Seeing the tide of emotion tilting dangerously, the Second Elder, Uchiha Yashiro, stepped forward again.
"Setsuna," he called out sharply, eyes flashing, "I admit some of what you said holds truth. Endless compromise is not a long-term solution. The Uchiha are not weaklings to be bullied."
"But this time, the Third Hokage has already stepped back. He's agreed to make restitution. What more do you want?"
"Restitution?"
Setsuna Uchiha let out a cold laugh.
"You mean the pensions and the battle rewards?"
"Those were ours to begin with."
His voice turned cutting.
"For days, we've been treated as pariahs. Slandered. Watched. Restricted. And now that we merely reclaim what already belongs to us, they act as if they are generously granting charity."
He swept his gaze across the chamber.
"Is that the kind of 'compensation' you're satisfied with?"
"Are you?"
"No!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Let the Hokage give us an explanation!"
Voices erupted again, louder than before.
Yashiro's expression darkened.
"Fools!" he roared.
"The village is not as soft as you imagine!"
"Yes, they stepped back once—but the ANBU still stand outside our gates. That alone proves they are prepared for mutual destruction if necessary!"
"If we push further, they will not retreat again!"
Setsuna's eyes blazed.
"Listen to yourself!"
"From beginning to end, this was the village's wrongdoing! We ask only for an explanation—what crime is that?"
"Those old men say, 'Fine, we won't strike you this time,' and you want us to thank them?"
"The village prepares for mutual destruction? You think the Uchiha lack the resolve to die together with them?"
"So what do you want?" Yashiro demanded through clenched teeth. "To drive this to a point of no return?"
"I don't want to escalate," Setsuna shot back coldly. "But we are being forced."
He leaned forward.
"Have you forgotten? That boy Minato Namikaze publicly declared he intends to reform the Military Police—meaning to strip us of control."
Minato's name rippled through the chamber.
"He is the Third Hokage's chosen successor. Can you guarantee that his idea doesn't carry the will of Hiruzen Sarutobi and his council?"
"Or," Setsuna's voice sharpened, "do you intend to retreat again? To hand over the Military Police as well?"
"The Military Police is our foundation within the village! If that is gone, what reason do we have to remain?"
That did it.
The chamber exploded.
"We can't hand it over!"
"They've already restricted our external missions—take the Police too and what do we live on?!"
"So the rumors were true?!"
"They're cutting off our livelihood!"
"If they want war, then war it is!"
Yashiro's heart sank.
He had deliberately avoided mentioning the Military Police.
And now Setsuna had played it as a decisive card.
Ever since the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, established the Military Police, it had been both privilege and confinement—a political compromise.
But with external missions restricted, it had also become the Uchiha's primary economic artery.
Cutting it off was no different from severing a lifeline.
"Silence!"
Yashiro's three-tomoe Sharingan flared to life as chakra pressure swept the room.
Gradually, the noise subsided.
"You think I don't want to resist?" he growled. "Have you considered whether we can?"
He raised a hand.
"How many shinobi does the Uchiha have? Fewer than a thousand."
"How many does Konoha have? Over ten thousand."
"If that were all, perhaps we could still gamble everything."
"But who among you can stand against the Yellow Flash?"
"Who can stop the 'Professor' of ninjutsu?"
He named them one by one:
"Minato Namikaze. Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"The Sannin—Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade."
"The Ino–Shika–Chō combination."
"And Kushina Uzumaki, capable of suppressing the Nine-Tails."
"If we truly fight—how many can we hold off?"
His voice dropped lower, heavier.
"And when the battle comes… what of your parents? Your wives? Your children?"
"Do you intend to drag them to the grave with you?"
"Resistance requires strength."
"I did not want to speak this bluntly. But even if we fight to the death—our death may not break the net."
"We do not currently possess the strength to openly turn against the village."
His words cut deep.
Some Uchiha flared with indignation, shouting that honor was worth dying for.
But others fell silent.
They had families.
Responsibilities.
Death was easy.
Survival was complicated.
On the raised platform, Fugaku Uchiha wore a strange expression.
Because he knew something Yashiro did not.
The Uchiha's high-end combat strength… was not inferior.
In fact, among the very names Yashiro listed, some were not necessarily enemies.
If war truly erupted—
The outcome was far from certain.
"Then we leave."
Setsuna finally bared his fangs.
"If we cannot win here, we walk away."
He stepped forward, voice resonating like iron striking stone.
"This land did not birth us."
"We built this village together with the Senju."
"If we could found Konoha once—"
"Then we can found another!"
The chamber went still.
"Now that the war has just ended, Konoha cannot afford to be weakened while surrounded by other nations."
"If this village refuses to accept us, then we will build one that does."
His eyes burned crimson.
"A new Konoha."
"A new Hokage."
"A village ruled by the Uchiha themselves."
The words echoed in the underground chamber like a prophecy—
—or a declaration of war.
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