Escalating Conflict

"Does Father trust my brother that much?!" A flicker of disappointment passed through Itachi's eyes.

"Hehe, Itachi! You really underestimate your father. How could I watch your brother bear this pressure alone? I've already sent your Uncle Uchiha Yashiro to support him!" A faint smile curled at Fugaku's lips.

Yet Fugaku's words did not comfort Itachi. Instead, they struck him like the sky collapsing. "So Father knew the whole story all along. Then why didn't you stop it beforehand?!" Itachi suddenly demanded loudly.

Fugaku was momentarily confused. He had thought Itachi said that because he was worried about his brother, but Itachi's reaction was rather strange.

"Itachi, what nonsense are you talking about? This was a test of the Hokage!" Fugaku reprimanded him sternly.

"A test? What is there to test about Lord Hokage? Doesn't Father know that Brother Shisui has already joined the Shadow Guard? The bridge between the clan and the village has already been opened. Isn't that what Father once hoped for?!"

Seeing the faint pain on Itachi's face, Fugaku did not know what to say for a moment. Was his son leaning too far toward the village?

Fugaku's expression gradually turned solemn. "Itachi, that kind of bridge only allows one-way passage!"

After saying that, Fugaku did not explain further. Instead, he hurried toward the Hokage Building. He needed to observe the situation closely, lest this test truly turn into a large-scale conflict.

Itachi's heart turned ice-cold. Stunned, he recalled what Brother Shisui had told him when they were together.

"Itachi, keep a close eye on your brother. Unlike you, your brother does not place full trust in the village. He is deeply wary of it. As his younger brother, you must persuade him in time. Don't let Hane walk down the wrong path."

But now, not only was his brother like this—even his father's once-friendly attitude toward the village was slowly changing. Itachi felt a suffocating weight in his chest.

Hokage Building.

At this moment, Hane had already brought the clan members downstairs. There were no earth-shaking slogans as imagined. The Uchiha Clan displayed remarkable discipline in this regard, with ninja standing at the front to protect the ordinary clan members behind them.

They merely stood silently below the Hokage Building, waiting for the Hokage to come out and explain. The surrounding civilians had gone from confusion at first to complete absence.

It had to be said that the Uchiha's reputation was truly abysmal. Everyone who saw the Uchiha marching reacted as if they had encountered enemies.

Hane's heart chilled slightly. At first, he had thought that once these civilians learned of the injustice suffered by the Uchiha, someone would step forward to speak up for them.

But the result was that everyone acted as though it had nothing to do with them, guarding against the Uchiha as if they were enemies. No wonder Konoha's higher-ups dared do this without fearing outrage from the villagers!

Sometimes, Hane could not help wondering what exactly the Uchiha had done to make the villagers treat them this way. But after thinking about it for a long time, he still could not understand.

Hane did agree that the Uchiha had extreme emotions. After all, compared to ordinary Konoha villagers, who gave only +1 Malice Points even when they felt disgust, clan members could casually provide +10 or +100 emotional points at a time, whether through gratitude or hatred. He truly could not deny that.

But even so, the Uchiha had never oppressed ordinary civilians! They rarely even interacted with civilian ninja. It could be said that the Uchiha were extremely isolated. Even when they did interact with others, it was with criminals, or because they acted somewhat arrogant before civilian ninja. And that alone had made them targets of the villagers' hatred!

Speaking of evil, Hane sometimes felt that the Uchiha's evil was worthless before the evil of Konoha's villagers. Setting aside everything else, just transferring their hatred onto a newborn infant was already beyond human understanding.

At the very least, it was clear from the original story that the Uchiha were indifferent toward Naruto. They had no intention of getting close to him, but neither did they maliciously mock him.

Just as Hane was lost in thought, several notification sounds suddenly rang in his mind,

"Malice Points +10000"

"Malice Points +5000"

"Malice Points +2000"

The notifications abruptly pulled Hane back to his senses. His expression froze, and he quickly began searching for whoever had provided such massive rewards at once.

He saw three elderly people in their sixties or seventies emerge—two men and one woman. They were Anbu ninja led by the Elder Council: Utatane Koharu, Danzo, and Mitokado Homura.

When Hane saw Danzo's cold gaze, he instantly understood where that powerful malice had come from.

A smile involuntarily curled across Hane's lips. "Oh! Isn't this Lord Danzo? What a coincidence! We actually met twice in one day."

