Chang Wei, You Still Dare Say You Don't Know Martial Arts!

Uchiha Itachi narrowed his eyes, the three tomoe slowly turning in his Sharingan.

He stared at Uchiha Yongye, trying to catch even the slightest flicker of guilt on his face.

But Yongye looked utterly at ease, with an air that said, Believe me or don't.

Itachi asked no more questions. His Sharingan remained fixed on Yongye, searching past his expression for the truth.

The Uchiha gathered there had split into two camps.

Some shared Itachi's suspicions. The killer had appeared out of nowhere, and so had Yongye. The timing was too convenient!

Besides, Root had killed Yongye's family. He had every reason to take revenge!

The others glared at Uchiha Itachi.

To them, it was simple. Yongye had just stood up for the Uchiha, killed Root operatives, kicked Danzo, and forced the Third Hokage to back down. He had made the clan proud.

Yet instead of standing by his own people, Itachi was questioning Yongye in public?

The victims were Root ninjas. So what if they had been killed? Who was Itachi investigating this for?

What a traitorous bastard!

Uchiha Mikoto stood at the back of the crowd with several other married kunoichi.

Moonlight fell across Mikoto's face. She bit her lower lip so hard her teeth nearly sank into the flesh, and her fingers left marks in her palms.

She wanted to rush forward and roar, Yongye! You still dare say you can't use Lightning Release?!

Of everyone there, she alone knew with absolute certainty that Uchiha Yongye was the killer!

She had seen it with her own eyes. She had experienced it herself!

When they had fought before, he had used Lightning Release Chakra Mode! Later, while they discussed business, he had used it again, leaving her helpless and forcing her to beg for mercy!

But she could not say a word.

She had leverage over Uchiha Yongye, but he knew her vulnerabilities too. She did not dare bring them both down.

In the end, she swallowed her frustration. Her face flushed red, but she kept her mouth firmly shut.

Just then, an old man with a full head of white hair stepped out of the crowd.

The Great Elder, Uchiha Kuteng, had seniority in the clan, and even Fugaku usually showed him some deference.

Leaning on his cane, he approached Yongye and spoke in a tone heavy with an elder's reproach.

"Yongye, how can you speak to the clan head like that? Come now, apologize to him! We Uchiha must show respect to our elders!"

Yongye cast him a glance.

It was a brief, indifferent glance, as though he were looking at a fly. Then he turned and walked away without saying a single word.

The Great Elder stood frozen, mouth open and aged face crimson.

In all his years, no one in the Uchiha Clan had ever ignored him like that!

But he did not dare make a scene. If Yongye continued to disregard him, pressing the matter would only humiliate him further.

And if Yongye lost his temper and attacked, that would be worse!

As Yongye walked, he grumbled inwardly. Stupid old fool who doesn't know what's good for him!

Before crossing into this world, he had read Naruto fanfiction where the Uchiha Clan always had hardline elders—hawkish leaders who advocated standing up to the Konoha High Command and putting Danzo in his place.

After arriving here, he had discovered that the Uchiha leadership was full of cowards.

The clan head seemed to bend with every shift in the wind, but deep down he was a turtle hiding in its shell. The Great Elder only wanted to smooth things over, and the other elders merely echoed the two of them.

There were plenty of hardliners, but not one had enough standing to lead them. With no one to rally around, they were a scattered mess. They had pinned their hopes on Uchiha Fugaku, which was why Danzo could walk all over them.

If even one person willing to fight had stepped forward, would Danzo have dared act so arrogantly?

Yongye stopped in front of Uchiha Ruri and the other seven suspects.

The eight had just been rescued from Root. Red rope marks still circled their wrists, and their faces showed the relief of people who had narrowly escaped disaster.

When they saw Yongye approach, they straightened instinctively.

"One hundred thousand each." Yongye held out his right hand, palm up, in a gesture for payment. "That's not much, is it?"

Uchiha Ruri froze. So did the others.

Then they nodded in unison, as neatly as if they had rehearsed it. Just a hundred thousand ryo? It was a bargain!

Without Yongye, they would already have been taken to a Root prison. Even if they were eventually released, they would certainly have suffered all manner of torture and humiliation first.

Anyone could do that math.

"Not much, not much..."

"Of course we should pay..."

"We'll bring it over first thing tomorrow morning..."

All eight answered at once, each more earnest than the last. Some even had tears in their eyes.

Watching from behind, Shisui Uchiha breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Yongye was asking for money, not using the opportunity to win their loyalty or draw them into a faction of his own.

Once they agreed, he immediately turned to leave without another word to the eight of them.

That meant Uchiha Yongye had no intention of becoming the leader of the Uchiha hardliners.

Shisui's anxiety eased a little.

What he feared most was a true hawkish leader emerging among the Uchiha and shattering the already fragile peace.

But he did not know the truth: it was not that Yongye lacked the ambition.

Yongye did not need to win people over because he intended to follow the Beef-Free Emperor's Way.

Once he was unrivaled beneath the heavens and had left seas of blood in his wake, eminent scholars would come forward to justify him!

The Hokage Office was brightly lit.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his broad desk. The tobacco in his pipe glowed and dimmed, while smoke curled around his wrinkled face, its expression shifting between light and shadow.

He had made no move to rest.

What had happened tonight—Uchiha Yongye's brazen defiance—had upended the game Hiruzen had spent years arranging.

He needed time to sort through it.

A moment later, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Two figures pushed their way in, a man and a woman: Konoha's other two elder advisers, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

They had clearly been woken in haste. Their robes were disheveled, but there was no trace of sleepiness on their faces, only shock and anger they could barely contain.

"Hiruzen!"

The moment he entered, Mitokado Homura demanded, "You removed Danzo from his post as elder adviser?!"

His voice rose sharply, as though he had heard something impossible.

Danzo was the leader of Root, the ruler of Konoha's shadows, the most powerful man beneath the Hokage. And he had simply been removed?

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slowly. He tapped his pipe against the desk, knocking out a stub of cold ash.

"I had no choice."

His voice was hoarse and low, each word forced through clenched teeth. "Otherwise, Uchiha Yongye would not have let the matter rest."

"Uchiha Yongye?"

Utatane Koharu's brows drew tight. Bewilderment and anger filled her wrinkled face.

"Was it necessary to give in to a single Uchiha? Hiruzen, when did you become so weak?"