Why don't they even have the courage to look at us?
The innocent yet cruel question posed by the young Uchiha child was like a pebble thrown into a still lake, creating cold ripples on the desolate street.
Uchiha Itachi did not answer.
He simply stood there quietly, his deep Mangekyou Mangekyō Sharingan seemingly piercing through the heavy wooden door, revealing a tragicomedy filled with struggle and humiliation unfolding behind it.
Hyuga Main Family council hall.
Suppressed!
A deathly oppressive atmosphere!
Dozens of elites from the Hyuga Branch Family and Main Family, dressed in white kimonos, gathered together.
But no one spoke at that moment.
Everyone's foreheads were covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, and their usually insightful and arrogant Byakugan were now filled with endless fear and confusion.
They can "see".
They could clearly "see" that right outside that gate, an army of a thousand Uchiha, like demons from hell, stood silently.
They could "see" that thousands of Red Eye, each burning with Mitsudomoe, were radiating a cold, tangible killing intent.
They could "see" that each child, whose average age was no more than six, possessed an immense Jonin or even Elite Jonin — Chakra so vast it was almost despairing!
That wasn't a human army at all!
They were a bunch of monsters in human skin!
"Master of the family!"
Finally, a young ninja who looked to be in his early twenties, bearing the " Caged Bird Seal " Cursed Seal of the Branch Family on his face, could no longer endure the suffocating silence. He abruptly stepped forward, knelt on both knees, and cried out in a sorrowful voice to the middle-aged man seated in the main seat:
"We can't just sit here and wait to die!"
" Konoha is our home! Although the Lord Hokage Hyuga Clan, as the oldest and most prestigious family in Konoha, still retains its own dignity!"
"Those outside are just a bunch of Uchiha brats! No matter how strong they are, they're still just children! As long as the entire Hyuga Clan goes all out and fights to the death, we might just be able to defeat them—"
"Shut up, Hizashi!"
Before he could finish speaking, he was abruptly interrupted by a stern, angry shout!
Seated in the main seat, the current head of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hiashi, slowly opened his eyes, which had been tightly closed.
His face was expressionless, but his Byakugan were filled with endless weariness and despair.
"A fight to the death?"
Hyuga Hiashi's voice was hoarse and full of self-deprecation.
What will you use to spell it out?
"Will you use your proud Gentle Fist to break through their energy shield, which is Susanoo?"
"Or are you going to use your Byakugan to try and discern their actions, which even Amaterasu 'Amaterasu' mainframe can't predict?"
" Hizashi, open your eyes and take a good look outside!"
Hyuga Hiashi slammed his hand on the table in front of him, veins bulging around his pure Byakugan!
"Are you seeing a thousand Uchiha brats?!"
"No!"
"What I saw was the most naked and cruel mockery of our entire old era by that monster Uchiha Gen'yō!"
"He's not fighting a war at all! He's holding a 'military parade'! He's using the corpses and dignity of us remnants of the old era to sing a triumphant song for his Divine Kingdom!"
"Before such a 'god,' what are our so-called dignity and glory worth!"
Hyuga Hiashi's words were like buckets of cold water, completely extinguishing the last remaining flame of "courage" burning in the hall.
yes.
Even the four legendary Hokage, and the Six Red Yang Formation known as the "absolute defense," were reduced to ashes with a single, nonchalant glance from that man.
What are the Hyuga Clan compared to them?
"But it's the patriarch!"
The young ninja named Hizashi was still unwilling to give up. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms, and blood dripped from between his fingers onto the floor.
"Are we just going to hide behind this door like a bunch of cowards, watching them trample on our homeland and dishonor the glory of our ancestors?!"
"Are we, the members of this Branch Family, destined to eke out a living in this humiliating silence?!"
His questioning was hoarse and desperate, filled with blood and tears.
This also caused all the Branch Family ninjas present to instinctively straighten their backs.
However, Hyuga Hiashi's answer was a thousand times colder than the Siberia wind.
He slowly stood up from his seat and walked step by step to Hizashi.
He looked down at his nephew, who was related to him by blood but was branded a " Caged Bird Seal " because he was born a few minutes later.
"Coward? Just clinging to life?"
