Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"Also, the attacker had a curse mark on his tongue."

Zongxian added a sentence, which was tantamount to naming the attacker.

"The curse seal... the seal that severs the root of tongue-related calamities?"

"The person was sent by Danzo. Perhaps he wanted to kill me, or perhaps he wanted to use Naruto to fight the Third Hokage, or maybe there were other purposes I don't know about. But... regarding this matter, the Third Hokage..."

Zongxian didn't finish his sentence.

More people are coming; they're coming from the direction of the Uchiha clan's territory.

"Zong Xian!"

"Brother Zongxian".

"Are you alright, Zongxian?"

There were only six people, men and women in total. Their clothes all had the Flame Fan symbol on them, and with their uniform black hair and black eyes, they were undoubtedly Uchiha, and without exception, all of them were Jonin.

They were still young Jonin, not much older than Sogen, and the oldest among them was no more than twenty.

"Arashiyama, Futaba, Chihaya, Jun, Akitarou, Hokuto... Why are you the ones who came?" Sogen stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"It is Elder Xuanshi."

It was Uchiha Arashiyama who spoke.

He was Sogen's cousin, three years older than Sogen, and the oldest among them. Before Shisui and Sogen showed their talents, Uchiha Arashiyama was the only genius in the clan, but Shisui and Sogen overshadowed him.

However, silver is still silver. Even if it is overshadowed by gold, it will not turn from silver into white copper.

His promotion to Jonin at the age of thirteen proved his talent.

“The clan leader isn’t at the clan’s territory tonight, so the elders are taking charge. Elder Xuan Shi knew you were here, so he sent us to support you… But since Shisui is here, it seems we won’t be needed.” Uchiha Arashiyama scratched his head and greeted Shisui again.

Zongxian suddenly realized.

No wonder it was Arashiyama and his group of young people who came, instead of the veteran Jonin from the clan.

Compared to those elders who have to be addressed as uncles or aunts upon meeting and are difficult to manage, Arashiyama and his group were recruited by Sogen. Without exception, they all knew about Sogen's plan to usurp the position of clan leader and were his staunch supporters. They were the "us" that Sogen told Shisui.

As expected of Grandpa, this arrangement is so thoughtful!

[Chapter 12. The Encounter]

"No, Arashiyama, who said you're useless? I'll need you to back me up later! Right now... I can only rely on you!" Zongxian glanced at the dejected Shisui. This stubborn idealist hadn't given up on his impossible fantasy.

Even though he had already awakened the 'Kotoamatsukami' eye technique, which can rewrite the will of others, Shisui clearly understood that it was impossible for villages and families to communicate and understand each other, and turn hostility into friendship.

However, Shisui was a stubborn idealist who knew perfectly well that it was impossible, yet he still stubbornly adhered to the ancestral will of fire.

At this moment,

Shisui, who was greatly affected by the attack on Sogen, was no longer a reliable option.

Or rather, simply not turning around and joining the opposing camp would be the greatest help you could give him.

"Zongxian, what exactly is going on...?"

Uchiha Arashiyama looked around, staring at the several dehumanized corpses for a few seconds, his expression growing even more serious. "Who attacked you?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Danzo? That old bastard!"

Danzo's reputation within the Uchiha clan is truly terrible, especially among Arashiyama and his friends, who are Sogen's companions and harbor deep resentment towards him!

"Alright, Arashiyama, we have no evidence to prove that Danzo did it. To put it bluntly, even if we had evidence, we would most likely be unable to do anything to the Hokage's assistant, which would only make things difficult for our clan leader."

"Zongxian, when will the plan be implemented?"

Chihaya Uchiha.

At fifteen years old, she is a childhood friend who grew up with Zongxian, who is two months younger than her. She was promoted to Jonin at the end of last year, and it has been less than half a year since then. However, even a new Jonin from the Uchiha clan needs at least two Jonin to deal with him, unless they are confident in their ability to counter the Sharingan's genjutsu.

"Hey, Chihaya, Shisui is still here!"

Uchiha Arashiyama gave him a meaningful look.

unfortunately,

The beautiful but regrettable girl from the Uchiha clan didn't understand what Uchiha Arashiyama meant at all. Instead, she asked, "Arashiyama, do you have sand in your eyes?"

"Ha ha!"

Uchiha Akitarou, who was watching the spectacle, burst out laughing while clutching his stomach.

“You guys, stop fooling around. Arashiyama, don’t worry. I just talked to Shisui during the day and told him about the plan.” Zongxian stepped on the brakes in time, preventing the situation from getting out of hand. “Chihaya, be patient. You’ll burn yourself if you eat freshly fried takoyaki too soon. We’ll let you know when the time is right.”

"I see."

Uchiha Chihaya agreed and stood obediently in place without saying a word.

"Shisui... Hey, Zongxian, are you okay?"

Uchiha Arashiyama walked up to Sogen and stole a glance at Shisui, who was still in a daze, and whispered, "Their lineage has always been close to the village, so they may not support our plan. If he tells the clan head in advance, we might fail at the last minute."

"It's alright. Zhishui still cares about his family. Even if he doesn't help, it won't cause any trouble."

