The second elder chimed in, worry written all over his face.
"Yes, clan leader. We've only just escaped the Konoha Leadership's oppression, and the Hundred Arts Pavilion has barely gotten started."
"If we get dragged into a war now, everything we've built could be wiped out! Couldn't we speak with the Konoha Leadership again and see if there's room to negotiate?"
Hearing the older generation's objections, Tekka Uchiha, Nanami, and the other young clan members standing on either side frowned. But out of respect for their elders, they swallowed their arguments.
Every eye turned to Ren, seated at the head of the hall.
"Negotiate? Room to negotiate?"
Ren gave a cold laugh and slammed his palm against the solid wooden armrest beside him. "You senile fools! Is weakness all you have left in your heads?"
"The Konoha Leadership wants us to hand over Itachi. They want to trade one of our own for Kumogakure's forgiveness and buy themselves that ridiculous peace."
"What an insult! They're treating us Uchiha like animals they can slaughter at will!"
Ren descended the steps and closed in on the first elder.
"You think giving in will bring us peace? Dream on!"
His voice rose as he pointed toward the door.
"Hand over Itachi today, and tomorrow Kumogakure will demand Shisui. The day after that, they'll demand every Sharingan we have."
"If we give in today, the Uchiha will never know peace again. We'll become prey for every nation hunting Sharingan!"
"Are you blind? Can't you see what happened to the Hyuga clan?"
Ren drove the point home with a brutal example.
"For the so-called good of the village and that sham of a peace, the Hyuga clan split their family into branches and branded their own people with the vicious Caged Bird Cursed Seal!"
"And what did it get them? Kumogakure still tried to abduct one of their own!"
"Do you want the Uchiha to follow in their footsteps? To brand our own people like slaves and kneel while others trample us?"
His thunderous rebuke struck every Uchiha in the hall like a hammer blow.
The first and second elders flushed red. Cold sweat streamed down their faces as they lowered their heads in shame, unable to offer a single word in reply.
He was right. Taking a step back wouldn't open a path to peace. It would send them over a cliff.
Ren turned, spread his arms, and raised his head to deliver a rousing declaration to the entire clan.
"Ever since Hashirama founded Konoha, the Uchiha Clan has been held down for far too long!"
The Mangekyō Sharingan in Ren's eyes glowed red.
"So long that the Shinobi World has forgotten how terrifying the Uchiha can be!"
"So long that Kumogakure scum think they can walk all over us!"
Ren drew the short blade at his waist and pointed it at the sky.
"In this war, I'll make the whole world remember what it means to fear the Uchiha!"
"I'll make the entire Shinobi World know that the Uchiha are back!"
The hall erupted.
"The Uchiha are back!"
Tekka Uchiha's eyes blazed red, three tomoe spinning wildly. He drew his short blade and roared until his voice cracked.
"Give the order, clan leader! Let those Kumogakure bastards see what we can do!"
"War! War! War!"
Nanami Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, and every Temple captain and elite clan member present caught fire with fervor.
They drew their weapons and thrust them overhead.
Dozens of Sharingan lit up the dim hall. Their fierce will to fight seemed ready to tear the roof from the mansion.
"We are descendants of the Sage of Six Paths! The blood of a god runs through our veins!"
Uchiha Yashiro trembled with excitement and roared toward the heavens.
"I swear on the honor of the Sage of Six Paths' descendants! We will never be Uchiha who kneel again! Even if we fight to the last person, we'll meet Kumogakure with everything we have!"
"Never kneel! Fight with everything we have!"
Their fervent oath rolled through the hall in rising waves. At that moment, the Uchiha Clan's unity and fighting spirit reached a height they had never known before.
The first elder watched the young people burn with resolve, tears streaming down his aged face.
At last, he understood. The Uchiha didn't need to scrape by. They needed to forge an unassailable reputation in blood.
Yet amid the fervor, Fugaku Uchiha kept a measure of his composure.
He approached Ren, his expression grave, and raised the most immediate concern.
"Ren, the clan's fighting spirit is admirable, but we have to face the enemy's strength."
Fugaku lowered his voice and laid out the situation.
"As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kumogakure may even surpass Konoha in its current weakened state."
"They have the Fourth Raikage, renowned for his speed and destructive power, and Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, who can control his Tailed Beast's power perfectly. Either one is a strategic force capable of deciding a battle."
"And Cloud Ninja excel at close-quarters combat and Lightning Release techniques. They fight viciously."
"On the battlefield, a Tailed Beast's destructive power is harder still to withstand."
Fugaku paused. His gaze settled on Ren's and Shisui's eyes as he voiced the gravest danger.
"More importantly, the Mangekyō Sharingan may grant godlike power, but it carries an irreversible curse. Use it too much, and your vision deteriorates rapidly until you go completely blind!"
"If we're drawn into a prolonged war of attrition and you and Shisui lose your sight, the Uchiha will lose our greatest deterrent. The consequences would be unthinkable!"
Fugaku's words brought several elders back to their senses.
"That's right. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki... he's a real monster!"
The fear the first elder had overcome moments ago smothered his newfound resolve.
"The risk of blindness is too great. We can't afford a war of attrition," the second elder sighed, despair on his face.
After Fugaku's assessment and the elders' concerns, every eye returned to Ren.
Ren listened, then gave a cold laugh.
"The Raikage? The Eight-Tails? A war of attrition?"
Ren slid his short blade into its sheath with a crisp click and looked down at everyone present.
"This war will be a blitzkrieg."
"A blitzkrieg means smashing through the enemy's defenses with overwhelming firepower in the shortest possible time. We won't give them a chance to catch their breath, regroup, or strike back!"
Ren rose from his chair and swept a hand toward Nanami Uchiha and Tekka Uchiha at the front.
"The Temple will spearhead this battle!"
"Once you reach the battlefield, you won't fight Kumogakure in hand-to-hand combat like ordinary shinobi!"
Ren raised his voice.
"Every Temple member will form the Temple Formation behind our lines and concentrate your chakra to its limit!"
"Unleash Lightning Release: Myriad Lightning and blanket their positions! I want Kumogakure's entire front turned into a thunderous hell where nothing grows!"
"Smash through Kumogakure's defenses! Use relentless firepower to blow their vaunted Lightning Release troops to ash!"
Before you continue