"Don't..."
Uchiha Yashiro instinctively cried out, but it was already too late the moment he spoke. After Uchiha Inabi was the first to charge out, Uchiha Tekka and Uchiha Yakumi's eyes also turned crimson, their rage instantly activating their Sharingan!
Cowards? They, the Uchiha clan, were actually being mocked by these people as cowards who dared not go to the battlefield to kill enemies, only daring to act tough at home?! This was no longer just questioning the Police Force's enforcement, this was a naked denial and insult to the Uchiha clan's honor! It was, in fact, a complete trampling of their value and dignity!
"You... what are you saying?" Uchiha Yakumi, who valued the "Uchiha" surname the most, said coldly, "If you have the guts, say what you just said again!"
Three pairs of scarlet eyes appeared exceptionally sinister in the twilight, their erupting, bone-chilling killing intent seemingly freezing even the air!
"You, you all..."
Under the gaze of those murderous blood-red eyes, the villagers who had just been whispering ridicule instantly froze, the color draining from their faces, turning them ghastly pale.
At this moment, in a distant alley, Hyuga Kawa's figure emerged, his face shrouded in shadow. "It seems the current 'Cognitive Domination' isn't strong enough to affect emotions. Under fear, can it only achieve this level of 'contempt'?"
"Then..."
Feeling the resistant feedback from 'Greed,' Hyuga Kawa smiled faintly and said softly, "Besides 'contempt,' let me try plucking other strings." As he spoke, his index finger, resting on the hilt of the katana at his waist, lifted and gently fell again.
Tap.
As his finger lifted and fell, an invisible ripple spread. This time, the strings being plucked were "anger" and "disgust."
In the distance, the villagers, whose contempt had initially been overridden by fear, suddenly felt a strong resentment, born of disgust and anger, surge from within them.
"Oh, oh, oh, what's wrong? Did we say something wrong?" The woman, far from backing down, instead grew bolder. She fearlessly pointed at the Uchiha trio's crimson Sharingan, her shrill, sharp cries tearing through the evening's tranquility.
"Isn't your Sharingan only used now to show off to your own people?"
"Look at Lord Kawa of the Hyuga clan! That's truly fighting for the village! Killing hundreds, even thousands, of Kumogakure ninja just like that—that's showing off! That's skill!"
"Your Uchiha Sharingan only stares at us, looking for trouble. You have the guts to bully us civilians here, but why don't we see you fighting Kumogakure on the battlefield?!"
Her shouts were like drops of water thrown into boiling oil, startling the entire street of neighbors. Windows opened, door curtains lifted. Countless gazes, filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and long-simmering discontent, shot towards them.
"What's wrong? What's all the fuss about?"
"Sigh, it's those Uchiha again..."
"Tsk, it's them again, as expected. Last time, it was over such a tiny thing, and they blew it all out of proportion..."
"It was the same with my family. A small problem, and no matter how much we pleaded, they wouldn't compromise. Their attitude was terrible. It was only when the Third Hokage's Anbu came to mediate that the problem was smoothly resolved."
"Right? The Anbu might look scary, but they're actually very humane, unlike some people who, relying on their small bit of power, only know how to throw their weight around in the village..."
The residents of this street were mostly shopkeepers and merchants, who frequently dealt with the rigid, strictly rule-enforcing, and unfeeling Police Force. Minor flaws, rigidly applied standards, and an inflexible attitude... their accumulated dissatisfaction and resentment were like deeply buried kegs of gunpowder.
And now, under the influence of that invisible and colorless wave, their accumulated resentment towards the Uchiha clan poured out as if they had found an outlet. The clamor and complaints grew, converging into a hostile torrent of sound.
This wave of sound, from far to near, from sparse to dense, from whispers to open accusations, instantly engulfed the four Uchiha clan members at the alley entrance like a surging tide. They could clearly feel the substantial malice, and the accusations and insults, like a mountain roar and a tsunami, seemed to transform into venomous barbs. Every word was like a heavy hammer striking the already taut heartstrings of the Uchiha trio, tearing their cherished duties and honor to shreds!
The humiliation, anger, and indignation in their hearts boiled like lava. They wanted to explain but couldn't utter a sound. Their bodies trembled with extreme rage, and their last shred of sanity completely snapped!
"Shut up! What do you people even know?!" Uchiha Inabi could no longer endure it. He roared hoarsely at the crowd, the three tomoe in his eyes beginning to spin.
Anbu? Those damned Anbu again! Hyuga Kawa? That damned Hyuga clan again! They, the Uchiha clan, had worked diligently in the Police Force, and had even been refused their request to go to the battlefield by the Konoha higher-ups, who claimed Konoha couldn't do without the Police Force. But in the end, what did they get for it?! The Uchiha being excluded from the battlefield was already the deepest, most painful thorn in the clan's heart, and now it was being used as a reason for mockery!
With this thought, Inabi's eyes turned blood-red, as if about to drip blood. He violently turned his head to look at the woman who had been the first to speak and stir up everything. It was her! That spiteful, ugly face, that sharp, piercing voice—the source of everything! The primary culprit in trampling the Uchiha's reputation!
"I now suspect you are a spy who infiltrated Konoha to incite discord! Take her away! Anyone who resists will be charged with obstructing official duties!!" Uchiha Inabi forcefully stepped forward, his voice like a biting cold wind, directly reaching out to grab the woman's shoulder.
"Ah!"
The spite and triumph on the woman's face instantly froze, and she instinctively let out a terrified, shrill shriek.
But just as he pressed down on the woman's shoulder, a figure suddenly appeared and grabbed his bulging, veined arm. It was Uchiha Yashiro.
"Inabi! Enough!"
Uchiha Yashiro's stern face was equally grim, his facial muscles twitching slightly from extreme suppression. His cold Sharingan eyes also churned with blood-red. But he had controlled it! He had desperately controlled it! Although he too felt anger and shame at the woman's words, he was more composed than the younger, volatile Inabi and the other two. He knew they couldn't continue. This was no longer an ordinary conflict; in this sensitive moment, before the agitated villagers, it would undoubtedly add fuel to the fire!
Although he didn't think Uchiha Inabi was wrong, if this escalated, it would definitely not benefit them.
Alas, it was too late.
In the distant alley, Hyuga Kawa watched the chaos, half his face hidden in shadow, a malicious smile appearing on his lips. His finger, resting on his katana, lifted. The pupil on the tsuba opened again, a similar malice in its depths.
Hum!!
"Bastards! What are you trying to do?!"
"Let her go!"
"They're trying to forcibly take her away!"
"Who gave you the right to do this?!"
Seeing the woman gripped by the fierce-looking Uchiha Inabi, and even threatened with forced removal under the accusation of being a "spy," the accumulated anger of the surrounding villagers instantly exploded! The collective will, ignited by rage, converged into a destructive torrent, making them forget the fear and deterrence brought by the three Sharingan eyes. They even forgot the difference between ninja and civilians, seeing only a fellow vulnerable civilian about to be forcibly taken away by the evil Uchiha clan!
The rage born from accumulated resentment overwhelmed all reason!