Time flowed exceptionally slowly inside Uchiha Setsuna's room.
After sending off Sho U and the others, he did not rest. He simply sat stiffly at the stone table, his cloudy eyes sometimes gazing at the heavy night sky outside the window and sometimes falling on the spot where Sho U had just sat, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the cold teacup.
The room seemed to still hold the resolute and fiery aura of those young people; now he was the only one left, accompanied by boundless silence.
He was calculating the time.
The length of the Secret Passage, the speed of the team's march, the minor delays they might encounter, the precise timing needed to leave the range of the Konoha Barrier... every detail was being repeatedly simulated in his mind.
This old man, who had lived through the end of the Sengoku period, witnessed the founding of Konoha, and endured decades of clan infighting and Konoha's high-pressure rule, was now using a lifetime of patience and strategy to buy the most precious "time difference" for that group of fledgling eagles leaving the nest.
"It's been nearly two hours..."
He muttered to himself, his voice almost inaudible in the empty stone house.
According to his estimation, with the abilities of Sho U and the others, three hours would be enough for them to pass through the Secret Passage and distance themselves from the core area of Konoha, perhaps even having already slipped into the complex mountain and forest regions of the Land of Fire's border.
Once there, the difficulty for Konoha to accurately locate and intercept them would increase exponentially.
It was time.
He couldn't wait any longer.
With every moment of delay, the possibility of others in the clan discovering the disappearance of Renka and the others, or the patrol finding something unusual, increased.
He had to take the initiative to detonate the situation, making the fact of the "defection" public in a way that was relatively favorable to Sho U and the rest.
At the same time, he had to completely distance himself from the role of "accomplice," and even... play the part of a "victim" and a "loyalist." Only then could he continue to maintain a potential margin and information channel for the Uchiha, and perhaps for the distant Sho U and the others, within the muddy waters of Konoha.
Uchiha Setsuna's gaze gradually became firm.
He slowly stood up and walked to a corner of the stone house. There stood a ceramic water jar he usually used for watering flowers.
He raised the water jar and, without hesitation, smashed it hard against his temple!
"Bang!"
A dull thud sounded.
The ceramic jar shattered, and cool well water mixed with some ceramic shards splashed all over him.
A sharp pain came from his temple, and a warm liquid flowed down his aged cheek—it was blood.
He deliberately controlled his strength; the wound wasn't deep, but it was shocking enough to look at.
Next, he staggered a few steps and intentionally knocked over a wooden shelf by the stone table. Some old scrolls and items scattered across the floor with a clatter, creating obvious signs of a struggle.
He forcefully tore his sleeves and rolled on the ground, letting dust and bloodstains soil his originally neat clothing.
Finally, he chose a spot near the door where he could be easily discovered from the outside, lay down on the floor, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing to be weak and erratic, as if he were in a deep coma from a serious injury.
He ensured the wound on his temple continued to bleed slowly, soaking a small patch of the cold floor in dark red.
Having done all this, he became completely still as if truly unconscious, with only the slight, imperceptible rise and fall of his chest. All that was left was to wait.
The wait did not last long.
Perhaps it was the faint noises coming from the stone house, or perhaps it was time for the routine patrol or delivery of items.
Less than three minutes after he "fainted," cautious footsteps and low calls came from outside the stone house.
"Elder Setsuna? Are you there? I've brought tonight's patrol report..."
The newcomer was a young Chunin in charge of General Affairs within the clan. He wasn't a core confidant of Setsuna, but he was at a level that allowed him to contact the Elders.
There was no response.
The young man called out twice more, and feeling that something was wrong, he hesitated for a moment before gently pushing open the stone door, which hadn't been locked from the inside.
Moonlight mixed with the corridor lights spilled into the room, illuminating the messy floor, the overturned wooden shelf, the shattered ceramic jar, and... Elder Uchiha Setsuna lying unconscious in a pool of blood!
"E-Elder Setsuna!"
The young Chunin turned pale with horror and rushed inside instantly, clumsily wanting to check on him but not daring to move him easily.
He saw the wound on the Elder's temple, the disheveled clothing, and the surrounding signs of a struggle... This was clearly an attack!
"Someone come! Quickly! Elder Setsuna has been attacked!!!" The shrill, terror-filled cry instantly shattered the relative tranquility of the Uchiha Clan Compound at night.
The alarm was sounded.
The first to arrive were the nearby Uchiha clansmen, followed by members of the Uchiha Guard Unit who had heard the news. Soon, the clan's high-ranking officials, including the Clan Chief Uchiha Tenjima and several influential Elders, arrived at the messy stone house with solemn expressions.
Medical Ninja (Setsuna's confidants) quickly performed a preliminary examination and treatment on the unconscious Setsuna.
The wound was bandaged, and his vital signs were confirmed to be weak but stable.
Under the anxious waiting and questioning of the crowd, the young Chunin who had discovered the scene described everything he saw incoherently.
"When I came in... it was like this... the Elder... he was bleeding a lot... it looked like someone had fought here..."
Uchiha Tenjima's brow was tightly furrowed as his sharp gaze scanned every detail of the room.
The signs of a fight were obvious, but they didn't seem particularly intense; it looked more like a quick suppression of someone caught off guard or someone facing a large gap in strength.
No property seemed to be missing... Was the target Elder Setsuna himself? Why?
Just then, the members of the Guard Unit responsible for checking the room and searching for clues made a discovery.
"Clan Chief! Elders!"
A Jonin walked over with an extremely grim expression.
"When we gathered just now, we found that many young Ninjas were missing from the clan, about a dozen or so. They are all outstanding talents of the younger generation, including Uchiha Shao Yu, Uchiha Renka... and Uchiha Shisui..."
"What?!" "Sho U?!" "And Shisui?!"
The stone house was suddenly in an uproar. Those missing were remarkably gifted members of the younger generation, and most of them were dissatisfied with the current situation, classified as members of the "Hawk Faction" or potentially dangerous elites!
Uchiha Tenjima's face instantly turned as dark as water. He snapped his gaze toward Uchiha Setsuna, who had just been stimulated to "slowly wake up" by the Medical Ninjutsu of the Medical Ninja and was now gasping weakly.
"Elder Setsuna!"
Tenjima's voice carried suppressed anger and urgency.
"What happened? Who attacked you? Sho U and the others... what on earth is going on?!"
Uchiha Setsuna with difficulty opened his cloudy eyes, which were filled with "shocked anger," "grief," and "weakness."
He opened his mouth as if using all his strength, before hissing intermittently with "hatred" and "disbelief":
"It's... it's Sho U... that Wretched brat!"
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808