Selection

"All right! Itachi, let's go find Hane together! After all, he's Itachi's beloved older brother!" Seeing that Itachi had returned to normal, Shisui spoke softly.

"Mm!" Itachi nodded heavily.

Near the edge of Konoha's forest stood a standalone wooden villa, its interior brightly lit.

In the living room, a group of youths wearing the Uchiha Clan's traditional dark blue robes, with flame fans emblazoned on their backs, sat neatly in two rows on their knees.

Every one of them looked tense and solemn.

Uchiha Retsuyō glanced at the clock beside him. "The time is almost here. Gentlemen, prepare to welcome the young clan leader!"

"Yes, Captain Retsuyō!" everyone answered in unison.

A flash of fire suddenly appeared at the entrance, and everyone immediately tensed.

Uchiha Retsuyō hurriedly rose and went to the door. Through the gap in the doorway, he saw the delicate, youthful face outside and quickly opened the door.

"The young clan leader has arrived!" Uchiha Retsuyō shouted over his shoulder as he flung the door open.

Hane paused slightly. He saw two neat rows of clansmen bowing their heads in full prostration and shouting in unison, "We await you, young clan leader!"

Faced with such a scene, Hane was speechless. He looked at the stern-faced Uchiha Retsuyō, who resembled an utterly loyal guard.

"Brother Retsuyō, there's no need for this next time. Since when did the Uchiha Clan start favoring this sort of formalism?"

"Young clan leader, this is how the clansmen express their respect for you. Today, they saw you crush that old bastard Danzo's Wind Release Ninjutsu with one hand. They all hold you in great esteem!" Uchiha Retsuyō answered solemnly.

Seeing this, Hane did not want to say anything more and walked straight toward the seat of honor.

Strolling over to the seat Uchiha Retsuyō had prepared for him, Hane casually sat on the cushion at the head of the room. He then looked toward Uchiha Retsuyō, who had seated himself below him. "Brother Retsuyō, who owns this estate?"

"In reply to the young clan leader, this is a property I purchased temporarily, specifically for this gathering." Uchiha Retsuyō answered respectfully.

Hane was stunned. He had not expected this subordinate, who was so fiercely loyal to him, to be wealthy as well.

But thinking about it, that made sense. As the only grandson of the Uchiha Clan's Second Elder, it was only natural for him to have money.

"Brother Retsuyō, you've put a lot of thought into this. Once I have assets of my own in the future, I'll naturally compensate you." Hane smiled faintly.

"To strive for the young clan leader's great cause for the clan, how could this amount to anything? Please do not say such things again, young clan leader!"

Hane opened his mouth slightly. He felt that the Uchiha Clan's people all had a masochistic nature. As long as you beat them into submission, they would become incomparably considerate of you.

Looking at the fervent expressions directed his way, Hane curled his lips into a faint smile.

That was why this fervor was probably only superficial for now. In the end, this world spoke with fists.

Although, at only six years old, he had displayed tremendous might at the clan assembly, leaving the clan elders in a miserable state; defeated the clan's genius Jonin; and, amid the dispute between the clansmen and upper ranks, directly withstood an attack from a Kage Level expert. On top of that, his father was the clan leader.

Any one of those accomplishments would have been enough for an Uchiha to become famous within the clan, much less all of them combined—and at his current age. Saying that he had surpassed the ancestor Madara was absolutely not praise, but fact.

Yet Hane knew that this was not enough. It could only make the proud Uchiha clansmen show fanaticism on the surface. To make them submit to him in both heart and body, they needed to personally experience his true strength.

With that in mind, Hane decided not to waste any more words and went straight to the point. After all, once he succeeded, the Uchiha Clan would not only directly control Konoha, but might even rise to become a royal clan or an imperial clan in the future.

When that time came, what would any of this matter?

Hane swept his gaze across the youths present. A trace of spiritual pressure leaked out, and in an instant, everyone present—including Uchiha Retsuyō—felt a suffocating oppression.

"I'm sure everyone understands Konoha's current attitude toward our Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha Clan has reached the point where we must resist. Otherwise, in the near future, we can only become meat on Konoha's upper ranks' plates."

The moment the youths heard Hane's words, they all straightened up and looked at him without shifting their gaze.

