Bullshit! Since when does the future of the Uchiha need you to define it? I am the Clan Head!"
Fugaku Uchiha's face twisted in fury. Veins bulged across his forehead as rage burned violently in his chest.
Behind him stood Special Jōnin—battle-hardened elites who had survived countless wars.
And yet—
Under a single strike from Uchiha Xuanjing, they collapsed like paper dolls.
One move.
Instant defeat.
No resistance.
"You've all become a joke!"
Uchiha Tekka ground his teeth, humiliation and fury tearing through him as he glared at Xuanjing, (one of Shuoye's most trusted lieutenants.)
At that moment, Uchiha Shuoye smiled faintly.
Calm.
Unhurried.
As if everything unfolding had long been within his expectations.
Behind him, Uchiha Xuanjing stepped forward. His gaze burned like fire, unwavering and sharp, radiating confidence that made even veterans uneasy.
"Fugaku," Xuanjing said coldly, "this isn't a personal dispute."
"This is about your betrayal—and your denial—of the Uchiha."
His voice was like steel drawn from its sheath, piercing straight into Fugaku's heart.
Behind him stood the younger Uchiha elites.
Each one a blade.
They had followed Shuoye across brutal battlefields, brushed shoulders with death more times than they could count. Their lives were bound together by blood and fire.
Seeing Xuanjing step forward reignited something inside them.
Resolve.
Courage.
The kind that could shake heaven and earth.
"Take him down!" Fugaku roared.
Several Jōnin under his command lunged at Xuanjing, driven by anger and fear.
But in Xuanjing's eyes—
They were slow.
Painfully slow.
His body vanished.
In an instant, flashes of light tore across the hall like meteors streaking through a night sky.
Bang!
A Special Jōnin was sent flying, his body thrown backward like a broken kite before crashing into the floor. Blood sprayed violently from his mouth, his face frozen in shock and unwilling disbelief.
Before anyone could react—
Xuanjing reappeared midair like a bolt of white lightning.
Another scream followed.
"Y–You dare kill them?!"
Fugaku's voice shook with anger—and something else.
Unease.
He could not believe it.
The young man before him had effortlessly slaughtered his elite subordinates.
Even he—
Even he felt the suffocating pressure.
"You've ignored the dignity of the Uchiha," Shuoye said quietly as he stepped forward.
His voice was low, but firm.
"Today, I will show you what true resolve looks like."
Fugaku's eyes flickered with something unsteady—anger, calculation, perhaps even doubt.
"I am willing to fight for the future of the Uchiha!" Xuanjing declared, his voice ringing like a war drum.
The tension in the hall reached its peak.
The air felt frozen.
As though the horn of battle would sound in the very next breath.
Inside the Uchiha Assembly Hall, even breathing felt heavy.
"Enough!"
The Great Elder's voice exploded like thunder.
"Do you truly intend to slaughter one another here?!"
Silence fell instantly.
Xuanjing paused.
Without a word, he glanced toward Shuoye.
Shuoye gave a faint nod.
Only then did Xuanjing step back.
The Great Elder watched him retreat, a trace of helplessness flashing through his aged eyes.
Then his gaze shifted to Uchiha Shuoye.
And what he felt—
Was fear.
Since the end of the Third Shinobi War, no one dared underestimate Shuoye.
He merely stood there—
Yet it felt as though an invisible pressure filled the entire hall, suffocating everyone present.
Shuoye slowly rose to his feet.
His tall, refined figure appeared almost scholarly beneath the flickering candlelight.
Yet the aura surrounding him was abyssal.
Like darkness swallowing the world.
The room held its breath.
Awe.
And fear.
"You… what exactly do you intend to do?" Fugaku asked in a low voice, forcing calm into his tone.
Shuoye met his gaze.
One word.
"Revolution."
His voice was cold.
Like autumn wind cutting through bone.
In that instant, the hall became so silent that the drop of a needle would have been deafening.
Revolution.
In this place.
At this time.
It was a word that could not be taken back.
"This… this cannot be discussed here!" someone muttered nervously. "What if there are Konoha spies among us?"
Before panic could spread—
Xuanjing let out a cold snort.
"Relax."
"We've already purged every Konoha spy."
The declaration struck the hall like lightning.
Shock rippled across every face.
Uchiha Shuoye…
He had already planned this far ahead?
Even Konoha's infiltrators had been eliminated?
Fugaku remained silent, his brows tightly drawn together.
His expression was complicated.
Shuoye watched him quietly.
Disappointment deepened in his eyes.
Fugaku…
Do you truly not understand?
I gave you a chance.
And you failed to seize it.