Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

The Third Hokage stood silently in place, motionless like a clay or wooden puppet. After about two or three minutes, he suddenly spoke up: "Danzo, you're too late."

"Arriving early is no use."

An old man with a sinister face, dressed in black, and exuding a cold aura that keeps strangers at bay, slowly walked out of the darkness. This old man with an X-shaped scar on his chin was none other than Shimura Danzo, the current Hokage's assistant known as the 'Darkness of the Ninja' and the highest leader of Kanemoto.

“Uchiha Munen and Uchiha Shisui are two different kinds of people. Your methods won’t work on that brat. Even if you had come earlier, you would have just wasted your breath here. You might as well have come slowly.”

The third generation frowned.

This time, however, he did not criticize his old friend's recklessness, but agreed with Danzo's opinion: "You are right, Uchiha Sogen... he has no village in his heart, and even Shisui has been affected... Danzo, he is in your hands."

"You should have done this sooner."

"In short, deal with it as soon as possible and don't drag it out for too long. I'm worried that Zhishui will be affected too deeply. If necessary, it doesn't matter if we take more extreme measures."

"As long as you don't sabotage my plans, there won't be any problems."

After saying that, Danzo left without looking back, his figure disappearing into the darkness of the forest.

[Chapter 15. Are you truly committed to becoming the clan leader? (Seeking investment!)]

"Zong Xian."

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Shisui was known as the "Body Flicker," and his mastery of the Body Flicker Technique was truly unparalleled, unmatched by anyone in the entire Uchiha clan. It was a pity that the Fourth Hokage, known as the "Yellow Flash," had passed away; otherwise, Shisui could have challenged the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique.

With a single movement technique, he bypassed Uchiha Arashiyama and the others, arriving beside Sogen.

What do you want me to say?

Zongxian asked in return without changing his expression.

"..." Shisui's mind went blank, unsure how to answer, but a sense of unease simmered within him. He struggled to clear his mind, stammering, "That...it was tonight...the Hokage-sama..."

"Alright, shut up! You look so uncomfortable, it's making my teeth ache."

Zongxian interrupted Shisui's nonsensical ramblings with annoyance.

“Shisui, I am glad you made your choice tonight, and I understand your unease. In front of Arashiyama and the others, I can tell you clearly that I am firmly opposed to armed coups. Internal strife is harmful to the village and the clan. What I want is to save the Uchiha, not destroy it.”

"Don't worry that I'll go back on my word or use force to stage a coup. Of course, I don't deny that it's a last resort, but I won't choose that dead end when other possibilities still exist."

Uchiha Arashiyama and the others following closely behind remained calm, clearly not the first time they had heard such a statement.

Seeing this, Shisui felt a little more at ease.

Although he chose to support Zongxian, it did not mean that he had completely switched to the family's side. He was a man who wanted to stop the village and the family from fighting until his death. The reason he supported Zongxian was because Zongxian's rhetoric gave him some hope that he might as well try anything.

Rather than wallowing in mediocrity like this, it would be better to support Zongxian in making a final, determined struggle.

His original intention remained unchanged: he hoped that the village and his family could truly become one, without any distinction between them.

"Zongxian, that plan you guys were talking about...when will it be?"

A few seconds later, Shisui remembered the 'plan' that Uchiha Chihaya had accidentally let slip.

Before making a decision, he was torn between two options. Once he did, his mindset suddenly became urgent. Having walked alone in the hopeless darkness for so long, he so desperately longed to see a glimmer of hope, even if it was just a single spark…

"We'll talk about it at my house later."

Zongxian quickened his pace.

The clansmen, fully armed, were already gathered at the entrance to the clan's territory. Standing at the front were three elderly men with white hair and beards. Among them was his grandfather, Uchiha Genji. These three elderly men were the clan's elders.

"Grandpa, Elder Long Si, Elder Huo Wan."

Zongxian stopped in his tracks and stood on the stone path.

"Zongxian, what happened?"

Uchiha Genji, also known as Sogen's grandfather, was nearly seventy years old. He stared intently at his eldest grandson. Unlike his leisurely and carefree demeanor at home, he was now dressed in a dark purple combat suit with light purple layered armor on top, and a katana at his waist. He exuded a murderous aura, clearly ready for a fight.

It wasn't just him; the other two elders, along with the more than twenty clansmen following behind them, were all dressed in almost identical attire.

