Convinced

"The sword in one's hand was never what made one strong. It was the heart!"

Hane gazed calmly at Uchiha Retsuyō, who was covered in blood and had barely an inch of uninjured flesh left.

There was no frivolity in his eyes, no disdain, and certainly no humiliation or smug satisfaction toward the defeated. There was only calm indifference.

Yet it was precisely that gaze that made the kneeling Uchiha Retsuyō feel the immeasurable distance between them.

If I had won, I would probably be gloating like mad right now! Perhaps I would restrain myself because of the unfairness of this match, but afterward, I would definitely boast about it throughout the clan.

"Why are you so strong?!" Uchiha Retsuyō looked at Hane with a bewildered expression.

Hane met Uchiha Retsuyō's scarlet eyes directly. "Because I have always believed in myself, not a pair of eyes!"

Uchiha Retsuyō fell silent.

"Why won't you submit to me?" Hane asked calmly.

Uchiha Retsuyō lowered his head in silence for a while, then raised it and looked at Hane. "Because I believe that only by fighting the village to the end can the Uchiha Clan find hope, rather than yielding again and again like Clan Head Fugaku!"

"And as his son, though you possess tremendous potential, you will surely inherit your father's will. That is why I said our battle was never a private grudge. It was a wager on the future of the Uchiha Clan!"

Seeing the stubborn look in Uchiha Retsuyō's eyes, a trace of disappointment flashed through Hane's gaze, along with a hint of frustration at his failure to meet expectations. "Is that what you think?"

"Isn't it?" Uchiha Retsuyō stared into Hane's disappointed eyes, and for some reason, panic rose within him.

"Then let me ask you another way. Am I strong?"

Uchiha Retsuyō nodded.

"Then, between me and the Hokage, who is stronger?"

Uchiha Retsuyō pursed his lips, but ultimately answered Hane honestly. "Of course it's Lord Third. He is the man known throughout the Ninja World as the strongest Hokage, the Shinobi Hero!"

To Uchiha Retsuyō's astonishment, Hane nodded.

"Then are the Sannin—Jiraiya and Tsunade—Danzo, the Nine-Tails, and the heads of Konoha's various clans strong?"

Uchiha Liehuo fell silent.

Every force and person Hane had mentioned was a pillar of Konoha. Having lived through the Third Shinobi World War, Uchiha Retsuyō knew a fair amount about them.

Hane was very strong, but facing any one of them would not be easy. And those people formed a group united by Konoha's interests. With Hane's current strength, he was still far from enough...

"You say the entire Uchiha Clan must be tough, and I do not deny that. But with your extreme and stubborn attitude, if you truly force the village into having no choice but to wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan, how will you and I face such a catastrophe?"

"Then what should we do?! The village keeps pressing us at every turn. What exactly did we Uchiha do wrong?!" Uchiha Retsuyō practically roared, a few tears of despair glistening in his eyes.

Seeing Uchiha Retsuyō completely forget his composure, Hane could not help but sigh softly.

"Only becoming strong ourselves is the fundamental solution to everything. That is true for an individual, and it is true for a clan. Look at the Uchiha Clan now. When have we ever retained even a trace of the glory we had during the Warring States era? If our ancestors saw us now, they would probably mock our incompetence!

"Instead of attributing everything to ourselves, we blame the village for pressing us at every turn. But why do they do this? In the end, isn't it because the current Uchiha Clan has no ability to resist?"

Uchiha Retsuyō slumped to his knees. Hane's blunt comparison made him feel suffocated, and he barely cared about the pain in his body anymore.

When he imagined the Uchiha Clan of old, then looked at the humiliated Uchiha Clan of today, he had no choice but to admit that Hane was right.

"But is becoming strong really that easy?"

Uchiha Liehuo raised his head again and looked at Hane as he asked.

"Hehe! Isn't Big Brother Retsuyō much stronger now?"

Seeing the faint smile at the corner of Hane's lips, Uchiha Retsuyō was briefly dazed. That's right! He had now awakened the eyes of our ancestors. In the future, it might not be impossible for him to face the village...

"But this alone is far from enough. Our enemies are still watching us closely in plain sight. Only by uniting all Uchiha, building up our strength, and delivering a fatal blow when the enemy reveals a weakness can we prevail. Do you understand...?" Hane looked coldly at Uchiha Retsuyō.

"Our enemy is the village?" Uchiha Retsuyō asked excitedly. At that moment, he suddenly felt that Hane was not so different from him after all.

"Of course it is the Konoha Elder Council!" Hearing Hane's answer, Uchiha Retsuyō showed a trace of disappointment.

"You look disappointed." Hane chuckled.

"Isn't it Konoha's..." Uchiha Retsuyō suddenly froze. They had always clamored about resisting the village, but when he tried to carefully name their enemy, he suddenly did not know whom to name.

"This is where you are foolish. The Uchiha Clan's enemy was never the entire village. Where would we go if we lost the village? Our enemies have always only been the Second Hokage's disciples. Their prejudice is the primary reason why the Uchiha Clan and the village are at odds today."

After Hane voiced his understanding, Uchiha Retsuyō's mind boomed as though dark clouds had been swept away to reveal the sun in the sky. He stared blankly at the fellow clansman before him, a youth only half his height.

"So the Uchiha Clan must know who its true enemies are. We cannot blindly charge ahead with brute force and turn the entire village into our enemy. As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the easier the road becomes. It has always been so: those who follow the Way gain much support, while those who lose it receive little. Do you submit to me now?"

Hane smiled as he looked at the stunned Uchiha Retsuyō.

After a long while, Uchiha Retsuyō's expression gradually turned solemn, as if he had made some decision. He rose while enduring the pain, limped over to pick up the two broken halves of the katana from the ground, then dropped to one knee and raised them before Hane with both hands.

"I, Uchiha Retsuyō, shall henceforth follow Young Clan Head Uchiha Hane without question!"

Hane looked at the utterly convinced Uchiha Retsuyō and gently gripped the broken edge of the blade. A burst of high heat flashed.

Under Uchiha Retsuyō's puzzled gaze, Hane withdrew his small hand. "I don't like incomplete blades. Now it's fixed. It has become stronger! Hahaha! Hahaha!" Hane burst into laughter.

Uchiha Retsuyō looked at the completely restored katana in his hands, then at the laughing Hane, as though he understood something. He immediately lowered his head. "From this day on, I shall become the strongest weapon in Young Master's hand!"