The sneer wasn’t loud, but Fugaku heard it clearly.
A hint of displeasure flickered across Fugaku’s perpetually expressionless face.
He knew Genya had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan and defeated Kakashi, but that was no excuse for such contempt during a clan meeting.
Of course, Fugaku wasn’t entirely unable to understand his current state of mind; after all, the thoughts of the Uchiha were sometimes remarkably easy to guess.
‘Young people,’ he thought, ‘awakening the three-tomoe always makes them a bit overconfident.’
“Uchiha Genya, do you have something to say?”
True to his role as Patriarch, Fugaku silenced the clamor in Naka Shrine with a single sentence.
A sea of red eyes turned in unison toward Genya.
Glancing at Fugaku, Genya rose without hesitation.
Facing the heated gaze of the Uchiha who had already awakened their eyes, he spoke loudly:
“I’m just laughing because you people spend half the time every week arguing here at these meetings, yet you never take any action.”
“Arguing day and night, as if you could talk Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and the rest of the leadership into dropping dead.”
Silence!
The entire Naka Shrine fell as silent as a grave.
Everyone stared at Uchiha Genya in disbelief as he made such a bold claim.
Even Fugaku had only intended to humble the young man and teach him respect.
Instead, Genya had blurted out something outrageous right in front of everyone.
The Nine-Tails’ Rampage hadn’t happened yet, and the Uchiha clan district hadn’t been forced to the outskirts of the village.
Thus, while many Uchiha harbored grievances against the village leadership, it hadn’t reached the point of a coup d’état.
Only after the Night of the Nine-Tails would Konoha’s hostility toward the Uchiha reach its historic peak.
It was the humiliating relocation to the village’s periphery that would cause whispers of a coup to rise in waves within the clan.
But this was the first time anyone had openly suggested getting rid of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.
Such treasonous thoughts coming from Genya, a newly promoted Jonin?
‘What on earth is he trying to do?!’
Even the hardliners in the clan felt that Uchiha Genya was being a bit too extreme.
Fugaku’s brows knitted together as he shot a dissatisfied glance at Yashiro, who was sitting more stiffly than usual beside him.
While another three-tomoe Sharingan in the clan was a blessing, an evil and extreme Uchiha like this would only bring shame to the entire clan.
Yashiro was speechless.
He never expected Genya to say something like this at a clan meeting, especially when so many Uchiha were already hot-headed.
‘Isn’t he just trying to light the powder keg?’
He had thought Genya was a smart kid who knew when to push and when to pull, but it turned out he was a hardliner to the bone!
Shisui’s gaze turned worried as he looked at Genya.
He had expected an outstanding junior, not an uncontrollable clansman.
‘I hope this doesn’t turn into a disaster later.’
However, Genya’s verbal onslaught continued!
Genya stepped onto his chair, looking down at his clansmen as he shouted:
“My fellow Uchiha!
We are clearly one of the two founding clans of Konoha, yet we have been reduced to being targeted by the entire village!”
“Is this our fault?
No!
It is Konoha’s fault!”
“It’s not just the high-ranking officials; even the other shinobi clans and the civilians harbor secret hostility toward us!”
“Our sacrifices and contributions during the Third Shinobi World War were deliberately hidden by the leadership, and even our compensation pay is constantly delayed!”
“Can we tolerate this?
They’ve even forgotten that the symbol on the village’s forehead protectors is modeled after our Uchiha Sharingan!”
Genya started with the current situation and moved back to the clan’s former glory.
He incited their emotions, telling everyone that the world’s mistreatment wasn’t their fault, but the world’s—his main strategy was simply refusing to shoulder any of the blame.
When he mentioned that the Konoha symbol on the forehead protectors was modeled after their clan’s Sharingan, the atmosphere in the room ignited!
Some older shinobi even felt tears welling up.
At last, a young man remembered.
Even Fugaku and Shisui were momentarily stunned by Genya’s impassioned speech and failed to stop him from inciting the clan further.
Genya was doing this because the system had just issued a new quest.
[SYSTEM: HOST DETECTED PARTICIPATING IN UCHIHA CLAN MEETING.
ISSUING MAIN QUEST I: CLAN PRESTIGE]
[SYSTEM: QUEST REQUIREMENT: GAIN SUFFICIENT STATUS AND PRESTIGE WITHIN THE UCHIHA CLAN.
SETTLEMENT REWARD WILL BE BASED ON THE HOST’S PRESTIGE WITHIN THE CLAN]
This was an open-ended quest; Genya could even settle it right now if he wanted.
A Jonin with a three-tomoe Sharingan was a rare asset even within the Uchiha.
Coupled with the Uchiha’s tradition of valuing strength over seniority, Genya’s status—having defeated Kakashi—was essentially second only to the patriarch and the elders.
Of course, the rewards for settling the quest now would be negligible.
Therefore, he had to settle it when his prestige reached its peak to maximize the benefits.
Having obtained the divine weapon Musou Isshin from the first quest reward, Genya had high expectations for what the system would offer next.
And the best way to gain prestige was to earn the clan’s recognition.
As everyone knows, a speech is one of the most effective and fastest ways to gain the approval of others.
Thus, Genya’s performance within the Uchiha clan grounds continued.
As he spoke, his emotions became increasingly stirred, as if he were the protagonist everyone had been waiting for.
“The cause of all this is the prejudice the Konoha leadership holds against our Uchiha clan!”
“We cannot just spend every day arguing at these meetings!
We must take action!
Envying others is useless!”
“And for all of this, what we lack is a great leader!”
Genya spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the sky.
In that instant, perhaps due to his excitement, the Sharingan in his eyes activated.
Three tomoe emerged and began to spin rapidly.
At this moment, even Genya almost believed his own words; his voice grew increasingly resonant and inspiring!
His heart raced, and his entire being radiated a state of intense exhilaration.
Most of the clansmen had stood up, stirred by the young man’s speech.
They looked at Genya expectantly, wanting to know exactly who this leader was who could change the current state of the Uchiha.
“And the great leader of the Uchiha clan has already appeared!”