Bang!
Shimura Danzō was furious. He slammed his cane into the floor so hard the whole room seemed to tremble.
His expression was dark—terrifyingly so.
He turned to glare at his old friend, the Third Hokage.
Forcing down his anger, he demanded, "Hiruzen, Konoha needs a new atmosphere. You—"
Before he could finish, the Third cut him off and demanded right to his face,
"Why did you frame an Uchiha toddler during this chaos?"
"Framing the Uchiha…"
Hearing that, Danzō's breathing stalled.
He subconsciously ignored the words toddler and latched onto Uchiha and frame.
Framing the Uchiha was something he did practically every day!
Otherwise, how could the reputation of one of Konoha's great clans rot so quickly?
But… which incident was Hiruzen talking about?
Whatever. Not important. He really did do it anyway.
The prejudice in people's hearts was a mountain.
But—what if people had already decided that mountain should be there from the start?
"Hiruzen… why bring that up now?" Danzō's voice lowered, but he still stubbornly argued,
"Those Uchiha brats are born evil! Are you going to just let them destroy the village?"
Tap, tap, tap.
Watching his old friend cling to the same twisted "convictions," Hiruzen felt tired.
He took out his pipe and knocked it against the desk to stop him.
"That's enough! What the village needs most right now is harmony—not internal conflict!"
"But don't forget, the Nine-Tails' eyes today were clearly—"
Danzō's expression soured as he fired back.
Before he could finish, he was interrupted again.
"I said enough!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stood up, staring straight at Danzō.
"You need to understand—I am the Hokage!"
The imposing presence he had accumulated over years as Hokage surged forward in full.
That last sentence was like the final straw that broke the camel's back.
It completely ignited the resentment in Danzō's heart.
He coldly flicked his cane and snapped, "You'll regret this, Hiruzen!"
Bang!
With that, he turned and stormed out!
Only the three remaining in the office were left behind. After a brief silence, Koharu Utatane cautiously asked,
"Hiruzen… will there be any problems with that framing-the-Uchiha matter?"
"Even if Danzō makes plenty of moves in the shadows, he still thinks he's doing it for the village."
"Besides Danzō, who else has such deep hostility toward the Uchiha?"
The Third slapped the desk and barked,
"Are you telling me a two-year-old child ran into the barrier by himself?!"
Thud.
At that, the two fell completely silent.
…
Uchiha Clan District, outside the main gate.
Uchiha Ren's little legs were pumping at full speed.
With the Light as a Swallow trait boosting him, his limb coordination reached a whole new level.
He could even break free from the standard shinobi sprint posture—arms held stiff and angled backward, legs taking quick tiny steps.
Because he—
Was swinging his arms and legs with all his might.
Cross-swinging them.
Perfect form, nimble steps!
His speed was almost comparable to that of a full-grown man!
Of course… if you ignored the height, it would've been perfect.
Step.
With one more footfall—
The moment he saw the Uchiha clan's iconic fan crest, his steps abruptly stopped.
His whole demeanor snapped back to what it had been before.
Quietly, he slipped into the clan compound without making a sound.
After the Nine-Tails incident ended, the ANBU who had been stationed here to watch them had already withdrawn.
The clan members who'd come to cause trouble had also left.
Some went to drink. Some went to sleep.
Faintly, there were even sounds coming from somewhere that made a person's face burn.
Only one man stood at the gate.
Uchiha Fugaku.
The clan head's eyes were deep and unreadable as he stared out into the night.
Slowly, his gaze turned blood-red—the three tomoe in his Sharingan rotating lazily.
His nostrils were filled with the thick stench of smoke and war.
"The Uchiha clan… has been guarded against to this extent already…"
Even with the village in such dire straits, they still had the manpower to keep the Uchiha under control?
He let out a quiet sigh and turned to leave.
But the moment he did, his three-tomoe Sharingan caught sight of a small figure.
Tiptoeing, sneaking inside.
" Ren? How did this child slip out?"
He froze.
His younger son—no, his second son now—was usually quiet and withdrawn.
He liked being alone whenever he could.
Because of that, many in the clan even thought he was antisocial.
Didn't like interacting with people.
So why… had he slipped out tonight?
With questions in his mind, Fugaku followed.
In the corner, Ren's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Just like I thought… he followed."
He simply stood there in the wall's shadow, waiting calmly for his father to approach.
The mysterious owner of a Mangekyō Sharingan.
As clan head, he possessed the Mangekyō—yet still watched as his own son slaughtered the clan.
Whether that was right or wrong, Ren couldn't judge.
After all, you didn't truly understand that weight—those brutal choices—until you became a father yourself.
As the distance closed, Ren could clearly feel a suffocating pressure rolling toward him.
" Ren, why did you run out? Can't sleep in the middle of the night?"
Perhaps because he'd been clan head for so long, Fugaku's tone was still stern.
There was less warmth than there should've been between father and son.
"No wonder your two sons end up more rebellious than the last."
Ren shook his head and explained simply,
"My room collapsed."
"Hm?!!!"
Fugaku's eyes jumped. He quickly looked deeper into the compound.
Only then did he realize that at some point, the main beam in Ren's room had actually fallen.
And he—both as clan head and as a father—hadn't noticed at all!
Even the other clan members hadn't noticed.
He sighed, guilt flickering across his face.
"I'm sorry, little Ren. Tomorrow, Father will fix it for you, alright?"
"For now… come sleep in Father's room."
As he spoke, he reached out to pick Ren up.
But could Ren allow that?
Their conversation hadn't even hit ten minutes yet!
He wriggled, trying to break free of Fugaku's hold.
But as tiny as he was—and without chakra—there was nothing he could do.
All he could do was watch helplessly as he was carried into a room, set down, and left behind as Fugaku turned to go.
Staring at Fugaku's back, Ren had no choice but to use his trump card and call out loudly,
"Under the shrine table—third leg, on top!"
Thud.
Fugaku's hand on the door paused.
"And inside Mother's window flowerbed."
Step.
Fugaku turned back, his gaze dark.
"And in this room's cabinet, the bottom-right corner—"
"Stop!" Fugaku rushed back, carefully glancing toward the adjacent bedroom before hissing in a low voice, "You little brat—how do you even know that?!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it was fast—
And it carried real anger.
He completely forgot the stern clan head act from earlier.
See? Now he was staying to talk.
Ren flashed a sly grin and patted the edge of the bed, speaking in a milky baby voice.
"Come. Sit."
"You'd better explain all of this—"
Ren waved his hand, cutting his father off.
"Father… you don't want Mother to find out about your stash, do you?"
As he spoke, he patted the bed again.
The meaning was obvious.
"You little—!"
Uchiha Fugaku's three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated.
He gritted his teeth… and in the end, sat down anyway.
Right now, in front of Uchiha Ren, he looked almost innocent—like a child.
And only then did Ren finally see the traits on Fugaku's body!
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