"Haha, you're joking, Clan Leader. The matter that has caused you to personally come and invite me to discuss it must be very important. I'm small and afraid that I won't be able to complete it. I can only say that I will do my best. If I say too much and turn out to be unable to do it, then I would be very sorry to the Clan Leader."
Kirito laughed, not at all intimidated by the pressure in Uchiha Homura's eyes.
Intimidated?
Are you kidding? He is only a shadow clone here.
The original body does not need to directly face the Uchiha family head here, so why should he be afraid?
In fact, he actually hopes that Uchiha Homura will get angry and destroy his shadow clone.
In that case, he won't have to repay the favor he owes Uchiha Homura, and he can just enjoy the benefits for free.
After all, his only partner is Chizuru, so missing Uchiha Homura is actually no big deal.
Uchiha Homura was not included in the plan that he and Chizuru initially designed to change the Uchiha clan.
This was not his idea, but entirely Chizuru's personal request.
Therefore, Uchiha Chizuru is Uchiha Chizuru, and Uchiha Homura is Uchiha Homura. These are two completely different people to him.
"Small in stature? You're pretty humble for someone like you. The Root led by Danzo has been through a lot recently thanks to you, and there are even division within it now."
Uchiha Homura sneered when he heard Kirito say this, withdrawing the pressure he had been exerting on Kirito with his eyes.
As Danzo's sworn enemy, Uchiha Homura is always on the lookout for Danzo and the situation of the Root he leads. Even though he has not left the Uchiha clan territory for a long time, with the help of the Shinobi Cat clan, he still has a relatively detailed understanding of the situation of the Root in the outside world.
Today, the Root's source of income has almost been cut off, and the inside has fallen into great chaos due to the sharp decrease in wages and benefits.
A large number of outer members who have little loyalty to the Root have chosen to defect. Even if they have not defected, most of them have opted to lay low. As for the inner members, he doesn't know much about them, but he suspects that the situation is not much better.
And the one who caused the Root to fall into such a predicament was this little rascal in front of him who claimed to be small and scrawny.
Ever since he handed over that list of Root members to this little rascal, the Root has been having bad luck. Basically, everyone on the list who provided financial assistance to the Root has been targeted. If there is no direct connection between this and this little rascal, then he, as the head of the clan, does not need to be in that position anymore.
"Haha, what are you talking about, clan leader? I don't understand,"
Kirito laughed again, refusing to admit that he had done anything to secretly deal with the Root.
After all, no matter how much the Root didn't get along with him, it was still an organization of Konoha, and his actions against the Root were purely personal. It would be hard to justify publicly, and if Sandaime found out about it, it wouldn't be good.
He wouldn't dare bet on Uchiha Homura's character.
As for the list of Root members he got from Chizuru, as long as Uchiha Homura wasn't brain-dead, he wouldn't tell Sandaime about it.
Because the list was provided by Uchiha Homura himself.
He used the list provided by Uchiha Homura to deal with the Root. To others, the person behind the scenes was undoubtedly the Uchiha clan, which had many conflicts with the Root, while he was at most just a hitman.
No, he was a hitman who had been carelessly used.
"Hmph."
Uchiha Homura snorted when he saw that Kirito refused to admit it, and once again cursed Kirito in his heart for being a little rascal.
However, at the same time, he somewhat admired Kirito. When he was as young as Kirito, his face was nowhere near as thick-skinned as Kirito's.
As for strength, it's better not to mention it.
What a demon!
This was Uchiha Homura's evaluation of Kirito.
Generally speaking, children his age would not have the same mature mindset as Kirito.
If his eyes had not truly been clouded by old age, he would have felt at this moment that he was not facing an eight-year-old child, but an old man who had lived as long as him.
"Clan Leader, you might as well tell me what you want to discuss with me. Besides, isn't it a happy thing for the Uchiha clan that the Root is unlucky? Does the Clan Leader still hope that the Root will continue to grow, or that there will be a new enemy?"
Kirito felt the need to remind Uchiha Homura that his attitude towards him needed to be a little more polite. He was the guest and the one being asked for help, but he had been treated coldly the entire time, which was really not acceptable. He reminded him.
This time, his tone of voice was slightly cold, as was his expression.
Uchiha Homura listened to the warning in Kirito's voice and instantly opened his Sharingan, staring intently into Kirito's eyes.
In an instant, Kirito felt even more pressure than before from Uchiha Homura's eyes.
However, he still had no fear in his heart, not even the slightest ripple, and he looked at the other party without changing his expression.
Uchiha Homura was very strong, and the Uchiha clan behind him was also very strong, but compared to the entire Konoha, that could only be considered a not-weak force. If the power of one clan was used to fight the entire Konoha, it would be tantamount to suicide.
And as a Konoha genius, a future Kage-Level powerhouse, and the pillar of Konoha, the entire Konoha village is behind him.
Uchiha Homura saw that the little brat Kirito was not afraid of him at all, and felt his pride wounded. He was furious and desperately wanted to use a Sharingan technique to kill Kirito in front of him.
But in the end, he gave up on this tempting idea.
It was easy to kill a shadow clone of Kirito, but the favor he had received from sending out that list earlier would be for nothing, and he would lose blood.
For the sake of the Uchiha clan, he would temporarily bear with the insolence of this brat.
He closed his Sharingan and said coldly, "Boy, I was just thinking that you were very humble. It seems that I was wrong. It is better for young people to be humble, otherwise they will easily die."
"The clan leader is right, but I am still quite confident in my ability to protect myself, so you don't need to worry about that. Let's get back to the topic at hand. Chizuru and I are good friends, and it is only natural that we help each other,"
Seeing that Uchiha Homura's attitude was still firm, Kirito spoke in a similarly cold tone, directly clarifying his attitude towards him and the Uchiha clan.
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Homura's pupils instantly shrunk to the size of needles, and he became silent, his aura weakening a little as a result.
He understood what Kirito had said, and finally realized why he had been unable to make Kirito, a junior who had benefited from him and the Uchiha clan, bow before him.
From beginning to end, Kirito's eyes have only focused on Chizuru, not the Uchiha clan. He has only ever dealt with Chizuru, not him, Uchiha Homura, nor the Uchiha clan.
Therefore, Kirito does not owe him, Uchiha Homura, or the Uchiha clan anything. He only owes it to Chizuru.
The only reason Kirito came to see him, Uchiha Homura, was because of Chizuru's face.
From the very beginning, his perception of the relationship between Kirito and the Uchihas was wrong, and very wrong.
Kirito's attitude towards the Uchihas was at best neutral, not friendly, and if it weren't for Chizuru in the middle, it might have been even worse.
Now that he thinks about it, this is only natural.
Kirito was cultivated by that woman Uzumaki Mito, so how could he possibly feel good about the Uchiha clan, who had done him no favors.
The thought that Kirito might have single-handedly messed up the Root made Uchiha Homura feel very uncomfortable. If Kirito were to become as hostile towards the Uchiha as Sandaime and the others, what would he do?
"Kirito, Chizuru is my granddaughter and a member of the Uchiha clan, so neither I nor the Uchiha will be your enemy."
After a moment of silence, Uchiha Homura lowered his eyes and suddenly refilled Kirito's cup with hot tea before speaking softly, addressing Kirito by his first name for the first time.