Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode.

Chapter 103 Uchiha Fugaku

Fugaku Uchiha was feeling rather down. He had planned to go out and play with his neighbor's little sister, Mikoto Uchiha, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, but he was stopped by his clansmen just as he was about to leave, and had no choice but to come here.

To be honest, he had absolutely no interest in this kind of boring temporary gathering.

He had only recently returned from the battlefield in the Land of Rain with Lady Tsunade and the others, and he had absolutely no interest in fighting.

He hated killing and conflict, and was uninterested in the strange sense of honor among his people.

Wasn't it better that the Third Hokage prevented the Uchiha clan from participating in the operation? At least the clansmen wouldn't have to fight or die. Would they only be satisfied when people died?

On the battlefield, the daily battles made him deeply weary of fighting, and the deaths of familiar comrades with whom he had shared life and death filled him with grief and fear.

War is not a good thing, not at all. It is like a ferocious beast that devours all good things.

And the eyes on his own body, which held a deep darkness, weighed heavily on his heart.

These are evil eyes that grow stronger as those they know and love die.

If he could, he would never want to open those evil eyes again, never want to step onto the battlefield again, and never want to send his descendants to the battlefield.

However, after he returned to Konoha as a hero of Konoha, things did not go as he wished.

Whether it was his family or other clansmen, they all placed high hopes on him, hoping that he would be successful in the future, continue to make contributions on the battlefield, bring more glory to the Uchiha clan, and even hope that he would become Hokage in the future.

After returning to his clan, it was as if an invisible hand was pushing him from behind, forcing him to choose a path he did not want to take.

He had considered rebelling. But when he thought of his family and other familiar clansmen, the deep expectations they had for him and their selfless support, he had to accept reality, force himself to become the person they expected him to be, and continue down the path that his family and clansmen expected of him.

But is this really a good idea?

Fugaku asked himself this question again and again, but he remained hesitant and unsure of what was truly the right thing to do.

Suddenly, Fugaku realized someone was watching him.

It was a hostile gaze.

On the battlefield, he was looked at with such hostile gazes countless times, not only by enemies, but also by some people in Konoha who were hostile to the Uchiha.

Having been stared at like that so often, he naturally got used to it and developed a special intuition that allowed him to detect such hostile gazes immediately. This directness had helped him escape death many times on the battlefield.

Therefore, he was certain that someone was watching him.

He didn't need to turn around to know where the gaze was coming from, and he quickly realized who was looking at him.

The source of the hostile gaze was none other than Lord Chizuru beside him.

Fugaku certainly knew this Lady Chizuru; she was the clan head's granddaughter, the most outstanding genius of the Uchiha clan, and her family and many clan members often used her as an example to inspire him.

For a moment, he couldn't understand why this Lady Chizuru would be hostile towards him.

He remembered that he hadn't had much contact with the other party over the years. He had just graduated and went to the battlefield with some of his clansmen. In the past two years, he hadn't had any chance to make enemies with the other party. How did he offend the eldest daughter of the clan chief?

Of course, Fugaku was not afraid of Chizuru.

No way! He's someone who's escaped death multiple times, and his Shinnin skills are no joke. He's earned them through hardship and bloodshed. How could he possibly be afraid of a kid who's never even been on a battlefield?

In fact, when his family and clansmen used Chizuru to encourage him, he felt only disdain.

However, since the other party was the clan leader's granddaughter, he decided to be patient for the time being. Moreover, as a senior, he needed to appear magnanimous.

Then, Fugaku turned his head slightly, and Chizuru Oki gave him a friendly smile like a big brother next door.

"Hmph, hypocritical, stupid dog."

Chizuru felt disgusted when she saw Fugaku smiling at her. She immediately stared at him with even colder eyes and labeled him a hypocrite.

She had seen that smile on someone many times before.

She just didn't know why, but the way this person smiled at her made her feel disgusted.

He clearly showed hostility, yet he still gave her that disgusting smile. What a hypocrite.

When Fugaku saw Chizuru's increasingly cold gaze, his smile froze. He quickly turned his head away, no longer daring to look at Chizuru. At the same time, he couldn't help but think of Mikoto, who always gave him that smile and then blushed. He thought to himself, "Mikoto is definitely cuter."

Chizuru and Fugaku's subtle actions went unnoticed by the other Uchiha Jonin, and the atmosphere on the scene became even more tense than before.

Many hawkish Uchiha Jonin have begun clamoring to go to the Hokage Building and demand an explanation from the Hokage.

If it weren't for Homura Uchiha's hesitation in making a statement, most of the Uchiha Jonin below would have already set off for the Hokage Building to demand an explanation from the Third Hokage, and there might even have been an incident where they stormed the Hokage Building.

The few Uchiha Jonin who were considered doves were all deeply worried.

They were among the few Uchiha who had a clear understanding of the Uchiha clan's situation in Konoha. They knew that if these hawkish clan members actually went to the Hokage Building to find the Third Hokage, it would only make the Uchiha clan's situation in Konoha more difficult.

Unfortunately, they were too few in number, lacked popular support within the Uchiha clan, and lacked external assistance. Even though they kept calling on their clansmen to calm down, they only received cold stares and ridicule from the hawkish clansmen and could not stop the actions of a large number of hawkish clansmen.

Now, the only person who can stop them is the clan chief on the stage.

Hopefully, the clan leader will remain as steady as ever.

Uchiha Homura, who had been sitting steadily on the platform, looked at his clansmen below who were clamoring and pressuring him to make a statement. His face remained completely expressionless, and he simply stared coldly at his clansmen below, remaining silent throughout.

Many hawkish Uchiha Jonin were somewhat displeased to see Uchiha Homura's cold demeanor and his complete lack of reaction to their words.

However, when each of them was swept by Uchiha Homura's cold eyes, they subconsciously lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

Even though Uchiha Homura was already old, a man in his seventies, and could die at any time due to sudden illness or recurrence of hidden injuries, these people still dared not show him the slightest disrespect.

The strength of their old clan leader remains unfathomable, and the terrifying ocular power contained in his Sharingan, far exceeding that of ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan, is the best proof of this.

Only those who belong to the Uchiha clan can truly understand the terror of Homura Uchiha's eyes.

He remains the undisputed strongest member of the Uchiha clan in Konoha.

Suddenly, Uchiha Homura stretched out a hand, making a stop gesture, and the scene instantly fell silent.

Then, he said in a cold voice, "Alright, stop arguing. I've already said what most of you mean. You want to participate in the operation, right? No problem. I'll go to the Hokage Building to see the Hokage in a bit. But you absolutely cannot act on your own. If any of you act on your own and prevent everyone from participating in this operation, or even damage the reputation of the Uchiha clan, then I won't let him off the hook."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly activated his Sharingan. All the Uchiha Jonin who were looking at him instantly realized that they had been hit by a genjutsu. A huge three-tomoe Sharingan with a blood-red, eerie glow appeared in front of them.

Looking at the enormous three-tomoe Sharingan, they found themselves completely unable to move, and even the power to mobilize their chakra to break the genjutsu was gone.

At the same time, their bodies were contorting, and they felt that time and space were beginning to become disordered.

A moment later, a large number of Uchiha Jonin who had just locked eyes with Uchiha Homura finally resumed their actions. They were all pale-faced and covered in cold sweat, completely devoid of the arrogant demeanor they had displayed during their discussion.

"."

Chizuru, who had just cleverly avoided making eye contact with her grandfather, now had a thoughtful expression on her little face.

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(End of this chapter)