A few days after the Uchiha's meeting with Kazuki.
The Uchiha clan leader's mansion.
Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Setsuna in front of him and made him a cup of tea. "Elder Setsuna, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Uchiha Setsuna shook his head. "Do you still feel like drinking tea, Fugaku..."
"I would like to first congratulate you on the birth of your son, but the current situation… does not seem the most favorable."
"I think you should do something, not only for yourself, but also for your son's future..."
Uchiha Setsuna's voice was very soft, but it seemed to have penetrated into Uchiha Fugaku's heart, making his hands tremble uncontrollably.
Not long ago, his wife Uchiha Mikoto gave birth to a boy, his eldest son, named Uchiha Itachi.
"My son's future... What does this mean, elder Setsuna?" Uchiha Fugaku looked up, looked at Uchiha Setsuna who narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "To avoid misunderstanding, please explain clearly!"
Uchiha Setsuna smiled. "Clan leader Fugaku, do you still need to hide from me?"
"In recent days, the clan seems to be discussing the name of Uchiha Kazuki, haven't you noticed?"
Uchiha Fugaku's expression froze.
Hearing Kazuki's name, Uchiha Fugaku always recalled the humiliation of that day - in front of everyone, hearing the name of Uzumaki Mito, he could only turn around in shame...
"Elder Setsuna, after all, Uchiha Kazuki has come close to the Hokage's circle of power. It's only natural that he is talked about... I think you're making too much of it."
After a few moments of thought, Fugaku continued: "His presence, after all, could benefit our clan."
Uchiha Setsuna laughed and nodded.
"Yes, it may be a good thing for the Uchiha clan, but it may not be for you, clan leader Fugaku..."
Setsuna watched with satisfaction the confused expression on Fugaku's face, gently tapping the table as he spoke. "Although Uchiha Kazuki is not old, his talent and strength are still good, and he is even better at winning people's hearts."
"If he continues down this path, perhaps even your own followers will end up supporting him. In that case, what will you do?"
Uchiha Fugaku's face looked very bad.
He was not a fool. The Uchiha clan members had always been unable to hide their temperament. Even if they tried to hide it, if one was careful, the clan members' thoughts were easy to guess.
The discussion of Kazuki had exceeded the normal range. What made Uchiha Fugaku feel intuitively was that many of his supporters who were close to him in the past seemed to have entered a secret small group and excluded him.
Uchiha Fugaku knew that what Uchiha Setsuna said was true, and he was also thinking about how to deal with it.
His mind is not as open-minded as he said. It is not pleasant to lose power in his hands.
"No big deal, elder Setsuna..." Fugaku said after a long sigh, giving what he considered a serene smile. "The position of clan leader should naturally be occupied by the capable. If Uchiha Kazuki can lead the clan to a brighter future, I am willing to give up the position. This is a sign of the prosperity of the clan."
"Elder Setsuna, I am not greedy for the power of the clan leader."
Uchiha Setsuna clapped his hands lightly. "What nobility of spirit"
"Fugaku, I have always admired Uchiha like you. Let's drink tea instead of wine! "
Uchiha Fugaku felt cold in his heart. Could it be that this Uchiha Setsuna is also a lobbyist for Kazuki?
This shouldn't be the case...
In Uchiha Fugaku's mind, Uchiha Setsuna has always been the extreme of the extreme hawks. Because he was imprisoned by the Second Hokage for decades, he has always advocated overthrowing the Konoha high-level by force.
Fugaku shook his head, raised his cup and toasted Setsuna, drinking the tea in one gulp.
"Fugaku, although you are a broad-minded hero, I want to tell you that you are naive!" Setsuna said firmly, and suddenly threw the cup to the ground, breaking it into pieces. "Do you think you can give up the power of clan leader just because you want to?"
Fugaku was perplexed, unable to understand this sudden change. What game was Setsuna playing? Hadn't he just spoken like a messenger of peace? And now he was taking a critical stance?
Uchiha Setsuna stood up suddenly, sneered and said: "Fugaku, I have always seen you as a young man worthy of respect. So listen to me: I will not speak of the future of the clan. I will speak only of you and your children."
