The Hokage Building, Jonin Meeting Room.
Every seat was occupied. All of Konoha's elite jonin currently in the village, along with the leaders or key representatives of its shinobi clans, had gathered.
Yet everyone's gaze drifted involuntarily toward the ten figures who had just entered and taken their seats in the reserved section.
Ten members of the Uchiha Clan!
Such a sight was a rarity in the history of Konoha's jonin meetings.
In the past, the Uchiha usually sent only their clan leader, Fugaku, as a representative. Occasionally, he brought Shisui or Itachi, but their numbers never exceeded three.
An assembly like today's, with ten Uchiha elders and elite members arriving together, was unprecedented.
Among these ten-
Besides Clan Leader Fugaku, former Anbu squad captain Shisui Uchiha, the prodigy Uchiha Itachi, the formidable Sosuke, Elder Yakumi, Yashiro and Tekka, and Genya Uchiha, the center of everyone's attention.
There were also two Uchiha jonin with stern faces and undisguised restlessness in their eyes.
They were the two "Hardline Faction old boys" Genya had specifically selected.
Many of Konoha's jonin were filled with mixed emotions as they watched.
Once, the Uchiha had always stood alone at high-level meetings. Clan Leader Fugaku often remained silent, and whenever he offered an opinion, it was easily brushed aside.
But ever since this seven-year-old brat named Genya Uchiha had burst onto the scene, everything had changed at an astonishing speed.
The Uchiha had not only regained their voice, but had begun participating deeply in-and even disrupting-Konoha's power structure with their own distinctive, forceful approach.
What some of the sharper observers found particularly amusing was this.
The corners of Fugaku's mouth kept trying to curl upward. His satisfaction at finally holding his head high, and his joy at the clan's unprecedented unity and strength, were practically overflowing.