Strength Is the Original Sin, a Fatal Decision

Facing Inabi's furious roar, Lu Ming did not lose his temper. He merely looked at this Military Police Force higher-up who was trying to defend orthodoxy.

The veins stood out on the back of Inabi's hand as he gripped his shinobi blade, but the kunai at his neck kept him from making any rash moves.

"Fabricating lies? Trying to seize power?"

"Inabi, your outlook is as narrow and pathetic as your strength."

Lu Ming ignored Inabi and turned to look at the hundreds of Uchiha clansmen present.

"Many of you, including our lofty clan head, have always carried an unresolved knot in your hearts."

Amplified by chakra, Lu Ming's voice spread throughout the hall.

"You have always wondered why the Konoha Leadership targets us so relentlessly."

"Why, no matter how much we yield or compromise, they still refuse to let the Uchiha Clan go. Did we truly do something wrong?"

The entire hall fell silent, and everyone held their breath.

This was the massive stone weighing on every Uchiha clansman's heart, crushing them until they could barely breathe.

Lu Ming paced across the open space and gave them the answer.

"Today, I will tell you the truth. Konoha's continued suppression of us by Dan—"

"—is not because we did anything wrong, nor is it without reason."

"First, it is a remnant of history. Back then, Madara Uchiha defected from Konoha and fought the First Hokage in a decisive battle at the Valley of the End."

"From that moment onward, the Konoha Leadership planted a seed of suspicion in their hearts that could never be removed."

"In their eyes, the Uchiha Clan is inherently evil, with the blood of betrayal flowing through our veins!"

"Second, it is the threat we pose in reality!"

"During the Nine-Tails' Attack a few years ago, what was reflected in that beast's eyes? Have you all forgotten?"

"It was the pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan! No matter who controlled the Nine-Tails, in the eyes of the Konoha Leadership, that blood debt has already been pinned on the Uchiha. It cannot be washed away."

"Third, and this is the core, the very essence of it!"

Lu Ming stopped walking.

"It is the strength of our clan itself. We possess the strongest Kekkei Genkai in the Shinobi World. We possess terrifying combat power capable of easily deciding the outcome of a war."

"This strength, completely beyond their control, is what they fear most deeply!"

Hiss—

Sharp intakes of breath came from the crowd.

Many of the younger clansmen looked at one another.

They had always thought people despised them because their law enforcement was too harsh. Never had they considered the issue from such a broad political perspective.

Lu Ming spread his hands, his voice echoing through the underground chamber.

"To speak from the heart, if I were the Hokage today—"

"—facing a clan that could control the power of the Tailed Beasts, had once produced a Zetsu-level powerhouse who defected from the village, and possessed enough overall strength to overturn the village's rule, I would be wary too."

"I would suppress them without hesitation as well. That is the most basic instinct of any ruler."

The entire hall erupted.

"Lord Lu Ming, you... how can you speak for the leadership?"

A young clansman could not accept it.

Lu Ming raised his head. Violent chakra erupted from his body, and the pressure made the air in the underground chamber hum.

"Speak for them? No!"

Lu Ming raised his voice.

"I am telling you a cruel fact. Konoha fears us because we are too strong."

"But are we wrong? No!"

Lu Ming threw open his arms and roared toward the sky.

"If strength is a crime, then we Uchiha are guilty beyond redemption!!!"

Those words exploded in the minds of every Uchiha clansman, stirring monstrous waves!

If strength was a crime, then the Uchiha were guilty beyond redemption!

Those words struck directly at the deeply buried pride within the Uchiha Clan!

The young clansmen present felt their blood rush to their heads. Their eyes reddened, and the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in their eyes spun uncontrollably, blazing with scarlet light.

The forty-three elites personally trained by Lu Ming had reached the height of fanaticism.

"That's right! We Uchiha are the strongest!"

"Why should we apologize for being strong?"

Even those conservative elders who had once been timid and submissive, who spoke of peace all day long—

could not help clenching their fists as the proud fire of the Uchiha reignited in their clouded eyes.

With just one sentence, Lu Ming—

completely swept away the frustration and humiliation the entire clan had suppressed for years!

Just as the atmosphere reached its peak, Lu Ming changed the subject.

He turned around, thrust out his arm, and pointed straight at Fugaku Uchiha, who sat in the seat of honor.

"Konoha fears our strength. That is instinct. But—"

Lu Ming's voice turned cold.

"The chief culprit who made them dare turn that fear into wanton bullying, who made them dare openly hold a butcher's blade to our throats, is you—our clan head, Fugaku Uchiha!"

The hall went quiet.

Then an uproar even fiercer than Bee's earlier one erupted.

"What?!"

"The clan head is the chief culprit?"

The conservative clansmen angrily protested.

"Lu Ming, you have gone too far! The clan head has devoted himself heart and soul to the clan, enduring and yielding at every turn. How can you slander him like this?"

Meanwhile, Yashiro and the other radicals frowned, sinking into confusion and thought.

They were dissatisfied with Fugaku's weakness.

But they could not immediately understand the logic behind claiming that Fugaku was the chief culprit behind the clan's Zetsu-level predicament.

At the seat of honor, Fugaku Uchiha could no longer maintain his usual composure. He rose to his feet, his chest heaving violently with rage.

