"The Sharingan typically only awakens when the Uchiha's lives are in danger, or when they feel profound sadness and despair."
Shun's voice echoed in the conference room, each word like a poisoned senbon, piercing deep into the hearts of those present.
He paused for a moment, letting the weight of his statement settle, before continuing, "What kind of heartbreak and despair must an 8-year-old child experience to advance to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan?"
Fugaku's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, and the wrinkles between his brows were incredibly deep.
"Eight years old… Three-Tomoe… Yes, what kind of hardship must he have endured?"
Unkai clenched his fists, knuckles cracking, his nails digging deep into his palms, drawing traces of blood.
Tetsu's face was ashen, his lips trembling incessantly, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't make a sound.
Even Yashiro, usually known for his composure, was now like a volcano on the verge of eruption, the fury in his eyes almost solidifying and gushing forth. He slammed his hand down on the table, and a crack immediately appeared in the solid wood.
His voice was as cold as ice. "Shun, speak your mind. If you beat around the bush any longer, I'll beat you up."
Shun surveyed the group, then calmly walked to the Ninja World map on the wall. His slender finger precisely pointed to Kirigakure.
"Kirigakure is the weakest of the Five Great Ninja Villages, with approximately 10,000 ninjas. After Yagura, dissatisfied with the Bloody Mist policy, launched a coup and killed the Third Mizukage, he became the Fourth Mizukage. The old and new factions of Kirigakure fought each other, with a conservative estimate of over 2,000 casualties. Then Sunagakure attacked Kirigakure, with another conservative estimate of around 2,000 casualties. This means Kirigakure only has a little over 6,000 ninjas left."
Unkai impatiently interrupted, "Shun, we know all this. Get straight to the point."
"Because of the above changes, Kirigakure could only send 3,000 people to attack the Land of Fire, which seems to have made Hiruzen somewhat overconfident. So he sent Hyuga Hiyori, an elder of the Hyuga Main Family, to be the overall commander of the Kirigakure battlefield. I heard that this commander had his right eye dug out by Jonin Ao of Kirigakure. This led the Hyuga clan to issue a gold-level bounty on Ao."
Several cold snorts immediately resounded in the high-level conference room.
Yashiro cursed loudly, "Those useless Hyuga Main Family members. They live in luxury during peacetime and bring shame to our country during war."
Shun remained unhurried, moving his finger to the vicinity of the Kumogakure battlefield.
"The Kumogakure battlefield is very close to the Kirigakure battlefield. The Konoha high command has signed a peace treaty with Kumogakure, so the Konoha ninjas who retreated from the Kumogakure battlefield should have been sent to the Kirigakure battlefield. I heard that on the Sunagakure battlefield, Orochimaru seems to be in a predicament and has retreated to the vicinity of Kikyo Pass, deep within the Land of Fire."
Tetsu was silent for a moment, then said, "Since our ninjas on the Kumogakure battlefield have already gone to reinforce the Kirigakure battlefield, why don't we go reinforce Kikyo Pass and gain some more achievements? This would help clan head Fugaku in his bid for the Fourth Hokage position."
Everyone's gaze collectively turned to Fugaku, the commander.
Fugaku raised his hand, signaling for silence and asked, "Shun, your intelligence is very detailed. Tetsu suggested reinforcing Kikyo Pass. What do you think?"
Shun's finger quickly moved to Kikyo Pass.
"No, Minato has the Flying Thunder God. He will likely use the Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha early. He has already rushed to Kikyo Pass. Once Sunagakure ninjas see Minato, they will surely know that Konoha's battle with Kumogakure has ended, and they might choose to retreat. So it will be difficult for us to gain any achievements by rushing to Kikyo Pass."
Unkai asked unwillingly, "So we just wait like this?"
Shun suddenly smiled, the smile of a hunter seeing his prey fall into a trap.
He held up three fingers and said in a strong, powerful voice, "No, we must do three things. First, withdraw all four thousand ninjas from the base back to Konoha. Second, issue full survivor benefits. And third, widely publicize our achievements on the Iwagakure battlefield."
Yashiro reacted, narrowing his eyes and saying, "You're trying to win over people's hearts."
Shun deliberately lowered his voice, like a devil whispering. "Not only that, once our over 4,000 people from the base return to Konoha, they will naturally learn about Hiruzen's decision to make Ninja Academy students graduate early, gathering 3,000 old, weak, sick, and disabled to fight against Kirigakure. At that time, we can 'accidentally' leak some details, such as the heavy casualties on the Kirigakure battlefield, and how the Hyuga commander had his right eye dug out."
Upon hearing this, Unkai gasped, "How ruthless. The villagers will riot then."
Shun's gaze turned to Fugaku. "At that time, if Fugaku-sama volunteers to support the Kirigakure battlefield, with your current military achievements, the high command will either refuse or delay. Either choice will be self-destructive and lead to a great loss of public support."
The conference room fell into a dead silence, even breathing could be clearly heard.
Everyone's gaze focused on Shun, as if they were seeing the terrifying nature of this young Uchiha for the first time.
Fugaku remained silent for a long time, finally speaking, "And then?"
Shun's smile gradually widened, his finger moving to the Kirigakure battlefield.
"Then, when Fugaku-sama rallies the troops, followers will surely flock. We will lead our army directly to the Kirigakure battlefield. Once we defeat Kirigakure, the position of Fourth Hokage will undoubtedly belong to Fugaku-sama."
Actually, Shun's true intention was to push Fugaku into the position of Fourth Hokage to take the attention off of him, while he himself would develop discreetly and remain low-key until he basically becomes invincible.
Tetsu suddenly stood up, his chair clattering to the ground. "Brilliant plan! This way, we neither disobey orders nor allow Hiruzen to suffer the consequences of his own actions. Shun, how did your brain come up with such a good idea?"
Once they support the Kirigakure battlefield, there will inevitably be casualties among the clansmen, so as clan head, Fugaku did not immediately express his stance. He walked to the window, looking at the Uchiha clansmen training in the distant training ground.
"Shun, on the Iwagakure battlefield, we lost 1,227 clansmen. If we fight Kirigakure, how many clansmen do you think we will lose?"
Upon hearing this, Shun felt a burst of complaints inside.
Hiruzen has used the widely circulated words in the Ninja World "When facing an Uchiha with a Sharingan, the usual tactic is two-on-one from behind, and one-on-one means try to escape." to subtly flatter and set up the proud Fugaku, who naturally fell for it.
As a result, Fugaku took on the arduous mission of leading 8,000 Konoha ninjas against 11,000 Iwagakure ninjas. The war lasted over a year, 3,226 of the 8,000 ninjas were killed, and Fugaku was beaten into a timid and indecisive fool.