Konoha, the Root base.
Still that same dim room, the lamplight casting Shimura Danzō's face in an even darker and more sinister shadow.
A suffocating oppression hung thick in the air.
"You said what?!"
Danzō shot up from his seat.
"Complete... complete annihilation?"
Kneeling before him was a Root ninja responsible for relaying intelligence.
At this moment his entire body trembled beyond his control, his head pressed deep to the ground, not daring to meet Danzō's predatory gaze.
"Re... reporting to Lord Danzō... squads 'Crow,' 'Weasel,' and 'Serpent'... nine jonin in total... during the mission to hunt down Uchiha Shinsuke... all contact has been lost..."
"Based on intelligence gathered at the scene by the follow-up reconnaissance squad... and analysis of residual chakra signatures... they... they are most likely... all dead..."
The intelligence ninja's voice grew smaller and smaller, until at the very end it was barely audible.
"Useless! A pack of useless trash!"
Danzō slammed a palm down onto the desk before him!
Boom!
The solid wooden desk shattered into pieces in an instant!
Nine elite jonin!
A lineup of such strength was sufficient to carry out S-rank missions and could even hold its own against some of the relatively weaker Kage-level warriors!
And now, they had... been completely annihilated?!
And their target had been nothing more than a twelve-year-old Uchiha brat?!
How was this possible?!
"Uchiha Shinsuke... is he... really that strong?"
For the first time, a note of genuine shock crept into Danzō's voice.
Although he had raised Shinsuke's threat assessment before, deep in his heart Danzō had still believed that the power of Root was more than enough to erase him with ease.
But reality had delivered him a resounding slap across the face!
Twelve years old, and he had killed every single one of Danzō's elite jonin in combat; if he was given a few more years...
Just thinking about it made Danzō's scalp go numb.
"Immediately! At any cost! Find out everything there is to know about Uchiha Shinsuke! How he fights! Exactly how he defeated nine jonin!"
Danzō barked the order into the shadows, the killing intent in his heart now climbing to its absolute peak.
Uchiha Shinsuke had to die!
At any cost, this massive threat had to be snuffed out while still in its cradle!
In truth, Danzō understood it clearly.
Since Shinsuke had been able to kill nine elite Root jonin in return, Shinsuke's current strength had likely truly crossed the threshold into Kage-level territory!
This was no longer in the realm of jonin; Kage-level and jonin were two entirely different categories of existence!
A Kage-level warrior this young...
And a member of the Uchiha Clan on top of that!
A deep sense of helplessness suddenly welled up in Danzō's heart.
He had devoted himself to weakening and suppressing the Uchiha for so long.
Yet the Uchiha continued to produce genius after genius, and this Uchiha Shinsuke was perhaps even more monstrous than the born geniuses Shisui and Itachi; perhaps the shinobi world was about to see yet another Asura of the battlefield!
Danzō sank back into his chair with exhaustion.
...
At the same time, in the Uchiha clan grounds, at Shinsuke's residence.
Shinsuke sat cross-legged, his body wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages, the chakra within him flowing slowly as it repaired the damage the battle had left behind.
He opened his eyes, and a cold, sharp gleam flickered within them.
In his mind, the moments of fierce combat against the Root ninja surfaced once more.
"Danzō..."
Shinsuke murmured the name in a low voice, his tone heavy with unconcealed killing intent.
Compromise? Concession?
In the face of absolute malice, these things were so laughable and so futile!
Only power!
Only absolute power, power that crushed everything, could make those hyenas lurking in the dark feel fear and feel dread!
Shinsuke summoned Min, Tetsu, and Kai.
"Spare no effort and gather detailed intelligence on the Root base, its personnel composition, and its patterns of operation!"
"Yes! Lord Shinsuke!"
[Ding! Detected that the Host encountered a lethal assassination attempt by Root and successfully killed all attacking enemies in return!]
[Ding! Host's will for vengeance against "Shimura Danzō" has reached its peak!]
[Revenge Target: Shimura Danzō (Blight of the shinobi world, crimes beyond measure)]
[Completion Condition: Completely eliminate Shimura Danzō and his Root organization, ridding the shinobi world of a great scourge.]
[Mission Reward: A massive amount of Clan Glory Points, significant expansion of System permissions.]
Shimura Danzō, blight of the shinobi world?
System, that is a perfectly apt summary!
"Danzō, your time to die is not far off."
...
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
Under Shinsuke's vigorous cultivation, several clan members who awakened their Sharingan emerged from the training corps.
In addition, most of the original twenty squad members had been elite genin, with a few at chunin level.
After Shinsuke's cultivation, their current strength had all reached elite chunin, and one devoted loyalist, having reached 100% loyalty, had his potential enhanced by Shinsuke and made a single leap from chunin all the way to jonin!
Deep in the night!
The Uchiha clan grounds, the Elder Council chamber.
The atmosphere was solemn and grave.
Shinsuke, dressed in a black fitted uniform, his expression stern, walked slowly into the council chamber.
Every gaze in the room converged on him.
"The reason I have gathered the elders today is to add a new elder to our ranks."
Uchiha Fugaku made the announcement from the head seat.
"Following internal deliberation by the Elder Council and nomination by clan member consensus, Uchiha Shinsuke, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the clan and his indisputable strength, has been formally nominated as a candidate for elder of the Uchiha Clan."
"Elders, does anyone have an objection?"
Fugaku's gaze swept over every elder present.
The Hawks faction elders naturally gave their wholehearted support, nodding one after another.
And even some of the Doves faction elders who had previously been sitting on the fence, or had harbored some dissatisfaction with Shinsuke, now wisely held their silence.
Shinsuke's prestige and strength at this point were no longer something they could easily challenge.
It was at that moment that a voice no one had expected rang out.
"I support Uchiha Shinsuke in becoming a clan elder."
The one who had spoken was a Doves faction elder of considerable influence, the uncle of Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Inadat!
In his day-to-day stance he had always advocated peaceful coexistence with the village and had often spoken critically of the Hawks faction's radicalism.
Yet now, he was the very first to step forward and declare his explicit support for Uchiha Shinsuke!
Every gaze in the room turned toward Uchiha Inada in surprise.
"This old man does not agree with methods that are overly radical, but this old man also knows clearly what the Uchiha needs right now."
"Uchiha Shinsuke possesses formidable strength as well as sufficient strategy and courage, and that is precisely what the Uchiha needs at this moment!"
Even Shinsuke himself gave this Doves faction elder a slightly surprised glance.
Shinsuke had not expected this seemingly conservative old man to carry such a clear-eyed understanding.
Uchiha Inada's declaration completely dissolved the last trace of hesitation in the hearts of the other Doves faction elders.
In the end, with the vote passing in what was nearly unanimous, Uchiha Shinsuke officially became the youngest elder in the history of the Uchiha Clan!
He now held a greater voice, and could mobilize more clan resources than ever before!
"My thanks to the elders for their trust."
Shinsuke gave a slight nod to those assembled.
"Now that I have become an elder, I will naturally devote myself wholly to the clan's future."
From this point on, Uchiha Shinsuke was officially an elder of the Uchiha Clan, and his prestige within the clan had firmly surpassed that of the two geniuses Shisui and Itachi, making him the youngest elder and the most formidable genius the Uchiha currently possessed.