Encounter at Night

Having left Konoha's outskirts, it was already close to midnight. A vast full moon hung high overhead, and the entire village seemed exceptionally quiet and peaceful. The few people walking the streets at night all appeared to be in a hurry.

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

"Brother Retsuyō, you said that many children have gone missing in Konoha lately. Have you found any clues?" Hane asked softly as he looked at the empty street.

"There are some clues, but whenever the investigation reaches a critical point, they suddenly go cold!" Uchiha Retsuyō answered in a deep voice.

"Why is that?" Hane asked in confusion.

"I don't know. It's as though someone is deliberately covering up the information. The Military Police Force's current conclusion is that it all points to ninja from other villages!

"Villagers are practically causing a scene outside the Military Police Force every day. This matter has made everyone in the force extremely anxious!" Uchiha Retsuyō sighed with a frown.

Hane fell into thought. "I'll also be joining my father at the Military Police Force tomorrow. Show me those files then."

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

"Hehe, Father can't really be blamed for that. After all, my age is what it is. If I hadn't displayed my strength these past few times, Father wouldn't have made this decision. He still has to consider the clan members' feelings." Hane answered somewhat awkwardly.

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

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

"Alright, Brother Retsuyō, put away your Mangekyō. Our clansmen aren't enemies." Hane spoke helplessly. "By the way, how has your use of the Mangekyō been lately? Has your second ocular technique awakened?"

"Hehe, it has, Young Clan Head. My second ocular technique is Time Reset. It's just that the price of using it is rather steep. With my current ocular power, using it once would blind both my eyes." Uchiha Retsuyō said with a foolish grin.

"Hiss!" Hane could not help drawing a sharp breath. This was a mighty time-based ability! Were Uchiha eyes all this absurdly powerful? Or were the laws governing time in this world simply too easy to grasp?

"Brother Retsuyō, why did you awaken such an ocular technique?" Hane hurriedly asked, suppressing the shock in his heart.

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

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

"No! No! Young Clan Head. This ocular technique was born because of you!"

"I absolutely refuse to acknowledge an Uchiha Clan without the young clan head. If the young clan head ever encounters danger, I'll use this technique to reset time. Even if it costs me both eyes, I won't hesitate, because the young clan head let me see hope for the Uchiha Clan!"

Uchiha Retsuyō hurriedly denied it and revealed the reason.

Hane was speechless for a moment, staring blankly at the honest-looking Uchiha Retsuyō as he rubbed his nose.

At that moment, he did not 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 ready, 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 that Brother Retsuyō has gone blind."

Seeing Uchiha Retsuyō suddenly freeze, Hane could not help shaking his head. "Let's go!"

"Hehe!" Uchiha Retsuyō hurriedly caught up with Hane.

As the two neared the Uchiha Clan compound, two figures suddenly appeared on the road not far ahead of them.

One big and one small. As their eyes met, Hane saw Shisui holding Itachi's hand, and his face immediately darkened. He had been busy running around outside, only to have his home stolen the moment he let his guard down.

"Brother!" Itachi suddenly shouted. He broke free from Shisui's 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 and immediately clutched it with both hands, tears nearly spilling from his eyes.

"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, sounding wronged.

"Hmph! Yet you ended up wandering around with this Special Jonin instead!" Hane said with a slight curl of his lips.

"Um, Brother, I..." Itachi wanted to explain, but he could not think of an excuse for the moment. His eyes darted around anxiously.

"Alright, since you 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 rebuked him sternly.

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

Seeing this, Hane did not want to press Itachi too hard. "Good. Don't say things like that again in the future. Let's go! I wonder how worried Mother must be right now." With that, he extended a hand.

Seeing this, Itachi quickly smiled and took Hane's hand.

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

"Hmph! If you weren't always filling Itachi's head with unhealthy ideas, would I be this harsh with him?" Hane rolled his eyes at Shisui, who wholeheartedly worked himself to the bone for Konoha.

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

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

Shisui Uchiha opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

Hane looked at Shisui, then thought for a moment. He felt that it was time to have a proper talk with Brother Shisui. At the very least, Shisui was not completely 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 talk on that rooftop over there!"

"Alright!" Shisui nodded.

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

As for Hane, honestly, ever since meeting him, Shisui had never been able to treat him as a child. Instead, Hane felt like a worldly adult who had weathered countless experiences.

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