clan won't riot if we do that?" Sarutobi gave Danzo an indifferent glance.

Danzo was about to say something else when the Third Hokage interrupted him. "Let this matter rest for now. The Uchiha cannot be touched for the time being!"

"Sarutobi, we can't simply ignore this matter!" Danzo roared.

Sarutobi felt a wave of irritation. "Then what do you suggest?" he asked in a lowered voice.

A sinister gleam flashed in Danzo's eyes. "In a year or so, find a way to make him graduate early, then send him out." With that, Danzo made a throat-slitting gesture.

Sarutobi's hand trembled as he flicked ash from his pipe. "What if he refuses? He's only six years old now!"

"Isn't Fugaku's second son rather fond of you? Since his older brother is unwilling, make that little one graduate early instead!"

A sinister smile appeared on Danzo's face. "With the Uchiha's pride, that little bastard probably won't be able to hold back once he sees his younger brother surpass him. Being overtaken by his little brother won't be easy to bear."

After returning home, Hane took the opportunity while his mother was washing dishes to tell Fugaku about being attacked on the road.

Fugaku's pupils contracted slightly. "Hane, you weren't hurt, were you?"

Hane spread his hands. "Do I look injured to you?"

"You said they were Anbu?" Fugaku still had not fully recovered from the shock.

"Yes, Father," Hane replied calmly.

A chill entered Fugaku's eyes. "I'll go question the Third Hokage right now and ask what this is about!" With that, Fugaku prepared to rise.

"Father, forget it. You won't get an answer even if you ask, and they might even pin the crime of attacking Anbu on us! When that happens, do you think the village ninja will believe the Third Hokage or believe you?" Hane said leisurely. He had gained a deep understanding of the Konoha Elder Council's shamelessness from watching the anime in his previous life.

Fugaku froze, then slowly sat back down. "Hane, what do you think?" Fugaku looked seriously at his incomparably outstanding eldest son.

"What can I think? The higher-ups have never stopped seeking the destruction of the Uchiha Clan. Father, do you still hold expectations for Konoha's leadership?" Hane fixed Fugaku with a piercing gaze.

Fugaku's expression stiffened. "Well... after all, he is the Hokage."

"Hehe! Father, should I call you indecisive, or say that you have no mind of your own? You're actually so constrained by the mere title of Hokage. Isn't the purpose behind Konoha's higher-ups suppressing us obvious enough?" Hane said, frustrated that he could not live up to expectations.

Fugaku's face darkened. "This is all a misunderstanding! Hane, the Uchiha ultimately live in Konoha."

"Yes, the Uchiha live in Konoha, which is exactly why we should fight the higher-ups for the interests of our clan!" Hane watched Fugaku's face grow darker and darker.

Hane decided that today, he would make this unreasonable father of his understand.

"Father, do you know what it means to boil a frog in warm water?" Fugaku had been about to speak, but Hane cut him off first. He stared blankly at Hane, unable to understand what the affairs of the village and the Uchiha had to do with frogs.

Fugaku sat quietly, waiting for Hane's explanation.

Hane glanced at his stubbornly prideful father, rolled his eyes, and continued.

"If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will immediately jump out. But if you put it in warm water and slowly raise the temperature, it will think it is safe until the moment it dies."

"Isn't our Uchiha Clan that very frog right now? The Third Hokage and the others are slowly boiling our big frog to death in warm water."

"The Uchiha's new clan grounds are truly a fine place! Mountains lie to the left, while the Barrier Team is not far ahead. It would make an excellent cemetery—mountains and water, with particularly beautiful scenery."

"Tell me..."

Hane looked at Fugaku, whose face had grown increasingly grim. He smoothed his long hair before continuing. "Tell me, if war breaks out and the barrier is activated, won't our entire Uchiha Clan become trapped beasts, easily buried in that scenic place nestled among the mountains and waters?"

"Father, can't you see such an obvious burial ground?"

Hearing Hane's final stern words, fine beads of sweat had begun to form on Fugaku's forehead.

"Hane, how could things possibly have reached such a point?" Fugaku, who had already begun to believe him, asked with a suppressed expression.

"Hehe, Father, there is something you have never understood. The ones we must fight have never been the entire village, but the Konoha Elder Council led by the Third Hokage. They are the Uchiha Clan's true enemies, so never treat the Third Hokage and his people as the whole village!"

Fugaku's expression froze. In an instant, it seemed as though his thoughts had broken through a barrier. When the Fourth Hokage had been around, when had the Uchiha ever fallen to such a state? Not to mention anything else, even under the Second Hokage, who had been so suspicious of the Uchiha, the Uchiha Clan's reputation in the village had never been this bad.

The more Fugaku thought about it, the darker his gaze became. At that moment, it seemed he finally understood something.