Convinced

"The strength had never lain in the sword in one's hand, but in one's heart!"

Hane looked calmly at the blood-soaked Uchiha Retsuyō, whose body did not have a single patch of intact flesh left.

There was no frivolity in his gaze, no disdain, nor any insult or gloating toward the defeated. There was only calm indifference.

Yet it was precisely that gaze that made the kneeling Uchiha Retsuyō feel the immense 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 in confusion.

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 before lifting it again to look at Hane. "Because I believe that only by fighting the village to the bitter end can the Uchiha Clan find hope, rather than yielding again and again like Clan Head Fugaku!"

"And as his son, even though you possess immense potential, you will inevitably inherit your father's will. That is why I said our battle was never a personal grudge—it was a gamble on the future of the Uchiha Clan!"

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

"Isn't it?" Uchiha Retsuyō met Hane's disappointed gaze. For some reason, panic stirred in his heart.

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

Uchiha Retsuyō nodded.

"Then who is stronger, me or the Hokage?"

Uchiha Retsuyō pressed his lips together, but in the end, he answered Hane honestly. "Of course it is Lord Third. He is the man known throughout the Ninja World as the strongest Hokage, the Hero of Shinobi!"

Under Uchiha Retsuyō's stunned gaze, Hane nodded.

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

Uchiha Liehuo fell silent.

The forces and people Hane had named were all pillars of Konoha. Having experienced the Third Great Ninja War, Uchiha Retsuyō knew a fair amount about every one of them.

Hane was very strong, but facing any one of them would not be easy for him, much less all of them, who formed a united group bound by Konoha's interests. With Hane's current strength, he was still far from enough...

"You say the entire Uchiha Clan needs to be unyielding. 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 should you and I face such a calamity?"

"Then what should we do?! The village keeps pressing us step by step. What exactly did we Uchiha do wrong?!" Uchiha Retsuyō practically roared the words, several tears of despair welling in his eyes.

Seeing that Uchiha Retsuyō had completely forgotten his composure, Hane could not help letting out a soft sigh.

"Only becoming strong ourselves is the foundation for solving everything. That is true for an individual, and it is true for a clan. Look at the Uchiha Clan now—where is even a trace of the glory it possessed during the Warring States era? If our ancestors saw us as we are now, they would probably laugh at our incompetence! Instead of placing all the blame on ourselves, we blame the village for pressing us at every turn. But why do they do this? At the root of it all, is it not because the current Uchiha Clan has no ability to resist?"

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

Thinking of the Uchiha Clan of old, then looking at the oppressed Uchiha Clan of today, he had no choice but to admit that Hane was speaking the truth.

"But is becoming strong really that easy?"

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

"Heh heh! Hasn't Brother Retsuyō already grown much stronger?"

Seeing the faint smile on Hane's lips, Uchiha Retsuyō was briefly dazed. That's right! He had now awakened the eyes of his ancestors. It was not impossible for the Uchiha Clan to face the village in the future...

"But that alone is still not enough. Our enemies are still watching us closely in plain sight. Only by uniting every Uchiha, building up our strength, and then delivering a fatal blow when the enemy reveals an opening can we succeed. Do you understand..." Hane looked at Uchiha Retsuyō coldly.

"Is the village our enemy?" 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 very disappointed." Hane chuckled.

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

"This is where your ignorance lies. The Uchiha Clan's enemy has never been the entire village. Where would we go if we lost the village? Our enemies have always been only the disciples of the Second Hokage. Their prejudice is the primary reason the Uchiha Clan and the village have become so estranged."

After Hane voiced his understanding, Uchiha Retsuyō's mind boomed as though the clouds had been swept aside and he had seen the sun in the sky. He stared blankly at the young clansman before him, who was only half his height.

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

Hane looked at the stunned Uchiha Retsuyō with a smile.

After a long while, Uchiha Retsuyō's expression gradually became solemn, as though he had made up his mind. He stood, endured the pain of his injuries, 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, will henceforth follow Young Clan Head Uchiha Hane's lead!"

Looking at the utterly convinced Uchiha Retsuyō, Hane gently gripped the broken edge of the blade. A burst of high heat flashed across it.

Under Uchiha Retsuyō's puzzled gaze, Hane withdrew his small hand. "I do not like using incomplete blades. It is fine now—it has become stronger! Hahaha! Hahaha!" Hane burst into laughter.

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