The storm has been raging since last night, and on days as gloomy as this, watching the scenery brings a certain unique charm.
"It's gotten a bit better now. Have a seat. How did the casualties fare in the village last night?"
Elder Shikora coughed, signaling he was fine, though his complexion was frail.
Rika sat opposite, pulled out a report, and summarized its contents: "According to the latest statistics, over five hundred were wounded, and eighty-six perished. Among them, it's said the Hyuga Clan lost several Jonin. If we include the Branch Family Ninja who defected and fled..."
This was akin to slicing flesh and spilling blood from the Hyuga Clan.
Rika offered silent mourning for the Hyuga Clan, fellow Kekkeigenkai Ninja Clan.
Compared to the Hyuga Clan, the Uchiha Clan's losses were insignificant. Besides, it was all intentionally orchestrated by Elder Shikora.
"For their clan, the more Jonin lost, the safer their position in the village, is it not? This should be a blessing."
Elder Shikora sipped his tea, unperturbed and dismissive.
"Let's put that aside. There has been much gossip in the village regarding our Uchiha Clan."
Rika put away the statistics, glanced at Elder Shikora and said.
"Because the Uchiha Clan didn't join the battle last night?"
"Yes. They're displeased with us on that matter."
"The Security Team is tasked with the safety of the village's populace. We merely operate according to regulations. If they want to argue, let that brat Danzo come himself. I'm old and have no desire to move."
Elder Shikora snorted coldly.
He didn't even need to think to know who was spreading these rumors.
Aside from Danzo, no one else would do such a thing.
Even if some wished to, none dared act so brazenly.
Rika nodded, withholding his opinion. Towards the village's higher-ups, he felt neither hostility nor fondness.
He only needed to serve his clan.
"Then, is it really alright to keep the truth from Ruri? When she left, surely animosity and hatred filled her heart towards you."
Rika gazed regretfully at the rainwater in the courtyard.
The rain had weakened.
Still, a gentle drizzle persisted.
"None of that matters. Do you know why I didn't allow Ruri to trouble Root back then?"
Elder Shikora pondered, set down his teacup, his gaze deep and tranquil.
"So that Ruri would become thoroughly disillusioned with the village's leadership?"
Rika tilted his head, probing.
Ruri's ties once lay with clan and village, but after Root's ambush, only the clan remained in her heart.
For her, the village was merely an extension of her clan's fate; she endured and remained as a Konoha Ninja solely for that bond.
Yet Elder Shikora had personally severed her attachment to the family, denying her acceptance in either village or clan. Leaving became inevitable.
Such was Rika's perspective.
The murky eyes of Elder Shikora revealed a nostalgia for days gone by.
"That was only part of it. In truth, the Will of Fire passed down from Senju Hashirama does not suit our Uchiha Clan. It's not simply a lack of tolerance—it's too gentle. Our clan's bloodline shines brightest in battle. Konoha...limits our clan's nature. At all times, conflict is humanity's truest instinct. Protecting the Land of Fire with softness is precisely why Konoha creates enemies everywhere."
"So, your reason for choosing Ruri was that she resembled someone you once admired?"
"Madara-sama? He was merely an anomaly."
Elder Shikora offered such an assessment.
Rika was surprised.
"Anomaly?"
"To murder one's own clanmate for the sake of Mangekyo Sharingan's power—can you worship such a man? My feelings for Madara-sama and Izuna-sama at that time were nothing but fear."
Elder Shikora cast a cold glance at Rika.
Rika hung his head in silence.
Indeed, there was no reverence for such a person.
"If Ruri sought the Mangekyo Sharingan and was willing to harm herself or her kin for it, then I would've destroyed her with this, regardless of the cost."
Elder Shikora withdrew a medicinal glass vial from his robes.
Inside it rested a pair of eyes.
Eyes adorned with intricate patterns—Sharingan.
Known as Mangekyo Sharingan.
The Uchiha Clan's ultimate Donjutsu.
Staring at the eyes, Elder Shikora spoke with complex tone: "Though I awakened these eyes myself, I too became their servant—enslaved by their power and curse. Unable to master such darkness, I replaced them with the eyes of my fallen kin."
He understood the darkness and power these eyes carried far better than his clan now did.
When he realized his will—even arrogance and extremism—were being led by the eyes, he discarded them without hesitation.
He sensed, should he continue wielding their power over the Uchiha Clan, it would inevitably lead the clan into an abyss.
"Hashirama's will is softness in love; powerful, but devoid of bloodlust. Madara-sama's will is extremity in love; firm, but fails to win hearts. Neither is hope for the clan's future."
The radicals now preserve the clan's fierceness, but they've already been lured by Hashirama's will, unconsciously yearning for the position of Hokage.
To prove the strength of Uchiha thereby.