"Enough! Uchiha Clan, how long do you intend to keep this up?!"
An aged voice, laden with authority, thundered through the Uchiha Clan's assembly hall!
The speaker was Konoha's advisory elder, Utatane Koharu!
Her wrinkled old face displayed undisguised disgust and impatience, as though she were looking at a pack of mad dogs that might lose control at any moment.
"The police force's authority was granted by the village! It is not your Uchiha Clan's license to throw your weight around! Look at what you've been doing lately! Expanding your patrol area without authorization, getting into more and more conflicts with the villagers-are you planning a rebellion?!"
The sharp accusations struck every Uchiha present like a resounding slap across the face.
At the head of the hall, Uchiha Fugaku, leader of the Uchiha Clan, looked livid. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his flesh.
The elders beside him dared not voice their anger. They could only lower their heads in humiliation.
Ever since the Nine-Tails' rampage, all of Konoha's suspicion and ostracism toward the Uchiha had reached an extreme! They had been driven to the edge of the village, the police force's authority had been repeatedly curtailed, and wherever their clansmen went, the Anbu watched them like thieves!
Now, even the slightest attempt to protect their own rights was branded "rebellion"!
They had gone too far!
"Elder Koharu, we were only..." an Uchiha elder tried to explain.
"Shut up!" Utatane Koharu cut him off sharply, her gaze like a blade. "You have no right to speak here! Uchiha Fugaku, I came today to deliver the village leadership's final ultimatum! Disband half the police force immediately, surrender all patrol rights in the core districts, and your clan must publicly apologize to the villagers and acknowledge your wrongdoing!"
Boom!
At those words, the entire hall instantly fell deathly silent.
Every Uchiha clansman stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief, humiliation, and fury!
They intended to strip the Uchiha of their fangs and claws, pin them to the ground, grind them into the mud, and spit on them for good measure!
Fugaku began trembling violently. His scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun madly as he nearly lost control of his overwhelming killing intent!
Yet he could not attack.
The moment he attacked, it would be rebellion! What awaited the Uchiha would be an abyss of eternal damnation!
Just as the oppressive atmosphere reached its peak, leaving everyone unable to breathe, a voice so calm it was almost indifferent drifted from a corner.
"Are you finished?"
Huh?
Everyone abruptly turned toward the voice.
At the lowest seat in the assembly hall, a handsome young man with black hair and black eyes slowly rose. He stood tall and straight, his features cold and stern. His deep eyes were as still as an ancient well, as though the conflict that could have set all of Konoha ablaze had been nothing but a boring farce to him.
Uchiha Gen'yō!
The Uchiha Clan's most dazzling rising star, and the undisputed leader of its younger faction!
"Gen'yō! Sit down!" Fugaku's expression changed as he barked in a low voice.
He knew his nephew's temperament. He was a ruthless character even more radical than the hawks!
Yet Uchiha Gen'yō seemed not to hear him. He merely looked at Utatane Koharu indifferently, a faint hint of mockery curling his lips.
"Old hag, there's a limit to throwing your age around. You represent the village leadership? Who the hell do you think you are? Is Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi here? Is Shimura Danzō here? What gives you and Mitokado Homura, two useless old fossils, the right to order the Uchiha Clan around?"
!!!
Everyone gasped!
He had gone mad! Gen'yō had absolutely gone mad!
How... how could he dare say that?!
"You! How dare you!" Utatane Koharu trembled with rage, even the finger she pointed at Gen'yō shaking. "You are challenging all of Konoha! Guards! Arrest him!"
"Let's see who dares!"
Gen'yō's gaze turned icy, and a bone-chilling wave of killing intent instantly swept through the hall!
The Anbu ninja behind Koharu felt as though they had plunged into an ice cellar. Their bodies stiffened, and for a moment, none dared step forward!
"Challenging Konoha? Heh..." Gen'yō chuckled, his laughter filled with disdain and mockery. "Since when could Konoha represent the entire Land of Fire? Our Uchi-arrogance? How much blood have we Uchiha shed for Konoha? How many of us have died? During the Nine-Tails' rampage, if not for the Fourth Hokage and his wife, we Uchiha would have been next to step up! And what did we get in return? Suspicion! Ostracism! Being penned up like dogs!"
His voice was not loud, but every word cut deep, striking hard at the heart of every Uchiha present!
Exactly! Why should they?!
Their long-suppressed fury was thoroughly ignited at that moment! Fighting spirit flared in the eyes of the younger Uchiha as they stared fixedly at those Konoha ninja!
"And now, you want to strip us of our last shred of dignity?" Gen'yō took a step forward, his gaze like lightning as he stared straight at the shocked and furious Utatane Koharu.
"I'm telling you, that's impossible!"
"The police force's authority was bought with our forebears' blood! No one is taking it away!"
"You want us to apologize? Who do you think you are?!"
"Since Konoha thinks we Uchiha are a cancer and has no room for us..."
At this point, Gen'yō's tone abruptly became calm. But beneath that calm brewed a madness that terrified everyone!
"Fine, then. We'll leave."
"We're not staying in this dump!"
"The Shinobi World is vast! Plenty of places would cherish us Uchiha like their most precious treasures!"
The instant his words fell, an icy mechanical voice thundered through his mind!
[Ding! Detected that the host has officially broken with Konoha and chosen to lead his clan toward a new life!] [Strongest Family Procreation System officially activated!] [Congratulations to the host on receiving a beginner's gift pack!] [Detected that the host faces a tremendous threat. Automatically opening the beginner's gift pack...]
Utatane Koharu nearly fainted with rage at Gen'yō's shocking declaration. Pointing at him, she shrieked hysterically, "Madman! You madman! The Uchiha are defecting from the village! Fugaku, so this is the fine clansman you've raised! Not a single one of you Uchiha will get off easy today!"
The Anbu behind her finally reacted and began forming hand seals, brimming with killing intent!
A battle was on the verge of erupting!
Yet not a trace of nervousness could be seen on Uchiha Gen'yō's face.
He simply raised his head slowly. In his pitch-black eyes, three tomoe spun rapidly, instantly joining into a strange pattern!
Mangekyō Sharingan, activate!
No!
That was not all!
In his left eye was a pattern resembling a windmill shuriken!
And in his right eye was a pattern resembling a triangular throwing dart!
His two eyes actually held completely different Mangekyō!
[Ding! Congratulations to the host on obtaining the god-tier Dōjutsu-Dual Kamui!] [Left-eye Kamui: long-range spatial teleportation and distortion!] [Right-eye Kamui: close-range intangibility and absorption!] [Congratulations to the host on obtaining the sage body. Chakra reserves increased tenfold!]
The icy system notifications finished sounding in his mind.
Uchiha Gen'yō felt the surging, seemingly endless chakra within him, along with the mighty power in his eyes that could distort space and look down upon all living beings. The corners of his mouth slowly rose into a cruel, domineering curve.
He looked at the livid Utatane Koharu as though he were looking at a dead person.
"You won't let us get off easy?"
"Old hag, you don't seem to understand the situation."
"Now, you're the ones who should be thinking about how... to survive me!"