Before the clan leader, I had just one question

By the time Uchiha Gen returned to the Clan District, dawn had yet to break.

Flames in the distance still painted half the night sky red. The Nine-Tails' roars had grown much weaker, but the sounds of chaos in the village had not stopped.

The Uchiha Clan Compound, however, was frighteningly quiet.

Clansmen from the Konoha Military Police Force stood along both sides of the street.

When they saw Uchiha Gen and his group return, their gazes settled on the door panel covered in names, the ash-stained sheets of records, and Uchiha Gen's numb right arm hanging at his side.

No one spoke.

But everyone knew that tonight's events had become far more than a few young clansmen going out to rescue people.

The clan meeting hall was brightly lit.

Uchiha Fugaku sat at the head of the hall, his expression composed.

Several clan elders sat on either side. The oldest among them had a particularly cold gaze.

The moment Uchiha Gen stepped through the door, an accusation came down on him.

"Uchiha Gen, do you realize what you did tonight?"

Uchiha Gen stopped in the middle of the hall.

"Yes."

"The clan leader ordered the Military Police Force to hold the perimeter of the Clan District and forbade anyone from approaching the main battlefield against the Nine-Tails without permission. You took people out on your own and even drew an interception from Root. If this gives the village something to use against us, can you bear the responsibility?"

Uchiha Toru wanted to speak, but an adult clansman beside him held him back.

Uchiha Ryo's face was grim as well, but he did not interrupt.

This was not a burning street.

This was the clan meeting hall.

Uchiha Gen knew perfectly well that the person who would truly decide whether he could continue taking action was not any of the elders, but Uchiha Fugaku, seated at the head of the hall.

He did not argue. He simply handed over the records he held.

"These are the rescue records from South Street and the East Alley entrance."

A clansman from the Military Police Force took them and brought them to Fugaku.

Uchiha Gen continued, "They include the names and addresses of the civilians we rescued, the Uchiha clansmen who took part, and the names of the Konoha ninja present."

The elder snorted.

"A few sheets of scribbles are enough to absolve you of acting without permission?"

"No."

Uchiha Gen answered immediately.

Instead, the hall fell quiet.

He raised his head and looked at the elder.

"But it can prove that the Uchiha did not merely stand in the Clan District tonight and watch the village burn."

The elder's gaze sharpened.

"Are you criticizing the clan leader's orders?"

"No."

Uchiha Gen turned toward Fugaku, his tone still steady.

"The clan leader ordered the Military Police Force to hold the perimeter to keep anyone from using the Uchiha's proximity to the Nine-Tails against us. I understand that."

Fugaku finally spoke. "If you understood, why did you still go out?"

His voice was not loud, but it carried more weight than the elder's accusations.

Uchiha Gen drew a deep breath.

"Because if we only hold our ground and leave no evidence, tomorrow everyone will remember just one thing."

He paused for a moment.

"The Nine-Tails' eyes were Sharingan."

Those words pierced the clan meeting hall like a needle.

Several elders' expressions changed.

The Uchiha clansmen knew that, of course.

And precisely because they knew, they were even less willing to hear someone state it outright at a time like this.

Uchiha Gen did not back down.

"Takuya Yamashiro, a Chunin from Konoha Patrol Squad Two, personally said he saw a suspicious masked ninja at the South Street Entrance. A kunai passed through that ninja's body, the air distorted, and the ninja appeared behind his captain."

Uchiha Makoto handed over another sheet.

"This is Takuya Yamashiro's casualty handover record, signed by a medical ninja. Inoue Shin and two Konoha ninja heard part of his testimony."

Uchiha Gen then produced half a black strap.

"This was left behind when Root ninja intercepted us. They had no written orders and would not identify themselves openly. They demanded that I go with them and tried to seize the rescue records."

The atmosphere in the hall grew heavier.

One elder murmured, "Root?"

Uchiha Gen nodded.

"There was also unusual spatial chakra residue at the South Street Entrance. Inoue Shin has already had Konoha ninja record its location. He also has the senbon that was used to attack me."

He laid out the evidence piece by piece.

It was incomplete.

Some of it was even crude.