In contrast,

No one expected that the eldest son of the clan chief would become the murderer who slaughtered the entire clan.

"Just keep it in mind!"

Uchiha Arashiyama didn't ask any further questions.

As the eldest member of their small group, he almost naturally took on the responsibility of caring for this group of troubled children. He half-voluntarily and half-forced himself to restrain his genius pride and sharpness, and unknowingly developed this steady and reliable character.

"Alright everyone, enough chit-chat. The big shots are here, so get your spirits up and don't let anyone underestimate the Uchiha."

Zongxian stood up, propping himself up on his knees, and looked towards the southwest.

There is still a huge fire burning there.

But just a moment later, the clear blue water swept over and extinguished the burning flames. The surrounding view suddenly darkened, and then the ground beneath our feet trembled slightly. The land with the accumulated water rose up and split to both sides, cutting a wide and open road in between.

"Wow! This level of earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of technique used in martial arts)... that's elite!"

Uchiha Akitarou, that frivolous guy, still made the same mistake as always, he could never control his mouth.

Along the open road, a group of people came running at high speed. Leading them was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was once known as the "Hero of Shinobi" and was dressed in a black, tight-fitting combat suit. This man in his sixties charged ahead like a shot arrow, and even from dozens of meters away, one could vaguely feel his sharp and imposing aura.

"They're coming on strong, Zongxian!"

"Shut up, Akitarou! If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"

"I'm just stating the truth, why do you always yell at me, Brother Arashiyama!"

"Shut up! If you keep talking, I'll teach you a lesson!"

Uchiha Akitarou pouted, looking unhappy.

However, he still didn't dare to talk back. He had sparred with Uchiha Arashiyama twenty-two times so far, but he had lost all twenty-two of them and had no victories. Seeing the fierce light flashing in Uchiha Arashiyama's eyes, he wisely shrank back.

Ignoring his friends' emotional exchange, Zongxian stepped forward and greeted the Hokage and the two elders.

"Lord Hokage."

"Zong Xianjun."

The third generation arrived in front of Zongxian, stopped in his tracks, and greeted him.

Then he waved his hand and directly commanded his subordinates to take action. The medical ninja immediately stepped forward and wrapped Naruto up, carefully and cautiously performing a physical examination on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. In addition, a group of masked ANBU ninjas disappeared into the darkness of the surrounding area, probably to conduct an investigation.

Once his subordinates had begun their work in an orderly fashion, the old man, whose face was already covered with age spots, finally turned his gaze to Uchiha Munen, who was standing in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Zongxian-kun, for keeping you waiting."

"You're too kind."

"Then, can you explain what exactly happened?" the Third Hokage asked, seemingly completely unaware of what was going on here.

"When I was taking my sister's classmate home, we were attacked by unidentified enemies here. There were twelve attackers in total, and they were quite powerful. They attacked without saying a word. In order to protect Naruto, who is my sister's classmate, I had no choice but to kill all the attackers."

"Have you figured out who the attackers are?"

"I don't know. The attackers all had powerful self-destruct sealing techniques on them. I tried to investigate, but I found nothing. However, the elite members of the Anbu might be able to find something, so I stayed here to protect the scene. I just didn't expect that you, Hokage, would come in person."

Zongxian answered the third generation's questions in a methodical manner. Although his tone was respectful, he sounded somewhat like an emotionless puppet.

At this time,

The members of the secret service investigating the body of the deceased seemed to have discovered something. One of them walked quickly towards them, glanced at Sōgen who was standing quite close to the Third Hokage, and before he could say anything, the Third Hokage waved his hand lightly, "Just say whatever you've found, no need to hide anything."

"Yes."

The operative from the corpse disposal unit replied respectfully.

Without further hesitation, he reported quickly, "Lord Hokage, we examined the body and found no items that could identify the deceased. However, the deceased's undergarments were woven from a highly permeable material. This material is rarely used in the Land of Fire, but is in great demand in the Land of Water and the Land of Rain."

[Chapter 13. Zhi Shui's Choice (Please vote!!)]

"The ninja from the Mist and the ninja from the Rain?"

Upon hearing the report from the Anbu, the Third Hokage naturally deduced two possibilities. He looked at Sogen and asked, "Sougen-kun, which side do you think the attackers might be?"

"Let's have the Mist Ninja!"

Zongxian said casually.

"Oh! Why do you say that? Why not Rain Ninja?"

"If Rain Ninja had the strength to launch an attack of this scale in our Konoha, they would have been the sixth largest ninja village in the ninja world long ago. Moreover, that kind of self-destructive sealing technique can probably only be made by those cold-blooded madmen from Mist Ninja. Either they complete the mission and return alive, or they fail the mission and die without a complete corpse."

Zongxian continued to lie without batting an eye.

It's just lying!

Everyone's lying, it's just a matter of who's more cunning. It seems the Third Hokage is planning to pin the blame on the Kirigakure, but it's unclear how he'll shift the responsibility to the Uchiha. But there's no need to rush, just wait patiently.

"If that's the case... then it is indeed the style of the Mist Ninja."

The third generation nodded in agreement.