Night Encounter

By the time they left Konoha's outskirts, it was already close to midnight. A vast full moon hung high overhead, lending the entire village an incomparable tranquility. The scattered pedestrians still out on the streets seemed hurried as well.

Hane walked ahead, with Uchiha Retsuyō following behind. Anyone unaware of their identities might have thought some young master had taken his servant out for a late-night stroll.

"Brother Retsuyō, you said a lot of children had gone missing in Konoha recently. Have you found any clues?" Hane asked softly as he looked at the empty streets.

"There are some clues, but whenever we get to something critical, they suddenly go cold," Uchiha Retsuyō answered gravely.

"Why is that?" Hane asked in confusion.

"I don't know. It's as if someone is deliberately covering up the information. The Military Police Force has concluded that everything points to shinobi from other villages!

"Villagers are practically making a scene outside the Military Police Force every day. This matter has made everyone in the force extremely anxious," Uchiha Retsuyō said with a frown and a sigh.

Hane fell into thought. "Tomorrow, I'll also be going to work at the Military Police Force with my father. Show me those files then."

"Oh! The young clan leader is coming to the Military Police Force too? That's wonderful! Clan Leader Fugaku should have done this long ago. Keeping the young clan leader in the Ninja Academy is simply a waste of time!" Uchiha Retsuyō said excitedly.

"Heh, Father can't really be blamed for that. My age is what it is. If I hadn't displayed my strength a few times recently, Father wouldn't have made this decision. After all, he still has to consider the clan members' feelings," Hane replied somewhat awkwardly.

"Don't worry! If anyone refuses to accept you when the time comes, tell them to come find me, Uchiha Retsuyō! Hmph! Anyone who dares disrespect the young clan leader is picking a fight with me, Uchiha Retsuyō. Those who can't even beat me dare point fingers at the young clan leader? They truly don't know their place!"

As Uchiha Retsuyō spoke, his Mangekyō appeared in his eyes. Clearly, in his heart, Hane had become irreplaceable.

"All right, Brother Retsuyō, put away your Mangekyō. Our clansmen aren't enemies." Hane spoke helplessly. "By the way, how have you been doing with the Mangekyō lately? Have you awakened your second eye technique?"

"Heh, I have, young clan leader. My second eye technique is Time Reset. It's just that the cost of using it is rather steep. With my current ocular power, using it once would leave both my eyes blind," Uchiha Retsuyō said with a foolish grin.

"Hiss!" Hane couldn't help drawing a sharp breath. That was a miraculous time-based ability! Were Uchiha eyes all this heaven-defying? Or were the laws governing time in this world simply too easy?

"Brother Retsuyō, why did you awaken such an eye technique?" Hane hurriedly asked, suppressing his shock.

"Well... this..." Uchiha Retsuyō suddenly scratched his head in embarrassment.

"If it's inconvenient for you to answer, Brother Retsuyō, then don't force yourself. I'm only a little curious," Hane said with a faint smile.

"No! No, young clan leader. This eye technique was born because of you!"

"I absolutely will not acknowledge an Uchiha Clan without the young clan leader. If the young clan leader ever faces danger, I'll use this Ninjutsu and reset time. Even if it costs me both pairs of eyes, I won't hesitate, because the young clan leader let me see hope for the Uchiha Clan!"

Uchiha Retsuyō hurriedly denied it and revealed the reason.

Hane was momentarily speechless as he stared blankly at Uchiha Retsuyō, who was rubbing his nose with an honest-looking expression.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say. Was this the Uchiha Clan's extremism?

"Don't worry, Brother Retsuyō. Time Reset is an incredibly powerful technique. Once the pills are made, I'll help raise your spiritual power as soon as possible. I hope you can evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō soon. I don't want to wake up one day and find Brother Retsuyō blind."

Seeing Uchiha Retsuyō suddenly freeze up, Hane couldn't help shaking his head. "Let's go."

"Hehe!" Uchiha Retsuyō hurriedly followed Hane's footsteps.

As the two neared the Uchiha Clan Grounds, two figures suddenly appeared on the road ahead of them.

One was older and one was younger. Their eyes met, and Hane's face darkened when he saw Shisui holding Itachi's hand. I'd been busy running around outside, and before I knew it, my home had been stolen.

"Brother!" Itachi suddenly shouted. He broke free from Shisui's large hand and ran toward Hane.

When Itachi was half a meter away, Hane raised his little fist and gave him a heavy punch on the head. Itachi instantly felt a sharp pain in his head. He immediately clutched his little head with both hands, tears nearly welling up in his eyes from the pain.

"Why are you still wandering around outside so late at night? What if Mother worries?" Hane scolded him with feigned sternness.

"I was worried about you, Brother! I wanted to come out and look for you!" Itachi said somewhat aggrievedly.

"Hmph! Yet you ended up strolling around with this Special Jonin instead," Hane said, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.

"Um, Brother, I..." Itachi wanted to explain, but he couldn't think of an excuse right away. His anxious eyes darted about.

"All right, now that you've found me, let's go home together," Hane said helplessly.

"Brother, I'm sorry about what happened today." Itachi lowered his head slightly.

"You haven't wronged your brother, Itachi. The ones you've wronged are the clansmen who trusted you!" Hane sternly rebuked him.

"Brother, I understand." Itachi stood there blankly, lowering his head as he spoke softly.

Seeing this, Hane didn't want to push Itachi too hard. "You understand now. Don't say things like that again in the future. Let's go. Who knows how worried Mother must be right now." With that, Hane extended one hand.

Itachi immediately smiled and took Hane's hand.

"Hane, you're being too harsh on Itachi." Shisui stepped forward and lightly reprimanded Hane.

"Hmph! If you hadn't always been filling Itachi's head with unhealthy ideas, would I be this harsh with him?" Hane rolled his eyes at Shisui, who was wholeheartedly serving Konoha like a beast of burden.

"Hane, I know the village has done some things wrong, but you can't just reject the village completely because of that, can you?" Shisui patiently explained.

"So you aren't completely blind to the truth after all. Then why can't you grasp the key issue here? Are we the ones completely rejecting the village, or are Konoha's current higher-ups the ones completely rejecting the Uchiha Clan? Do you still not understand that?" Hane replied angrily.

Shisui opened his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Hane looked at Shisui and thought for a moment. He felt it was time to have a proper talk with Brother Shisui. At the very least, Shisui was not entirely on the village's side. If Hane could bring him over to his side, there would be far less resistance when he launched his coup in the future.

"This isn't the place to talk. Brother Shisui, let's go chat on that rooftop over there."

"Okay." Shisui nodded.

In truth, he had many frustrations bottled up inside him. Yet pitifully, there were too few people in the village who could understand him. As a result, he often had no choice but to bury his doubts in his heart, with nowhere to vent them. As for Itachi, his younger brother, who was both student and friend, Shisui had to consider his age and could not explain some things too thoroughly.

As for Hane, to be honest, ever since meeting him, Shisui had never been able to treat him as a child. Instead, Hane felt more like a worldly adult who had weathered many trials.

Although their views differed greatly, Shisui had to admit that whenever he discussed matters with Hane, he always gained a sense of clarity.