Sarutobi Hiruzen was still deliberating on countermeasures.
Meanwhile, at the heart of the Uchiha compound, the ancient and solemn Naka Shrine—not Nanga Shrine—was already filled with every living member of the Uchiha clan. As the ancestral ground and sacred meeting place of the Uchiha, the Naka Shrine had always served as the central venue for important clan assemblies, private deliberations, and even sacred rituals related to the Stone Tablet of the Sage of Six Paths—a monument whose true secrets were visible only to those with the Sharingan and beyond.
Tonight, however, there were no ceremonies nor silent prayer. Tension hung over the shrine like a storm cloud.
After all, this place had once been frequented by both Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito, albeit under very different pretenses—Itachi for silent meditation, Obito for scheming with Zetsu and Madara's remnants. Now, the shrine had become the venue where the entire clan would confront their fate.
"Quiet."
Standing atop a hastily erected platform before the Sacred Fire Chamber, Uchiha Yue scanned the crowd of murmuring and restless Uchiha clansmen below. Their confusion was understandable—few truly grasped the full scope of the crisis. Channeling his chakra, his voice thundered through the chamber.
Instant silence fell.
"I am Uchiha Yue. Most of you know me already. So, I'll skip the formalities."
He stood straight, voice calm, eyes locked on the crowd. "You were summoned in the dead of night, urgently, to hear me speak. Many of you may not know why. I'll explain everything. But I ask you—don't interrupt until I finish. All questions will be answered afterward. Understood?"
His tone carried weight—not just of authority, but of strength. The kind of strength that held meaning in the shinobi world, where respect was earned through power and proven results.
As Yue's chakra subtly flared, his presence grew heavier. Even seasoned Uchiha jonin found themselves subconsciously straightening their backs, breaths slowing. They knew, instinctively, that they were in the presence of someone powerful—someone worthy of speaking from above.
Just as he had when he unified loyalists during the recent upheaval, Yue did not rely on persuasive words alone. No, in the shinobi world, true leadership came from power—just like when Uchiha Itachi had silenced opposition through sheer dominance before yielding to Yue's persuasion, giving up his eyes to forestall the massacre.
Strength was what made people listen.
And they were listening now.
"Good," Yue nodded. "Then let's begin—at the beginning. The founding of Konohagakure."
Uchiha Yue launched into his account. He didn't rush. The history between Uchiha and Konoha was not a story of recent days—it was the accumulation of deep-rooted mistrust and suppression since the village's very inception, when Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama laid down the blueprint for the Hidden Leaf.
Uchiha were co-founders of Konoha, but after Madara's fallout with Hashirama and eventual exile, the seeds of resentment began to sprout. Senju Tobirama, Hashirama's brother and successor, harbored suspicion toward the Uchiha and institutionalized this prejudice—excluding them from village leadership and assigning them to the Konoha Military Police Force, isolating them from political power while cloaking the move as trust.
When Tobirama fell in battle during the Second Shinobi World War, his successor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, maintained these biases. Worse, Shimura Danzō, his comrade and the leader of Root, actively worked to undermine and suppress the Uchiha in secret.
During the wars, Uchiha shinobi were deliberately sent to clash with Kirigakure, whose Mist Shinobi held natural advantages over the Sharingan. This manipulation cost the clan many lives—yet their sacrifices were often erased from the record or minimized, further demoralizing the clan and preventing military prestige from turning into political influence.
The turning point came with the Nine-Tails Attack. Although orchestrated by Uchiha Obito, who had already severed ties with the clan, the presence of a Sharingan in the fox's eye gave Konoha leaders a scapegoat. Despite no proof, Uchiha were suspected and slandered. They were denied access to rescue operations during the attack and, afterward, forcibly relocated to the outskirts of the village.
It was not just a security decision. It was political exile.
As years passed, surveillance increased. Civil rights were stripped. Even within the village, they were treated as pariahs. In response, whispers of rebellion began.
When Uchiha Shisui—a pacifist with a Mangekyō Sharingan—proposed to stop the coup with genjutsu, Danzō stole his eye and drove him to suicide. The remaining eye, gifted to Itachi, became a symbol of impossible choices.
Itachi, caught between loyalty to the village and love for his family, was cornered. Given an ultimatum by Danzō and the elders, he chose to ally with Obito to slaughter his clan in exchange for sparing his younger brother Sasuke.
That's when Uchiha Yue intervened.
Using Mangekyō powers and tactical preparation, Yue disrupted the massacre in progress. He prevented the total annihilation of the Uchiha by defeating both Itachi and Obito in battle. And when Hiruzen personally led ANBU to 'clean up the remnants', Yue's forces fought them to a standstill, forcing a temporary retreat.
Thus, tonight's gathering. A moment suspended between past injustices and a future yet to be claimed.
Now, as his voice fell silent, the shrine was filled with only heavy breathing and stunned realization.
The entire web of political deceit, targeted suppression, and masked genocide had been laid bare. The clan—once splintered by fear and pride—was now unified in shared outrage.
"That," Yue said after a pause, "is the truth. Now, having heard it… what do you think?"
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then, like a dam breaking:
"The Konoha higher-ups—those old bastards! We built this village! And now they dare to try and erase us?!"
"We shed blood in every war, yet they reward us with exile and murder!"
"It's time! Yue-sama, lead us! Let us tear down this corrupt village and rebuild it in Uchiha's image!"
Voices rose in a storm of righteous fury.
Though Yue's recounting had been calm, impartial even, the weight of decades of mistreatment had lit a fire in every heart present. Tonight's failed massacre—meant to end the Uchiha—had instead galvanized them. They were no longer passive victims. They were a clan of warriors who had finally woken up.
And Uchiha Yue, the one who had stopped the genocide, now stood before them—not just as a witness to their pain, but as their leader.