"Master… are we really bringing them back?"
Under the blazing sun, Qiu Sheng leaned closer, his voice low and uneasy.
"That guy with glasses… he looks gentle, but when he fights… he's worse than a ghost. And that Mo… injured, yet still that strong?"
He hesitated before adding quietly, "…Where did they even come from? We might be inviting trouble."
"Silence."
Uncle Jiu's voice was firm, his gaze sharp.
"It's true—they're suspicious. Their methods are unusual. But they eliminated the zombies, and Mo was injured because of it."
He paused briefly, his tone softening.
"We who walk the Dao cannot turn others away based on suspicion alone."
Then he added quietly, "And keeping them close… is safer. Observe them. Learn. Then decide."
Qiu Sheng shrank back slightly.
"…I still don't like it."
Behind them, the two Uchiha heard everything.
Perfectly.
"They're wary," Xiuren said calmly.
"Of course they are," Mo replied. "We're strangers—with power they don't understand."
He paused, then turned his gaze toward him.
"But you… what are you planning?"
Xiuren fell silent.
Because that question carried weight—not just his plans, but everything he had hidden. His purpose. His truth.
Sunlight flickered across his glasses, hiding his eyes.
"Mo…" he said quietly, "do you know who the Uchiha's real enemy is?"
Mo didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Xiuren continued.
"The Hokage faction? Yes. But not entirely."
"Don't be fooled by the clan's divisions. At their core… they're all the same."
"The conservatives kneel. The radicals shout."
"But both…"
"Are trapped."
"Inside the same system."
"If Hiruzen lowered his head… gave a false apology…"
"Most would forgive him."
"They'd lay down their weapons."
"They'd believe again."
"And our clan head…"
Xiuren exhaled softly.
"He looks strong—but he's being pushed. He doesn't want war. And he doesn't dare to start one."
His voice tightened, years of suppression leaking through.
Then he stopped, adjusting his glasses.
"…Apologies. I lost control."
But it was already enough.
Mo had seen it.
This man—
Cared.
Deeply.
"So…" Mo said calmly, "you hid your strength… to step off the board?"
Xiuren nodded.
"When everyone sees you as nothing… you can see everything."
"For example…"
"The real enemy."
Xiuren's voice dropped.
"The Sharingan user… from the Nine-Tails incident."
Mo's eyes sharpened.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
But—
How did Xiuren know?
Xiuren smiled faintly.
"Surprised?"
"When the Hokage's wife gave birth, she was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. Security should have been absolute."
"And yet… it failed."
"A masked man appeared. He killed. He stole. He released the Nine-Tails."
"And shattered everything."
"This truth…"
"Was buried."
"Almost erased."
"I only found it because something felt wrong."
"It took years."
"But I found a survivor."
"ANBU."
"He disappeared."
"I found him anyway."
Mo's thoughts stirred.
As expected.
Xiuren wasn't just hiding.
He was moving.
Investigating.
Planning.
"So…"
Xiuren exhaled slowly.
"Our enemy is not just the Hokage."
"But also…"
"A lunatic."
"In the shadows."
"Someone beyond reason."
Then—
He relaxed slightly.
"That feels better."
"I've held that in…"
"For years."
Silence settled between them.
Heavy—
But no longer suffocating.
For years, he had hidden.
Watched.
Endured.
While the clan argued blindly, endlessly.
Because they didn't understand—
Fighting within someone else's rules…
Was already defeat.
His Sharingan had awakened in darkness.
His strength remained hidden.
His truth buried.
Sometimes, he wondered—
If he had never learned the truth…
Would he be like them?
Clinging to hope—
Until the end?
But now—
Standing beside Mo—
Another man who hid everything—
For the first time—
He felt something different.
Maybe—
Just maybe—
The Uchiha still had another path.
The road ahead was filled with thorns.
Danger.
Blood.
But at least—
He was no longer alone.