Night fell. Deep within the Uchiha Clan Compound, the ancestral hall blazed with light, yet the atmosphere was grimmer than an ice cellar.
This was the Uchiha Clan's true seat of decision-making.
Every person seated here was an elite Jonin of the clan, a pillar of the Uchiha.
Uchiha Fugaku sat at the head, his expression somber and still.
Several highly respected clan elders sat to his left and right.
Below them were Uchiha Gen'yō, Shisui Uchiha, and even the young prodigy Uchiha Itachi, who had only recently awakened his Mitsudomoe.
At this moment, everyone's gaze rested on the calm-faced man standing in the center of the hall-Uchiha Gen'yō.
His feat that afternoon-single-handedly crushing Konoha's Anbu and frightening an advisory elder into wetting herself-had already spread throughout the clan!
To the younger generation, he was a hero, a god!
But to those rigid-minded old men, he was a troublemaker who had brought a monstrous calamity upon them!
"Gen'yō!"
At last, a white-haired elder could no longer contain himself. He slammed the table and bellowed, "Do you admit your crime?!"
This was Uchiha Shusa, one of the clan's most conservative elders, who had always advocated compromise with Konoha.
"You attacked Elder Koharu today and made outrageous declarations! You've pushed our entire Uchiha Clan toward the abyss of war! You'll get the whole clan killed!"
"Exactly! Too impulsive! Too reckless!" another elder echoed. "We should explain things clearly to Lord Hokage, not escalate the conflict!"
"Explain? Explain how?"
Uchiha Gen'yō finally spoke. He surveyed the frightened old men, a cold, mocking smile on his lips.
"Get on our knees and beg Hiruzen Sarutobi to forgive us?"
"Tell him that we Uchiha are born worthless and deserve nothing better than being trampled under their feet?"
"Then tie up the 'culprit,' me, and deliver me to Root so that old dog Danzo can gouge out my eyes to appease the village's anger?"
"Y-you're talking nonsense!" Uchiha Shusa's aged face flushed red at the retort.
"Nonsense?" Gen'yō laughed, his laughter full of sorrow and contempt. "Have you old men spent so long kneeling under Konoha's oppression that even your backbones have snapped?"
"You think compromise will buy peace? Stop dreaming!"
He abruptly pointed at his eyes. The strangely shaped Mangekyo appeared again, carrying a heart-stopping pressure!
"The Sharingan! The Kekkei Genkai we Uchiha are born with is an original sin in their eyes!"
"As long as we still have these eyes, as long as the Uchiha continue to exist, Konoha High Command-especially Shimura Danzō-will never truly trust us! They'll only use every means possible to weaken us, control us, until finally... they destroy us completely!"
Gen'yō's words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
Even Uchiha Fugaku's pupils abruptly contracted.
Because he knew that everything Gen'yō said was true!
As clan leader, he had access to more intelligence. He understood Danzo's and those other higher-ups' true attitude toward the Uchiha better than anyone!
"Th-then what do you think we should do?" a young Jonin, Uchiha Yashiro, could not help asking excitedly. "Lord Gen'yō, we'll all follow your lead!"
"That's right! We've had enough!"
"We'll fight Konoha to the death!"
The young clansmen seethed with emotion, their fighting spirit soaring.
"Fight to the death?" Gen'yō shook his head. "Why should we? Trade our precious Uchiha lives one for one with those scum? It's not worth it."
He paused, drew a deep breath, and swept his gaze across the room. Word by word, he revealed a plan that would overturn everything they thought they knew!
"My plan is simple."
"We... leave Konoha!"
"What?!"
One stone stirred a thousand waves!
The entire ancestral hall erupted!
"Leave Konoha? Gen'yō, have you gone mad?!" Elder Uchiha Shusa nearly jumped to his feet. "Our roots are here! Our ancestral homes, our businesses, everything we own is here! Where could we go if we leave Konoha? Become missing-nin?!"
"Missing-nin? Heh." Gen'yō sneered contemptuously. "You shortsighted old fool."
"When I say leave, I don't mean fleeing like homeless dogs!"
He swept his hand forcefully, his tone utterly domineering!
"I mean relocating the entire clan! A strategic withdrawal!"
"A worthy bird chooses its tree! A phoenix soars through the highest heavens-how could it keep company with swallows and sparrows?!"
"If this pond called Konoha is too small to hold a true dragon like the Uchiha, then we'll move to a vaster ocean!"
