Chapter 35: The Uchiha Clan's Reaction
Night had already settled over Konohagakure.
Inside the district of the Uchiha Clan, most houses were already quiet.
But deep beneath the old shrine at the center of the compound, several lanterns were still burning.
This place was the Naka Shrine.
Few outside the clan even knew that beneath the shrine existed a stone meeting hall used for important clan discussions.
Tonight, several important figures of the clan had gathered.
At the head of the table sat Fugaku Uchiha, the current clan head.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were serious.
Beside him sat the two senior elders of the clan.
Setsuna Uchiha sat with his hands resting on his cane.
Across from him sat the other elder.
Several other senior clan members were also present.
A scroll lay open on the stone table between them.
The room was quiet for several moments before Setsuna finally spoke.
"So it is confirmed."
"A sixteen-year-old rogue shinobi."
"Killed two elite shinobi and escaped the Land of Fire."
His voice was old, but the anger inside it was not hidden.
Another elder beside him nodded slowly.
"And Konoha released an S-Rank bounty."
"Without mentioning his name."
Several clan members exchanged glances.
The meaning behind that decision was obvious.
Finally one of the elders spoke bluntly.
"The boy is Uchiha Kenzo."
No one in the room argued.
From their perspective, the conclusion was simple.
A sixteen-year-old capable of defeating two elite shinobi.
Suddenly erased from the village records.
And the previous intense monitoring of him had already made his identity obvious.
There were not many possible answers.
The silence lasted for a moment before Setsuna struck his cane lightly against the floor.
"They hide the name."
"They hide the bloodline."
"And then they send bounty hunters after him."
His voice carried clear dissatisfaction.
"Typical."
One of the younger clan members frowned slightly.
"They are trying to kill him quietly."
"If another village captures him first…"
He did not finish the sentence.
Everyone understood the rest.
If another village obtained a living Uchiha with awakened eyes, the consequences would be unpredictable.
At the head of the table, Fugaku finally spoke.
"Konoha wishes to avoid attention."
His tone remained calm.
"They do not want the matter connected to the clan."
Setsuna snorted softly.
"Of course they don't."
His gaze slowly moved across the room.
"As if the situation with our clan was not tense enough already."
The atmosphere inside the hall grew heavier.
Ever since the death of Shisui Uchiha, the political situation of the clan had changed drastically.
Shisui had been one of the few people capable of easing tensions between the clan and the village.
But after his death, that fragile balance had collapsed.
Inside the clan, the voices calling for revolt had grown stronger.
Not everyone supported it.
A number of clan members still believed that a peaceful solution with Konoha might exist.
But those voices had gradually grown weaker over time.
The clan had faced pressure for years.
Surveillance.
Isolation.
Restrictions placed on their authority.
Externally, the village leadership no longer trusted them.
Internally, the clan itself was slowly dividing.
Desperation had pushed many toward the idea of rebellion.
One elder spoke quietly.
"The younger generation is already restless."
"They see this bounty as another sign that Konoha wishes to erase us."
Another clan member sighed.
"Yet some still believe the Hokage might change things."
Setsuna's expression darkened slightly.
"Foolish hopes."
"But such thoughts still exist."
Fugaku remained silent for a moment before speaking again.
"The clan must remain controlled."
His words were simple, but firm.
"This matter concerning Kenzo does not change our current plans."
Another elder nodded slowly.
"Still… it proves something."
Several eyes turned toward him.
He continued calmly.
"A sixteen-year-old capable of killing two elite shinobi."
"If the boy truly awakened the Sharingan under those conditions…"
He paused briefly.
"That level of potential is rare even within our clan."
The room became quiet again.
After the previous clan meeting, many of the younger clan members had also finally learned about Uchiha Kenzo's background.
And why he had always been isolated within the clan.
The history was complicated and deeply entangled.
But in short—
Kenzo's mother had once been a direct bloodline member of the clan.
She possessed a three-tomoe Sharingan and was considered highly talented.
Originally, she was meant to marry another direct bloodline member of the clan as part of a political arrangement between two family lines.
However, she had already fallen in love with an outer member of the clan.
Outer members were those with very weak bloodline concentration and usually without the Sharingan.
Naturally, her family strongly opposed the relationship.
In anger, she publicly gave up the Uchiha surname.
At the time, the incident caused a major uproar within the clan.
It was seen as a disgrace to the Uchiha name.
Fugaku was not yet the clan head back then.
The previous clan leadership eventually decided to remove both of them from the official clan registry as punishment.
However, they did not go further than that.
The couple was still allowed to live on the outer edges of the Uchiha district.
Of course, there had been many other political factors involved behind the scenes.
But this was the simplified version known by most clan members.
Because of this history, many members of the clan rarely interacted with them.
The couple themselves also kept mostly to themselves.
They quietly raised Kenzo on their own.
As a result, Kenzo grew up with almost no connections inside the clan.
To most people, he had simply become someone forgotten.
Back in the present moment, Fugaku was the first to break the awkward silence.
He calmly shifted the discussion.
"For now, we observe."
"Konoha has already issued the bounty."
"And the boy has probably already left the Land of Fire."
He looked toward the lantern light flickering against the stone wall.
"The situation will reveal itself soon enough."
No one argued.
The meeting ended shortly afterward.
But as the elders left the underground hall of the Naka Shrine, each of them understood one thing clearly.
The appearance of Uchiha Kenzo had added another uncertain factor to an already unstable situation.
And inside Konoha—
The balance between the village and the Uchiha clan was becoming more fragile with each passing day.