As dozens of angry glares locked onto Ryosuke, he remained indifferent. He calmly scanned the crowd, looking for someone he genuinely cared about confronting—Uchiha Shisui.
That man... if he had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, then his famed genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, could change a person's will without them even noticing.
That was terrifying.
If Shisui ever used it on him, Ryosuke wouldn't even know his own thoughts had been rewritten—it'd be no different from being killed.
But even after scanning the gathering, Ryosuke didn't spot him.
He hadn't seen Shisui around the village recently either. Maybe he was away on a mission or hadn't returned from outside the village.
Just then, Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, broke the silence.
"Uchiha Ryosuke, you must've heard about the uproar your actions caused in the village?"
Ryosuke nodded calmly.
"Of course. My grandfather already explained everything to me."
Fugaku's gaze hardened.
"Then, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Assuming the other clan members were still unaware, Ryosuke proceeded to recount the entire incident—how the Cloud envoys attempted to abduct the Hyuga heiress under the guise of diplomacy, and how the Leaf leadership had planned to offer up a scapegoat to maintain peace.
But most of the clan already knew this. The details had been shared before the meeting started.
Before he could finish, Uchiha Itachi stood up, his voice sharp and firm:
"Uchiha Ryosuke—do you acknowledge your guilt? You sabotaged the Third Hokage's plan, disrupted the peace of the village, and risked dragging the Uchiha clan into war. Do you admit your crime?"
Ryosuke hadn't expected Itachi to be the first to denounce him. Clearly, he had pledged his loyalty to the village above all.
His expression grew cold.
"I've already explained what happened. The Cloud tried to kidnap the Hyuga heiress, and yet the Leaf's solution was to hand over a Hyuga to appease them. Do you seriously think that's just?"
Many of the Uchiha in the room, especially among the radicals and even moderates, felt their anger fade somewhat. Ryosuke's words rang true—the Cloud's behavior had been disgraceful.
But Itachi didn't back down.
"The Third Hokage's proposal wasn't wrong. Yours was. You incited the Hyuga to confront the Cloud delegation. If sacrificing one person could secure peace and prevent war, that would be the most rational outcome."
"As shinobi, we must be prepared to give our lives for the village. That is the will of fire we must uphold."
Those words didn't sit well with the Uchiha.
The radicals were visibly irritated, even insulted.
Wasn't it the village that had isolated them, forced them to relocate, and treated them as threats?
Even the moderates, who usually preferred diplomacy, found Itachi's argument grating.
Yes, they wanted to avoid conflict, but that didn't mean they were willing to sacrifice their own to satisfy the enemy.
Fugaku, hearing his son speak so firmly on behalf of the Hokage, felt a pang of unease.
He had sent Itachi as a spy, hoping he could relay valuable intel about the village's intentions. But now, it seemed his son had been completely won over by the Hokage's ideology.
Would he even support the clan if things turned dire?
Ryosuke narrowed his eyes at Itachi.
"So, sacrificing one person to preserve the peace of the village is acceptable. Then let me ask you this—"
"If the village sees the Uchiha as a threat, and decides that we must be eliminated for peace… do you think we should allow ourselves to be wiped out to maintain harmony?"
The entire hall fell silent.
What Ryosuke had said was blasphemous—a direct suggestion that the Uchiha could be exterminated.
Many stared in shock.
The Uchiha—descendants of Indra Ōtsutsuki, founders of the village, once the greatest clan in the Shinobi World—be wiped out?
A few elders shouted in outrage.
"Ryosuke! You've gone too far! That's treasonous talk!"
"Clan Head, punish this arrogant brat immediately!"
But Ryosuke simply glared at them, his tone sharp:
"I wasn't talking to you. Shut your mouths, or I'll throw you out myself."
His words were accompanied by a sudden flare of chakra, a surge of raw pressure that stunned the room into silence.
Even Fugaku's expression tightened. Ryosuke wasn't bluffing—his power was real.
The clan head didn't think Ryosuke was being arrogant. On the contrary, he saw truth in his words.
If the Uchiha failed in a coup, the village would not hesitate to retaliate with lethal force. Total annihilation wasn't just possible—it was plausible.
Had Ryosuke already foreseen this fate?
Fugaku thought for a moment… perhaps it was time to risk using his Mangekyō to glimpse the future, even at the cost of his eyesight.
Itachi, on the other hand, found himself rattled.
He hadn't expected such a pointed question to be asked in front of the entire clan.
His voice faltered slightly.
"There's no need to answer such a question. That future is impossible. If the village ever tried to exterminate the Uchiha, it would destroy itself in the process."
"So no—it won't happen."
Ryosuke smirked coldly.
So, you think to prevent the village's decline, the logical step is for you to slaughter the Uchiha yourself?
He didn't say it aloud, but his look conveyed it clearly, and Itachi felt it.
Frustrated, Itachi snapped back.
"Stop deflecting. Do you still not see the error in your ways?"
But Ryosuke simply laughed.
"So what you're saying is: if the Cloud tries to abduct Leaf shinobi again, we should just grit our teeth and let them? Hand over more villagers to buy their satisfaction?"
Itachi replied quickly, "This situation isn't the same. I believe the Hokage wouldn't allow that to happen again."
Ryosuke's smile turned bitter.
Wouldn't allow it?
Just like he didn't allow the Uchiha Massacre?
He scanned the crowd, his voice rising so all could hear.
"Some of you think I've broken the peace. Fine."
"But ask yourselves this—what if next time it's the Uchiha who are targeted? Will we also bow down, offer our own to calm the enemy's rage?"
Then he pointed at several people in the crowd.
"You. You. You. Would you sacrifice your sons? Your brothers?"
Caught off guard, the named individuals stammered.
"Don't point at me! If it were up to me, I'd rather die in battle than be handed over like a dog!"
Others echoed similar sentiments.
Better to die fighting than be sacrificed without dignity.
Itachi's frustration grew.
What kind of message had these people learned in the Academy?
Glorifying death in war?
There was nothing noble about dying in a conflict that could have been prevented.
War brought more than death—it brought total destruction.
He began to realize, more clearly than ever, that he and his clan no longer saw eye to eye.
Maybe only Shisui still understood what he was trying to do.
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