Chapter 25: The Two Elders Defect; Jin's Moment of Total Honesty!
A deathly silence fell over the small courtyard.
Everyone was immersed in Uchiha Jin's terrifying deduction. Their faces were twisted with a mixture of anger and horror. Some were so agitated that their Sharingan involuntarily activated, crimson eyes glowing in the dim light.
If the people in this yard weren't already elite Uchiha with strong mental fortitude, a few of them might have awakened their Sharingan for the first time right then and there.
The impact was hardest on the defectors from the Moderate and Neutral factions.
They were the most shaken because Jin's theory finally answered the question that had plagued them for years.
It made sense for the village to fear the Radicals. But the Moderates had bent over backward to show their loyalty to Konoha. Why were they still treated like criminals? Why were they still targeted?
"How could this be?"
"It sounds inconceivable, but with Elder Jin's logic as the foundation, everything that didn't make sense before suddenly becomes clear."
"I never imagined... while we were trying to integrate into the village, the village was staring hungrily at our thousand-year accumulation of wealth!"
"We absolutely cannot let them succeed! I swear it!"
The courtyard erupted in furious whispers.
For the Moderates and Neutrals, the betrayal cut the deepest. The Uchiha might be stubbornly extreme, but they weren't brain-dead. Although Jin had no physical evidence, considering the village's current financial straits and the relentless, illogical targeting of their clan...
The possibility was terrifyingly high.
Even the original Radicals were struggling to contain their rage. They had always assumed the village hated them for their power; they never imagined there was such a calculated, greedy conspiracy behind it all.
Uchiha Setsuna's gaze grew dark. He finally understood why Jin had chosen to join the Radicals. It wasn't just ideology; it was survival.
Creeaaak.
Just as everyone was lost in thought, the courtyard gate pushed open.
Uchiha Amano and Uchiha Yashiro, each leading their own group of loyalists, walked in.
"Everyone... this old man wishes to join as well!"
Uchiha Amano, the Grand Elder, walked to the front and bowed deeply to Jin. "I accidentally overheard Jin-kun's deduction from outside the gate. Combining it with the history of the Uchiha and the village... I believe the probability of Jin-kun being correct is extremely high."
"For the survival of the Uchiha, this old man must become a Radical too!"
Uchiha Yashiro also bowed solemnly.
His gaze toward Jin was incredibly complex. In the past, he had dismissed Jin as a reckless junior who would lead the clan to ruin. But that deduction just now had shaken him to his core.
After a helpless sigh, Yashiro spoke. "I am also willing to join the Radical Faction. However, I am curious... did you join the Radicals because you realized this truth?"
Hearing this question, the crowd looked at Jin with interest.
Jin wasn't surprised by the arrival of the two elders. His sensory abilities were top-tier; he had sensed them approaching long ago. He had deliberately spoken loud enough for them to hear.
Facing Yashiro's question, Jin pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
"No, you are mistaken."
"I saw through the village's schemes a long time ago. But because of the Uchiha's stubborn nature, I didn't believe I had the ability to change the clan. In the beginning, my only thought was self-preservation."
"The Night of the Nine-Tails was my one attempt."
"I tried to convince Fugaku to ignore Danzo's orders. If he had listened to me and gone to aid Minato Namikaze, it would have proven that the Uchiha were still worth saving."
"But, unfortunately..."
"Fugaku refused, and the clansmen didn't support me."
"At that moment, I completely gave up hope."
"I believed the Uchiha were too stupid to be saved. Faced with a clan destined for extinction, my only thought was how to save myself and my family."
"I'm not afraid to tell you the truth: as early as the Third Great Ninja War, I had already prepared an escape route for my family."
"The Land of Snow."
"My original plan was to wait until the village moved to massacre the Uchiha. In the chaos, I would smuggle my parents out of Konoha and use the route I had prepared to flee to the Land of Snow."
"But... heh."
"That night, I finished my training late. When I returned home, I saw Root abducting my parents with my own eyes. That was the moment the trauma awakened my Mangekyo Sharingan."
"However, the mental shock was too great, and I fell into a coma. When I woke up, it was already the next day."
"I knew how tight Root's security was. A solo rescue mission wouldn't save them; it would only get me killed too."
"And Fugaku's nature meant he would never help me."
"So, I chose the Radicals. I immediately started causing trouble. I know Danzo's character well. Once he determined that I was a dangerous Uchiha with high value, he wouldn't kill my parents easily."
"On the contrary!"
"He would keep them alive and safe, holding them as a trump card to use against me in the future."
"The higher my status, the safer my parents are!"
Jin spoke calmly, laying out his history without embellishment.
He didn't want to hide this from them. He would eventually have to rescue his parents, and it was better to reveal his "selfish" motivations now than to have Danzo use it as a weapon to sow discord later.
He didn't deny his selfishness.
In an instant...
Everyone sucked in a cold breath.
No one expected the truth to be like this. Jin's parents had been taken by Root right before his eyes—that was the trigger for his Mangekyo.
"So... that is how it is."
Uchiha Yashiro looked bitter. "I suppose I should thank Danzo then. If not for his actions, the Uchiha might truly be beyond saving."
The others nodded in agreement.
However, their expressions were complicated. Jin's admission—that he had planned to abandon the clan and flee—was a hard pill to swallow. It showed he hadn't considered the clan as "his people."
They wanted to call him selfish, but the words stuck in their throats.
There was no way around it. Thinking back on their own foolish behavior, they wanted to slap themselves. Even if Jin had stepped up back then, they probably wouldn't have listened to him anyway.
So... sigh.
Aside from sighing, they felt lucky. As Yashiro said, if Danzo hadn't made that fatal mistake, Jin would have defected long ago, leaving them to rot.
Uchiha Amano, however, was puzzled. "I can understand Jin-kun's choice. The Uchiha are too stubborn. Even when Madara Uchiha chose to leave the village, we didn't follow him."
"But I am curious... Jin-kun prepared his escape route during the Third War? Did you sense something was wrong even back then?"
Right!
Following Amano's question, everyone's interest piqued instantly. The Third War was years ago. How could a young Jin have seen the writing on the wall so early?