Haru stood there with an increasingly bright smile on his face, clearly enjoying the cheers of the crowd.
"Tekka, set the clan meeting for tomorrow afternoon. Same place as always, Naka Shrine."
"Yes!"
Tekka nodded and accepted the order. After that, Haru waved his hand and dismissed everyone.
...
In just one morning, Haru's actions had already caused a huge uproar throughout the Uchiha Clan. For a while, the shock it created even seemed ready to overshadow the news of Tobirama's death.
Haru wanted to overthrow Clan Head Tomita and take his place.
One huge piece of gossip after another.
The Uchiha had not eaten melons this satisfyingly in a very long time.
It was great.
Seriously great.
At this very moment, inside Tomita's home, the spacious and bright living room now felt somewhat cramped. More than a dozen Uchiha clansmen were sitting there, all staring intently at Tomita, who sat upright in his seat.
Tomita's wife, Uchiha Miya, carried a tea tray around, busy pouring water for everyone present. The sweets normally prepared for guests were already not enough, which gave her a headache.
So many people had come at once that there had been no time to prepare at all.
But the Uchiha seated there had no mood to sip tea and enjoy snacks anyway.
As Tomita's supporters, they were completely at a loss over everything that had happened in Konoha over the last two days.
First, Tobirama had been killed during the negotiations, and they had not even fully digested that shocking news yet.
Then Haru, the clan's own genius, shattered everyone's impression of him and directly launched a challenge at Tomita's position as clan head. They had even heard that the news of Tobirama's death had been spread by Haru personally.
They knew Haru all too well.
If not for the fact that he had awakened the Uchiha's trademark Sharingan, then calling him a member of the Senju Clan would not have felt strange at all.
Tomita held a smoking pipe in his hand and took drag after drag, trying to ease the anxiety in his heart.
Forget his subordinates being confused.
Even he himself had not sorted things out yet.
In just two days, the situation had changed as fast as if ten years had passed.
So fast that Tomita almost felt he had grown old and could no longer keep up with the times.
Just two days ago, he had still been planning that once Tobirama signed the peace agreement, he would squeeze a little more compensation out of him.
In order to fight this war, even the ninja trained by the clan itself had all been sent to the battlefield.
The value of the weapons the clan's armament businesses had supplied to Konoha, shuriken, kunai, and so on, was an astronomical figure.
There were also countless soldier pills.
That was all money.
Ninja lived with their heads hanging from their belts just to earn money, did they not?
...
All kinds of compensation, all kinds of accounts, and Tobirama had kept dragging things out the whole time. Settling it all would definitely have required a fierce war of words.
Then suddenly, in a single instant, it all disappeared.
Tobirama was dead.
Just like that.
Dead without giving anyone the slightest warning.
And the Military Police captain Tomita himself had promoted, Haru, had suddenly gone mad and completely changed his usual style, actually daring to dream of overthrowing him and becoming the new Uchiha Clan head.
Before long, the living room of Tomita's house had already filled with smoke.
More than half the Uchiha present were heavy smokers themselves. At first, they had planned to hold back while in the clan head's house and wait until they left to smoke.
But now that the clan head himself had started, they might as well all join in.
One Uchiha blew out a smoke ring. Seeing that Tomita was still quietly smoking by himself, he finally could not hold back any longer and spoke up.
"Clan Head, what are we going to do about tomorrow afternoon's clan meeting?"
Once one person spoke, the others immediately followed.
"That's right, Clan Head. Haru has probably been plotting this for a long time. He was the first one to get the news of Tobirama-sama's death."
Tomita thought back on Haru's behavior in the past.
Compared to how he was now, it was like looking at two completely different people.
After more than ten years as clan head, Tomita had long since become shrewd with age. He was highly skilled at reading people.
And yet, he really had failed to see through Haru before.
A disguise.
There really were people who could disguise themselves for that long.
The younger generation was truly formidable.
Haru had only exposed his real face after Tobirama's death.
He had wanted to become Hokage for a very long time.
Tomita inwardly praised Haru.
As expected of a genius of the Uchiha. His temperament and his strength were both top-tier.
At this moment in time, the Uchiha really were closer to the Hokage seat than they had ever been.
But there was still one thing Tomita could not understand.
What exactly did Haru think gave him the right?
To be fair, Haru was indeed very strong. Just this morning, he had easily defeated Kagami. Within the Uchiha Clan, there were probably very few stronger than him.
Even Tomita himself would not be fully confident of beating Haru.
In terms of raw combat strength, Haru might already be the strongest Uchiha in the clan.
But was strength alone enough to be clan head?
Did he think Tomita had spent all these years as clan head for nothing?
Tomita's gaze swept quickly across the room.
Nearly everyone present had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan. All of them were Uchiha jonin.
An elite squad of this level, if led by Tomita himself, could even kill Tobirama.
The only problem was that the price would have been far beyond what the Uchiha could accept.
What was the use of just being able to fight?
To survive in this world, you needed power, influence, and backing.
Did Haru really think that just because Tobirama was dead, Tomita had become easy prey?
Without the Mangekyo Sharingan, there was no overwhelming qualitative gap between Uchiha.
"Enough. Stop complaining."
"Haru is a genius of the clan. He just came back from the battlefield, so it's only natural for him to be proud and full of spirit. We're all family. I became clan head because everyone chose me after Madara-sama left Konoha."
"Since Haru believes he is more suited to be clan head and has even taken the initiative to call for a clan meeting, then we will discuss it openly there. Let all the Uchiha see clearly who is more suitable to be the Uchiha Clan head."
Tomita cut off their discussion and spoke calmly.
But the chill hidden in his tone was something every Uchiha present could clearly feel.
Haru was going to be in big trouble this time.
"Clan Head-sama, you know me. I'll definitely support you!"
"Me too, me too!"
"That brat Haru is way too full of himself. He has no idea how much you've done for the clan over all these years."
"He absolutely has to pay the price!"
"..."
For a moment, all the Uchiha in the room started pledging their loyalty to Tomita one after another.
"Enough. No matter what, Haru is still a genius of the clan and a hero of Konoha. He's just young and reckless. When you people were his age, if you had been as strong as he is, you'd probably have been even more arrogant."
Tomita interrupted them again and set the tone for how Haru should be treated.
He was still willing to be tolerant toward Haru.
Geniuses were always granted tolerance, no matter where they were.
Once Tomita got older and Fugaku grew a little more, if that child still could not bear the responsibility of leading the Uchiha, then Haru would actually be a very good choice.
But not now.
As for the position of clan head, Tomita could choose to step down on his own one day.
But he would never tolerate someone forcing him off the seat.
(End of Chapter)
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