Arriving near the third mission location, the sky was already darkening as the sun set. After three battles and a full day's sprinting, Uchiha Mei signaled everyone to rest and prepare to set up camp. Everyone was either a bit tired or waiting for Uchiha Haruki to explain. In any case, few words were spoken until dinner.
Uchiha Haruki stood up, walked over to the campfire, stomped it out, and said, "You're all wondering, right? Why, even though they're all from the same village, I had to kill them."
"Before answering that, I want to share my thoughts on the relationship between the clan and the village. The Uchiha and the Senju founded Konoha together, but our ancestor, who helped build it, grew dissatisfied with some of the village's policies and wanted to lead the clan away from Konoha.
The clan didn't want to return to the Warring States era; too many of our people died back then. Children faced the constant threat of death. The clan abandoned our ancestor, Uchiha Madara, refusing to follow him into more war.
Madara, in his fury, clashed with the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, in a battle that shook the earth. The Valley of the End is the legacy of that battle.
In the end, Madara fell, and the First Hokage was gravely injured, passing away not long after. He handed the position of Hokage to his brother, Senju Tobirama. Now think, if your own brother was killed, how would you treat the clan of the killer, even if they didn't participate? Even if they were loyal to Konoha?
But their clan leader betrayed Konoha. Their clan leader indirectly caused the death of his brother. Their clan leader killed Konoha's guardian deity.
They branded us as a cursed clan, saying we're all madmen. If even our clan leader is insane, how could the rest of us be normal? Madness is our so-called 'evolution.'
Without Konoha's guardian deity, other nations began eyeing us greedily. This led to the First Great Ninja War. As a Konoha ninja, how would you feel? Without your clan leader, our protector wouldn't have died, we wouldn't have gone to war, our families wouldn't have been torn apart.
Tobirama still feared the Uchiha greatly. In that unstable time, moving against the Uchiha openly would have been unwise.
So, he claimed to trust us and gave us control over the Konoha Police Force. In reality, he locked the Uchiha inside the village. Unless there was a war, the Uchiha didn't go out on missions. He even took Uchiha Kagami as his disciple, pretending to smooth relations while actually grooming a compliant clan leader.
And the Police Force? It looked powerful on the surface, but its so-called power was only over civilians and minor clans. We are a proud clan, acting with justice and never explaining ourselves, believing that our actions speak for themselves.
But in the eyes of those small clans and civilians, we were seen as violent, arrogant, and it only deepened the hatred and resentment from others.
When we graduate from the Academy—or sometimes skip it entirely—we go straight to the Police Force, filled only with our own people. By the time we become Jonin, the backbone of the village, we've barely formed bonds with anyone outside our clan.
So how do you think others treat us during missions? And we, as the Uchiha, aren't going to grovel to anyone. Because we are the Uchiha!"
At this point, Uchiha Haruki glanced at the group. Uchiha Retsu and Uchiha En listened intently, while Uchiha Mei's brows were furrowed, seemingly digesting his words.
Haruki continued, "When the Second Hokage died, the squad that returned with the news said he passed the title to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Do you think the Senju believed that? In that squad were Uchiha, Sarutobi, Shimura, Akimichi, Mitokado, and Homura—but not a single Senju.
And they claimed the Second died, just like that. No body was found. You say whoever is Hokage is Hokage, without documents, without proof? Konoha was founded by us and the Uchiha. If there were to be a choice, it should have been between our two clans. When that was mentioned, both the Uchiha and the Senju coveted the Hokage position.
At that time, Uchiha Kagami was the most favored candidate. But for some reason, whether he wanted to avoid internal conflict or was promised something in return, he publicly supported Sarutobi Hiruzen and withdrew from the race.
That was betrayal. He betrayed the Uchiha. He failed the trust the clan placed in him. That was the only chance the Uchiha ever had to change our fate.
When Hiruzen took power, what did the minor clans do? They seized power. He couldn't count on much support from his own clan, so he weakened the Senju and Uchiha while building an advisory council to overshadow the elders. And who was in that council? All his personal guards—except Uchiha Kagami and Akimichi Torifu.
The first Uchiha to die in the First Great Ninja War? Uchiha Kagami, the rival of the Third Hokage. The clan with the most deaths? The Senju.
Even with Uzumaki Mito's protection, the Senju could have recovered, but what did the Hokage's people do?
They ignored Mito-sama's strongest supporter: the Uzumaki Clan. A whole nation wiped out—a clan as powerful as the Uchiha, reduced to nothing. We even wear their symbol on our headbands, symbolizing Konoha's bond with the Uzumaki.
And when they were exterminated, we sent just a dozen people as 'rescue.'
Konoha, the greatest village in the world, spends more on intelligence than any other, yet we got the news too late. All we could do was collect the orphans of the Uzumaki.
And even those orphans never came to Konoha. Why? Because they don't trust us anymore. We betrayed the clan that bled alongside us in the First Great Ninja War. We betrayed the vow of unity. When they see our headbands, do you think they smile? Or do they hate us?"
Haruki's words left everyone stunned, especially Uchiha Mei, who thought Haruki attacked those Root ninja for revenge. Now he saw a young boy thinking far deeper than most adults.
Just then, a voice broke the silence. "I don't know how you know all this, Haruki, but I support you."
Retsu stood up, walked to Haruki's side, put his hand on Haruki's shoulder, and locked his arm around his neck, showing his support. He looked over at Uchiha En.
Uchiha En thought for a moment and said, "Just clearing out some of their wings isn't enough. If what you say is true, the Hokage faction's real goal is to wipe out the Uchiha or reduce our numbers. I think we should keep a low profile for now; killing a few Root members isn't bad. I support you, Haruki."
Mei, watching the younger generation speak with such conviction, wondered if this was how all young people thought these days.
Seeing everyone looking at him, he nodded and said, "There's something you may not know. During your first survival training as a squad, the higher-ups came to observe you...