The air was still.
Valley River Village, tucked within a mist-draped gorge between the eastern ridges of the Land of Lightning. The Chinoike clan had lived here for decades, far from the courts and politics of Kinbyō Castle.
The Clan gates were wide open, more symbolic than functional. As the morning fog thinned, four figures appeared on the ridgeline.
All carried fans on their backs.
The Uchiha.
At the front stood a man in his thirties, tall and built like a sword sheathed in civility. His name was Uchiha Sadao, a high-ranking tactician and cousin to the clan head. He was known for his silence in the council room and ruthlessness on the battlefield.
Behind him: his brother Daizen, younger, sharper, always watching.
The other two wore masks.
They were here to confirm.
Inside the Clan
"They've arrived."
The words passed from lookout to elder, carried not on panic, but habit.
In the Chinoike meeting chamber, clan head Chinoike En, a broad-shouldered man with crimson eyes dulled by exhaustion, sat in silence. Beside him stood his wife, Reika, once of the Kazan clan, her hand gripping a steel fan that had not been opened in years.
"Summon the girl," En said.
A moment later, a young girl entered.
Hana, eleven years old. Born late, born sickly, born silent. But her eyes burned brighter than any in the clan. Her mother was gone, taken by an unknown disease,
"Stay behind me," En said.
She nodded.
On the high platform at the center of the village, En met Uchiha Sadao with ceremonial calm.
"We did not request Uchiha presence," he said.
Sadao bowed faintly. "You are correct."
"Then why are you here?"
Sadao straightened. "By contract of the Daimyō's widow, Lady Hiyokura. She believes your clan conspired in his death. We are here to verify your innocence… or confirm your guilt."
Silence fell.
Wind passed through the valley.
En's hands didn't move.
But the water behind him rippled unnaturally.
"We have done nothing," he said. "You know that."
Sadao didn't blink. "We are shinobi. We do not know. We confirm."
The next hour passed with ritual.
Scrolls were presented.
Signatures verified.
And then, one of the masked Uchiha stepped forward, lifting a small vial.
Within: a clot of blood. Blackened, warpd.
"The Daimyō's final extraction," Sadao said. "We traced a residual chakra pattern. Matching your clan's signature."
Lies.
En stared at the vial. "You falsified it."
"No," Sadao said. "The court did. We only carry out truth."
Reika stepped forward. Her fan cracked open.
"Then this is not a meeting," she said. "This is a sentence."
Sadao's hand fell to his sword.
"By contract of the Daimyō's heir and Lady Hiyokura," he said, "the Chinoike clan is to be banished from the Land of Lightning. Immediately."
It was Daizen who moved first.
A flicker of chakra.
A fireball no larger than a melon, launched toward the river to cut off escape.
But he never saw the reflection.
One of the river guards, Chinoike Renga, caught it midair with a palm wrapped in chakra and redirected it upward, steam erupting as it struck fog.
Crimson eyes shimmered.
Bloodline chakra awakened.
Ketsuryūgan.
The Uchiha moved like fire, explosive, sweeping, coordinated.
The Chinoike responded with water and pressure. Their chakra manipulated iron-rich fluids, turning sweat and breath into blades. Wounds bled backward. Joints stiffened. One Uchiha collapsed mid-charge, screaming as his own blood boiled under his skin.
But it was never a fair fight.
The Uchiha didn't come to arrest.
They came to scatter.
And with over three hundred seasoned Uchiha now emerging from their concealed positions, the true battle was just beginning.
Retreat. En ordered it mid-combat.
"All units to the outer route. Reika, take Hana. Go."
"But-"
"No!"
He turned back toward the center of the village, where the ridgeline now smoked with Uchiha fire.
The retreat was chaotic.
And by the time the sun reached midday, Valley River was ash.
But its people lived.
Two hundred and seven.
Scattered. Wounded. Humiliated.
Alive.
That Night
The survivors camped under a cliff face, hidden behind a forest overgrown with thorn and vine. They sat in silence.
En was missing. Presumed dead.
Reika took command.
Hana stared at her reflection in a puddle. Her eyes flickered, red, brilliant.
"Why did they lie?" she asked.
Reika knelt beside her, brushing a hand through the child's dark hair.
"Because power makes people afraid," she said. "And your eyes scare them more than any truth."