Konoha Village, Uchiha Compound, Great Elder's Home
"Sasaki, what are you calling us here for at this time? Don't you know we're constantly preparing to take action right now? At such a critical moment, you actually played disappearing on us today? Now in the middle of the night you're gathering us old folks again. And you're not going to our usual meeting place but changing it to here instead. Speak up, what's the matter? If we find out it's something unimportant, you know what to do. Even if you're my son, it's the same."
The speaker was one of the Uchiha clan elders, Uchiha Echizen. He was also the father of Meruem's current puppet body, Uchiha Sasaki, and likewise a three-tomoe Uchiha elite ninja.
Unlike other elders, his strength was very powerful. Precisely because of this - his own great strength plus having sired an equally powerful son - his prestige in the clan was extremely high, almost rivaling the Great Elder and clan leader. Due to Sasaki's disappearance for most of the day during the most tense moment of rebelling against Konoha, he was extremely angry.
But rather than anger, it was more like a form of protection for Sasaki. Everyone present was among the Uchiha clan's elites and elders. But conspicuously absent was the Uchiha family head's son - Uchiha Itachi.
"Elder Echizen, don't be hasty in punishing Sasaki. Since he's gathering us at this critical moment, he must have made some major discovery." The speaker was Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader whose capacity didn't match his ambitions.
If not for fathering two good sons - Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke - his name might have only been mentioned in passing later on.
His strength was three-tomoe, but his actual combat ability wasn't strong, though he had high prestige within the Uchiha clan.
"Clan Leader Fugaku, honored elders, and elite brothers, although what I'm about to say will be hard for you to believe, these words are all true. Please, you must believe me." Uchiha Sasaki swept his gaze around everyone present before speaking respectfully.
Including the clan leader and elders who had little combat ability, there were only about thirty people present. Could these thirty-odd Uchiha elite ninjas contend with all of Konoha? And they still dared to openly rebel? You could imagine how conceited the Uchiha clan was.
It was almost comparable to the Kaguya clan's open rebellion against the Land of Water that would happen soon. Of course, the current Kaguya clan was completely inferior to the Uchiha clan in strength, but the chaotic Land of Water's strength also couldn't be compared to Konoha's.
Daring to rebel without even having Kage-level fighters - it had to be said these people's brains must have been kicked by donkeys. Or perhaps they had stayed too long in peaceful times and forgotten the ability of the First Hokage to suppress the entire ninja world single-handedly when Konoha was first established.
Kage-level strength couldn't be opposed by some family elite ninjas and jonin. To fight Kage-level fighters, one needed at least elite jonin strength.
However, aside from the Kage-level experts Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi that others didn't know about, the Uchiha clan only had a few elite jonin, with the rest all being jonin level. Of course, now they'd have to add another Kage-level expert - Uchiha Sasaki.
If the Uchiha clan's strength were placed in a small village - like Kusagakure, Takigakure, Hoshigakure, Yukigakure - they really could destroy a village and succeed in rebellion. But compared to Konoha, the strongest of the five great ninja villages, they should just go to sleep.
Konoha's ANBU alone weren't something a mere Uchiha clan could oppose. The current Uchiha was no longer the Uchiha of the past.
"Whatever the matter is, speak quickly." An aged voice - this was the Uchiha clan's Great Elder, also the longest-living person in the current Uchiha clan.
"The village has already discovered news of our rebellion, or rather, there's a traitor in our clan who has already reported this information to Konoha. Moreover, they've already formulated methods to deal with us and will move against us in the next few days. And besides the village, there are others preparing to move against our Uchiha clan. Our previous meeting place is probably no longer safe." Sasaki said gravely.
"What?" "How is that possible? How did the news leak?" "The village wants to move against us? Do they have that ability?" "Who else? How could they possibly know our meeting location?"
Following Sasaki's words, all the Uchiha clan members present erupted. Even those elders sitting up high began whispering among themselves.
"Silence, silence. Sasaki, do you know what you're saying? Do you have evidence for these claims?" Still the Great Elder's voice.
"I have no evidence..."
"So there's no evidence after all." "So it's just his speculation. Probably Lord Sasaki is too nervous." "Daring to speak recklessly without evidence."
"Sasaki, you are our Uchiha clan's hope. I believe you wouldn't casually joke about such things. But what you've said has no evidence... What! Your eyes! What's going on?! How did you do this?!" The Uchiha clan elders stared at Sasaki's eyes with disbelief, momentarily stunned. The other Uchiha elites also seemed to forget their previous arguments and all stopped.
