Plus, with his innate talent, he had already stood out on the battlefield at the age of five, which indirectly indicates... Konoha genuinely lacks manpower at present... Not only him, Shisui, even next year Itachi will have to be taken to the battlefield to resist the attack from the hidden cloud, especially after the cloud hidden dispatched A and Killer Bee to form the AB combination and ravaged the battlefield... the situation became increasingly severe...
"Trying to be brave, let me see if you're hurt." Roy lifted Shisui's collar as if picking up a rabbit, pulled him up and shook him, almost making the young pants fall down, quickly covering his crotch.
"Nissan, I'm already a big kid. Can you save me some face..."
Seeing people coming and going in front of the shrine was really embarrassing... Shisui complained in distress while clutching his pants.
Roy didn't care about him, lifted his foot and kicked him on the butt: "Go, play somewhere else."
Shisui pretended to be in pain but actually dodged away, respectfully bowed to Fugaku: "Uncle Fugaku."
People followed as usual, like a little tail, trailing behind Roy...
Uchiha Fugaku quietly watched the young men romping around, the gloomy air slightly reduced by three points. He said nothing, only encouragedly patting Shisui's small head, then turned his gaze to Roy, recalling the late-night visit from Sakumo Hatake, and the words he said... "As long as you nod, I will immediately report to Lord Hokage, striving to become Roy's instructor."
Uchiha Fugaku watched the all-white long sword hanging at Roy's side, which he said was his trophy from the battlefield. He had never denied his son's swordsmanship talent until White Fang's visit made him realize that he had underestimated his son's swordsmanship talent.
"A self-created swordsmanship, Roy is the most gifted swordsman I have ever seen, bar none." This was the fair evaluation given by Sakumo Hatake on the battlefield after witnessing Roy's swordsmanship.
Unfortunately... Sakumo Hatake's idea is impossible to realize, he probably knows too... perhaps it's just wishful thinking on his part... because... Uchiha Fugaku's face was grim,
neither Lord Hokage nor the three Hokage assistants would want the Hatake family too close to Uchiha, this time the heavy casualties among young clan members may very well have someone behind the scenes intentionally pushing it.
Hayek's invisible hitman was the most deadly...
With one Uchiha after another beside him paying respects to Fugaku, he walked into the shrine.
Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath, took Roy and Shisui, stepped into the shrine, and within a few steps reached the main hall, where a row of coffins neatly lined the big hall, all containing Uchiha clan members who died on the battlefield.
Better ones perhaps left a whole corpse, worse ones with missing arms or legs, or even... someone simply missing, leaving only the set of clothes he loved to wear placed in the coffin....
Roy followed Uchiha Fugaku into the shrine, stepping into the main hall, where a path was cleared for him and Fugaku by rows of Uchiha in front of the coffins, at the very front... an elderly, a middle-aged man, nodding at him with two young men....
Uchiha Fugaku silently stood in front of the coffins, adjusted his emotions with closed eyes, then opened his eyes to offer flowers to each coffin,
Roy quietly followed behind, offering flowers with Uchiha Fugaku, then the elderly, middle-aged, young... and every Uchiha inside the hall....
Until the last flower was offered....
Uchiha Fugaku turned around, seated himself facing away from the coffins,
The clan meeting was quietly announced to begin in this sorrowful atmosphere.
Shisui was observant, participating in the clan meeting for the first time, knowing which occasions were appropriate for speaking and which were not, he quietly knelt beside Uchiha Fugaku, sticking close to Roy.
The first row in front was Uchiha Hachida... Uchiha Inoka, Tekkeka... and like a dwindling candle, ready to extinguish with a gust of wind, Uchiha Setsuna!
As an elderly active during the second war, Uchiha Setsuna was from the same era as Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo, back then due to dissatisfaction with the Second Hokage's policy towards the Uchiha clan, secretly incited rebellion and got detained... Now, aged and frail, being released is not for pity, clearly the clan made some sort of arrangement with Konoha.
"Let's begin." Uchiha Fugaku spoke expressionlessly.
Sitting in the front row, slightly behind Uchiha Setsuna, was Uchiha Fugaku's most trusted subordinate and advisor, Uchiha Hachida. He solemnly stated the meeting's agenda and the concern shared by all Uchiha present, except the unaware young like Shisui attending for the first time:
"Clan head, we can't continue like this."
Uchiha Hachida frowned and said: "This time the task arrangements are very suspicious, I suspect they are intentionally suppressing the Uchiha from higher up."
"Exactly, clan head," Uchiha Inoka, with his shoulder bandaged, angrily said: "I originally took a B-level mission, only to find out on the battlefield it's A-level. If Hachida hadn't arrived just in time, I might not even be standing here speaking to you!"
"Me too... I also... I received a C-level, and it turned out to be B-level...."
"No need for doubt, the intelligence discrepancy resulting in so many deaths among us surely is related to higher-ups!"
"Shhh... Don't speak rashly!"
"Who speaks rashly? What's there that can't be said? This is Uchiha, not the Hokage's building!"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi did shameful deeds, aren't we allowed to speak?! Ask your deceased father if he would agree?!"
"Ding-dong..." The wind chimes hung at a corner of Nakano Shrine jingled in the wind....
Complaints, anger... doubts... ran rampant... Uchiha whose relatives and friends died all turned red-eyed, the intelligence faults aren't something that can be lightly brushed off with 'battlefield is dynamically changing.'
Nobody is foolish, moreover since the second Hokage took office, Uchiha has faced various policies of isolation openly and secretly... with the third Hokage collaborating with Danzo, escalating the suppression and weakening of Uchiha...
Anyone in the clan with discerning eyes can see it!
But who planted the seed of suspicion at the moment Senju Tobirama killed Uchiha Izuna?
Roy silently sat beside Fugaku, quietly listening, regarding the conflict between the Uchiha and the village, and the eventual annihilation of the clan, perhaps no one knows better than him what the true reality of these events is!
It's called Uchiha versus Konoha, but it's more accurately described as... Indra vs. Asura... Yin Release vs. Yang Release... Spear vs. Shield... seemingly irreconcilable, yet truly existent... fundamentally not subject to human will.....
'Contradiction... Yin and Yang... actually, it's inherently one....'
The commotion in the hall continued, even tending towards escalation... accumulated frustration and dissatisfaction, once unleashed, flows like a flood.....
Uchiha Fugaku quietly listened in silence.
Beneath him, Uchiha Setsuna also remained silent with closed eyes... allowing the situation to ferment....
Roy had been overlooking something, observing everything in his eyes, finally realized what he had been ignoring all along.
He lifted his chin, glanced outside the window, afternoon, the sun slanted westward, sunlight streaming down, casting shadows on the trees, on the walls, casting shadows on people....
'Yin and Yang, light and shade, spear and shield... wherever sunlight reaches, shadows follow... and as for me....
The youth lowered his eyelids, gently stroking the corner of his windbreaker, emblazoned with the red and white Uchiha fan pattern... a pair of ink-black eyes, brighter than ever.....
Comprehending a realization—
"I am now the inherently evil Uchiha!"
"I used to habitually eradicate the 'dark side,' not realizing... harnessing the dark side, managing those negative emotions, making it my driving force, my tool....
[En] out, heart worms squirm!
As they say, 'isolated Yang cannot survive, isolated Yin cannot thrive'...
Roy looked up once more, 'complaint,' 'anger,' 'dissatisfaction'... instantly transformed into fragrant mental nourishment!
'Heart worms, eat for me!'