Seeing this, Zongxian sighed inwardly.

The conflict between the village and the clan has escalated to the point where the clan members are on high alert. At this point, it is wishful thinking to talk about reconciling with the village. The resentment and anger that so many people have accumulated in their hearts cannot be easily eliminated unless one uses a level six persuasive technique.

He glanced back at Zhishui, whose face was pale; clearly, this guy had also gleaned a lot from the reactions of his people.

"It's nothing serious. The Mist Ninja wanted revenge on me and sent spies to launch an attack on the road. The matter has been resolved. Grandfather, Elders, everyone can go back and rest. Don't worry about anything unexpected happening tonight. The situation... hasn't reached that point yet. Nobody is prepared!"

Zongxian answered loudly.

The loud voice was clearly heard not only by the elders but also by everyone else.

Uchiha Genji exchanged glances with the two old men beside him without making a sound.

Soon, Elder Uchiha Ryuji stepped forward and led a group of people back to the clan to spread the information brought by Sogen, calming the tense clan members and calming the sharp killing intent that had gripped the clan's airspace.

The title of Konoha's number one powerhouse isn't just for show.

As long as members of the Uchiha clan can awaken the Sharingan and don't die on the battlefield, they will eventually reach the three-tomoe level. Therefore, the number of Jonin in the Uchiha clan is truly the highest among all the clans in Konoha, which is one of the reasons why the Uchiha clan dared to stage a coup.

"Kid, now you can tell the truth. What exactly happened?"

Uchiha Kamaru was not tall, barely a little over 1.6 meters. Compared to Sogen, who was already 1.72 meters tall at the age of 15, he was much shorter, or rather, shorter than many people around him. However, no one would underestimate this elder Kamaru, who was known as "Explosive Flame" when he was young.

Despite his short stature, he is incredibly powerful. Among the six elders of the clan, Uchiha Kamaru is undoubtedly the strongest, and even Uchiha Genji is no match for him.

The short old man craned his neck and stared at Zong Xian, his scarlet eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Does this kind of thing need much explanation? If the Mist Ninja were truly capable of planting so many Jonin-level spies in the village, they wouldn't have been chased back to the sea to eat fish during the Fourth Shinobi World War." Zongxian smiled sarcastically. "It was that old bastard Danzo. The Third Hokage tacitly approved of it, but I don't have enough evidence to accuse Danzo."

"What kind of bullshit evidence do we need? Finding an opportunity to kill that bastard is the only way to solve the problem once and for all." Elder Huowan's fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "I knew back then that Danzo was no good. After the Second Hokage died, I thought about taking people to kill that bastard, but unfortunately, Kagami stopped me."

As he spoke, he glanced at Shisui, the grandson of Uchiha Kagami.

The still water seemed to want to speak but hesitated.

In the end, all the words in his heart turned into a helpless, bitter smile.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, Elder Huowan. It's only natural that Danzo and we don't get along. There's no need to get angry over him. Compared to this... where is our clan leader right now? Is he in charge of the clan?"

Sogen changed the subject, saying that even if they were really planning to harm Danzo, they shouldn't be plotting so openly.

Upon hearing Zongxian's question, Elder Huowan's face immediately fell.

“The clan chief is on duty at the police station. He needs to maintain order in the village and can’t give the village an excuse to attack our clan. For the time being, the affairs of the clan will be managed by a few of us old guys,” Uchiha Genji said unhurriedly.

The Uchiha clan's territory has undergone two relocations and adjustments.

The first relocation was orchestrated by the Second Hokage, who linked the Uchiha clan with the police department, turning the already unpopular Uchiha clan into villains. The second relocation took place four years ago when, due to the Nine-Tails' attack, the Third Hokage moved the Uchiha clan to a more remote corner of the northeastern part of the village.

This led to the Uchiha clan and the police department being separated.

Otherwise, in the past, even if someone were stationed at the police department, they could still handle clan affairs.

“Genji, stop flattering Fugaku. I didn’t realize it before, but now I see that he’s a complete indecisive person. As the clan leader, he doesn’t know how to protect his people. Instead, all he talks about is the village. Does he need to worry about village affairs? Doesn’t he, as the head of the police department, know what the police department is like now? With the Anbu here, there’s no chance for him to be of any use!”

Elder Huowan grumbled angrily, "It's just... I don't even know what to say about him... We were blind to support him becoming the clan leader."

