Because Uchiha Tianti did not speak any more sensitive words, and with the pleas of his family, he was finally released on the third day.
“Remember, do not say anything detrimental to unity ever again!”
Uchiha Fugaku’s face was stern and humorless:
“Major clan affairs are not something for a mere Chūnin like you to babble about!”
“Yes…”
Tianti kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable.
He had tried countless times to say what should and should not be said.
He could not say anything more, otherwise he might not even see the sunlight, let alone change anything…
He walked through the clan’s streets and returned home.
“Ya ya, brother, it’s brother…”
A little girl saw Tianti walk in and squealed with excitement, showing a mouth full of missing teeth, reaching out to be held.
Tianti smiled and picked up the little girl; this was his younger sister—Uchiha Yao.
Just then, a middle-aged woman pushed the door open and walked out, tears shimmering in her eyes:
“Tianti… it’s good that you’re back, it’s good that you’re back…”
Looking at his mother and his three-year-old sister, who had just learned to speak, he felt increasingly anxious.
After comforting his family, he went out to buy the missing food…
The moment he walked out of the Uchiha Clan Grounds gate, Tianti subconsciously tightened his knuckles.
The afternoon sun shone on the streets of the clan grounds; although it was warm, he felt a fine chill rise on his skin.
It wasn’t because of the cold, but because of those gazes.
A housewife buying groceries at the street corner caught sight of the fan crest on his back, and her previous laughter stopped abruptly; she averted her eyes and hurriedly turned away, pulling her child along.
Several Chūnin watching the Genin practice outside the training ground noticeably lowered their voices as he passed, yet their gazes felt like needles on his back.
He could even clearly catch those hushed whispers, which they thought he couldn’t hear:
“Those Uchiha…”
“I heard they’ve been holding frequent gatherings lately…”
“The looks in the eyes of those people in the Konoha Military Police Force are getting more and more strange…”
“Shh, quiet down, he seems to be able to hear us…”
Tianti walked past with an expressionless face; the Sharingan granted him limited abilities, but his sensory perception was keen—this was also his hidden ability!
Those fragmented discussions, guarded gazes, and subconscious avoidance postures converged into a silent torrent that almost drowned him.
This was not formed in a day.
Years of deliberate guidance, the growth of rumors, and the accumulation of incidents had long pushed the Uchiha to the opposite side of the villagers’ sentiments!
The once founding clan of Konoha and the glorious Konoha Military Police Force were now synonymous with “untrustworthy” and “dangerous” in the eyes of ordinary people.
He walked toward the market, needing to buy some food and daily necessities for his family.
His mother had become much more haggard, and his sister was still so small; they couldn’t go hungry.
“Shopkeeper, a bag of rice, a bundle of vegetables.”
He stopped in front of a stall, his voice calm.
The stall owner was a middle-aged man; upon seeing him, the warm smile on his face stiffened, and a trace of imperceptible fear and rejection flashed in his eyes.
He hurriedly packed the items, his fingers deliberately avoiding contact when he handed them over.
“Thanks.”
Tianti paid and took the items.
The moment his fingertips touched the rice bag, he “heard” the stall owner’s accelerated heartbeat.
Carrying the items, he did not return home immediately.
Instead, like any ordinary villager, he strolled along the street seemingly at random, passing through the commercial district, approaching the outskirts of the training ground, and heading toward the woods at the edge of the Village.
But his perception, like an invisible spider web, was quietly unfurling—
Thirty meters to the left rear, in the shadow of the eaves, the Chakra was stable and concealed, carrying the coldness characteristic of the Anbu.
At the window on the second floor diagonally across the street to the right front, gazes occasionally swept past, with precise and regular dwell times—this was the surveillance method commonly used by Root…
When he turned into a narrower alley, two moving Chakra sources immediately appeared in his perception, one in front and one behind, maintaining a perfect surveillance distance.
At least two groups!
In the more than an hour he had been “strolling,” at least two different groups of people had appeared alternately within his sensory range; the surveillance network was airtight!
They did not get close, nor did they deliberately hide to the point of being completely undetectable—that would only alert the target.
They simply existed, like silent ghosts, reminding the person being watched:
All your actions are under control.
Tianti finally understood.
Why was it that in his memories, not a single one of the thousand-plus Uchiha could escape death?
Because this was not a spur-of-the-moment surveillance, but a massive web that had been woven for years, hanging over the entire Uchiha Clan!
From the perimeter of the clan grounds to the inner streets, from important figures to mediocre clansmen like him, every single clansman was being recorded and monitored in minute detail.
The clan grounds were monitored as a whole, and individuals were observed at specific points.
The real “prison” was never just that underground dungeon, but the invisible high wall that the entire Konoha Village had quietly built around the Uchiha!
The situation of the Uchiha Clan could be described as walking on thin ice!
Now, it was likely that not only were the clan grounds being monitored, but every single clansman was under close surveillance; it was impossible for even one person to escape!
He walked to the side of the Naka River, looking at the murmuring water and the lush forest on the opposite bank.
That place represented freedom, but also the boundary of death.
With his strength, forcing a breakthrough out of the Village was tantamount to suicide.
And those monitors were likely waiting for him, or any Uchiha clansman, to take substantive action to “defect.”
That would be the sharpest knife handed to the higher-ups!
There had been quite a few Uchiha Ninja who had disappeared without a trace in recent years…
One could imagine that any Uchiha who dared to leave Konoha without authorization… had likely already become someone’s collection!
Tianti’s heart was filled with countless thoughts.
Perhaps two years ago, his father, whose whereabouts were unknown… had also disappeared in this way, right?
…
Tianti felt an inexplicable sense of irritability; he couldn’t speak, and he couldn’t escape…
The setting sun began to sink into the west, stretching his shadow long.
Carrying the increasingly heavy rice bag, he turned and walked in the direction of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.
His pace was steady, but his heart was sinking.
So, it wasn’t that there was no chance to escape.
It was just that from the very beginning, all paths had been blocked.
He looked up toward the direction of the Hokage Rock.
The First, the Second, the Third…
The faces of the past Hokage were solemn and dignified in the sunset glow.
That direction represented the highest will of Konoha, and also represented the Sword of Judgment hanging over the Uchiha’s heads at this moment, not knowing when it would fall!
Tianti took a deep breath and walked into the gate of the clan grounds.
The guards of the clan nodded at him, their eyes also filled with suppressed heaviness and confusion.
Returning home, his mother came up to take the items and asked softly:
“Is it… okay outside?”
Tianti looked at the worry in his mother’s eyes, and then at his three-year-old sister, who came wobbling over to hug his leg, looking up with a smiling face and calling “Brother,” the burning urgency and cold despair in his heart intertwined and surged again.
He crouched down, ruffled his sister’s soft hair, and gave his mother a smile that was as relaxed as possible:
“It’s nothing, everything is fine.”