Chapter 22: Pressing Step by Step (Part 1)

"So eager to stir up our anger; you Uchiha are afraid the truth will be exposed, aren't you?"

"The villainous faces hidden behind loyalty—just thinking about it makes me want to vomit. But justice will always triumph over evil, and the truth will surface sooner or later. The conspiracy of the Uchiha Clan... we Cloud Ninja will never let you succeed!"

What? Nanshu frowned; he caught a whiff of an unusual conspiracy from the tone of the Cloud Shinobi.

"What are you babbling about?"

Baton gave a cold laugh and recited the "script" he had long since obtained from Root.

"Heh, I'm saying that you Uchiha yourselves have a problem; you are afraid that if Konoha's external pressure weakens, you will have more energy to target the internal."

"The conflict between you Uchiha and the village has long been irreconcilable. It is said that the Nine-Tails Incident has an inextricable connection to you Uchiha. Isn't your clan also driven to the corner of the village because of this? A sinful clan that harbors secret resentment and waits for an opportunity to retaliate because you cannot defy the will of the village!"

"If you want proof—the blood-red Sharingan on the night of the Nine-Tails is the best evidence! If it wasn't someone from the Uchiha Clan who controlled the Nine-Tails to launch a rebellion, then why did the Sharingan appear in the eyes of the Nine-Tails!?"

Cold, silent.

In this instant, the air in the room nearly solidified. Nanshu's expression changed abruptly; no one expected the conflict between the village and the Uchiha to be so easily poked open by an outsider.

And almost at the same time, Uchiha Fugaku opened his eyes, his gaze containing a sharp edge as he looked at Shimura Danzo on the high platform. No wonder the panic in my heart could never be calmed; so your spear was hidden here, was it?

"I don't understand what you are talking about. Furthermore, it is not for you outsiders to judge the affairs between the Uchiha and the village."

"Is that so?" At this moment, the Cloud Ninja instead revealed an expression of having everything under control.

"Could it be that the Uchiha are not afraid of the village taking action against you, so you want to destroy the peace between Konoha and the Cloud Ninja, ensuring your external environment never gains security, thereby consuming Konoha's security forces? As long as Konoha's exterior has no guarantee of peace for a single day, the village will not dare to fight on two fronts simultaneously, and must remain yielding to you Uchiha on all matters to maintain peace within the village!?"

"You were originally the most arrogant clan in Konoha, yet you were driven to the corner of the village and imprisoned and monitored like criminals. Thinking about it, with your arrogance, you surely aren't willing to be treated this way, dreaming day and night of reclaiming your former glory and making the Uchiha great again."

"But because of the poor relationship and suppression by the village, you can never achieve it. Your hearts are filled with anger and dissatisfaction, and over time, it has turned into resentment!"

"Because of resentment, you are hostile; because of hostility, you must retaliate! You Uchiha murdered the Cloud Ninja envoy just to retaliate against Konoha, to destroy the peace and incite war. As long as Konoha is plunged into the flames of war, you Uchiha can profit from it!"

Baton spread his arms and shouted in a loud voice: "If a war breaks out between the Cloud Ninja and Konoha, the village's strength will be greatly weakened. By then, even relying on the strength of your own clan, you Uchiha could deal a fatal blow to all of Konoha—destroying peace, inciting war, overthrowing the existing order, and establishing a paradise belonging to the Uchiha!"

"Thinking back on it now, the death of the Fourth Hokage was likely no accident either."

Theoretically speaking, is it really not worth being surprised that the Uchiha would do such a thing? Nanshu couldn't help but wonder if the Hawks in the Uchiha Clan really had such a plan.

Of course, the Nine-Tails matter is pure bull... Damn, it really was the Uchiha who did it; Obito, you pit-digging jerk.

Although Nanshu couldn't guarantee whether the clan's Hawks would have such thoughts, from a historical perspective, if the Uchiha were truly crazy to this extent, perhaps the night of the clan extermination wouldn't have happened.

