"Jiraiya-senpai, I'm only a small figure. I truly don't know much."
"If I have to say something, I can only guess."
"Either Uchiha Yashiro-sama, or Uchiha Fugaku."
"To awaken eyes like that, one must be an extraordinary genius."
"Their talent has to be high enough. Without the name of a genius, it is impossible to awaken eyes like that. And even with the name of a genius, there is still a very high chance they won't awaken them. That is only the threshold."
"Jiraiya-senpai, can you let me go?"
"I truly didn't do anything to Konoha. As for the rebellion, I had no choice. In Konoha, we really couldn't survive anymore. They could kill us with any excuse they wanted."
"That was how Uchiha Tong died."
"That was how Uchiha Gen died too."
Jiraiya looked at Uchiha Luo and remained silent for a while.
"Your hands are stained with the blood of Konoha's innocent people. You are a missing-nin of Konoha. I cannot let you live!"
Uchiha Luo revealed a stunned expression.
Immediately afterward came anger.
"Jiraiya!"
"You beast!"
"You asked me to speak, and I told you everything. You asked me to cooperate, and I cooperated."
"And now you still want to kill me?"
"Shameless! You shameless bastard!"
"You are unworthy of the name of one of the Sannin."
"You deserved to be betrayed by Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"You deserved to become a human stick!"
"You—"
Suddenly—
Puchi!
A sharp blade sliced across Uchiha Luo's throat. A red line appeared there, and blood seeped out from that line before spraying forth. Uchiha Luo's eyes widened.
"I curse you… to die miserably…"
Before he could finish, Uchiha Luo lost all strength.
His body collapsed uncontrollably.
Bang!
The next moment, he crashed heavily to the ground.
Jiraiya withdrew his gaze.
"Uchiha Yashiro. Uchiha Fugaku… What this Uchiha Luo said may not be entirely true, but some of his words do make sense."
"Could any random Uchiha control the Nine-Tails? That would be far too exaggerated."
"If that were truly the case, they would have been able to start a rebellion long ago."
"But Uchiha Yashiro's possibility is actually not high either."
"That man is a typical Uchiha radical. His strength is decent, but only decent. In comparison, Uchiha Fugaku hides his depths and revealed little, yet he carried the name of a genius from childhood."
"Minato evaluated him quite highly. There are not many people who could receive Minato's recognition."
"Just like Rasa."
"Even setting aside the matter of Rasa receiving outside help to defeat me, Rasa's strength still ranks among the top in the entire shinobi world."
Jiraiya's eyes flickered.
"But if Uchiha Fugaku possesses that level of strength, why didn't he leave with Uchiha Yashiro and the others?"
"Because of Uchiha Yamakaku's death?"
"But Uchiha Fugaku had other choices."
"For him, Minato being alive should have been better."
"Teacher Sarutobi being Hokage is not a good thing for the Uchiha clan."
"What reason would Uchiha Fugaku have?"
Jiraiya felt nothing but a splitting headache.
No matter how he thought, he could not find the answer.
"Could there be another Uchiha?"
A thought suddenly appeared in Jiraiya's mind.
"The Uchiha clan has existed for so many years. It is very possible that some clan members were lost outside, or that Sharingan were lost. Apart from these Uchiha, it is not impossible for other Uchiha to exist."
"But in that case, investigating this will become even more difficult."
"First, I'll confirm Uchiha Yashiro and Uchiha Fugaku."
Jiraiya made his decision.
Uchiha Yashiro was easier to test.
As one of the current top sailing groups, the Uchiha Sailing Group mainly relied on industries across the sea—fishing, mineral exploration.
After obtaining resources, they traded with the Land of Water.
Compared to their time in Konoha, the Uchiha felt their lives were far happier now.
Freedom.
No one controlled them. No one targeted them. They did not have to endure so many strange gazes and whispers behind their backs.
They did not need to go to such dangerous battlefields or carry out such difficult missions.
They received as much return as the work they put in.
"Life like this is wonderful."
"This is what life should be called. Before, it felt like we only existed to contribute to Konoha. And those people in Konoha still didn't appreciate it. They thought we were taking advantage of them, when in reality, they were the ones taking advantage of us."
"Exactly. This is far more worthwhile."
"The danger isn't as high, and the returns are quite good."
"The sea is so vast. The resources beneath it are abundant."
"If not for the anger I still hold in my heart, I would honestly think it would be good for us to live here generation after generation."
Many members of the Uchiha clan were immersed in their current lives.
But not all of them.
Uchiha Yashiro was not.
As the leader of these Uchiha, Uchiha Yashiro, on one hand, firmly remembered the hatred of the Uchiha clan.
Revenge was Uchiha Yashiro's obsession.
On the other hand, Uchiha Yashiro had a strong sense of preparing for danger in times of peace.
The Uchiha's current life did indeed seem good.
But what about the future?
Could they guarantee it would always remain this way?
In this world, the one who ultimately had the right to speak was still strength.
Without strength, nothing else mattered.
The current strength of the Uchiha was far from enough.
The moment something changed, the Uchiha's peaceful life would absolutely be shattered.
"There are not many roads the Uchiha can take."
"Either we ally with certain people and create a force strong enough to stand on its own. But we must learn from past experience and never hand over the dominant position."
"Otherwise, how would that be any different from Konoha?"
"Or we join a force that can treat the Uchiha relatively fairly."
"But in the end, it still comes down to whether the Uchiha ourselves have strength."
Uchiha Yashiro looked toward one figure.
"I hope this fellow will not disappoint me."
The person Uchiha Yashiro was looking at was none other than Uchiha Itachi.
An existence on whom Uchiha Yashiro placed tremendous expectations, hoping to forge him into an extremely powerful tool of war.
"Itachi, the hopes of the Uchiha are all on your shoulders!"
"Only you can lead the Uchiha back to their peak."
"Our entire clan will help you with everything we have."
"You must work hard. You must keep pushing forward."
Uchiha Itachi nodded and said nothing.
Everyone could see Uchiha Itachi's effort.
But no one knew what Uchiha Itachi was thinking inside.
On the other side, the situation of the Kaguya clan was completely different.
The Kaguya clan also had their own genius.
His name was Kimimaro.
Unlike the Uchiha, who carefully nurtured Uchiha Itachi, the Kaguya clan cultivated Kimimaro as though he were a war machine.
Kaguya Den did not agree with Uchiha Yashiro.
Uchiha Yashiro did not agree with Kaguya Den either.
"Then let us see whose choice is correct."
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