It was still afternoon when Uchiha Tonan walked alone on the street after leaving the Hokage Office. Even though the snow was falling, the commercial streets were filled with people going about their daily activities. Tonan did not have the air of ninjas. He squatted on the roadside and skillfully bargained with the vendors.
After a series of back and forth, they finally reached an agreement. Then, after he happily paid the money, the vendor took the ingredients to the welfare institution. Not long after, at the corner of the street, some members of the Konoha Police Force appeared.
Tonan casually glanced at them and then turned around to sit down in a breakfast restaurant. A waitress came to him with a smile on her face. “Welcome, may I ask what you would like to order?”
Tonan smiled and replied, “One bowl of porridge, and two kinds of pickles, please.”
“Please wait.”
Tonan waited. Resting his elbows on the table, he placed his hands together, just happening to cover his lips. Behind his hands, his lips moved and he activated Wind Communication Technique.
On the street, the Konoha Police Force squad captain suddenly narrowed his eyes and glanced around casually. He then said to the squad members, “All of you continue to patrol. I need to go to find Captain Shinji for something.”
“Alright.”
……
Late at night, Tonan finally put Little Kotoura to sleep. Then, he created a shadow clone to take care of the baby, and the main body put on a black cloak, and quietly left the institution.
The winter moon was clear and cold, emitting ice-like white radiance, reflecting a pale hue on the entire Konoha. The cold wind danced in the air like sharp swords, and when it passed through the leaves, they let out shrill cries.
In the Uchiha clan district, several shadows were quietly leaving their houses one by one. They were heading towards the forest outside Konoha. Not long after, the dark shadows jumped down from trees and gathered under a cliff.
An Uchiha clan member asked the most experienced person among them, “Shinji, is it here?”
Uchiha Shinji looked around and nodded after confirming that the location was right. He said, “It should be around here. You all weren’t followed on your way, were you?”
The group of Uchiha clan members shook their heads and one of them replied, “No, we all took detours to make sure that no one followed us.”
Shinji nodded, “That’s good. Everyone, rest for a bit and wait for Tonan.”
Suddenly, an Uchiha clan member asked with a worried look, “Shinji, do you think Tonan has forgotten the clan because he followed the Hokage for too long?”
Shinji replied firmly, “Impossible, the Great Elder’s judgment can’t be wrong. Besides, Tonan has already done so much in the dark. He even took the risk of killing White Fang, removing the sharpest tool of the Konoha higher-ups. Great Elder told me earlier that Tonan is also secretly sowing discord between the Hokage and the other high-leveled executives. If he didn’t have the clan in his heart, why would he bother to do these things? He could have just followed the Hokage.”
Another slightly older clan member immediately chimed in, “Yes, no other Uchiha can do what Tonan did. In any case, even if I died, I can’t swallow my pride to please those people.”
When everyone heard this, they placed themselves in Tonan’s shoes and felt that Tonan didn’t have it easy. They nodded their heads in agreement.
Shinji raised his head and glanced at the white moon in the sky. He squinted his eyes, “It’s almost time, why isn’t Tonan here yet?”
Coo, coo~ Coo, coo~
At this moment, white pigeons’ cooing came from all directions. Under the silver glow of the cold moon, a dense black shadow flit across, as if a large flock of crows was flying. The black shadow was getting closer and larger and stopped above the cliff.
Slowly, the shadow merged to form a human silhouette. Everyone looked at it with vigilance. That figure took a few steps forward and came to the cliff’s edge, looking down at the crowd.
Behind the cliff, there was a cold crescent moon. And only the scarlet spinning Sharingan could make these people see that the person who had come was an Uchiha.
“Is everyone here?” At just about ten meters, the cliff was not very high. When everyone activated their Sharingan and looked closely, they could vaguely see Tonan’s appearance. But as Uchiha clan members, being looked down on from a high place, made them feel uncomfortable.
“Was that just genjutsu…”
“Was he, in fact, already here, but we never noticed?”
“Did he deceive so many Uchiha clan members who have three tomoe Sharingan?”
“It seems Great Elder is right. Tonan is the most likely Uchiha to surpass Asura. Thinking of this, Shinji’s frown relaxed a little, “Tonan, why did you call us all here?”
Tonan looked at everyone below with his scarlet Sharingan and coldly said, “The list of confidants that the Great Elder delivered to me before his death had thirty people. How come there are just sixteen here?”
Shinji frowned again hearing Tonan’s words. He hesitated for a bit and replied, “There are just twenty as far as I know. But Jiro and Yoshisuke were killed recently and even their Sharingan was dug out. The other two are busy and can’t come for the time being. As for the remaining ten, we don’t know who they are, and the Great Elder didn’t tell us.”
When Tonan said thirty people, he was just bluffing. After all, he couldn’t guarantee that everyone here who knew about him would agree with him. Sure enough, only twelve people acknowledged him, but twenty knew about his secret.
“Let’s seize this chance to catch them all in one fell swoop. There are many ways to kill them, but let’s use Orochimaru first. If a fish slips through the net, I can just fish in the troubled waters.”
Tonan nodded indifferently and said, “This matter is of great importance. Great Elder didn’t tell you all everything for the sake of the clan’s great cause. I hope you can understand.”
Shinji nodded, “We are not that petty. Great Elder naturally had his thoughts. Everything is for the clan.”
Tonan placed his hands on his back and looked down, “I gathered you all here because I have a mission to give you.”
Tonan’s attitude made some of the Uchiha clan members unhappy. One of them took a few steps forward and revealed his three tomoe Sharingan, glaring at him, “Tonan, although the Great Elder favored you, we are all your seniors. Pay attention to your words.”
“Words?” In the next moment, the three tomoe in his eyes instantly spun rapidly.
“Eh…” The three tomoe of that person instinctively moved a little, and it instantly deactivated on its own. That person closed his eyes and fell to the ground.
“Shinra!” Several people exclaimed and hurried over to support him.
“He’s fine. He has merely passed out from spiritual exhaustion.”
