As time passed, Hane felt the clan compound becoming increasingly oppressive. He understood why. A month had already passed since the relocation date had been decided.
Yet the relocation funds promised by Konoha's higher-ups had still not been distributed. The new clan compound was already more than half completed thanks to the ninjas' formidable labor, and the day of relocation was close at hand.
Because the relocation funds had yet to arrive, quite a few clan members were worried. The matter had been brought up several times during clan meetings, but whenever Fugaku asked the Hokage, he was told to wait a little longer.
Over the past month, Hane's life had not changed much aside from working hard to earn Gratitude Points and Malice Points. If there was one change, it was Itachi's attitude toward him.
Watching the silent Itachi follow behind him, Hane always felt that a barrier had suddenly appeared between the two brothers.
For the moment, Hane did not know how to remove that barrier. Whenever he tried to talk to Itachi, Itachi either remained silent or merely nodded obediently.
But that obedience was different from before. It felt as though Hane had lost one of his two portable experience farms.
"Itachi! Have you been dissatisfied with your brother lately?" Hane asked casually.
"Ah! No! How could I possibly be dissatisfied with you, Brother? You're so outstanding."
Hane turned to look at the calm-faced Itachi. "Is that really what you think, Itachi? Then why do I feel like I'm about to lose you as my little brother?"
"Brother, don't joke around! You're my brother!" Itachi gave Hane a broad smile.
Hane stared straight at Itachi. "Itachi, do you know? That smile makes me feel like it's fake. If you genuinely wanted to smile, it would definitely be a slightly shy smile. You would never face your brother so openly like this."
Under Hane's gaze, Itachi's eyes darted away. "Isn't that how you smile?" Itachi answered somewhat guiltily.
"That's why I said your smile is fake. Because that smile is mine, not the real Itachi's!"
For a moment, Itachi was stunned by his brother's words. He suddenly wondered whether his brother understood him too well.
"Itachi, I'll say it again. If you have any dissatisfaction with your brother, say it. I won't blame you." Hane gently tapped Itachi's frozen forehead.
Itachi looked at the tenderness in his brother's eyes, his heart becoming incredibly complicated. He wanted to tell his brother what he thought, but he knew his brother would surely have a hundred reasons to oppose him. No matter what happened, he would still be unable to win against his brother.
But was his own thinking truly wrong? Was the Uchiha Clan's arrogance and the village's rejection really the Hokage Faction's fault?
He knew that Brother Shisui had entered the Anbu and had even been promoted by the Hokage into the Shadow Guard. Such trust clearly meant that the Hokage did not harbor the prejudice against the Uchiha that his brother claimed.
Everything was because the clan members, blinded by their own arrogance, had ignored the village's needs.
Seeing Itachi standing there in a daze, Hane sighed softly. He truly had no solution for Itachi's silence. If Itachi argued with him about everything as before, Hane could at least address the problem directly. What he feared most was Itachi hiding his thoughts away.
Thinking of this, Hane shook his head dejectedly. "Looks like Itachi no longer trusts me as his brother. Itachi, I'm very sad." With that, he turned and walked toward home.
Itachi blankly watched his brother walk away. "Brother, I'm sorry. I can't agree with your ideas, but you're still my brother."
Itachi murmured quietly, then quickly caught up to Hane's retreating figure.
They had not gone far when they saw a large group of clan members gathered around a village notice board. Every one of them looked like a lit powder keg, brimming with fury.
"Why? Just because the war at the front is tense, they're canceling our relocation funds?"
"Even if the front lines are tense, why not say they're postponing it? What sense does it make to cancel it outright?"
"The higher-ups never intended to compensate us. They've been deceiving us!"
Looking at the furious clan members, Hane sneered inwardly. So they finally can't hold back from showing their hand? Have they decided they can walk all over the Uchiha Clan?
Hane did not squeeze into the crowd. Instead, he grabbed the stunned Itachi and hurried home. But before he had gone far, a commotion erupted behind them.
"Are you gathering here to cause trouble?!" A ninja wearing a cat-faced mask suddenly appeared atop the notice board and shouted at the enraged clan members below.
"Hmph! Don't think that being Anbu means you can raise your voice at the Uchiha Clan. Why has the village canceled our relocation funds?" An Uchiha Chunin angrily pushed through the crowd and questioned the Anbu ninja.
"Heh, this was a decision made by Konoha's higher-ups. The reason has already been stated clearly above," the Anbu ninja replied coldly.
"Bullshit! The war is tense, so the Uchiha have to foot the bill? Haven't the Uchiha gone to the front lines? Why should we bleed and suffer for this?"
"Hmph! What nonsense. With the village's war situation so dire, rather than think of the village's peace, you dare gather here to cause trouble. Do you believe I'll arrest you for disturbing the village's public order?" The Anbu ninja looked at the Uchiha Chunin with a cold gleam in his eyes.
"Oh? Since when has disturbing the village's public order become the Anbu's responsibility?" A clear, cold voice came from behind the crowd.
The Uchiha clan members surrounding the notice board immediately stirred and made way for a path.
"Young Clan Leader!"
"Young Clan Leader, this has nothing to do with you. You should go back!"
"Young Clan Leader, you have to stand up for us!"
The clan members all spoke at once, voicing their thoughts to Hane as he approached at an unhurried pace.
Since Hane had saved many Uchiha women and children during the Nine-Tails Rebellion, he had already enjoyed great prestige among the ordinary Uchiha. Combined with his impressive display at the clan meeting and Uchiha Retsuyō's secret promotion of him among the younger generation recently—
That was why the clan members now held him in such high regard.
Hane nodded to the eager clan members, then looked at the Anbu ninja atop the notice board. "Are you planning to arrest my clansmen for disturbing the village's public order?" Hane asked coldly.
"Uchiha Hane, Minister Fugaku's son, please mind your attitude! Don't create trouble for no reason." The cat-faced ninja was deeply wary of the youth before him. He knew the outcome of his colleagues' last attempt to test this boy—none of them had returned.
"My attitude? My attitude is to seek the truth from facts! Never mind that Konoha's higher-ups broke their promise first, but now they're trying to force criminal charges onto my clansmen. Do they think the Uchiha Clan's kunai are no longer sharp?"
Hane's attitude undoubtedly harvested another wave of Gratitude Points from the clan members. Most of the Uchiha present looked at Hane with grateful expressions.
"Hmph, you sharp-tongued brat. At a time of village crisis, you don't think about overcoming hardship with the village. You only concern yourselves with your own interests. That is why the people of the village hate the Uchiha Clan."
"Brother! Why don't we go back? Don't clash with the village any further!" Just as Hane was about to retort, Itachi tugged on his clothes from behind.
Hane silently turned back and looked at Itachi. He truly did not want to say anything more about his foolish little brother. Konoha's higher-ups were practically shitting on their heads, yet Itachi still wanted to avoid this conflict. Did he really not know which seat his ass was sitting in?
Itachi's heart trembled under Hane's silent gaze. He pressed his lips together and tightly shut his mouth.
Hane turned back and looked once more at the Anbu ninja.
"Hahaha! Sharp-tongued? I wonder who is truly sharp-tongued here. It was clearly the village higher-ups' negligence, yet they want to blame the Uchiha. Did the Uchiha force the village to relocate us? If the village cannot provide the relocation funds it promised, then the Uchiha Clan simply won't move. We're living quite well where we are anyway!" Hane said coldly.
The Anbu ninja instantly fell silent.
"Hmph! That is not for the Uchiha Clan to decide!" A sinister voice suddenly rang out.
Before you continue