As he spoke, he suddenly turned his gaze to Zongxian and asked, "Hey kid, when you told me before that you wanted to replace Fugaku as the clan leader, were you serious?"

"Of course it's true."

Zongxian nodded solemnly in response.

[Chapter 16. The Willow Blows with the Wind (Seeking Investment!)]

What is a clan leader?

In short, they are the people in charge of clan affairs.

Depending on the history, culture, customs, and habits, the power of the clan head varies from family to family. In the Uchiha clan, the clan head is undoubtedly the highest authority in the clan and used to be able to make decisions on all matters, big and small, with a single word.

However, ever since the clan leader Uchiha Madara defected from Konoha.

After several discussions, the clan members who refused to follow their patriarch decided to limit his power. They increased the authority of the clan elders to counterbalance the patriarch's absolute power and prevent similar incidents from happening again. After all, Madara Uchiha's defection almost led to the destruction of the clan.

At the time, Tobirama Senju, who was not yet the Second Hokage, proposed to completely exterminate the Uchiha clan. Fortunately, the First Hokage was kind-hearted and not only did not punish the Uchiha, but also praised them for their choice not to leave Konoha with Madara Uchiha.

Even so, the elders of that generation were still terrified.

Therefore,

That led to the changes that followed.

The elders have the power to interfere with the clan leader's decisions, and in some cases, they can even replace the clan leader with the consent of the majority of the clan members. Of course, such a thing has not happened so far, after all, there have only been two clan leaders since Uchiha Madara.

Fugaku Uchiha became the second clan head after that.

Moreover, as long as the clan leader does not show any obvious signs of betraying the clan, no one dares to replace the clan leader casually.

In the original history, the clan members, already burning with rebellious thoughts, didn't try to get rid of the fickle clan leader. Instead, they exerted pressure through collective petitions, forcing Fugaku Uchiha to embark on a coup plot... To be honest, if they could have gotten rid of Fugaku Uchiha as their clan leader, the Uchiha clan wouldn't have been wiped out so humiliatingly!

"I didn't expect that guy, Fireball, would support you. This increases the chances of the plan succeeding even more!" In the courtyard of the Sogen family's residence, there is an old cherry tree that has stood for many years. It is said that it was planted by the elders of Sogen's lineage when Konoha was first established, and the tree was moved along with the clan's territory using Earth Release techniques.

Under the tree was a blue stone, where Uchiha Genji sat, holding a bottle of his favorite Red Jade Potter wine, enjoying the cherry blossoms and drinking the wine.

"I, Ryuji, and Kamaru... half of the six elders support you, plus the young people you've recruited yourself, more than half of the Jonin in the clan are on your side... Sogen, how long do you plan to prepare?"

"It won't take too long."

Zongxian spread a felt mat on the grass not far from the tree, sat cross-legged on it, and kept his grandfather company while admiring the cherry blossoms and plotting something.

“This time I declined the Third Hokage’s invitation. If I don’t become the clan leader soon, I’m afraid we’ll face another attack soon. Grandpa, to be honest, I’ve even considered having Fujika drop out of the ninja academy. Staying at the ninja academy doesn’t feel very safe…”

"Don't worry about Fujika. I've arranged for someone to protect her. If you're really worried, you can pick her up and drop her off at school. But it's best not to withdraw her from school. You yourself said that the Uchiha clan can't be confined to itself and needs to communicate and interact with other clans. The Ninja Academy is the best way to change that. If Fujika withdraws from school, how do you plan to get the clan members to send their children to the Ninja Academy?"

"It's not like we're sending everyone to the ninja academy. We'll just pick a few good-natured and handsome ones... Okay! I understand. I'll personally pick up and drop off Fujika for the next period of time."

"Don't spoil your sister too much, or she'll be a problem for you later."

A gust of wind blew by.

The branches of the old cherry tree trembled, and beautiful cherry blossoms fell like pink cakes, carried by the wind to the bamboo forest not far away, like a cherry blossom rain.

As soon as Uchiha Genji finished speaking, his gaze was involuntarily drawn to it, and he clapped his hands in admiration: "So beautiful!"

"Teng Hua is a girl! It's only right to pamper her a bit."

Zongxian chuckled as he spoke, but inwardly he was thinking, "You're clearly the one who dotes on your granddaughter the most. I didn't even know you sent people to protect Fujika... I didn't even get this kind of treatment when I was fighting against the Mist Ninja on the battlefield!"