"I know that most of you came here because you were drawn by my strength. For that, I, Uchiha Hane, am honored that you trust a child like me so much. Now, let us begin with some simple introductions, so that I may get to know you all!"

"Yes, young clan leader!"

The Uchiha youths answered in unison.

"I am Uchiha Xuan. Greetings, young clan leader!"

"I am Uchiha Jingjie. Greetings, young clan leader!"

"I am Uchiha Shuxiong. Greetings, young clan leader!"

The many youths respectfully introduced themselves one by one.

With his powerful memory, Hane instantly committed their appearances, traits, and names to memory.

Only after everyone had finished introducing themselves did Hane speak calmly.

"Gentlemen, I'm sure you all feel firsthand the difficulties our Uchiha Clan currently faces. What I wish to say is this: if a clan's people are not united, it will fail at everything it attempts. If we wish to oppose Konoha's upper ranks, our own clan must first work together as one. I hope that in the future, there will no longer be such absurd divisions as radicals and moderates."

"Not only that, our immediate goal is to eliminate these two divisions within the clan. From now on, the entire clan may have only one voice: mine. Can you do that?"

Hane looked at the Uchiha youths before him with a sharp gaze.

At once, some of the youths' expressions changed, and the looks they gave Hane were no longer as fervent as before.

Hane had expected this. This was the Uchiha Clan. Everyone had their own stubborn reasons. Only through overwhelming strength and unchangeable facts could they truly be convinced by someone.

Hane was entirely unmoved by their change. He simply continued waiting for their next reaction.

"I, Uchiha Retsuyō, will certainly abide by the young clan leader's will!"

The first to step forward was, without question, Uchiha Retsuyō, whom Hane had beaten into submission.

"And the rest of you?" Hane nodded to Retsuyō, then looked at the others.

"Young clan leader, I admit that you are a genius the Uchiha Clan has not seen in a century, perhaps even comparable to our ancestor Madara. But isn't it too arrogant to think that we alone can control the will of the entire clan?"

A clan youth stood up, enduring the powerful pressure Hane radiated as uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

He had originally thought the young clan leader, so highly praised within the clan, would be a rational person. But clearly, he had been wrong. That arrogant tone made him somewhat disgusted. After all, even their ancestor Madara had not been able to completely control the thoughts of the entire clan.

"You don't need to understand how I intend to do it. I only want to know whether you agree with what I just said." Hane answered with a light laugh.

"Forgive me for being unable to understand. If this is the young clan leader's way of thinking, then how are you any different from our ancestor Madara back then? Captain Retsuyō, I'll take my leave." With that, the Uchiha youth quickly rose and headed outside.

Uchiha Retsuyō's expression turned ugly. He had carefully selected this group, yet someone had left right from the start. This was clearly a slap to his face.

Hane, however, showed no reaction and calmly continued asking, "Is anyone else leaving?"

Immediately, more than a dozen Uchiha youths who had still been hesitating hastily bowed to Uchiha Retsuyō and quickly departed.

They had originally come today to hear what insights this youth, said to rival ancestor Madara, had to offer. Instead, he had opened with such dictatorial words. Out of consideration for appearances, they had not been the first to stand up, but now that someone had taken the lead, they could only excuse themselves.

Hane watched the departing clansmen with deep eyes. He had never intended to keep too many people today. Resources were limited at present, so he first needed to filter out the clansmen who harbored divided loyalties. Only by keeping those who firmly believed in him as his first batch of elite enforcers could he waste fewer resources.

After all, there were only so many medicinal herbs at the moment. It was clearly unrealistic to improve every clansman present. Rather than let those who followed him feel it was unfair, he might as well first select the most loyal clansmen now and establish ranks among them. Once resources became plentiful in the future, he could distribute them according to seniority. Presumably, those who left today would regret it deeply enough.

Only when twelve clansmen remained seated did Hane nod in satisfaction.

"Brother Retsuyō, there's no need to feel guilty. People's hearts change. Once we achieve something in the future, the clansmen will know who was right and who was wrong!" Hane glanced calmly at Uchiha Retsuyō, whose face had darkened as though water could be squeezed from it.

"Young clan leader, I failed to select the right people. Will this affect your plans going forward?" Uchiha Retsuyō asked with a slight bow.

"No. I expected their departure long ago. All right, let me explain what we will do next!" Hane answered evenly.

"Yes, young clan leader!" the remaining people answered in unison.