As Zongyan walked, he could not help glancing back down the alley. The bodies lay sprawled every which way, and blood on the ground had yet to dry. No matter how he looked at it, they did not seem like something they could simply leave there.
He pursed his lips toward them. "Brother, don't we need to do anything about these people?"
Uchiha Itachi followed his gaze, then lifted his chin toward the deep shadows beneath a distant tree, his tone calm:
"Someone will take care of them. We can just go home."
Zongyan glanced in the direction he indicated and reached out with his senses. He discovered a faint, elusive presence in the shade. That person might already have been lurking there when the fighting started in the alley, never showing themselves or intervening, merely watching from beginning to end.
Someone from the Anbu.
By now, someone had probably already gone to report to the Hokage Building.
Uchiha Itachi said nothing more. He crouched down and motioned for Zongyan to climb on.
Zongyan did not refuse. He climbed onto his back and wrapped his arms around his neck.
Uchiha Itachi supported him securely and walked back toward the compound, step by step through the lingering light of sunset.
The evening breeze blew from behind them, dispersing the bloody smell in the alley. Twilight spread along the road, stretching the brothers' shadows long.
By the time they reached home, Fugaku had finished handling clan affairs and returned, while Mikoto was busy preparing dinner.
The weariness had not quite faded from Zongyan's face when he entered. Fugaku immediately noticed something was wrong and asked what had happened.
Zongyan hid nothing. Sitting in the main room, he recounted everything that had happened after school that day.
From being surrounded by four Root operatives in the alley, to fighting back and killing one while severely wounding another, to Uchiha Itachi arriving in time to finish things, he left out none of it.
After Fugaku heard his account, the atmosphere in the entire room instantly grew heavy.
He sat upright in his chair, his usually composed, imposing face now covered in frost, the anger in his eyes almost impossible to suppress.
As both the Uchiha Clan Head and captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, he knew better than anyone what those Root operatives were like. Previously, however, the two sides had kept out of each other's affairs and had never caused each other trouble.
But now look what had happened!
Danzo had actually dared to target his child directly, openly attacking him in the village streets.
Fugaku growled, his voice low but carrying an anger he could not suppress:
"The nerve! Danzo has grown this brazen! Anyone else would be one thing, but he dared to touch my son! Does he truly think the Uchiha have no one capable?"
Beside him, Uchiha Itachi said nothing, but beneath his cool expression lay an unmistakable, unrelenting chill.
Sitting nearby and watching his father and brother's fury, Zongyan felt a tangible surge of what it meant to have people protecting him.
But then he lowered his head and looked at his hands. They were small and fair, with red marks still lingering on his fingertips from gripping a kunai that day.
After turning it over in his mind, it all came down to his own weakness.
He and the entire Uchiha clan were far too weak!
If they had enough strength to crush everything, how would a mere Danzo dare act so arrogantly?
He paused, then spoke:
"Father, Brother, I'll be blunt."
"If someone in our clan possessed strength like our ancestor Madara Uchiha's and stood at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, scum like Danzo, who only knows how to hide in the shadows, wouldn't dare provoke us in the slightest, even with a hundred times his courage."
"All the trouble and danger we faced today-at its root, it was never because the world was unfair!"
"It was because we aren't strong enough. The weak can only take a beating. Only the strong can protect themselves and safeguard their clansmen."
After those words, the room remained silent for a long while.
Fugaku stared at his second son, who was only six years old. The anger in his eyes slowly gave way to something else: a stunned, almost disbelieving scrutiny.
Such understanding, such vision, such penetrating insight into the fundamental rules of the Shinobi World-it was absurd to find them in a child.
Never mind children his age. Even the clan elders who had lived half their lives might not be able to say something like that.
Uchiha Itachi's gaze deepened as well, and something appeared in his eyes as he looked at Zongyan that had not been there before.
Fugaku let out a long breath. When he spoke again, his tone carried heartfelt wonder:
"My son... you truly have grown up. Your maturity and breadth of vision far surpass those of ordinary people."
Zongyan silently muttered to himself:
...Your son might actually be older than you.
Of course, he did not dare say that aloud.
While the father and his two sons were each occupied with their thoughts, soft footsteps sounded outside.
A clan servant entered the room with a bow and reported quietly:
"Clan Head, Young Master Itachi, Young Master Zongyan, someone from the Hokage Building's Anbu has arrived. Young Master Itachi is ordered to proceed to the Hokage Building immediately for an audience concerning an important matter."
At this, Uchiha Itachi's expression grew slightly more serious, without the slightest hint of surprise.
Four people had died in the alley that day, and the Anbu had watched everything. It would have been strange if Hiruzen Sarutobi had not summoned him for questioning.
He rose, bowed slightly to his father in farewell, then turned and left, striding toward the Hokage Building.
Once Uchiha Itachi disappeared through the courtyard gate, only Fugaku and Zongyan remained in the room.
Fugaku was silent for a moment before turning toward Zongyan, his expression growing more solemn and serious:
"Zongyan, come with me."
With that, he rose first and headed deeper into the residence.
Zongyan hurried after his father, passing through corridor after corridor and courtyard after courtyard until they reached the Clan Conference Hall at the very heart of the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The place was rarely opened. Its furnishings were simple, ancient, and solemn. This was an important site where the Uchiha discussed their most crucial clan affairs and passed down secrets. Ordinary clansmen normally had no right to set foot inside.
Fugaku walked straight toward an utterly inconspicuous corner deep inside the hall. The wall there was smooth and unadorned, blending into the surrounding structure without anything unusual about it.
He reached out and placed his hand precisely on a hidden button in the wall, pressing it with his fingertips.
Rumble-
The deep, heavy roar of a mechanism abruptly sounded. The entire stone wall sank inward, then slowly slid aside, revealing a pitch-black passage leading deep underground.
Fugaku glanced back at Zongyan. "Go on in."
With that, he stepped into the dark passage first.
Zongyan gathered his thoughts and followed closely behind.
Once both of them had entered fully, the stone wall behind them rumbled and slid once more, sealing shut without a gap.
The instant the entrance sealed, all sound and light from outside were cut off. The secret chamber was so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Then faint specks of pale purple light appeared on the chamber's four walls, their gentle glow filling the entire underground space.
Zongyan's gaze fell on the center of the chamber, where the broken, ancient black Altar stood in silence.
"With the Altar sitting out in plain sight like this," Zongyan said, glancing around, "I assume the chamber is surrounded by traps too?"
At this, Fugaku could barely conceal the satisfaction in his eyes. He nodded approvingly:
"That is thanks to you. Had you not found this treasure, all these arrangements would have been useless."
Before you continue