"Brat!"

Hane felt another surge of intense malice, and joy immediately rose in his heart. A bountiful harvest! What a bountiful harvest!

"Is this the Uchiha's attitude? You actually sent a child to cause trouble at the Hokage Building." Utatane Koharu gave Hane an indifferent glance.

"Elder Koharu, you jest. This is our Uchiha young clan head. The clan members came here with him because they trust the young clan head." Uchiha Yashiro hurriedly stepped forward to explain.

As Fugaku's confidant, he naturally would not oppose Hane's title as young clan head.

"Hmph! You attacked the Hokage Building without cause. Do you Uchiha know your crime?" Utatane Koharu ignored Hane and looked directly at Uchiha Yashiro.

"Attacked without cause?" Uchiha Yashiro's expression froze as he looked at Utatane Koharu with an unpleasant expression.

"Elder Koharu, have you misunderstood something? The village canceled our clan's relocation funds without reason. Are we, the Uchiha Clan, not even allowed to come and ask about it?!" Uchiha Yashiro gradually raised his voice.

Hearing this, the clan members began waving their arms and shouting in agreement.

"Yeah! Why were they canceled?!"

"We need a reasonable explanation!"

Utatane Koharu frowned. It seemed that words alone could no longer appease the Uchiha Clan. Damn it, this kid started it all. Annoyed, she glanced at Hane, who stood amid the crowd and was well protected by the young clansmen brought by Uchiha Retsuyō.

Hane merely chuckled. He wished for that kind of look to come a few more times. Each one was worth two thousand points. A few more, and he could upgrade another skill.

Just as everyone was shouting, a cold snort rang out.

"An explanation! Koharu, we cannot let this continue any longer. Leave the rest to me!"

Seeing the smiling brat, Danzo's anger surged higher and higher. After saying that, he turned to Uchiha Yashiro.

"Konoha is currently locked in a standoff with Hidden Cloud, yet instead of thinking of serving Konoha, you brought people to the Hokage Building to gather and cause trouble. You have no sense of the bigger picture, yet you still have the nerve to demand an explanation from the village."

Danzo truly was skilled at turning black into white. In just a few words, he shifted all blame onto the Uchiha.

Uchiha Yashiro's expression completely chilled.

"The village broke faith first. How can you blame the Uchiha for making trouble without reason? Our Uchiha clansmen are fighting desperately at the front lines, yet the village bullies their elderly, weak, women, and children in the rear. If the village does not give us a reasonable explanation today, do not blame the Uchiha Clan for refusing to let this go."

Danzo coldly looked at the Uchiha clansmen, who had fallen completely silent. At this moment, many Uchiha ninja had already assumed attacking stances.

At the same time, Hane looked coldly at Danzo.

"If that is the case, then let us see whether the Uchiha have the strength for it." Danzo had barely finished speaking.

Large numbers of Root ninja leaped down from both sides of the street.

The Uchiha ninja reacted immediately. The young ninja at the front surrounding Hane drew their swords one after another, activating their Sharingan as their scarlet eyes vigilantly watched the ninja around them.

When Hane saw Retsuyō preparing to unleash his Mangekyō, he quickly grabbed his arm and shook his head, signaling him not to act rashly.

The atmosphere seemed to have reached the peak of battle, but Hane knew they could not truly fight. Within his Divine Sense, Sarutobi the Third and Fugaku were both still hidden in the shadows.

Though he could not understand Hane's intentions, Uchiha Retsuyō faithfully carried out his order. The redness in his eyes immediately faded.

"Elder Danzo, are you determined not to give the Uchiha an explanation?!" Powerful killing intent radiated from Uchiha Yashiro. As one of the clan's top experts, he possessed the pride unique to the Uchiha.

Even a clay figure had some temper. Though he too belonged to the Moderate Faction that leaned toward the village, this matter was clearly no longer a clash of ideals between the Moderate Faction and the Hardline Faction. It concerned the interests of the entire clan.

A dangerous gleam rose in Danzo's single eye.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

Without another word, Danzo decisively formed hand seals and spat out sharp wind blades like Kamaitachi, slashing toward Uchiha Yashiro.

The violent wind swept out, its enormous blades sharper than swords.

Utatane Koharu's previously calm expression instantly changed. "Danzo, what are you trying to do?!"