The summer sun at noon was sharp and blinding.
Stepping out from the house, Uchiha Ren narrowed his eyes slightly against the glare.
"Yashiro. Talk while we walk."
Standing at the doorway, Uchiha Yashiro looked at the young man ahead of him—dressed in the Uchiha's high-collared dark uniform, standing tall under the sunlight, already bearing the presence of a rising leader who had formally taken hold of the hawkish faction.
Suppressing the excitement in his chest, he responded loudly.
"Yes, Lord Ren!"
The two of them moved one after the other along the stone-paved paths of the Uchiha district.
Half a step behind, Yashiro quickly organized the intelligence he had gathered and reported concisely.
"This clan assembly at the shrine, called by the clan head—reliable sources say that aside from discussing the Third Great Ninja War, it also concerns the selection of the next clan leader."
Ren didn't slow his pace. He let out a quiet chuckle.
"Looks like the old man can't sit still any longer."
Since Uchiha Madara's departure, the current clan head had held the position until now. By age alone, he was even older than Uchiha Setsuna.
Very few from the Warring States era had lived as long as Konoha's upper echelon.
Those elders clung to power even into old age, while the three faction leaders of the Uchiha had already reached the twilight of their lives, preparing to pass down both authority and responsibility.
Now, a clan assembly was being held at the Naka Shrine—restricted to Uchiha who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Given the current state of both the shinobi world and the clan, it wasn't hard to guess—
The position of the next clan head was being placed on the table as a bargaining chip to push the hawkish faction into active participation in the war.
After all, over the years, Uchiha Fugaku—ten years older than Ren—had suffered no small number of defeats at his hands.
With Ren openly aiming for the position of clan head, Fugaku needed more than strength to turn things around.
He needed merit.
More precisely—war achievements that could elevate the Uchiha's voice within Konoha and win greater support inside the clan.
That had always been the approach of the clan head and the dovish faction: integrate into Konoha through peaceful means.
Yashiro, one of the core pillars among the younger hawks, often discussed matters with Ren. Through experience and ability, he understood the situation clearly.
A trace of concern appeared on his face as he spoke.
"For ordinary battles, the clan head and the doves can handle things just fine."
"But this time, they want us on board as well. That alone shows how much pressure the Third Hokage has placed on the clan head… and who knows what kind of promises he's made."
He hesitated for a moment.
Ren saw straight through it and let out a cold snort.
"With how close the old man is to the Hokage, I'd be more worried that before we even taste any benefits… the entire Uchiha gets packaged and sold off."
Trading the clan's interests for vague promises from the Hokage—
That kind of spineless behavior had long been common among the clan head and the dovish faction.
Their reasoning was simple—
Once the Uchiha became Hokage, the whole of Konoha would belong to them anyway. There was no need to fuss over temporary losses.
To Ren, that line of thinking was absurd.
Enduring short-term loss for long-term gain wasn't inherently wrong.
But it had to fit reality.
It couldn't be based on blind optimism.
It depended entirely on whether Konoha's leadership—aligned with the Senju and fundamentally wary of the Uchiha—would ever accept an Uchiha Hokage… and willingly surrender their own power.
Within the Uchiha, the Sharingan was often awakened through intense emotional loss. That only deepened their already stubborn nature, fostering a culture that valued strength above all and enforced strict hierarchy.
Because of that, Ren focused less on empty persuasion and more on strengthening himself while uniting the hawkish faction.
Winning over other factions with just a few words—like those stories he'd read in his previous life—was nothing but fantasy.
Shinobi might not understand politics well.
But they understood obedience.
Orders were followed. Authority was respected.
Konoha itself was a massive military structure, and each clan was a smaller, self-contained stronghold.
Just like the Hyūga with their rigid main and branch family system, the Uchiha were divided into three clearly defined factions.
Aside from a handful of high-ranking figures, even casual interaction between members of different factions was filled with caution.
That divide extended downward.
Even the children grew up feeling an invisible barrier—something unseen, yet unmistakably present.
In some ways, the Uchiha's internal rift was even more severe than that of the Hyūga.
The elders were not blind to it.
But by the time they recognized the problem, it was already too late to reverse.
Their strength had faded with age. All they could do was rely on their prestige to keep the stubborn middle generation from poisoning the next.
Their hope—like in the days when Uchiha Madara stood against the Senju—rested entirely on the younger generation.
In a world without Ren, Uchiha Fugaku would have been the sole candidate.
But the arrival of a transmigrator had changed everything.
Even Uchiha Hokaku, the great elder of the dovish faction, now wavered between the two.
And that hesitation—given the doves' natural alignment with Konoha—already leaned in favor of Ren, who was both stronger and younger.
That alone was enough to make the old clan head anxious… and desperate.
As they spoke, more members of the hawkish faction gathered behind them.
Uchiha Tekka. Uchiha Inabi. Over twenty young elites.
From Yashiro's quiet words, they learned of Setsuna's decision. The way they looked at Ren grew even more respectful.
Dozens of Uchiha, bound by blood, their presence merging into a single current—
A surging force, advancing steadily toward the Naka Shrine.
The shrine stood at one end of the Naka River.
The river, named after it, flowed through all of Konoha—witness to the battles between Uchiha and Senju in the Warring States era, and to the rise of the hidden village system.
With the speed of jōnin, they soon left the vast Uchiha district near the village center and entered the primitive forest used for daily training.
Following a forest path shaped by ninjutsu, they arrived at the shrine hidden among the trees.
The Uchiha's ancestral shrine was not much different from any other.
Climbing the steps and passing beneath the torii engraved with the fan crest, a wide courtyard opened before them.
At the entrance stood the clan head, along with two Uchiha from the dovish faction.
After bowing to Ren, Uchiha Inabi stepped forward from the group and took position at the gate.
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