Elder Council Meeting: Mercilessly Grilling the Elders!

Uchiha Clan Compound, Elder Council Hall.

Today was Uchiha Yao's first time attending a meeting here as a Hawk Faction Elder.

Uchiha Fugaku sat upright in the head seat, quietly sizing up the youngest elder.

Nearly all the other elders were also secretly observing this young Uchiha Elder.

Ignoring their gazes, Uchiha Yao walked straight to his assigned seat and sat down.

"Ahem."

Uchiha En, a senior Hawk Faction Elder, cleared his throat.

"Yao, this is your first time attending the Elder Council Meeting."

"By custom, newly appointed elders must first share their views on the clan's future development."

Uchiha Yao slowly swept his gaze across every elder present.

"My views?"

"My view is simple. The current Uchiha Clan, whether the Hawk Faction or the Dove Faction, has far too many problems!"

"If this continues, the Uchiha Clan's only eventual fate will be destruction!"

His words caused a tremendous uproar!

What Uchiha Yao had said was completely beyond everyone's expectations!

The atmosphere in the entire hall froze somewhat.

"Outrageous!"

A hot-tempered Hawk Faction Elder slammed his hand onto the table, glaring furiously at Uchiha Yao with veins bulging on his forehead.

"Uchiha Yao! What do you mean by that?!"

"Are you saying that we old men, who have toiled for the clan for half our lives, see things less clearly than a wet-behind-the-ears brat like you?!"

"What right do you have to say such things?"

Several other Hawk Faction Elders also looked displeased and voiced their agreement, their words full of rebukes for Yao's "arrogant" attitude.

They had assumed Uchiha Yao would go along with them and say a few diplomatic words, at least securing unity within the Hawk Faction first and showing proper respect to his seniors.

Yet they had never expected that the moment Uchiha Yao opened his mouth, he would turn his spearhead on the entire Uchiha leadership—including the Hawk Faction Elders who had supported his rise!

Uchiha Yao paid them no mind and continued.

"First, the Hawk Faction is blindly aggressive and lacks a long-term strategy."

"You only know how to clamor for confrontation, yet have no plan whatsoever for gradually eroding the Konoha High Command's power, uniting every force that can be united, or responding to the full-scale backlash that may come!"

"Your aggression is more like impotent rage."

"Second, the Dove Faction is weak, yielding, and deceiving itself."

"You always think compromise can buy peace and make the Konoha High Command lower its guard, yet you fail to see that their wariness and killing intent toward us have never diminished!"

"Blindly yielding will only make the Uchiha Clan's situation more difficult, ultimately leading to a slow, frog-boiling demise!"

"Third, the entire clan is cut off from intelligence, like frogs at the bottom of a well."

"You are content with the pitiful intelligence network of the Police Force, knowing little about the Konoha High Command's true trump cards or the movements of the village's major clans!"

"Fourth, the training system is outdated and resources are distributed unevenly. It is simply a waste of our clansmen's talent."

"You still use methods from decades ago to train clansmen. The efficiency is outrageously low. Those with true talent receive no focused cultivation, while mediocrities occupy vast amounts of resources!"

The Hawk Faction Elders' faces turned livid, as though they had swallowed flies.

The Dove Faction Elders looked equally embarrassed.

For a time, the many elders in the vast hall—even Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku—could not find a reason to refute him.

Because everything Uchiha Yao had said was true!

"Hmph! Easy for you to say!"

Uchiha En suppressed his anger and snorted coldly, trying to salvage some dignity.

"Do you think we do not know about these problems? But the clan's deep-rooted issues have accumulated for years and are tangled beyond measure. Do you think they can be changed just because you say so?"

"And you are so young, with no management experience and no experience handling complicated affairs. Why should we believe you can do better?"

Another Dove Faction Elder cautiously spoke up. "Elder Yao, your ideas certainly have merit, but they are too aggressive. I fear they will accelerate the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village, placing the clan in a peril from which there is no return."

"If mishandled, the consequences would be unthinkable."

Uchiha Yao rose to his feet and stared directly at Uchiha En.

"Because these problems have existed for so long, we can simply sit by with a clear conscience and do nothing? We can watch helplessly as the clan slides into the abyss?"

"As for peril? When have we Uchiha ever not been in peril!"

"From the Second Hokage's policies to the Third Hokage's suspicion and suppression today, have we not been treading on thin ice every single day!"

"Does our current situation of slowly dying, being at others' mercy, and leaving our clansmen without hope not count as peril?"

"As for angering the Konoha High Command?"

"They have long raised their butcher's knives to our throats! Our retreat will only make them push their advantage further! It will only make them think we are weak and easy to bully!"

"The Uchiha Clan must reform now! Reform from top to bottom!"

Just as the atmosphere in the hall reached its most tense point, with several elders already unable to hold themselves back and preparing to attack again—

An aged yet forceful voice suddenly rang out.

Uchiha Yashiro spoke up at that moment.

"I... support Elder Uchiha Yao!"

It was Uchiha Yashiro, the Hawk Faction's most powerful senior elder!

Uchiha Yashiro took a deep breath. "A few days ago, Elder Yao came to see this old man in private. He showed me a detailed plan for the Uchiha Clan's development over the coming years, as well as... projections of the clan's fate under different strategies."

"Whether it is the Hawk Faction's aggression or the Dove Faction's retreat, both will ultimately face... a miserable ending."

That fate projection and development plan had naturally been the result of the Clan Growth System's precise analysis and simulations, based on the various variables Uchiha Yao had entered.

Uchiha Yashiro's prestige within the clan was extraordinary. His declaration instantly changed the atmosphere in the hall.

Those Hawk Faction Elders who had been dissatisfied with Uchiha Yao's radical words now had no choice but to reassess this young man and consider the deeper meaning behind Elder Yashiro's words.

The Dove Faction Elders simply stopped speaking and chose silence.

Uchiha Fugaku remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.

"Since Elder Yao's reform plan has received Elder Yashiro's approval and concerns the future fate of our clan..."

"Then we may first conduct preliminary trials."

"But, Yao, you must understand that this authority also carries immense responsibility."

"If your reforms fail or lead the clan into an even more dangerous situation, you will bear all consequences."

Uchiha Yao met Fugaku's scrutinizing gaze. "I understand."

In the end, Uchiha Yao's reform plan received preliminary approval from the Elder Council Meeting!

Next, this youngest Uchiha Elder would carry out the clan's initial reforms.