Because Uchiha Sasaki had opened his Mangekyou Sharingan, the shuriken-like tomoe spinning crazily before everyone's eyes.
"Honored elders, brothers, could you please first set up barriers around this area? Because the Uchiha clan is now very unsafe. What I'm about to say next is extremely important and concerns our Uchiha clan's future."
The Great Elder gave the surrounding Uchiha ninjas a meaningful look. They nodded understandingly and walked outside. Soon, a barrier was set up around the Great Elder's house.
Although the Uchiha clan wasn't famous for barrier techniques, they still knew some barrier and sealing arts.
"Sasaki, now you can speak. Your eyes... could they be... could they be..." Uchiha Echizen's words carried some impatience.
As an elder, if his son Uchiha Sasaki's eyes truly were those legendary eyes, his status would greatly increase. Even the Great Elder position wouldn't be out of consideration in the future. Moreover, now was the preparation period for war. If Sasaki truly possessed those legendary eyes, their chances of success would certainly increase.
"That's right, Father. These eyes of mine are exactly what's legendary in our Uchiha clan - the eyes that evolve once more beyond the three-tomoe Sharingan - the Mangekyou Sharingan."
"Truly those legendary eyes!" "I knew our ancestors wouldn't abandon us!" "Worthy of being Lord Sasaki - he is our clan's hope."
Unlike those noisy young clan members, the Uchiha clan elders all understood what those eyes represented. How did these eyes evolve? Were they as powerful as the legendary Uchiha Madara? Did this mean the time for the Uchiha clan's rise had come? Their breathing became rapid.
Moreover, they also selectively forgot what Sasaki had said before. Not just them - even the Great Elder, the eldest of the Uchiha clan who had seen much death and experienced many storms, was momentarily dumbfounded.
"Honored lords, I must make some things clear. Regarding the Mangekyou Sharingan, I'm not the only one in the Uchiha clan who has awakened it, and I only awakened it yesterday. As for how to awaken it, I'm not entirely clear. I only know one thing - when awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, one must harbor strong emotions." Sasaki dropped another bombshell.
"What? You're not the only one?" "Who else? Come forward!" "Why hide it at such a time?"
"Harbor strong emotions?" Those with keen minds began pondering this statement carefully. But the focus was still on the fact that more than one person had awakened the Mangekyou.
"Who else?" the Great Elder asked.
"Uchiha Itachi... and Uchiha Shisui. Moreover, Uchiha Itachi has confirmed his allegiance to Konoha. He is also one of those who will move against our Uchiha clan." Decisive words spilled from Sasaki's mouth.
This time there wasn't noise and argument, but silence to the extreme.
"What? You said Itachi? That's impossible!" Fugaku - Uchiha Fugaku! He was the Uchiha clan leader, and Itachi was his son.
Traitor? This word was far too foreign to the Uchiha clan. Since Konoha's founding, the Uchiha clan had never produced even half a traitor.
"How do you know this?" The Great Elder ignored the others and stared intently at Sasaki. Today's events were too shocking, momentarily giving them a dreamlike feeling.
"One of the Mangekyou Sharingan's abilities is that I can see some events that happened in the past." Meruem controlled Sasaki to lie without blushing or his heart racing. After all, what he said was fact - even if Itachi came to confront him face-to-face, it would be the same.
"What you're saying is impossible! Itachi could never betray us." Still Fugaku - at this point, Fugaku was furious. Itachi was his son! At the same time, elite Uchiha ninjas loyal to him and receiving his hint also launched an attack on Sasaki. It was a three-tomoe elite expert whose strength could at least rank in the clan's top five.
"Audacious!" "Stop!" Several elders roared angrily, but the attacker completely ignored them.
"Perfect timing - I was just worried about not having anyone to establish my authority." Meruem, controlling Sasaki, gave Fugaku a thumbs up.
Sasaki looked at the approaching ninja without moving, only his Mangekyou eyes spinning crazily.
Ice-cold blue-white flames appeared on that elite clan member's body without warning.
In just a few breaths, that Uchiha elite ninja disappeared before everyone's eyes like melting ice and snow, leaving only a pool of unknown liquid on the ground.
Shock - different from the previous shock at learning about the Mangekyou. This was shock at Sasaki's strength. Instant kill - absolute instant kill. With just one move, he had instantly killed an elite ninja whose strength had previously exceeded his own.
The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan was so terrifyingly formidable!
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]