The night breeze made the leaves in the small courtyard rustle.
The Chakra fluctuations on Uchiha Akahiro had gradually subsided, but the heavy, suffocating pressure in the air had not diminished in the slightest.
Three Anbu Ninja remained standing on the walls and utility poles.
Under the gaze of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, they did not even dare to breathe.
Beneath their masks, the complexions of the three were deathly pale.
Especially the leading Anbu Captain; his fingers, hidden in his sleeves, were trembling uncontrollably.
This was the instinctive fear produced when the body encounters extreme danger.
He stared fixedly at Uchiha Akahiro’s blood-Red eyes.
Is this really an aura that an ordinary Chunin could possess?
Why was his Chakra as heavy as a mountain?
“Uchiha Akahiro.”
The Anbu Captain took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the trembling in his heart.
He spoke in a tone that was as calm and business-like as possible:
“This is just a misunderstanding.”
“We were just patrolling the perimeter under orders and sensed abnormal Chakra fluctuations here, so we came to check.”
“We absolutely have no intention of monitoring the Uchiha Clan, I hope you don’t overthink it.”
These words sounded watertight.
But combined with their current positioning, it appeared incredibly hypocritical and clumsy.
“Misunderstanding?”
Uchiha Akahiro sneered.
He did not even have the interest to finish listening to the other party’s explanation and directly interrupted.
“In the middle of the night, running to the utility poles of our Uchiha Compound to patrol?”
Uchiha Akahiro’s gaze was like a knife, instantly locking onto the three Anbu before him.
A trace of extremely biting sarcasm hung on the corners of his mouth:
“It seems Hokage-sama is truly busy with ten thousand matters; do you even have to send your Anbu to personally watch how many times our Uchiha people turn over while sleeping at night?”
The three Anbu did not speak.
Their hands, pressed against their Ninja tool pouches, tightened a little more.
Uchiha Akahiro took a step forward, glaring at them:
“What? Has Hiruzen Sarutobi become so wary and fearful of our Uchiha Clan to this extent?”
Hearing Uchiha Akahiro call the Third Hokage by his name directly, the expressions of the three Anbu changed simultaneously.
In Konoha, the Hokage is absolute authority.
When ordinary Ninja mention the Hokage, they are all filled with respect.
But this youth before them, besides coldness, had only blatant disdain and disgust in his tone.
“Uchiha Akahiro, watch your language.”
The Anbu Captain gritted his teeth, his voice emanating from beneath his fox mask, carrying a hint of suppressed warning:
“Slandering Hokage-sama is a serious crime in the Village.”
“Slander?”
Uchiha Akahiro suddenly burst into laughter.
There was not a shred of warmth in his laughter; instead, it was filled with cold resentment.
“Back when Konoha was founded, it was our Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan ancestors who fought their way out of the Sengoku era!”
“Every time there was a Ninja World War, rushing to the front, suffering the most casualties—which time did our Uchiha Clan not participate?”
Uchiha Akahiro pointed to the fan crest on the back of his clothes, stern and severe:
“For the sake of this Village, our ancestors gave their lives.”
“But what about now?”
“After the Nine-Tails Incident, the higher-ups used reconstruction as an excuse to forcibly relocate our Uchiha Compound to this godforsaken edge of the Village.”
“Now it’s even better; even outside our own small courtyard, there are lackeys like you watching us at every moment.”
“We are like prisoners locked in a cage, constantly being guarded against like thieves.”
Uchiha Akahiro’s voice spread through the silent night, every word like a dull knife, fiercely cutting at the nerves of the Anbu Ninja.
The Anbu Captain’s expression was ugly.
He wanted to retort but could not find the words.
Because everything Uchiha Akahiro said was the truth.
After the Nine-Tails Incident, the Uchiha being suspected, marginalized, and monitored had long been an unspoken secret among the Konoha higher-ups.
But how could such things be stated so openly and brazenly?
And to be questioned by a Uchiha Elite who possessed Kage-level Chakra and had unlocked the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
If this was not handled well, it could trigger a head-on conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the Village at any moment.
Cold sweat began to drip down the foreheads of the Anbu Ninja.
They were both angry and fearful.
Angry at Uchiha Akahiro’s arrogance, fearful of his unfathomable strength, and the political consequences behind these words.
If they fought Uchiha Akahiro here tonight, regardless of win or loss, the matter would escalate completely.
Looking at these three Anbu who were rendered speechless by his retort, the sneer on Uchiha Akahiro’s face deepened.
“What? Nothing to say?”
He tilted his head, his expression becoming extremely frivolous in an instant, and his tone became airy.
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
“The other founding clan of Konoha—the Senju Clan, now does not seem to need to be monitored like us.”
Hearing the four words “Senju Clan”, the Anbu Captain’s pupils suddenly shrank to a point.
Every hair on his body stood on end at that instant.
“After all…”
Uchiha Akahiro’s voice was unhurried but carried a chill that made one’s scalp tingle:
“The once-renowned Senju of the Forest are now shattered, and even their surname is about to be wiped clean in this Village.”
“What?”
“Is Hiruzen Sarutobi so impatient that he wants to eliminate us Uchiha, this last ‘threat’?”
“Shut up!”
The Anbu Captain completely broke down, letting out a hysterical roar.
“Uchiha Akahiro! How dare you slander Sandaime-sama!”
In that instant, the three Anbu Ninja simultaneously drew the short blades from their backs.
The cold blades refracted a grim light under the moonlight.
In their eyes, there was now only terror and unconcealable killing intent.
The disappearance of the Senju Clan is Konoha’s biggest political taboo.
It is a festering sore that must never be touched.
But now, this youth from the Uchiha Clan had so blatantly torn off the last shred of decency of the higher-ups and even slapped it directly onto the Third Hokage’s head.
This was no longer friction.
This was blatant seditious speech.
“Do you want to make a move?”
Uchiha Akahiro watched them draw their blades; not only did he not retreat, but he began to laugh playfully.
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eye sockets suddenly accelerated in rotation.
The Tyranitar Chakra within his body was like a waking beast, beginning to roar madly in his meridians.
The sensation of sand and dust in the air instantly doubled in intensity.
Small pebbles on the ground even began to float into the air, defying gravity.
A battle was imminent.
The three Anbu gritted their teeth tightly, bearing the pressure that made their bodies go weak, preparing for a desperate fight.
Just at this critical moment.
“Step.”
An extremely faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from the bluestone path outside the small courtyard.
The sound was very light.
But in the atmosphere that was tense to the extreme, it was like a heavy hammer, fiercely striking everyone’s heart.
“Step… step… step…”
The footsteps were steady, one after another, maintaining a highly regular rhythm.
In this dead of night, it appeared exceptionally eerie.
The three Anbu Ninja were immediately relieved, as if they had been dehydrated and suddenly relaxed.
But immediately after, they turned their heads even more nervously, looking in the direction of the courtyard gate.
Who was the person coming?
Uchiha Akahiro also tilted his head slightly.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan narrowed slightly, his peripheral vision glancing toward the courtyard gate.
The footsteps stopped at the gate of the small courtyard.
In the night sky, the moonlight of the crescent moon shone down.
A thin, long figure was cast very, very long at the courtyard gate, the black shadow shining directly into the courtyard.
The person stood in the shadows, their face unclear.