But none of it rested solely on the Uchiha's word.

There were civilians, medical ninja, support from the Barrier Team, and traces left behind by Root.

Uchiha Fugaku looked through the records, his gaze growing increasingly intent.

The elder who had first questioned Gen still refused to relent.

"Even so, you took far too great a risk. A thirteen-year-old child, leading a few young clansmen into a conflict with Root-if anyone had died, the Uchiha would never have been able to explain themselves."

"That's why I didn't kill anyone or pursue them."

Uchiha Gen looked at him.

"I only made them show their hand in front of everyone."

For a moment, the elder had no reply.

Uchiha Gen's right arm was still numb, and the bloody cut on his cheek had yet to be treated.

Yet he stood firm.

"I know acting without permission puts the clan in a difficult position."

"I also know that any wrong step tonight could make the village watch the Uchiha even more closely."

He raised his head, sweeping his gaze over everyone in the clan meeting hall.

"But I have just one question."

The clan meeting hall fell completely silent.

Even the sounds of the fires outside seemed to grow distant.

Uchiha Gen spoke each word distinctly. "If the Uchiha have no rescue records tonight, no witnesses, and no clues proving there was someone else controlling the Nine-Tails, who will speak for the Uchiha after dawn tomorrow?"

No one answered.

Because the answer was all too clear.

No one would.

The villagers would remember their families dying beneath the Nine-Tails' claws.

The village leadership would remember the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes.

The Military Police Force's defense of the perimeter would be called indifference.

The Clan District's silence would be called a guilty conscience.

By then, any explanation the Uchiha offered would only look like an attempt to clear themselves of blame.

Uchiha Gen said quietly, "I'm not asking the clan to rise against the village tonight. I just want the Uchiha to leave behind a few facts that others cannot easily erase, before the suspicions begin."

Uchiha Fugaku closed the records.

His gaze settled on Uchiha Gen and remained there for a long time.

"When did you start thinking about all this?"

Uchiha Gen's heart tightened.

That question was more dangerous than all the accusations before it.

He could not say he knew the future.

Nor could he seem like a thirteen-year-old boy who had suddenly grasped the entire situation.

"When I saw clansmen who clearly wanted to save people but could only stand where they were because of their orders."

Uchiha Gen lowered his head.

"I was afraid. Afraid that even though we had done nothing wrong, we would end up becoming everyone's enemy because we left nothing behind tonight."

The explanation was not perfect.

But it sounded enough like a judgment an Uchiha boy might make under extreme pressure.

Fugaku did not speak immediately.

The elder frowned. "Clan leader, acting without permission cannot be treated lightly. Otherwise, who will obey the clan's orders in the future?"

Another elder, however, said gravely, "But Root has already made a move."

Opinions began to split.

Uchiha Gen knew that was enough.

He did not need Fugaku's full support right now.

As long as Fugaku did not hand him over or dismiss these records, the Uchiha's fate would already have shifted a little.

At last, Fugaku spoke.

"Uchiha Gen acted without permission. He will be dealt with according to clan rules after the battle."

Uchiha Toru's expression changed.

Fugaku glanced at him and continued, "But until the Nine-Tails' Attack is completely over, no one may hand him over to any other village department, nor may anyone destroy tonight's rescue records."

The elder's expression darkened slightly.

"Clan leader."

"That is an order."

Fugaku's voice was not forceful, but it allowed no argument.

"Send people to safeguard Takuya Yamashiro's casualty records and compile a list of all clansmen who participated in the rescues. For now, the Root interception is to be recorded only within the clan. No word of it is to spread outside."

Uchiha Gen slowly let out a breath.

At least for this moment, he was under the clan's protection.

[A key figure's understanding of fate has shifted slightly.]

[Uchiha Fugaku has realized that an outside scheme targeting the Uchiha was at work during the Night of the Nine-Tails.]

[Mission progress: 24%.]

The system notifications sounded in his mind.

Uchiha Gen raised his head.

Fugaku was looking at him too.

There was still scrutiny in that gaze, and still wariness.

But he was no longer merely looking at a boy who had acted without permission.

He was looking at someone who might introduce an unexpected turn into the Uchiha's fate.