"You know as well as I do the relationship you have with Kazuki."
Uchiha Fugaku narrowed his eyes.
Setsuna watched Fugaku's face and sneered in her mind, guessing his thoughts with ease.
As Fugaku's chief advisor, he knew his character very well...
He is not like an Uchiha at all.
Hesitant, overly cautious, lacking in great strategy and determination, his leadership of the clan was, in his opinion, a sign of the Uchiha's decline.
For Setsuna, it was unacceptable that a young man would dedicate himself to winning the hearts of the clan behind his back, and that Fugaku would not take any decisive action, and even consider giving up leadership. What did he think, that the Uchiha clan was child's play?
"Okay, I understand what you are thinking..." Uchiha Setsuna sneered and said: "You are thinking that you can take a step back, right?"
"Have you told yourself that with how magnanimous Kazuki is, even if you lost power, he wouldn't do anything to you?"
Uchiha Fugaku snorted coldly, but did not answer. In his view, Kazuki is only slightly powerful, not enough to pose a threat to him. And even if there is a threat, what can he do to him, the former leader of the clan?
"I tell you, Fugaku, the road to power is like sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat! " Uchiha Setsuna looked at Uchiha Fugaku seriously and said word by word: "Even if Uchiha Kazuki lets you go, those clan members following him won't let you go, neither will the high-ranking members of Konoha!"
"They only need to step on you hard and pull you down into the abyss, and they can prove their loyalty to Uchiha Kazuki in the most convenient and fastest way!"
"Do you think anyone can resist this temptation?"
Uchiha Fugaku was shocked, but Uchiha Setsuna's words were not finished yet.
"Your son is called Itachi, right?"
"When he is just sensible, he will have to face the malice of the entire village because of your decision!"
Uchiha Setsuna looked at Fugaku's expression with satisfaction and waved his hand.
"Don't think I'm exaggerating. In Konoha, there's no room for you to back down…"
"When Madara-sama left Konoha, the Uchiha clan expressed their loyalty to Konoha and not even one person followed him. But was that enough? No, it wasn't because Senju Tobirama didn't let us go!"
"The cold history is right in front of you, and you should be able to see through Uchiha Kazuki's hypocrisy, right?"
Uchiha Setsuna grinned. "An Uchiha is so shameless that he uses water release as his signboard to get close to the top leaders of Konoha. How do you think he will treat you when he is in power?"
"He will be even more cruel and ruthless than Senju Tobirama towards the Uchiha Clan!"
Uchiha Fugaku was in a state of confusion.
In his mind, there was a voice constantly refuting Uchiha Setsuna, but the voice was getting smaller and smaller.
History proved to him that Setsuna wasn't lying. Especially in a clan like the Uchiha, where the weak have a lower place than a dog, even if they were once clan leaders.
Fugaku had only tried to answer him so as not to give up control of the conversation, but Setsuna had pierced his facade with precision.
"All of the above is just for your personal consideration."
"And for the sake of the clan, Uchiha Kazuki's approach to Konoha is completely unfeasible!"
Uchiha Setsuna said coldly: "The clan leader of the Uchiha clan must consider Uchiha as the first, and Uchiha Kazuki, who has fallen into the will of fire, has lost this qualification. "
"Fugaku, if you retreat now, you will be fully responsible for the fall of Uchiha someday!"
Uchiha Setsuna looked at Uchiha Fugaku who was trying his best to keep a straight face and changed to a softer tone.
"But we still have time. Many in the clan think the same as me. They don't want to see a fake Uchiha, winning people over with tricks and bowing his head before the despicable leaders of Konoha."
"Besides, you are still the legitimate leader of the Uchiha Clan; you have all the advantages."
"Think carefully about what I told you! "
Uchiha Setsuna shook his head, looked at Uchiha Fugaku who was lost in thought, and walked away swaggeringly.
After more than twenty years of imprisonment, Setsuna only wanted to see the blood of Konoha's top brass flow. The well-being of the clan also mattered, but it took a backseat to his plans.
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