Saiki walked to the dining table and looked at the mess of empty plates, bending over to clear the dishes.
"The Uchiha's position in Konoha has always been delicate."
"The power of their Sharingan makes them proud, but it also makes them... restless."
"During war, they are a sharp tool, but during peace, such power easily breeds thoughts they shouldn't have."
He stacked the dishes, analyzing the situation in a calm voice.
"Konoha is not in a good state right now. they feel the opportunity has come, or... at least they want to see which way the wind is blowing to assess the situation."
"And you, Sensei, are a core figure and one of the village's most vital 'weapons'."
"Naturally, your actions have become a prime target for their observation."
Kushina listened to Saiki's cold analysis; the anger in her chest didn't subside, but rather turned into a suffocating feeling because the truth was laid bare.
She hated most of all the feeling of being evaluated and plotted against like an object.
She walked to the window and slammed it shut with a heavy "bang," as if to physically seal out the prying eyes.
"'Weapon'..." she repeated the word in a low voice, her tone full of self-mockery and deep exhaustion.
Her emerald eyes looked out at the silhouette of Konoha; it was the village she loved, yet it also held the gazes that made her feel oppressed and lonely.
"So, they want to see the current condition of this 'weapon'? To see if there is an opening to exploit?"
She turned around and leaned against the cold window frame, looking at Saiki as he wiped the table.
Her expression was complex: "Saiki, what do you think... what are they really trying to do?"
Saiki stopped his movements and met Kushina's eyes.
The previous shame and temper were gone from her gaze, replaced by deep confusion and the helplessness of being caught in a whirlpool.
He patiently repeated himself: "It's too early to say exactly what they want."
"But one thing is certain: their ambition will never stop at simply being an ordinary ninja family."
"The powerful strength of the Sharingan craves a status and power to match it."
"To them, Konoha's current weakness might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
He paused and added, "And your existence, your power, even your current mood and situation, are all vital pieces of 'intel' they need to understand and exploit."
It was useless for Kushina to be anxious; she didn't even know Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead.
Naturally, she couldn't understand why the Uchiha were acting so bold.
Konoha was founded by the Senju and Uchiha clans together, along with other ninja families.
The Senju and Uchiha were undoubtedly the greatest contributors to the village's birth.
After the founding, the First Hokage was Hashirama Senju.
This was acceptable since Hashirama was the strongest and had the highest prestige.
But after Madara Uchiha overheard the conversation between Hashirama and Tobirama, he realized the Second Hokage would be Tobirama, not himself.
He realized no Uchiha would ever be permitted to become Hokage.
Feeling betrayed, he abandoned the Hidden Leaf.
The Uchiha clan did not follow their leader, Madara.
Without the massive martial power of Madara Uchiha, the clan's fate in Konoha was entirely predictable.
They were marginalized to the periphery of power.
To the proud Uchiha, this was naturally unacceptable.
However, their fists weren't as big as the others, so they had no choice.
Furthermore, the clan had split into two factions.
One was the surrender faction, the weak-willed ones who tried to show submission to the Hokage faction.
The other was the hardline faction, the brainless ones who wanted to seize power by force.
The surrender faction was essentially letting others slap their faces and kill their families while they knelt to curry favor.
The brainless hardliners didn't know the heights of the heavens; they felt the advantage was theirs without seeing the blade in the enemy's hand.
They wanted to fight for their lives with bare hands.
Therefore, regardless of the faction, there was no future or hope for them.
From the day they chose not to leave with Madara, their end was already written in stone.
Of course, now that Saiki had butchered the Hokage faction, they saw a glimmer of hope.
The hardliners had indeed begun their move.
At this moment, within the Uchiha compound.
Inside a dimly lit secret room, the air was as stagnant as lead.
Only a single oil lamp flickered with a weak light, illuminating several tense faces.
Fugaku Uchiha was not yet the clan head, nor did he belong to the hardline faction, so he was not part of this meeting.
Sitting in the seat of honor was Uchiha Takeshi, the leading elder of the hardliners.
The yellow glow of the lamp danced across Takeshi's wrinkled face, making his three-tomoe Sharingan look even more sinister.
The room was dead silent, save for the faint crackling of the wick and the heavy, suppressed breathing of the core members.
The air felt heavy, pressing down on their chests.
Takeshi's finger tapped rhythmically on the cold table, breaking the suffocating silence with a regular "thump, thump."
He slowly lifted his eyelids, the three tomoe spinning slowly against the crimson iris.
He scanned everyone present, his gaze like a physical icicle, full of scrutiny and undeniable pressure.
"The news... is it confirmed?" His voice was raspy and low, like sandpaper on wood.
A lean, sharp-eyed young Uchiha below him immediately bowed, his voice carrying a hint of suppressed excitement and tension.
"Elder Takeshi, it is absolutely certain!"
"The 'Crow' sent to monitor the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, was destroyed instantly!"
"That chopstick... it traversed a distance of three streets with perfect precision!"
"The person who attacked has a sensory range and reaction speed that is definitely not that of an ordinary Jonin!"
"If this morning's intelligence is correct, it is undoubtedly Saiki Shiroya..."
Takeshi's voice was dry and raspy: "That brat named Saiki... his perception is actually so sharp that he can accurately capture a 'Phantom Crow'?"
The corner of his wrinkled eye twitched; the crimson three-tomoe froze in the darkness like a drop of congealed blood.
"Across three streets... with just a single chopstick?"
The gravel in his voice grew heavier, every word forced out of his throat with difficulty.
"Yes!" The young Uchiha lowered his head even more, his tone vibrating with suppressed mania.
"The strike was clean and decisive, without a second of hesitation."
"The Crow Clone didn't even have time to send back more info before it was crushed and annihilated."
"That boy... is certainly no ordinary person!"
"'No ordinary person'?" A cold arc pulled at the corners of Takeshi's mouth, full of heavy mockery.
"Hmph, a mere brat, and he dares to be so insolent!"
He suddenly clenched his fist, his knuckles popping loudly.
The flame of the oil lamp flickered violently, throwing dancing shadows across his sinister face.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura... those old fools... and the destruction of those elite families all happened at the hands of the brat beside Kushina Uzumaki."
"It seems Tsunade had prepared for this long ago."
The dark secret room fell into a deeper silence, save for the crackling of the lamp and the heavy breathing.
Takeshi's claim that "Tsunade had prepared long ago" was like a heavy stone thrown into dead water, creating ripples of oppression.
His wrinkled eyelids drooped, the three-tomoe spinning in the shadows as if weighing the gravity of this information.
"That Saiki Shiroya..."
An elder sitting to Takeshi's left, also possessing the three-tomoe Sharingan and an even more sinister face—Uchiha Setsuna—squeezed the words through his teeth.
"He successively dealt heavy blows to the village's highest powers, and now he shows such terrifying perception and throwing skills... this is no accident."
"He is the 'shield' Tsunade prepared for Kushina Uzumaki, or perhaps... he is her 'spear'."
"Spear?" A slightly younger tribesman further down, with eyes as sharp as a hawk's, joined in.
His voice carried a trace of suppressed excitement: "Does Elder Setsuna mean... Tsunade wants to use his hand to continue the purge?"
"It may not be Tsunade's direct order," another voice spoke.
The tone was relatively steady; it was the moderate elder, Uchiha Yashiro.
Though he sat there, his brow was clouded with worry.
"But this man's existence itself is a massive deterrent to anyone eyeing the Nine-Tails."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo... their end is a bloody warning."
"Is our current move perhaps too... risky?"
He weighed his words carefully, his gaze moving between the presiding Takeshi and the aggressive Setsuna.