Shikaku Nara narrowed his eyes at the man, then suddenly laughed.
"Surely you know something about what happened last night, Clan Head Hyuga!"
Hiashi Hyuga fell silent. Meeting Shikaku's gaze, he finally sighed.
"Our people found no signs of an outside intruder last night."
Shikaku Nara said nothing.
After a long while, he let out a deep sigh. "That really is strange!"
"Yes," Hiashi Hyuga said, his eyes flickering.
The Nine-Tails Uprising, Minato Namikaze's death, the calamity that had befallen the Uchiha Clan—everything had happened too neatly, as though an invisible hand had been arranging it all.
"So will the remaining Uchiha rebel?" Inoichi Yamanaka asked gravely.
The question silenced Hiashi Hyuga. It was a long while before Shikaku Nara managed to answer.
"Hard to say!"
"That man won't be easy to deal with!"
Choza Akimichi rumbled, "Konoha's Black Flash?"
At the mention of that name, everyone fell silent.
"So that's why we've gathered here—to stop him? Shikaku!" Inoichi Yamanaka asked.
Shikaku Nara's lips twitched into a helpless, bitter smile. "I'm afraid so!"
"Will he really come?"
"Whatever he plans to do, he'll be facing all of Konoha!" Choza Akimichi said in shock.
No one answered him.
Every face turned grim.
Uchiha Xia Le!
Konoha's Black Flash. The Uchiha Clan's strongest warrior. A fearsome man who had awakened the clan's supreme Sharingan, the Mangekyo.
During the Third Hokage's reign, he had been someone the great clans feared and guarded against.
As long as he stood with the Uchiha Clan, no one in Konoha would dare move against them.
No one could imagine how he would respond to the disaster that had struck the Uchiha last night.
But when they put themselves in his place, they quickly realized one thing.
A clash was probably unavoidable.
Hiashi Hyuga stood silently, his armor