It's just that he didn't expect the Cloud Ninja Village to make a big fuss using the village's wariness of the Uchiha, shifting the focus of the topic from the Cloud Ninja to the Uchiha conspiracy theory.

Moreover, this process of transition gave people the illusion of being smooth and natural, as if the facts were just so. But in the end, it was because the Uchiha's usual style of conduct was too deeply ingrained in people's hearts, making the village instinctively wary the moment they heard the word "Uchiha."

"On the night of the Nine-Tails, the entire Uchiha clan was locked in the clan grounds and couldn't leave a single step! Your wild, boring delusions cannot shake anything at all!"

However, the atmosphere in the room had already changed quietly. If Nanshu had still held the upper hand just a moment ago, then at this time, except for the two Uchiha in the room, almost everyone—including the hidden Anbu and Root members—was staring at the two of them with scrutinizing eyes. Some even had killing intent rising in their hearts, because they truly believed the Cloud Ninja's words.

Given the current relationship between the Uchiha and the village, it didn't seem impossible even if someone said they were going to launch a rebellion.

The air was so silent and oppressive, weighing on people's chests like a thousand catties.

"So this is the Uchiha?"

"Even plotting against their own Hokage."

"Simply a mad dog..."

The surrounding gazes of scrutiny and hostility made Nanshu lose his footing for a moment. In the end, this was a problem between the Uchiha and the village, and even more so a situation caused by decades of accumulated dissatisfaction. Now that the Cloud Ninja had torn off that layer of fig leaf, it was simply fatal for Nanshu, especially at this particular juncture.

"Those are just guesses; you have no evidence at all. Baseless speculation is nothing but slander."

Nanshu's expression was serious, while he carefully chose his words, attempting to defend the Uchiha. A single moment of carelessness and being caught in a verbal loophole would result in a storm of attacks. Moreover, Nanshu knew better than anyone that Konoha's prejudice against the Uchiha was a mountain that no amount of reasoning could overcome; it was something that could truly crush people to death.

But no matter how Nanshu tried to salvage the situation, the "collapse of reputation" of the Uchiha in the village was already a realistic problem.

Uchiha Nanshu was truly unable to defend himself on this matter. All his efforts were as fragile as glass before the mountain named "prejudice." Even more pitifully, almost everyone agreed with the Cloud Ninja's thinking, because in their worldview, the Uchiha were just super trouble.

"The Uchiha regarding this matter...! We didn't... at all...!"

He tried to catch his breath several times to argue, but facing the surrounding gazes, Nanshu felt all his words were stuck in his throat.

Everyone in the conference room, including the hidden Root and Anbu, seemed to have lost even the interest in listening, only wanting to judge them guilty as quickly as possible. Damn it...

"That's enough."

However, just as Nanshu was trying to explain, a sharp shout interrupted his train of thought.

Nanshu followed the sound and saw Shimura Danzo sitting in the high seat. At this moment, the other party was looking down at him with a pair of sharp eyes.

Danzo deliberately interrupted Nanshu's defense at a critical point, keeping everyone's emotions and attention fixed on the sentiment that the Uchiha had deliberately destroyed the peace treaty.

"But!"

"Continuing is just a waste of time. Let useless arguments end here."

"Is Lord Danzo clearly favoring the Cloud Ninja? How can there be a logic where only they are allowed to slander, but the Uchiha are not allowed to prove their innocence!"

Nanshu shouted angrily.

Nanshu keenly sensed that the gazes of the people around him had changed, becoming full of wariness, vigilance, disgust, and even hostility. It was as if they had already concluded in their hearts that this matter was indeed done by the Uchiha, and that the Uchiha had deliberately destroyed the village's peace for their own interests.

Feeling the immense hostility around him, Nanshu opened his mouth, his face looking very ugly; he knew he had missed the best opportunity....