His stirring words set every young clansman's blood boiling!
An unusual light also flickered in Uchiha Itachi's clear eyes as he stared intently at this extraordinary clansman.
"Where?"
Uchiha Fugaku, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse.
This was the crucial question.
Once separated from Konoha, the Uchiha Clan would become rootless duckweed, a juicy prize coveted by the entire Shinobi World!
Everyone held their breath, waiting for Gen'yō's answer.
The corner of Uchiha Gen'yō's mouth lifted as he uttered a name none of them had expected.
"Iwagakure!"
"What?! Iwagakure?!"
Fugaku's expression changed instantly. "The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki? That stubborn old man? Besides, Konoha and Iwagakure are sworn enemies! The Fourth Hokage's 'Yellow Flash' slaughtered them so badly during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge that the mere mention of him terrified them!"
"That's precisely why they need us even more!" Wisdom gleamed in Gen'yō's eyes, as though everything was under his control.
"Think about it. Iwagakure is suffering from a gap between generations. The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, is getting old, but no one in the next generation can shoulder the burden. They hate Konoha to the bone, especially the shadow left by the 'Yellow Flash'!"
"If, at a time like this, our entire Uchiha Clan joins them, bringing the Sharingan coveted by the whole world and enough military strength to stand against any ninja village, what choice do you think Ōnoki will make?"
"What will he see us as? Enemies? Or the sharpest blade against Konoha, the saviors who can restore Iwagakure to its former heights?!"
Gen'yō paused, his voice full of enticement.
"We aren't going there to live at someone else's mercy! We're going as partners!"
"He gives us land, resources, and status and respect equal to what we have in Konoha! We help him deal with the enemy he hates most!"
"It's a win-win deal! Unless that old fox Ōnoki is a fool, he'll never refuse!"
"Besides..." Gen'yō shifted tack, his tone turning utterly chilling. "He won't dare refuse!"
Silence!
The ancestral hall fell into deathly silence once again!
Cold sweat seeped from Fugaku's forehead.
He realized that Gen'yō's reasoning had completely swept him along.
This plan was too bold, too insane!
But... it also seemed extraordinarily feasible!
The scales in his heart swung violently!
On one side lay a hopeless future of clinging to survival, only to be slowly devoured in the end.
On the other lay a new future of burning their boats and gambling for boundless horizons!
"Th-this is too risky!" Uchiha Shusa was still making one last struggle. "What if... what if Iwagakure is just like Konoha? What if another ninja village ambushes us while the whole clan is moving? Can you protect everyone?"
That question touched everyone's deepest concern.
Yes, no matter how good the plan, it required absolute strength to execute!
Uchiha Gen'yō, did you truly have that ability?
Everyone's gaze focused on him once more.
Faced with their doubts, Gen'yō did not grow angry. He merely smiled.
He slowly turned to face Uchiha Fugaku, whose expression kept shifting as he sat at the head of the ancestral hall.
He knew that words alone were not enough to convince everyone wholeheartedly.
He had to display the power of a god, enough to crush everything!
And the best person to establish his might against was the man before him, the Uchiha Clan's nominal strongest!
"Clan leader."
Gen'yō's calm, powerful voice rang throughout the ancestral hall.
"I know you still have doubts."
"The elders' concerns aren't without reason, either."
"Words prove nothing. Strength will be the proof."
An immense, suffocating surge of chakra slowly began rising from his body! Purple flames of energy spilled from him as though solid, forming savage-looking ribs that enclosed him!
Susanoo!
And although it was only the first stage, the pressure it radiated far surpassed any Susanoo Fugaku had ever seen!
"If you want to see my strength, it's simple."
Gen'yō raised his head. Bathed in purple light, his strangely shaped Mangekyo resembled a demon god's eyes as they stared straight into Fugaku's!
"Clan Leader Fugaku, please instruct me!"
"Now, right here!"
"Let me prove to you, to every member of our clan-"
"Whether I, Uchiha Gen'yō, am truly qualified to lead the Uchiha into a new life!"
Boom!
The instant his words fell, flesh and meridians spread rapidly over the purple ribs behind him. An enormous purple arm thundered into shape and, with world-destroying might, delivered an earth-shattering punch at the ancestral hall's entire ceiling!
He would shatter every doubt with absolute power!
Fugaku's pupils contracted to their limit. Watching that power, which made even his heart tremble, he knew he had no way to retreat!
This battle would decide the Uchiha's future!