Danzo's expression was also extremely grim. He had previously thought of letting the Moderate Faction and the Hidden Mist both suffer losses, but now, the greatest threat was actually coming from the rear!
He clenched his fists tightly, his lone eye staring out the window toward the Uchiha Clan Compound. Gritting his teeth, he said, "It must be that old fool Setsuna who's gone mad! Or... he's been bewitched by someone!"
He couldn't understand it. Setsuna clearly always wanted the Uchiha to break free from Konoha's control, so why choose this moment to cause trouble? Was he not afraid of being caught in a pincer attack by Konoha and the Hidden Mist?
No one could answer his question.
Hiruzen Sarutobi slumped back in his chair, his hands supporting his forehead. The composure he had while strategizing earlier had vanished without a trace.
He suddenly realized that he had underestimated the Uchiha from the very beginning. He thought he could control the situation by "utilizing the Moderate Faction and restraining the Radical Faction," but he didn't expect the Radical Faction would use such a drastic "giving up" approach to shatter all his calculations.
"What about the neutral faction? Can we get them to restrain Setsuna?" Homura Mitokado asked, clinging to a final shred of hope.
"Most of the neutral faction's Ninjas are Fugaku's confidants. Now that Fugaku is at the front lines, they are leaderless and cannot be mobilized at all!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said bitterly. "Besides, they have no deep-seated hatred for the Radical Faction. There's a high probability they won't risk their lives against Setsuna for our sake."
The office fell into a deathly silence once more. The four highest rulers of Konoha now looked like a group of gamblers who had lost all their chips, their faces filled with confusion and panic.
They never would have imagined that after calculating against the Uchiha for so many years, they would finally be rendered helpless by the other party's act of "giving up."
What they didn't know was that the forces remaining in the Uchiha Clan Compound were no longer under Setsuna's sole control—the name Uchiha Xia Yin had not yet truly pierced the heart of the Konoha High Command.
They only knew that the web of checks and balances they had meticulously woven had suddenly been torn open, and the prey within the net was no longer playing by the rules.
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly raised his head, his eyes full of ruthlessness and anxiety. "Immediately send word to Fugaku. Tell him to stabilize the front lines at all costs!"
"In addition, have the Root Organization pull half of its personnel back to defend Konoha and closely monitor the movements in the Uchiha Clan Compound! Tell Yakushi to do whatever it takes—even if it means a fake compromise—to stall Setsuna. He cannot be allowed to actually rebel!"
His voice carried a final struggle but could not hide the panic in his heart.
At this moment, the Konoha F4 finally realized they were no longer the players in control of everything, and the Uchiha was no longer a pawn that could be used at will. A storm they could not control was quietly brewing in the Uchiha Clan Compound, ready to sweep through the entire village at any moment.
In the central streets of the Uchiha Clan Compound, a crowd of clansmen had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Dark-clothed figures crowded both sides of the road, standing on tiptoe to look toward the closed residence at the end of the alley. It was Uchiha Setsuna's home. Currently, the Moderate Faction Elder, Uchiha Yakushi, was blocking the vermilion gate, cursing like a cornered, rabid beast with spit flying everywhere.
"Uchiha Setsuna! You shrinking turtle! Get out here and face your death!" Yakushi's voice was hoarse, as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper. He gripped the copper rings of the gate tightly, shaking them violently. The rusty rings made a piercing "clanging" sound that made people's eardrums ache.
His face had turned a deep shade of purplish-red, the veins on his forehead bulging. His white beard trembled violently with rage, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes looked menacing.
He had just turned sixty this year. His originally slightly hunched back was now held straight, yet it couldn't hide his swaying frame. The anxiety of seeking reinforcements for the front lines over the past few days, the panic over the Moderate Faction's lack of strength, and the humiliation of being ignored by Setsuna had almost crushed this veteran Elder.
He suddenly raised his foot and kicked the gate hard. The old wooden door groaned with a "creak" but remained unmoved.
"You coward! Bastard! You spineless deserter!"
Yakushi's insults became increasingly foul. Crude words like "may your sons be born without assholes" and "go to Hell after you die" escaped his lips, completely abandoning the dignity of an Elder. "The clansmen at the front lines are bleeding! Your kin are wailing under the blades of the Hidden Mist! Yet you hide in your mansion, drinking tea and enjoying yourself! You don't deserve to be an Uchiha Elder! You don't even deserve to be human!"
Inside the gate, Uchiha Setsuna was sitting at a stone table under a grape trellis, holding a cup of warm Pre-Rain tea. The misty fragrance of the tea wafted around his nose.
He leisurely blew on the foam atop the tea, took a light sip, and with a hint of playful mockery in his eyes, he called out toward the closed gate, "Brother Yakushi, you should watch your tongue. I already have two sons; the Elder died in the Second Great Ninja War, and the younger is a captain at the front lines. Both have shed blood for the Uchiha. As for you, at your age, your cursing is worse than a shrew on the street. Aren't you afraid of losing the Moderate Faction's face if word gets out?"
"You! You!" Yakushi was so choked up he couldn't catch his breath. His chest heaved violently, and he almost fainted on the spot.
He pointed at the gate, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. "This is cowardice! This is murder! You're watching the clansmen at the front die and doing nothing to help! You'll be struck by lightning for this!"
The surrounding clansmen began to whisper among themselves.
Some pointed at Yakushi's back with sympathy on their faces. "Elder Yakushi is truly driven mad by desperation. The Moderate Faction is indeed in a difficult position right now."
Others sneered quietly. "Wasn't he quite formidable when he followed Konoha to suppress the Radical Faction? Now he's begging Elder Setsuna. He brought this on himself."
Even younger Radical Faction Ninjas showed disdain, their Three-Tomoe Sharingan flashing briefly. "When you teamed up with Konoha to withhold our resources, why didn't you think this day would come?"
Yakushi naturally heard these discussions, and his expression became even uglier.
He knew better than anyone that the Moderate Faction was already at its wit's end. Among the five hundred or so Ninjas remaining in the compound, the Radical Faction accounted for over three hundred, all battle-hardened elites.
Fugaku's neutral faction consisted of over a hundred people, each fiercely loyal and impossible to mobilize.
As for the Moderate Faction, only about fifty people remained. More than forty of them were Genin and Chūnin under the age of sixteen with little combat power. There were only seven Jonin who could fight, and only two Three-Tomoe Elite Jōnin, who had to stay by his side at all times.
With such strength, let alone confronting Setsuna head-on, even protecting themselves would be difficult.
But the clansmen at the front were still waiting for rescue. Fugaku's messages were becoming more urgent by the day. The Konoha High Command had only given the ridiculous suggestion of "sending teenage Ninjas." Now even Setsuna was refusing by giving up. He was truly at a dead end!
...
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808