The Meaning of the Village's Existence

Everyone's mind went blank, stunned by the brutal, bloody scene that had unfolded in the blink of an eye.

Genya brushed nonexistent dust off his clothes.

He turned and swept his gaze over the other clansmen, who stood pale-faced and silent with fear.

Especially the neutral members and the Moderate Faction.

Finally, he looked at the disheveled members of the Hardline Faction pinned to the wall or sprawled on the floor, his voice dripping with undisguised contempt.

"With those pathetic skills, you dare spend every day inciting our clansmen to throw their lives away? Stage a coup? Declare war on Konoha?"

"Has the Sharingan fried your brains? Besides us Uchiha and the Hyuga, Konoha has the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans Alliance, the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, and countless clans of every size with their own unique secret techniques and swordsmanship!"

"Not to mention the vast numbers of civilian-born shinobi, the Anbu, and the forces directly under the Hokage!"

"What could the Uchiha possibly wage war with, whipped into a frenzy by you useless fools and still utterly divided? By smashing our heads against them?"

"Are you trying to turn the Uchiha Clan against every other shinobi clan, put us in the wrong, make us everyone's target, and then have them all join forces to wipe us out?!"

"The Uchiha's prestige, the formidable reputation Madara Uchiha built, has been utterly disgraced and squandered by you fools who only bully your own, cower before outsiders, bark at your clansmen, lack any foresight, and think your age entitles you to respect!!"

Every word landed like a slap across the hardliners' faces, and struck the hearts of every Uchiha clansman still blinded by hatred and reckless fervor!

Genya had torn open the bloody reality with brutal force.

The Uchiha did not possess the overwhelming strength to stand above every force in Konoha!

How laughable and dangerous their so-called "coup" was when measured against the actual balance of power and political reality!

Especially with Shisui Uchiha and Itachi still loyal to Konoha!

His young body radiated a mountain-like pressure, along with a... clarity that some found painfully glaring and terrifying.

Uchiha Izumi stared blankly at her son, as though truly seeing him for the first time.

Sosuke Uchiha slid his blade, drawn half an inch, back into its sheath and looked at his son...

Impressive... he hasn't let me down!

But the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, wore a dark expression.

He looked at Yashiro, pinned to the wall and barely breathing, then at Genya, who stood openly defiant, his methods ruthless and every word cutting to the heart. Turbulent waves surged within him.

As for Uchiha Itachi and Shisui Uchiha, their initial shock had given way to deep reflection, and... an indescribable stirring.

Hadn't Genya's words also challenged the conflicts deep within them, the ones they had always avoided or tried to resolve through extreme measures?

Using the Body Flicker Technique, Genya appeared before the barely breathing Uchiha Yashiro.

Schlick!

He pulled the Ninja Blade free in one clean motion, drawing a spray of blood.

With a slight flick of his wrist, he twirled the blade and shook off every drop of blood, tracing a glaring crimson arc across the floor.

Blade in hand, he returned to the center, its tip angled toward the floor. His gaze bore down like a physical weight on the remaining hardline supporters, who still sat trembling in their seats.

"Well, then..."

Genya's voice was level.

"Do you have any more advice? About the clan's future, about the coup, about... how to throw our lives away?"

"N-no!"

"Young Master Genya... we... we know we were wrong!"

"We wouldn't dare! Never again!"

The men reacted as though struck by lightning, hastily waving their hands, their voices trembling. They wished they could bury their heads in the ground; not a trace of their earlier arrogance remained.

In the face of absolute strength and bloody suppression, all their bluster had become a joke.

Genya stopped looking at them. Turning his wrist, he handed the Ninja Blade back to his mother, Izumi, who had long since been left staring in shock.

Izumi took it instinctively. The blade felt cold to the touch, and a tumult of emotions filled her as she looked at her son's calm face.

Then-

Genya's gaze passed over everyone and settled on the two unusual figures who had remained silent throughout.

Though he had returned the blade in his hand, an invisible "edge" still seemed to point at them.

"Now that the distracting noise has been cleared away."

"Shisui, Itachi... isn't it time you answered that... rather presumptuous question I asked earlier?"

"About peace, about the meaning of the village's existence... I truly would like to discuss it with two senior shinobi who possess genuine insight and give these matters serious thought."

Every gaze in the secret chamber shifted to Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi.

Now, no one dared dismiss Genya's "abstract" question.

They vaguely sensed that this question might matter more than any specific argument.

Shisui Uchiha, who had been leaning against a pillar, moved.

He stepped out of the shadows, raised his hand, and removed the cold mask of Root from his face, revealing handsome features and a gentle smile.

He looked straight at the boy standing in the center, his sharpness on full display.

Clap, clap, clap.

Shisui applauded.

"Astonishing strength, and even more surprising... clarity and incisiveness, Genya."

Shisui's voice was gentle.

"You saw not only where your fists should strike, but why they should strike, and... where to go once the blows have landed."

He walked over and stopped a short distance from Genya. His gaze was candid as he began answering the question.

"You asked what peace is... what the village means..."

Shisui tilted his head back, as though recalling the past, or gazing toward some distant ideal.

"I have lived through war and seen far too much death, separation, and the chain reaction of hatred. So, to me..."

"Peace may be more than simply the absence of war."

He spoke with the clarity of someone who had endured pain.

"It is more like a state of being, a possibility-a state in which children can grow up safely, families can reunite unharmed, and different beliefs and bloodlines need not settle right and wrong through slaughter."

"It is fragile and needs protecting, but that very fragility is what makes it precious."

He looked at Genya, then at the clansmen with their varied expressions.

"And Konoha Ninja Village... perhaps its meaning lies in the fact that it once was, and should continue to be, a platform and a home built to make that possibility a reality."

"Wasn't the original intent of Lord Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and our ancestor Madara Uchiha in founding Konoha to end the ceaseless slaughter of the Warring States Era, unite scattered forces, and protect that tranquility together?"

Shisui's words were steeped in idealism, but that also made them sound sincere and... to some of the clansmen, a little naive.

Then Uchiha Itachi, who had remained silent all this time, watched with eyes as deep as an ancient well.

He looked at Genya and picked up where Shisui had left off, his voice steady.

"What Shisui described is how things ought to be in an ideal world."

Itachi spoke with a cold rationality.

"In reality, the village is a complex collective, a product of intertwined power, interests, ideals, and fears. The meaning of its existence differs from person to person."