The Uchiha clan grounds, the Elder Council chamber.
Today was the first time Uchiha Shinsuke had entered this place as a Hawks faction elder to take part in a council meeting.
Uchiha Fugaku sat composed at the head seat, watching this youngest of elders with an unreadable expression.
Nearly all of the other elders present were also quietly observing this young Uchiha elder.
Shinsuke paid no attention to the gazes around him and walked directly to his own seat and sat down.
"Ahem."
A senior Hawks faction elder of considerable standing, Uchiha En, gave a dry cough.
"Shinsuke, today is your first time attending an Elder Council meeting."
"By convention, a newly inducted elder is expected to first share their views on the clan's future development."
Shinsuke swept his gaze slowly over every elder present.
"My views?"
"My views are simple: at this moment, the Uchiha, whether Hawks or Doves, are riddled with far too many problems!"
"If things continue this way, the only fate awaiting the Uchiha Clan in the end is annihilation!"
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples!
These words from Shinsuke were the last thing anyone had expected!
The atmosphere of the entire council chamber froze.
"Insolence!"
A hot-tempered Hawks faction elder slammed the table with a crash, glaring at Shinsuke with veins bulging at his temples.
"Uchiha Shinsuke! What do you mean by this?!"
"Are you saying that we old men, who have devoted half our lives to working for this clan, cannot see things as clearly as a young upstart like you?!"
"What gives you the right to say such things."
Several other Hawks faction elders also showed displeasure on their faces and voiced their agreement in turn, their words brimming with rebuke of Shinsuke's "arrogant" attitude.
They had assumed Shinsuke would follow their lead and say something polished and diplomatic, at the very least first reinforcing solidarity within the Hawks and giving their predecessors the face they deserved.
Yet to their complete surprise, the very first thing out of Shinsuke's mouth was an attack aimed squarely at the clan's entire decision-making layer, including the very Hawks faction elders who had supported his rise!
Shinsuke took no notice of any of this and continued:
"First, the Hawks faction is blindly radical and lacks any long-term strategy."
"All it knows is to beat the drum for confrontation, yet it has no plan whatsoever for how to steadily erode the Konoha upper echelon's power step by step, how to unite every force that can be united, or how to handle a full-scale counterattack should one come!"
"Your radicalism looks more like the furious flailing of the impotent."
"Second, the Doves faction is weak and yielding, deceiving no one but itself."
"Always assuming that compromise can buy peace and cause the Konoha upper echelon to lower its guard, yet blind to the fact that the upper echelon's wariness and killing intent toward us has never diminished!"
"Endless concession will only make the Uchiha's position more desperate, leading ultimately to a death like the frog boiled slowly in water!"
"Third, the entire clan's access to intelligence is blocked off, like frogs at the bottom of a well."
"Content to rely on the Guard's pitiful little intelligence network, the clan knows almost nothing about what the Konoha upper echelon truly holds in reserve, or about the movements of the village's major clans!"
"Fourth, the training system is outdated and resource allocation is deeply uneven, amounting to nothing less than a squandering of our clan members' talents."
"The clan still relies on methods from decades ago to cultivate its members, with an efficiency so appalling it makes one's hair stand on end, while clan members with genuine talent receive no focused development, and mediocre individuals occupy the lion's share of resources instead!"
The faces of the assembled Hawks faction elders turned iron grey, as though each had swallowed a fly.
The Doves faction elders also wore expressions of acute discomfort.
For a time, throughout the vast council chamber, the assembled elders, even clan head Uchiha Fugaku himself, could find not a single reason to refute what had been said.
Because every word Uchiha Shinsuke had spoken was the truth!
"Hmph! Easy to say!"
Uchiha En swallowed his fury with effort, let out a cold snort, and attempted to recover some dignity.
"Do you think we were unaware of these problems? But the clan's chronic ailments run deep and are entangled at every level, do you really think they can be fixed just because you say so?"
"And you are so young, with no management experience, no experience dealing with complex affairs, what reason is there for us to believe you can do any better?"
Another Doves faction elder also spoke up carefully: "Elder Shinsuke, while your ideas have their logic, they are far too radical and may accelerate the conflict between the Uchiha and the village, placing the clan in a situation of utter and irreversible peril."
"If things are mishandled, the consequences would be unthinkable."
Shinsuke rose to his feet and looked Uchiha En directly in the eye.
"Because the ailments run deep, does that justify sitting at ease and doing nothing? Does that justify watching the clan slide into the abyss with open eyes?"
"As for peril? When has our Uchiha ever not been in peril!"
"From the policies of the Second Hokage onward, to the suspicion and suppression of the Third Hokage today, there has not been a single day when we have not been walking on thin ice!"
"Is the current situation of slow death, of being at others' mercy, of clan members having no hope to look toward, somehow not peril?"
"As for angering the Konoha upper echelon?"
"They have already raised the blade against our necks! Our yielding only emboldens them further! It only makes them think we are weak and easy to bully!"
"The Uchiha must reform now! A thorough, root-and-branch reform!"
Just as the atmosphere in the council chamber reached a point of peak tension, and several elders were already unable to hold themselves back and were preparing to press another attack, an aged yet resonant voice cut through unexpectedly.
Uchiha Hachidai, who now spoke up out of nowhere.
"I... support Elder Uchiha Shinsuke!"
It was Uchiha Hachidai, the most powerful and senior elder of the Hawks faction!
Uchiha Hachidai drew a deep breath and said, "A few days ago, Elder Shinsuke came to see this old man in private and presented a detailed plan for the Uchiha's development over the coming years, along with... a projection of the clan's fate under different strategic choices."
"Regardless of whether it was the Hawks' radicalism or the Doves' yielding, both paths led ultimately to the same... bleak and tragic end."
That fate projection and development plan was naturally the product of the [Clan Growth System] performing its precise analysis and simulation after Shinsuke had fed it the various variables.
Uchiha Hachidai's standing within the clan was no small matter, and his declaration instantly transformed the atmosphere of the council chamber.
Even the Hawks faction elders who had until moments ago held grievances against Shinsuke's blunt words were now compelled to take another look at this young man and consider the deeper meaning behind Elder Hachidai's words.
The Doves faction elders simply stopped speaking altogether and chose silence.
Uchiha Fugaku remained silent for a long while before finally speaking:
"Since Elder Shinsuke's reform proposal has received the endorsement of Elder Hachidai, and it concerns the future fate of our clan..."
"Then we may proceed with a preliminary trial."
"However, Shinsuke, you must understand that this authority also carries with it an enormous responsibility."
"If your reforms fail, or lead the clan into even greater danger, you will bear all the consequences."
Shinsuke met Fugaku's examining gaze and said, "I understand."
In the end, Shinsuke's reform proposal received preliminary approval from the Elder Council!
Going forward, it would be this youngest Uchiha elder who would carry out the first stage of the clan's reform.