Inside the newly built temple hall in the Uchiha District,
Eleven-year-old Itachi Uchiha wore a dark combat uniform with a short blade at his waist.
He walked into the hall, came to the center of the spacious venue, and dropped heavily onto one knee.
"Clan Leader!"
Itachi lowered his head, his voice trembling,
"Per your instructions, all Konoha ANBU and Root informants lurking on the outer periphery of the Uchiha District have completely evacuated as of this morning! Not a single one remains!"
Ren, sitting in the main seat, nodded slightly.
Early yesterday morning, Ren officially issued the order to counter the surveillance.
As the captain of the Temple Zero Squad,
Itachi personally led his subordinates to carry out this mission.
Recalling the scene from yesterday, Itachi clenched his fists.
At that time, Konoha's ANBU and Root ninja were hidden as usual in the dense woods and high-wall blind spots on the outer periphery of the Uchiha District.
They believed their disguise was flawless,
still using condescending gazes to monitor every move of the Uchiha.
An ANBU squad leader was squatting among the dense branches and leaves of a towering ancient tree, holding a record scroll in his hand, preparing to log the Uchiha Military Police Force's shift change time.
The very moment he raised his brush, the temperature of the surrounding air plummeted.
"Who goes there?!"
The ANBU squad leader's heart dropped in terror as he jerked his head around.
Before he knew it, several figures in dark combat uniforms had silently appeared around the very tree where he was stationed.
Leading them was none other than eleven-year-old Itachi Uchiha.
Behind Itachi, the young elites of Zero Squad lined up in a row.
Without any wasted words, dozens of crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan lit up simultaneously in the dim woods!
Following Ren's strict order to "fixate on the hidden sentries, lock down their presence, and subdue them without causing injury," Itachi and the members of Zero Squad did not even draw their ninja blades half an inch.
They simply stood quietly like that, looking at every single ANBU operative with crimson eyes.
"Uh..."
The ANBU squad leader's breathing grew rapid, the spiritual pressure leaving him barely able to move.
He desperately tried to raise his hands to form hand seals, only to find his fingers too stiff to obey him at all.
Under the gaze of dozens of three-tomoe, he dared not make the slightest move.
"The new clan leader of the Uchiha has an order."
Itachi looked at the ANBU operative dripping with cold sweat, his voice icy,
"The Uchiha District does not welcome uninvited guests. You have ten seconds to get out of our sight."
Those ANBU and Root ninja who usually boasted of being Konoha's elite completely broke down.
They did not dare to utter a single harsh word as they scrambled out of Uchiha territory in a panic.
This bloodless counter-surveillance operation successfully forced the Konoha Leadership to swallow this bitter pill, completely rescinding the surveillance and halting their unreasonable suppression of the Uchiha!
When news of the ANBU's humiliating retreat reached the clan, the entire Uchiha Clan cheered.
In the streets, countless clansmen hugged and wept.
For how many years, ever since the Nine-Tails' Attack,
they had lived like caged prisoners, enduring the humiliation of being watched and guarded against every single day.
And today, they finally breathed the air of freedom once more!
The radicals who had once clamored to launch a bloody coup were now filled with absolute, peerless admiration for Ren.
Uchiha Inabi and Uchiha Yashiro stood before the gates of the Naka Shrine, looking at the empty outer periphery of the district, tears of emotion blurring their vision.
"Lord Ren did it! He really did it!"
Inabi roared, gripping his fists tightly,
"Without shedding a single drop of blood, without triggering a civil war, he forcibly compelled the Konoha Leadership to lower their heads and back down! This is true strength!"
"We used to be utterly foolish, actually attempting a coup through that kind of suicide mission."
Yashiro's face filled with shame, before an extreme fanaticism erupted in his eyes,
"Only Lord Ren can lead us toward glory! He is the god of our Uchiha!"
Ren's prestige within the clan reached its absolute zenith, soaring to the peak.
With iron-clad facts,
he perfectly fulfilled the promise he made in the Great Arena—making the Uchiha great again.
Inside the temple hall,
Ren looked at Itachi and stood up from his seat.
He did not indulge in the joy of victory; his gaze pierced through the hall's windows, looking out toward the more distant Konoha, and indeed the entire Shinobi World.
"Itachi."
Ren's voice echoed within the hall, breaking the silence,
"You are only eleven years old, but your thinking and vision far surpass those old diehards in the clan, and you see even further than Fugaku."
Itachi raised his head, listening respectfully.
"I ask you."
Ren looked straight into Itachi's eyes,
"What do you believe is the true root cause behind the endless wars and devastation that have plagued this Shinobi World for millennia?"
Hearing this grand and profound question, Itachi froze slightly.
In his mind, images flashed instantly of the time his father took him to the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War during his early childhood.
That ground littered with severed limbs, that river stained crimson with blood,
the desperate wails of civilians who had lost their loved ones... These painful memories
had always been the greatest nightmare deep within his heart, and the fundamental reason why he utterly loathed war and yearned for peace.
Itachi fell into deep contemplation.
A moment later, he raised his head, his gaze carrying a worldly weariness that belied his age.
"Replying to the clan leader,"
Itachi answered earnestly,
"It is hatred, profit, and ambition."
"Conflicts of interest arise as nations fight over fertile land and resources."
"Ninja slaughter each other for the sake of their respective villages, forging deep blood feuds."
"And the ambitions of those in high positions drag countless innocent people into the meat grinder of war. As long as these things exist, warfare will never stop."
Hearing Itachi's reply, Ren chuckled softly.
"You are quite right; hatred, profit, and ambition are all weaknesses of human nature."
Ren paced down the steps and came to stand before Itachi,
"Yet you have only seen the surface without piercing through to the essence."
Itachi widened his eyes, his face full of confusion.
"Human nature cannot be eradicated. As long as people exist, the scramble for profit and the inflation of ambition will never cease."
Ren's voice gradually rose,
"Therefore, wishing to trade for peace through mutual understanding and the elimination of hatred is nothing more than wishful thinking!"
"There is only one way to truly put an end to all this warfare!"
Ren turned around and spread his arms,
"And that is—absolute power and absolute discourse power!"
"When an individual, or a faction, possesses the absolute power to crush everything and make everyone feel fear and despair, war will naturally cease."
"Because no one will dare to resist, no one will dare to provoke conflict!"
Itachi's heart shook violently as he listened.
Ren ignored Itachi's shock and continued to roll out his earth-shattering theory.
"Look at our history, Itachi."
Ren pointed to the ancient Uchiha Clan Crest on the wall of the hall,
"During the Warring States Era, rival factions vied for dominance, and people died every single day. How did that era end?"
"It ended because the two strongest clans, the Uchiha and the Senju, joined forces."
"The combination of those two peak battle strengths formed an absolute power crush over all other ninja clans."
"Before that matchless, peerless absolute power, the other clans had no choice but to submit! And thus, the chaotic era ended!"
Itachi drew a sharp breath.
The education he had received since childhood was all about the Will of Fire, mutual understanding, and tolerance, yet Ren's words directly pierced right through those hypocritical facades.
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