As news spread that Hiruzen Sarutobi intended to step down as Hokage, the entire Hidden Leaf Village (Konohagakure) was thrown into an uproar.
For a time, nearly every other topic was drowned out. Only the rumors surrounding Hiruzen continued to spread—growing even more intense along with the announcement.
Yet all of this seemed to have little to do with the Uchiha clan.
Because the Uchiha had troubles of their own.
Uchiha Clan Compound
"Damn it! Are those ANBU guys not even bothering to pretend anymore? They're openly blocking the entrance to our clan compound!"
"I heard they're not all ANBU. Some are from a unit called Root—they're supposedly under Shimura Danzō."
"Shimura Danzō? I know him! He's the one who's always been targeting the Uchiha clan!"
"Hmph. They've already started restricting our movements. Unless you're from the Konoha Military Police Force or heading out on an official mission, they won't let us leave the compound."
"Why is this happening? What did we even do wrong?"
"They say it's to prevent us from causing further trouble. But when have we ever caused trouble? Aren't they the ones who've been stirring things up all along?"
"Damn it, this is going too far! What do they take us for?! We have to resist!"
"Where's the clan head? Let Lord Fugaku give the order!"
"Calm down. I heard that after tomorrow's memorial service for the clan members who died in the war, the clan will hold a Clan Assembly. Every available Uchiha shinobi will attend. It should be to discuss this issue."
"Yeah. The Clan Elder Uchiha Setsuna has already spoken—he said this clan assembly concerns the life and death of the Uchiha. Everyone must put the clan's honor first and absolutely must not bow to the village!"
"Wait, really? But I heard the Second Elder Uchiha Ya and the others say the village has its reasons this time. Someone is manipulating things behind the scenes, and the village is already investigating. They hope we can endure for a while longer until the village gives us an explanation."
"Endure? Hah! Have you lost your minds? The ANBU are already standing at our doorstep, and you still want us to endure?"
"That's right! The Second Elder and the others must be senile. Endure, endure, endure—do they think shinobi are turtles hiding in their shells? If you want to endure, go ahead. I won't!"
"Yeah, this time I'm standing with the Radical Faction. The village has gone too far!"
…
The moment Root shinobi, sent by Shimura Danzō at Hiruzen Sarutobi's request, joined the ANBU in surrounding the Uchiha Clan Compound and restricting the clan members' movements, the Uchiha's dissatisfaction completely exploded.
Many who had originally belonged to the Conservative Faction, which once made up the majority within the clan, began shifting toward Uchiha Setsuna's Radical Faction, loudly demanding that the village give the Uchiha an explanation.
"Excellent… the people's will can be used."
Having just returned from the meeting at the Hokage Tower, Uchiha Ren walked along the road leading into the clan compound with Uchiha Itachi at his side. Listening to the discussions around him, he nodded in satisfaction.
According to the original course of events, most Uchiha would only develop such intense emotions after the Nine-Tails Incident, following years of open suppression by the village.
But now, merely a few rumors had already pushed the Uchiha and the village to this stage.
Even Ren himself hadn't expected the effect to be this good.
Beside him, however, young Uchiha Itachi frowned deeply, his eyes filled with worry.
Ren noticed the change in Itachi's expression.
"Itachi, what are you worried about?"
Itachi paused for a moment, clearly hesitant, unsure whether he should speak.
He knew that everything happening now was largely the result of Uchiha Ren 's deliberate guidance.
Yet he simply couldn't understand Ren 's purpose.
All Itachi could see was that the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village was intensifying. It seemed only a matter of time before it erupted into something tragic.
With the limited perspective Itachi possessed at his current age, Ren 's actions appeared unquestionably wrong.
But both his father, Uchiha Fugaku, and the person he respected like an older brother—Uchiha Shisui—stood firmly on Ren 's side.
That made Itachi instinctively wonder if perhaps he was the one who was mistaken.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand where he might be wrong.
Ren raised his hand and ruffled Itachi's hair firmly.
"I've told you before, haven't I? Don't bottle everything up inside. That does far more harm than good."
"I remember," Itachi said with a blank expression, nodding slightly.
"You said that burying things in your heart creates negative emotions and harms mental and physical health…"
His tone was extremely calm.
Clearly, Itachi wasn't particularly convinced by Ren 's advice.
—or perhaps he simply didn't care much about his own well-being.
After all, when Itachi learned that he had developed a bloodline-related illness, what troubled him most was not the illness itself, but the possibility that he might no longer be able to become a shinobi.
Ren 's eyes flickered slightly.
After thinking for a moment, he spoke again.
"In fact, the harm to your health is only a small part of it. The more important issue is that doing this will gradually make you arrogant and biased."
"Arrogant and biased?"
Itachi blinked, confused.
"What do you mean?"
Ren smiled faintly and began explaining.
"A person's thoughts are largely shaped by their experiences and their perspective. But everything in this world has multiple sides."
"You may have heard the saying 'seeing is believing.' But most of the time, what you see is only the tip of the iceberg."
"It's not the full truth."
"Take a starfruit, for example. From one angle, you see three ridges. From another angle, you see a five-pointed star."
"If you keep what you see to yourself and never discuss it with others, you might stubbornly believe the fruit only has three ridges."
"And then you might arrogantly deny someone else who says they see a five-pointed star."
"Arrogance and prejudice are two of the greatest sins in this world."
"The reason people can never fully understand one another is because everyone only believes the side of reality that they themselves have seen."
"Everyone carries their own arrogance and prejudice."
"So don't keep your thoughts buried inside. Don't casually deny other people's ideas."
"Try to understand how others see the world. Try to see more sides of the same thing."
"Only then can you make the most correct decision when the critical moment arrives."
If Uchiha Sasuke's arrogance in the original story was something visible on the surface…
Then Uchiha Itachi's arrogance ran deep in his bones.
Sasuke's kind of arrogance was manageable—one good defeat could knock some sense into him for a while.
But Itachi's arrogance led him to take the fate of the entire Uchiha clan into his own hands, making a decision on behalf of everyone.
That kind of invisible arrogance was the most dangerous of all.
The reason Ren was saying all of this was simple.
He didn't want Itachi to walk down the wrong path.
He had no intention of letting such a genius be snuffed out before reaching his potential.
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