Moying nodded, his figure flickering as he disappeared into the Summoning Array.
Shine looked at the empty Summoning Array, his heart settling slightly. His father, Uchiha Senba, had operated within the clan for many years, accumulating enough resources in secret to support the base's operations. Moreover, the Summoning Jutsu of the Ninja Cat Clan was extremely discreet and would never be detected by Konoha or the Hidden Mist.
Meanwhile, in the Uchiha camp on the Kirigakure Battlefield, Uchiha Fugaku was flying into a rage over the list on the desk, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
He slammed the list onto the ground, his roar making the tent vibrate. "Fifty-three! In just seven days! Fifty-three Clan Members are just gone?!"
On the list, the names of fifty-three Uchiha Ninja were circled in red ink with the word "Missing" next to them. But in Fugaku's eyes, this was no different from "Killed in Action"—on the battlefield, a missing Ninja was nine times out of ten already a ghost.
What frustrated him even more was that he hadn't found a single one of these fifty-three "bodies."
The Scout Squads sent out only brought back scattered bloodstains, broken Ninja tools, and the vague testimony of a few Clan Members: "I saw several dark figures dressed in Anbu attire taking away the heavily wounded Clan Members!"
"The way those dark figures were dressed was very strange, like... Anbu gear, but the masks were a bit different! It seemed like... Root?"
"Root? That old dog Danzo!" Fugaku gritted his teeth, his fists clenching until they cracked, and his crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly in his eyes.
He was fighting tooth and nail on the front lines to hold the line for Konoha, yet his own Clan Members were being stabbed in the back by "allies"?
It was one thing for the Konoha High Command to sit back and reap the rewards, but they actually coveted the Uchiha's Sharingan, taking advantage of the chaos of war to kidnap heavily wounded Clan Members?
A surge of nameless fire rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making him want to immediately lead his army back to Konoha and tear Danzo's Root to pieces.
He took a deep breath, forcing down the urge to go berserk. If they retreated now, the front line would surely break. At that time, the Uchiha would only be branded with the infamy of "desertion," giving the Konoha High Command even more excuses to suppress the Uchiha.
But just as he was forcing himself to calm down, Nara Shikagen hurried into the tent and said with a complex expression, "Clan Chief Fugaku, Lord Shikaku has arrived thirty miles from the front line with thirteen hundred allied troops and will enter the city in a few days."
"What?!" Fugaku turned his head sharply, his eyes filled with unbelievable rage. "Reinforcements have arrived? Why wasn't I told?! I am the front-line commander. Nara Shikaku brought a large army and only notified you, the deputy commander?!"
He felt humiliated as never before. The Uchiha were fighting bloody battles on the front lines, suffering heavy losses, yet the reinforcements sent by Konoha had bypassed him, the rightful commander, and contacted the deputy commander directly?
This was clearly looking down on him, looking down on the Uchiha!
The grievances, anger, and resentment accumulated over many days exploded completely at this moment. Fugaku kicked over the desk, scattering Ninja tools and scrolls all over the ground.
"This is too much! Simply too much!" His crimson Sharingan stared fixedly at the top of the tent, his eyes bloodshot. "I, Uchiha Fugaku, have risked my life for Konoha, and half of my Clan Members are dead or wounded. All I get in return is suspicion, plunder, and contempt?!"
Nara Shikagen stood to the side, looking troubled but not daring to say much.
He knew Fugaku's anger wasn't unreasonable, but the arrangements made by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shikaku were clearly intended to marginalize the Uchiha. As the deputy commander, he was merely a messenger.
Inside the tent, Fugaku's roars gradually lowered, replaced by suppressed panting.
He looked at the list of Clan Members scattered on the ground and his hands covered in smoke and blood. For the first time, doubt grew in his heart—was loyalty to Konoha really worth it?
This Village he had protected his whole life had never truly accepted the Uchiha.
Perhaps those rumors about "Uchiha Supremacy" weren't entirely without reason... and what he didn't know was that the Root of his rage was precisely that Uchiha Genius he had never taken seriously—Uchiha Xia Yin.
At this moment in the Secret Base, Shine was watching the figures of the Clan Members expanding the base, a meaningful smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
Fugaku's anger and wavering were exactly what he wanted to see. Only by letting the Uchiha see Konoha's true face clearly could he truly unite the strength of the entire Family and stir up a storm that would overturn the Ninja World.
At the edge of the tent's canvas, a slender figure stood quietly.
Uchiha Itachi was dressed in simple Uchiha clan robes, the Uchiwa Crest on his collar glinting coldly in the dim light of the battlefield. He was barely over four years old, yet he already displayed a composure far beyond his peers—only at this moment, his deep black eyes were surging with irrepressible conflict and confusion.
He had been specially brought to the front lines by his father, Fugaku, for training.
In Itachi's heart, his father was the pillar of the Uchiha, a hero with formidable combat power who bore the clan's honor and disgrace.
And Hokage-sama, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was the leader who protected Konoha, a selfless existence worthy of everyone's respect.
He should have been inside the tent assisting his father with Military Affairs, but due to Fugaku's sudden outburst of rage, he had subconsciously retreated outside the tent, just in time to witness his father's most undignified moment.
Inside the tent, the loud crash of Fugaku kicking over the desk and his gritted-teeth curses reached Itachi's ears without missing a word.
"This is too much!"
"That old dog Danzo!"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't care about the Uchiha at all!" Those sharp accusations were like needles pricking Itachi's heart.
His brow furrowed tightly, and his small hands unconsciously gripped the hem of his clothes. Hokage-sama had clearly sent thirteen hundred allied troops to support the front line. Wasn't this support for the Uchiha?
He completely couldn't understand the "contempt" and "exclusion" his father spoke of.
The front-line situation was dire, and the clan's casualties were heavy. He saw it and felt the pain, but he believed even more in Hokage-sama's decisions—Konoha was a whole, and the Uchiha were a part of Konoha. Hokage-sama would never deliberately target his own people.
He didn't understand the deeper meaning behind "bypassing the commander to direct the deputy," nor did he know that it meant his father had been excluded from the front-line decision-making circle, meaning the Uchiha's voice had been completely stripped away.
In his simple understanding, the arrival of reinforcements was hope, Konoha's emphasis on the front line, and Hokage-sama's consideration for the Uchiha.
But instead of being grateful, his father had accused Hokage-sama so vehemently and even used foul language to slander Konoha's high command.
"Father... why are you like this?" Itachi asked silently in his heart.
He remembered that before they left, Hokage-sama had personally summoned him and gently told him to "protect yourself on the front lines and also understand your father's hardships."
...
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