Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"Chihaya, sit still. Don't move around, or everyone will laugh at you." Zongxian walked over, reached out and pressed down on his childhood friend's head, then looked at the empty seat next to him that belonged to him. "I'm going to change places today. I'll ask Futaba to come and sit with you."

After all,

He let go of her hand.

He walked past the second row and continued forward, stopping at the first row where only six elders sat side by side. He then sat cross-legged next to Elder Huowan on the far right. There were no extra cushions for him to use, so he chose the more comfortable cross-legged position.

A small commotion immediately broke out among the tribespeople behind him.

Zongxian's unconventional behavior sparked a wave of discussion. Some felt he was breaking the rules, some thought he was indeed bold, and others simply didn't care about such a trivial matter.

"Hey kid, I admire your courage."

Elder Huowan laughed, glancing sideways at Zongxian sitting beside him, his eyes full of pleasure.

Upon hearing Elder Huowan's clear support, the clansmen behind him erupted in even more heated discussions. Fortunately, everyone understood where they were, and all disputes remained confined to words. No one would get angry and jump up to draw their swords.

"Since we've decided to do it, we should certainly do it in a dignified and respectable manner."

Zongxian answered as a matter of course.

He sat there cross-legged, his back straight, like a renowned sword forged through countless trials; just looking at his back, one could feel his sharp and resolute will.

"That's right!"

Elder Fireball nodded, his admiration growing stronger. He himself was a passionate and spirited person, and he admired such sharp-minded children the most. In his opinion, the Uchiha should be so spirited and arrogant!

Compared to Fugaku, whose calm and collected personality was rather dull, she was somewhat confused. Why had she supported Fugaku to become the clan leader in the first place?

While the two were chatting,

The clan leader, who was late, finally arrived!

He was wearing the standard uniform of the police force—a green vest and dark trousers, with the police force's insignia—a shuriken with a flaming fan embedded in it—on the outside of the sleeves near the shoulders.

The newcomer was not just the clan leader; behind him were six Jonin from the clan, all of whom were close confidants similar to Uchiha Yatsuhoshi. The youngest of them was glaring at Sogen with extreme dissatisfaction. If looks could kill, Sogen would probably be a riddled corpse by now.

"I apologize for keeping you all waiting. I had some personal matters to attend to and was a little late." Uchiha Fugaku walked to the stone tablet, turned around, stood there, looked around at the clansmen gathered in the secret room, paused for a second on Sogen's face, and then turned his gaze forward. "Without further ado, there is something I need to announce at this temporary gathering today."

He paused for a few seconds, watching as the clansmen listened intently, before taking a breath and continuing, "I intend to pass the position of clan leader to Uchiha Munen."

One stone stirs up a thousand waves!

Although the tribespeople were not entirely unprepared!

However... everyone thought there would be a fierce battle. Some expected the clan leader to use his iron fist to suppress the disobedient young man, while others wanted to see the Flame Demon display his power and successfully take over the throne... In short, no matter what, it was bound to be very thrilling!

Is that all?

What's with this lukewarm trick?

Not only the clansmen, but the elders also seemed quite surprised. Uchiha Genji frowned and subconsciously turned his head to look at his grandson sitting on the far right.

"I'm sorry, clan leader, please forgive me for refusing."

Zongxian stood up, and his clear and resonant answer reached the ears of every member of the clan.

A wave of waves has risen again.

"Huh?!?!"

"What's going on?"

"This is completely different from what I've heard. What's going on?"

The tribespeople were completely bewildered.

Whether they were elderly, middle-aged, or young, everyone looked at each other, completely bewildered by the situation.

"Zongxian-kun, are you sure you know what you're saying?"

Fugaku Uchiha frowned, looking at Sogen who had stepped forward. "You..."

"The position of clan leader is not to be relinquished!" Zongxian forcefully interrupted Fugaku Uchiha's unfinished words. He raised his head, met Fugaku's gaze, and said without any politeness, "I prefer to seize it with my own hands rather than give it away."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the group of clansmen who were at the Jonin level.

"Everyone should know me, right? I won't bother with self-introductions. I'll just get straight to the point: I feel that Chief Fugaku lacks the ability and courage to lead the clan through this crisis. Although I'm young, I believe I'm capable enough to take the position of chief. So, I'm making it clear today: the position of chief is rightfully mine!"

He didn't deliberately slow down his speech to organize his words.

At this point, talk of persuasion was just a joke! He didn't believe he could convince so many people with just words, and he didn't want to see that happen. Compared to silver tongues, he felt that his fists were the only way to make the people understand his determination and recognize the authority of the next chieftain.

To put it bluntly, besides their well-known arrogance, the Uchiha clan, in Sogen's view, also had a bit of a servile streak.

When Madara Uchiha suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Uchiha clan dared not rebel against the First Hokage. They preferred to defy their clan leader, Madara Uchiha, rather than be enemies with the First Hokage. This shows how much the Uchiha clan feared the powerful and despair-inducing First Hokage at that time.

He is now preparing to emulate the First Hokage and make these arrogant clansmen completely submit to him.

"Zong Xianjun."

Fugaku Uchiha raised his voice, "There's no need to make things so complicated. I'll just hand over the position of clan leader to you directly. This is a formal handover, and the clan members won't have any objections."

Zongxian glanced sideways at the clan leader.

Ignored them.

He didn't know whether Fugaku Uchiha genuinely intended to hand over the reins to him, or whether he felt Fugaku was incapable of controlling the clan and was preparing to use him as a shield while secretly continuing to manipulate power... But no matter which it was, no matter what Fugaku Uchiha's true nature was, Sogen had no intention of accepting it.