He stared at Lu Ming as all the grievance he had accumulated over the years erupted at once, and he demanded sharply,

"Lu Ming, do not spit blood at me."

"Since becoming clan head, I, Fugaku Uchiha, have yielded at every turn and walked on thin ice for the sake of preserving the clan."

"I will never admit that I caused the clan to fall into this Zetsu-level predicament. Today, you must make yourself clear. Where, exactly, did I go wrong?!"

Fugaku's voice was filled with extreme unwillingness.

He had suffered endless grievances and borne the stigma of weakness for the clan.

And now he was being branded the chief culprit. He simply could not accept it.

"Where did you go wrong? Fine. Today, I will tear off that fig leaf and let you die knowing the truth!"

Lu Ming strode forward, pressing closer step by step as his powerful presence bore down on Fugaku.

"Your mistakes in judgment are too numerous to count."

"Let us start with the source of every tragedy—the night of the Nine-Tails' Attack!"

Staring into Fugaku's eyes, Lu Ming questioned him word by word.

"Tell me, on the night of the Nine-Tails' Attack, all of Konoha was facing destruction. Countless civilians and shinobi bled and died. Everyone was risking their lives to support Minato Namikaze."

"And yet why did we Uchiha, the entire Uchiha Clan with the village's strongest combat power, remain still?! Why did not a single one of us appear on the battlefield?!"

Faced with this question that struck at his soul, Fugaku defended himself loudly.

"You think I did not want to provide support?! At the time, ANBU and Root had our clan grounds surrounded so tightly that not even water could pass through."

"Moreover, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, personally gave a strict order for the Military Police Force to remain at the clan grounds to evacuate civilians and forbade us from approaching the Nine-Tails!"

The more Fugaku spoke, the more agitated he became, as if he wanted to vent every grievance in his heart.

"Besides, the Nine-Tails had the pattern of the Sharingan in its eyes."

"Our entire clan was suspected of controlling the Nine-Tails. If we had rashly appeared on the battlefield then, the leadership would only have become even more suspicious that we were responsible."

"I ordered everyone to remain behind to protect the clan from being accused of rebellion!"

"Utterly foolish!"

After hearing Fugaku's defense, Lu Ming burst into laughter, his voice filled with the utmost mockery and disdain.

"ANBU's encirclement? The Third Hokage's order? Fugaku, did a dog eat your brain?!"

Lu Ming rebuked him sharply, his voice echoing through the hall.

"The one sitting in the Hokage Building with the true highest command authority at that time was Minato Namikaze."

"He was Konoha's legitimate Hokage. Instead of supporting the rightful Hokage, you chose to obey the orders of an old man who had already stepped down? Whom were you pledging loyalty to?!"

Fugaku's entire body jolted. He was left speechless by those words.

Lu Ming gave him no chance to catch his breath, his logic crushing down relentlessly.

"And that suspicion you mentioned is even more laughable."

"Precisely because we were suspected of controlling the Nine-Tails, that night was our best chance to clear ourselves—and our only chance!"

Lu Ming swept out his hand, pointing at the stunned clansmen around him.

"If you had possessed even a shred of courage, you should have led every clansman who had awakened the Sharingan, forcibly broken through ANBU's encirclement, and rushed to the front lines."

"Even if we had used our ocular power to suppress the Nine-Tails, even if half our elites had died that night."

"As long as we shed blood, as long as we risked our lives for the village, who would have dared suspect the Uchiha afterward?! Who would have had the nerve to suspect the Uchiha?!"

The hall was silent. Only Lu Ming's deafening roar echoed through it.

"But what did you do? You chose to hide inside your turtle shell!"

"Your decision to remain behind not only cost us our only chance to clear our name, it also turned the Uchiha into cold, detached outsiders on the night the entire village bled and died."

"You let the Ino-Shika-Cho, the Hyuga, and those civilians and shinobi who had lost relatives and comrades see this: the whole village was holding funerals, while we Uchiha emerged completely unscathed!"

"Because of your foolish decision, the Uchiha became completely disconnected from the village."

"You directly brought the hostility of every clan and every civilian down upon us."

"You turned the Uchiha into an isolated island, abandoned by all. If you are not the chief culprit, then who is?!"

This tightly reasoned accusation completely tore apart every one of Fugaku's pretenses and excuses.

Inside the underground chamber of Naka Shrine, every clansman broke out in a cold sweat.

As though awakening from a dream, they recalled the hateful looks the villagers had given them over the past years.

They recalled the deliberate distancing of the other shinobi clans, and finally understood where the root of it all lay.

"So... so that was it..."

Yashiro and the other radicals turned ashen. The fervor in their eyes became deep regret.

They finally understood that the one who had led the clan into its present state truly was the clan head they had always followed.

Fugaku staggered back three steps. His legs went weak, and he collapsed into his chair.

His lips trembled violently, yet he could not utter even a single word in rebuttal.

Lu Ming's words had completely shattered the last line of defense in his heart.

Just as Fugaku was about to collapse completely, as the fury ignited throughout the clan was about to swallow him whole—

at that critical moment, the Second Elder seated on the platform rose to his feet.

Leaning on his cane, he pointed at Lu Ming and shouted,

"Lu Ming, enough! The decision made on the night of the Nine-Tails' Attack was not the clan head's alone. It was the result of joint deliberation by our Elders Council!"