A cruel smile curled at the corner of Hyuga Hiashi's lips.
" Hizashi, you seem to have made a mistake."
"From the moment we were born, from the moment this Cursed Seal was etched on our foreheads, we have lost the right to speak of dignity."
He slowly extended his finger and touched the blue, cage-like Cursed Seal on Hizashi's forehead.
"This thing doesn't exist so we can fight or protect some bullshit glory."
"Its sole purpose is to ensure that, at the most crucial moment, we will not hesitate to 'die' for the survival of the Main Family."
"Whether you die on the battlefield or in humiliating silence like this."
" The Hyuga Clan can live without honor."
"But the Hyuga Clan cannot be destroyed!"
"This is the only fate we, as caged birds, have."
After saying that, he didn't even give the Hizashi any time to react.
"Bang!"
A heavy, Gentle Fist landed precisely on Hizashi's abdomen.
Hizashi's body suddenly arched, like a boiled shrimp, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from his mouth.
His eyes were wide open, his pure Byakugan filled with disbelief and utter despair.
He died without understanding why it wasn't the Uchiha outside the door who killed him, but the head of his clan to whom he had sworn to serve.
"Drag him away."
Hyuga Hiashi said expressionlessly, as if he had only done a trivial matter.
"Relay my orders."
He slowly turned around, facing the closed door again, his voice echoing in the empty hall.
"From this day forward, the Hyuga Clan officially declares its utmost loyalty to the Divine Kingdom and to Uchiha Lord Gen'yō."
"Seal off the main gate of the Main Family compound; no one is allowed to leave!"
"Those who violate this rule --"
His gaze swept over every clansman in the hall who was trembling with fear.
"This is what will happen to you if you have to work Hizashi!"
Outside the door.
Uchiha Shō stared at the door that hadn't moved an inch from beginning to end, his face showing extreme impatience.
"Tch, what a bunch of spineless cowards."
He curled his lip, his tone full of disdain.
"I thought I was going to see a great Gentle Fist performance. And this is it?"
"They don't even dare to leave the house; what a waste of those supposedly all-seeing Byakugan."
"I think their 'Caged Bird Seal ' theory isn't about protecting Byakugan at all; it's just about keeping themselves like a flock of canaries in a cage, so they won't be scared to death by the outside world! Hahahaha!"
His unrestrained mockery drew laughter from those around him.
To these new generation members, who have been instilled with the mindset of absolute power through the "elite education of the Divine Kingdom," the Hyuga Clan's act of abandoning all dignity for the sake of "survival" is a thousand times more shameful than defeat!
However, just as Uchiha Shō was about to spew a few more trash talk to vent his boredom—
A sudden change has occurred!
boom--!!!!
A violent explosion suddenly erupted without warning from a long-abandoned ramen shop on the side of the street!
A terrifying shockwave, mixed with countless steel spikes and Kunai, swept towards the flank of the Uchiha army like a storm!
"Enemy attack!!"
"Everyone! Defensive stance!!"
The Uchiha children reacted incredibly quickly!
Almost the instant the explosion occurred, dozens of children on the flank simultaneously Hand Seals!
Fire Style: Fire Dragon Wall!
A massive wall made of high-temperature flames rose from the ground, keeping all the explosions and debris outside.
However, this is just the beginning!
"For Lord Danzo!!"
"For Konoha!!"
" Uchiha scum! Come to hell with us!!!"
Accompanied by a series of frenzied and resolute roars, hundreds and thousands of figures dressed in black combat suits, wearing animal masks, and covered with Explosive Tag, emerged from the ruins on both sides of the street, from the underground sewers, and from the shadows of the rooftops, like demons crawling out of hell, and launched a suicidal tidal wave of attacks on the Uchiha army!
They are the "roots"!
He was the most loyal, and also the most fanatical, death-dealing soldier trained by Shimura Danzō!
They were the last and most desperate rebels on the land of Konoha!
"Finally, some decent 'toys' have arrived!"
Watching those figures rushing towards him like moths to a flame, Uchiha Shō showed no fear whatsoever; instead, he wore an extremely excited and cruel smile.
His Sharingan, each with Mitsudomoe, began to spin wildly!
"Gentlemen! Game time is here!"
"Let them see what true despair is!"