He hadn't forgotten his grandfather's admonition on the path to enlightenment!

"Shouhe, shall we have a go?"

Zongxian provocatively beckoned to the handsome young man standing next to Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Toshikazu, one of the clan leader's youngest confidants, who had been staring at him with extreme displeasure since entering the secret room.

as predicted,

Already deeply dissatisfied with Fugaku Uchiha's decision to cede the leadership to Sōgen, Sōgen's repeated arrogant remarks and slander of the clan head further fueled Fugaku's anger, pushing it to its peak. Now, Sōgen was directly provoking him—

"Uchiha Munen, don't be so arrogant. Is this how you talk to your seniors? Don't think you're the best in the clan just because you've gained some fame."

With a clang, the shojita was drawn, and the enraged Uchiha Toshikazu slashed at Sogen.

[Chapter 23. The Greatsword - Samehada (Please recommend!!)]

Force has been used!

In this secret chamber used for clan meetings, swords were drawn and a fight broke out. This was the first time such a thing had ever happened. Even the elders were dumbfounded as they watched Uchiha Hisahi and Sogen fight in public.

No one intervened.

Although this was a secret room used for holding gatherings, there was no rule in the tribe that forbade the tribe members from playing around here. In addition, the tribe leader and elders each had their own thoughts and chose to watch coldly.

"We are the Uchiha!"

Zongxian brandished the strange, bandage-wrapped weapon he had taken from his back—a weapon that resembled a narrow door panel—calmly parrying Uchiha Hisahi's attacks, while still having the leisure to speak: "Seniority doesn't work in our clan. If you want to be called 'senpai,' fine, defeat me!"

The moment the words fell,

The weapon, as wide as a door, slammed through the air with immense force, striking Uchiha Toshikazu's katana. Faced with that overwhelming power, Uchiha Toshikazu and his sword were sent flying backward, turning into a cloud of white smoke with a "bang."

It's a shadow clone.

All the clan members present were Jonin, but even so, not everyone could see when Uchiha Toshiwa used a shadow clone to replace his real body, which shows that this confidant of the clan leader was not an incompetent opportunist.

Uchiha Toshikazu's true form appeared above Sogen's head.

I don't know when,

He was standing upside down on the ceiling.

The small katana in his hand, crackling with blinding lightning, slammed down towards Zongxian's head.

"Clang—!"

A crisp, sharp impact echoed through the sealed room.

Zongxian raised his door-like weapon horizontally, using it as a shield to block Uchiha Hisashi's incredibly penetrating katana. Even though the attack from above was combined with the impact of his own weight, Zongxian still withstood it as if nothing had happened.

"you······"

Uchiha Toshikazu opened his mouth as if to say something.

But suddenly he noticed that the lightning flashing on the kodachi had disappeared, and at the same time, his chakra was flowing uncontrollably along the kodachi like a flood. Realizing that something was wrong, he tried to pull away, but it was too late.

The strange, door-like weapon suddenly broke free of the bandages binding it, wriggling like a living thing. Its long body stretched out abruptly, coiling around Uchiha Toshikazu's waist like a python, and began to devour chakra even more fiercely and rapidly.

At this moment,

The clansmen finally recognized the true nature of the weapon in Zongxian's hand.

"Greatsword - Samehada!!!"

Why is this sword in Zongxian's possession?

"Isn't this the sword of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from Kirigakure?"

The clansmen were discussing it animatedly.

No one expected that the door-like thing that Zongxuan had been carrying on his back was the great sword Samehada. This sword is quite famous and has a long history. Its specific origin is unknown, but at least the name Samehada does appear in the history of the Uchiha clan.

This is a ninja tool as old as the Uchiha fan that the Uchiha clan lost.

Ninja tools that absorb chakra are always a powerful tool, and their special abilities were enough to attract the attention of the Uchiha clan, who recorded them in their crude and simple history books.

The so-called Seven Ninja Swordsmen were actually a new thing invented by Kirigakure. If they had acquired a few more similar sword-shaped ninja tools back then, they might have become an eight- or nine-person group... Moreover, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had a bad debut battle, being crippled by a mere genin from Konoha. It was truly pitiful!

"Juhe, it seems I won't be able to call you 'senpai' anymore." Under Sogen's control, Samehada released Uchiha Juhe, who had been entangled. It devoured nearly 80% of Juhe's chakra, enough to keep the guy in bed for a few days to recover.

Uchiha Toshikazu was unable to answer any of Sogen's questions.

He collapsed to the ground with a thud, completely unconscious due to the massive absorption of his chakra.

"Who's next?"

Zongxian stopped looking at the defeated man lying on the ground, raised Samehada in his hand, pointed at the clansmen in the secret room, circled around them, and finally pointed at Uchiha Fugaku. This could be described as a blatant provocation.

"Zongxian, why is this knife in your hands?"

Fugaku Uchiha frowned as he looked at Samehada, which was pointing at him.

He felt a deep sense of unease.

He didn't stop Shouhe from attacking because he wanted to see for himself the true quality of this [Flame Demon] in his clan, and how much it differed from the data. He hadn't expected Shouhe to be defeated so quickly and easily, and the fact that the Greatsword Samehada wasn't even mentioned in the data was simply too much of a discrepancy—

When a powerful ninja tool falls into the hands of a skilled ninja, it can be used to enhance the ninja's abilities.