Chapter 17: The Uchiha Clan Stands Up

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and grab the crystal ball from his hands!"

For the first time, Tanzō, who had always been as steady as an old dog, showed cracks in his expression. His face, which looked like wrinkled and soaked wall - paper, began to show signs of unease.

One after another, their figures flickered and they quickly rushed in front of Itachi, who was holding Sasuke in his arms, and reached out to grab the crystal ball in Itachi's arms.

God knows Itachi had endured these people to the limit. If his father and so many clan leaders weren't present, he would definitely have killed them all.

How could he let this opportunity slip by?

Itachi tightly hugged Sasuke in his arms and formed hand seals with one hand.

Mangekyō Sharingan: Tsukuyomi

All the Anbu ninjas who came into his line of sight and made eye contact with him one by one clutched their heads in pain, fell to the ground, curled up, and let out miserable screams.

"Don't look directly into his eyes! As long as you don't meet his gaze, the Sharingan won't work!"

Hearing this, the surrounding Anbu ninjas quickly closed their eyes. They drew dozens of shurikens from their backs and launched them simultaneously.

The shower of shurikens aimed directly at the two brothers' lives without the slightest hesitation, not caring whether the two would be turned into human porcupines.

Itachi nimbly dodged the attacks with the help of his Sharingan. However, since he was still holding Sasuke in his arms, he couldn't avoid a few shurikens that came at tricky angles and got injured.

The moment he landed after being injured, a huge shadow swept over. The huge shadow turned into threads that tightly wrapped around him. His body seemed to be frozen, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch.

Shadow Secret Technique

A ninja was seen crouching on the ground not far away, with his hands forming hand - seals, eyes closed, and a hint of mocking smile on his lips.

"So this is the legendary genius, Itachi Uchiha. He's nothing special after all."

Seeing Itachi immobilized, the nearby Anbu immediately rushed forward to snatch the crystal ball from Sasuke's hands.

Itachi's eyes were calm. He looked at these people who dared not meet his gaze with a cold, dead - like stare. A bunch of pests.

"Don't underestimate us, you dogs of Tanzō!"

Fugaku Uchiha watched as these people shamelessly came up to attack his son. He roared angrily and leaped into the air. The tomoe in his Sharingan looked extremely mysterious and domineering in the moonlit night. His hands moved rapidly to form hand seals.

Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction

The sky was filled with brilliant fireballs that illuminated the night, crashing down like the end of the world.

Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique

Five Anbu ninjas formed hand seals. A huge water curtain rose from the ground, attempting to block Fugaku Uchiha's attack.

Only then did people remember that this man who had stayed in the shadows for so long was the leader of the Uchiha Clan!

Although he hadn't shown his strength for many years, how could his power be blocked by a few young Anbu ninjas?

Sure enough, the water curtain was quickly evaporated the moment it touched the fireballs. The Anbu carried Tanzō and quickly fled. However, the explosion and whirlwind caused by the fireballs hitting the ground swept out in all directions, and their figures disappeared in the flames.

Things happened so fast that even the Third Hokage didn't have time to react. He never expected that Fugaku Uchiha, who was always calm, would really lose his temper and take action.

When things calmed down again, the smell of burnt flesh filled the night air, making people wrinkle their noses in discomfort.

Miserable screams echoed across the outskirts of Konoha Village. Sasuke stood there, his eyes wide open. Although he knew his father was the clan head, in his memory, his father had never directly taken action before.

Moreover, in his previous life, he was killed by Itachi, who was only 12 years old at the time. This made him always think his father wasn't very strong. Now, seeing this, it's really unbelievable.

Fugaku landed from the air, stepping on the ground scorched by the raging fire. He looked down at Tanzō, whose skin was burnt.

"Try to touch my son again, and I'll skin you alive and make sure you'll never recover!"

So powerful!

After just one move, the once seemingly depressed clan head of the Uchiha clan had deeply engraved his power in the minds of the clan heads of other families. With such great power, they definitely don't want to be his enemy.

"Lord Fugaku, please calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down? It's not your child who's injured, and it's not your clan members who've been oppressed for a long time. Of course, you can stand there and talk nonsense!"

Hiashi Hyūga was a bit at a loss. As the head of the Hyuga main family, he had never been shouted at like this before.

"You bastard, how dare you be so rude to Lord Hiashi!"

A hot-tempered young member of the Hyuga clan immediately rushed forward. No one could stand seeing their clan head being scolded like this. Where did Fugaku put the Hyuga clan?

"Humph! The Hyuga main family? A family that only hides behind the branch family."

"What do you mean?"

The other side was enraged by Fugaku Uchiha's sarcasm.

"What I mean is that you're just a bunch of cowards. You think your bloodline is noble and hide behind the branch family to enjoy wealth and honor. You're a bunch of extremely hypocritical scumbags!"

Hiashi frowned. They had never had any contact with the Uchiha clan, and he didn't understand where Fugaku's great hostility towards the main family came from.

"Lord Fugaku, I didn't mean to have a conflict with you. I was just being abrupt just now. But since you insulted us like this, as the head of the Hyuga main family and the clan, I have to seek an explanation for my family."

"Lord Hiashi, being able to control your own blood relatives like dogs and mark them with a stigma, the Hyuga family is an extremely shocking existence in the entire ninja world. Claiming to do everything for the family but sacrificing your own younger brother to the Cloud Hidden Village to save your own skin, something like this, our Uchiha clan would never do."

"You..."

"Enough, all of you!"

The Third Hokage saw the situation was getting out of control. If he doesn't step in, I don't know how this internal strife will end.

"Lord Hokage."

He saw Sasuke in Itachi's arms and walked towards him step by step. Itachi was very on guard and tried to keep his distance from the Third Hokage.

"Don't be afraid, Sasuke. Can you give me the crystal ball in your hand?"

"That's impossible! If I give it to you and you destroy the crystal ball right away, all the evidence inside that shows Tanzō persecuting the Uchiha clan will be gone."

The Uchiha clan members behind Fugaku didn't trust the indecisive Third Hokage in front of them. If it weren't for the Third Hokage's inaction, their situation wouldn't be so difficult.

Moreover, everyone knows that Tanzō and the Third Hokage have been comrades - in - arms for many years. Since they had fought side by side through thick and thin, how could the Third Hokage keep the evidence unfavorable to Tanzō?

After all, those evidences were also proofs of his incompetence!