"So, what you're saying is—our great clan leader has already agreed to the relocation? And the Konoha council doesn't even plan to cover the moving expenses? We're supposed to handle every single cost ourselves?"
Tahara Rokuro sneered as he listened to his mother, Uchiha Ashikaga, explain the details of the relocation plan. "Heh, even a demolition crew would have to bow down to this kind of forced eviction."
Beside him, Uchiha Kei looked utterly shocked.
"Ashikaga-auntie… then what about my house?"
For the past while, Kei had been living at Rokuro's home, though her old house was still occasionally cleaned.
"Kei," Ashikaga sighed, "the clan likely won't compensate you for now. From what I've heard, the clan leader said everyone is facing hardship, so we must save wherever we can. In cases like yours, the best they can do is record it as a pending debt and promise to make it up later—once this crisis has passed."
"What?! How could they do this?" Kei's voice trembled. "My parents died fighting the Nine-Tails! They were heroes of Konoha! How can they treat me like this?!"
Deep down, Uchiha Kei still leaned toward the dove faction—believing that Konoha and the Uchiha could coexist peacefully. To her, this was nothing short of betrayal.
Rokuro almost wanted to tell her the truth—that even the Fourth Hokage's own son would one day be thrown into a tiny apartment, struggling to afford food, suffering from malnutrition. The once-glorious heir of the Uzumaki bloodline would grow up as the shortest kid in his class, outperformed in growth even by ordinary civilians.
Compared to Naruto, Kei was actually lucky—she'd only lost her property.
"Anyway," Ashikaga continued, "the clan leader has already ordered everyone to vacate our current compound within ten days. We'll be moving to the outskirts near Konoha Prison. Temporary housing is being built there—it's rough, but at least livable."
Seeing the gloom on both women's faces, Rokuro clapped his hands sharply to draw their attention.
"Come on, it's just moving houses. Maybe it's a huge blow to others—lots of money, effort, business losses—but for us? Not really. We don't run a business, so there's no financial hit. And both Mom and I are shinobi, so our income's steady. As for you, Kei—given your strength, you could graduate anytime you want. So really, there's nothing to worry about."
Ashikaga nodded slightly but frowned again. "Income isn't the problem, Rokuro. It's the house. Those temporary shelters are only short-term. We'll eventually have to build a new one from scratch—that's a big project."
Kei hit the key issue dead-on. People often thought ninja didn't have to worry about mundane things like housing—but just look at Sakura in the future. Even as one of the new Legendary Three, Tsunade's own disciple, she still struggled with home loans.
Clearly, Konoha's higher-ups wanted to bleed the Uchiha dry. No moving funds, no compensation, and forcing them to rebuild homes at their own cost—it was a clean, quiet way of cutting the clan down.
Rokuro just smiled and pulled out a scroll, waving it in front of Kei.
"Sure, it's tough for others. But for us? Building a house is just one Earth Release away."
"Huh? You're going to build a house with Earth Release? Is that even possible?"
Kei, though not yet a full-fledged ninja, understood the basics of chakra and ninjutsu.
Ninjutsu was, at its core, a technique that manipulated chakra. It could produce all kinds of phenomena—fire that burned like real flames, water that flowed like true rivers. A skilled enough user could even cook food using their Fire Release.
But there was a fundamental problem with chakra-created matter—it vanished once the chakra dissipated.
No matter how much water a Water Release user summoned, once their chakra was gone, even an entire river would disappear instantly. The same applied to Earth Release: a house formed from chakra would crumble the moment the chakra dispersed.
"I remember our teacher saying," Kei recalled, "that among all chakra-created objects, only the plants born from Wood Release can exist permanently. Everything else vanishes."
Rokuro grinned. "Didn't expect you to be such a good student. Even the offhand lessons stuck with you, huh?"
"Hmph, of course! I actually pay attention in class—unlike someone who daydreams all day."
She lifted her chin proudly, like a swan in full display.
"Wood Release works because it doesn't create trees from nothing," Rokuro explained. "It infuses immense life energy into existing seeds or roots, forcing them to grow rapidly. So rather than calling it Wood Release, it's more accurate to call it a Life Technique."
Kei blinked, thoughtful. The logic fit. That would explain why Wood Release creations lasted indefinitely while other chakra constructs didn't.
"Anyway," Rokuro said, "what I'm doing isn't true Earth Release construction—it's Earth Release combined with sealing techniques."
"Sealing techniques? How does that help?"
Rokuro motioned for them to follow him into the yard, unrolled the scroll, and spread it flat across the ground.
"Earth Release: Three-Room-One-Hall Technique!"
With a showy declaration, he pressed his hand to the scroll. Chakra rippled outward, and from the soil, a small four-square-meter house began to rise.
When Rokuro lifted his hand, cutting off chakra flow, the house didn't crumble. It stood firmly in the yard.
Kei gasped in awe, rushing over to touch the earthen walls, running her fingers along the texture, then crouching to crawl inside.
"It really is a three-room-one-hall house! The layout's perfect—but, uh… Rokuro, this is tiny. Did you make a baby-sized version or something?"
Rokuro waved her off. "You want a bigger one? Just add more chakra. I just want to show you something—what happens when the chakra stops flowing."
They waited for more than ten minutes. The house remained perfectly intact. Not a single wall cracked or flaked.
Kei's eyes widened. "Wait a second…"
She formed hand signs and activated her single tomoe Sharingan. The moment she looked, she understood.
"The chakra hasn't dissipated—it's circulating inside the structure! I get it—you're using sealing formulas to lock the chakra in place, aren't you?!"
Rokuro nearly panicked. "What are you doing?! Didn't I tell you not to reveal your Sharingan yet?!"
He dashed forward, grabbing Kei and covering her eyes with his hand.
Kei froze for a second, her whole body going soft as her face flushed crimson. It took her a moment before she pushed him away, eyes reverted to normal.
From behind, Ashikaga giggled mischievously and slipped back into the house, leaving the two alone in the courtyard.
Kei caught the look and turned even redder.
"Alright, alright, I get it—I shouldn't have shown it. But tell me! How did you do it exactly?"
So Rokuro gave her a brief lesson on the fundamentals of sealing techniques.
Meanwhile, deep within the Uchiha compound, the clan leader, three elders, and a dozen elite jōnin had gathered. The room echoed with shouting and anger
The cracks within the clan were beginning to show.