The Beginning of the Clan Assembly

"Hane! Time to eat!"

Hane had just loosened the soil around the last medicinal herb and was about to stand when he heard his mother calling from the window.

"Okay! Got it... Mother!" Hane quickly set the small hoe beside the fence around the herb garden, then casually used the Cleaning Technique from the Five Elements Dao Art to remove the dust from his body.

He jogged straight toward the living room. For a child, nothing was more important than being called to eat by Mom!

Hane was no exception. He was still growing, after all. Before reaching the Fasting Stage in cultivation, eating was still of Nothingness-level importance to cultivators.

Miss one meal, and you would be starving by the next. Don't tell him that eating grains and ordinary food offered Nothingness in the way of cultivation benefits. What the hell did mortals know about cultivating?

Besides, this food had been made by his mother. Hane needed three bowls of rice every day just to be half full. After all, the "essence" in Refining Essence into Qi also included the essence of food.

As usual, under Mikoto's gentle gaze, Hane wolfed down four bowls of white rice. After quietly waiting for Itachi to finish chewing slowly, he got up to help his mother clear the dishes, then happily headed to school with Itachi.

Today was another day of gains. With his little brother in tow, he arrived at Izumi's doorstep and lightly knocked on the door two or three times. Soon, the little girl opened it and poked her small head out.

When she saw Hane, a faint blush appeared on Izumi's face, followed by a flash of delight in her eyes. "Good morning, Hane!"

"Morning, Izumi! Let's go to school together today!" Hane greeted her with a smile.

Izumi hurriedly nodded, then opened the half-closed door and stepped out prettily.

As the three walked toward school, the villagers continued to cast admiring looks at Hane and the others.

"Hane, why did you think of waiting for me so we could go to school together?" Izumi asked playfully.

"Because I want to be friends with cute Izumi! Didn't we agree yesterday? We're friends now, and friends naturally go to school together."

As soon as Hane said that, the system in his mind sounded again with a series of +10, +10...

How could Hane possibly let his treasure girl get away?

Izumi's little face reddened as she turned her head slightly aside. "Hane, you really are such a smooth-talking boy."

"Hehe, Izumi, I'm only telling the truth. Izumi really is cute!"

Watching the two chat and laugh ahead of him, Itachi suddenly felt a pang of melancholy. It felt as though his beloved older brother was about to be taken away. Even the villagers' gazes, which he had once cared about, no longer seemed so important.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building, Konoha's four elders were still seated facing one another.

Sarutobi shook his pipe. "Have you found out what caused the battle at Fugaku's home yesterday?"

"Not yet. The battle was far too brief, and it happened late at night. No one saw exactly what occurred," Danzo answered with a grim expression.

Sarutobi nodded. "The Uchiha clan assembly must have begun by now. I wonder how their discussion is going."

"Hmph! If we tell them to move, do they dare refuse? The Nine-Tails Rebellion was only recently quelled, and the Uchiha Clan has never been cleared of suspicion. That alone means they would not dare oppose the village." Danzo's tone was forceful.

"Alas, I only hope the Uchiha can understand the village's difficulties." Sarutobi let out a long sigh.

"Sarutobi, you're too soft-hearted. Why be polite to the Uchiha? You saw the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes that night. And then there was last night's incident. The news coming from the Uchiha Clan Grounds was that a mysterious person had attacked their clan head's residence again. It was utterly absurd. That was no way to clear up rumors.

"Especially Fugaku's brat. He has none of the Will of Fire. To prevent an Uchiha uprising, I believe we should strengthen our surveillance of the Uchiha!"

Sarutobi fell silent for a second or two, then took a puff from his pipe. "Leave this matter to Root. Be mindful of the impact. The village is still at war, after all. Don't let the front lines become strained while the rear descends into a farce for outsiders to laugh at."

"Hmph!" Danzo snorted in dissatisfaction and left the Hokage Building, leaning on his cane.

At the same time, in the Uchiha clan assembly hall, after Fugaku brought up the relocation of the clan compound, the entire hall erupted into heated argument.

Sitting on the platform, Fugaku felt a headache of Nothingness-like proportions coming on.

"Why should we relocate to the banks of the Naka River? Is that a relocation? They're exiling us!"

"Clan Head, I, Zetsu, absolutely refuse!" an elder stood up and declared furiously.

"This is Zetsu-definitely a plot by the higher-ups!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Clan Head, we, Zetsu, absolutely won't move!" The clansmen below joined in the uproar.

"Quiet!" Fugaku shouted, and the clansmen below immediately turned their red eyes toward him. Clearly, this matter had touched the bottom line for many of them.

"You should know that the clan's main Jonin forces have all been dispatched to the Hidden Cloud border. No matter how loudly everyone shouts, we currently have Nothingness in the way of power to oppose the village's decision."

After Fugaku's words, many people in the hall calmed down considerably.

However, that calm did not last long.

"Even so, we cannot move! I don't believe the village would dare force us to relocate. After the Nine-Tails Rebellion, our Uchiha Clan has already been pushed to the edge of power. Now they want to exile us to the edge of the village as well. Are they trying to isolate us completely?"

An elder from the radical faction roared loudly, and the meeting hall, which had only just quieted down, became noisy once more.

The arguments continued without stopping until the clan assembly ended, leaving Fugaku no choice but to arrange another discussion that evening.

When Hane, Izumi, and Itachi returned from school, the three of them could clearly sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the clan compound. The passing Uchiha clansmen all wore grim expressions, and the air felt especially oppressive.

After saying goodbye to Izumi, Hane brought Itachi home and saw his father sitting at the dining table with a gloomy expression.

Normally, his mother would have already prepared dinner by this time, but the table was empty today, and she was nowhere to be seen.

"Father! What happened?" Hane sat kneeling on a cushion with Itachi and asked in a low voice.

"Hane, you are a powerful ninja now as well. Come with me to tonight's clan assembly!" Fugaku was clearly under immense pressure. He had no choice but to use the weight of his genius son to fight for a greater voice within the clan.

Hane naturally knew what this was about. It was Nothingness more than the relocation of the Uchiha Clan Grounds. Though he did not know how it had been resolved in the original story, with him involved this time, Zetsu absolutely would not let the Third Hokage and the others brush it aside so easily. They wanted the Uchiha Clan to relocate without offering anything in return? In their dreams.

"Understood, Father!" Hane replied, his eyes flickering.

Beside him, Itachi looked somewhat anxious. He wanted to go too.

Fugaku seemed to see through Itachi's thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Itachi can come as well. But you cannot enter the clan assembly. You may only listen outside the entrance."

Itachi nodded, looking slightly disappointed. He knew the clan assembly's rules: one had to prove one's strength to the clansmen. Although he already possessed the strength of a Genin, that was still far from enough for his father to make an exception for him.

It seemed he needed to work harder—graduate from the Ninja Academy early like Brother Shisui, and prove his strength to Father and the clansmen.