Chapter 16 : Blood and Politics

Chapter 16: Blood and Politics

The days had blurred together into a monotonous rhythm of violence and preparation. Obito's training sessions at Shadow Rock had become a daily ritual—his young body growing harder, his innocent eyes slowly acquiring the flat stare of someone learning to kill. Rei watched the transformation with the detached interest of a scientist observing an experiment. The boy was changing exactly as predicted, each lesson carving away another piece of his childhood.

Today, however, their routine was interrupted.

Three figures materialized at the edge of the training ground like vultures descending on carrion. Rei recognized them immediately—Uchiha clan members, their arrogance visible from a hundred meters away. The leader was young but carried himself with the entitled bearing of someone born into power. Fugaku, if Rei remembered correctly. Future clan head, future father of monsters, future corpse in a puddle of his own blood.

"Uchiha Rei," the one beside Fugaku called out with casual authority. "Come with us. The elders want to see you."

Rei's chakra flared involuntarily, his body tensing for violence. The interruption felt like fingernails on glass, scraping against his already frayed patience.

"And who exactly are you to make demands of me?" His voice carried the kind of quiet menace that had made hardened criminals wet themselves. "If the elders want something, they can extend a proper invitation. They're not gods."

"You dare disrespect—" The hot-headed one—Yashiro, Rei recalled—stepped forward with his hand moving toward his weapon.

"Yashiro, stop." Fugaku's command was sharp, his dark eyes noting the two tomoe spinning lazily in Rei's Sharingan. The future clan head was many things, but he wasn't stupid. "We're all clan members here. There's no need for hostility."

Rei's smile was a blade wrapped in silk. "Better. Though I have to wonder—is basic courtesy really such a rare commodity among the Uchiha these days?" He let the implications hang in the air like smoke. "Perhaps the clan isn't as far gone as I thought."

The words were calculated poison, designed to burrow under their skin and fester. From their expressions, they'd hit their mark perfectly.

He walked over to where Obito stood frozen, the boy's eyes wide with confusion and fear. "Keep practicing the forms I showed you," Rei said quietly. "And remember what I told you about killing intent. You'll need it soon enough."

The three Uchiha fell into step around him as they left Shadow Rock, their formation unconsciously protective despite the tension. It would have been amusing if it weren't so pathetically predictable.

"What did you mean back there?" Fugaku's voice had acquired an edge of steel. "About the clan being 'far gone'?"

Rei didn't slow his pace. "You're intelligent enough to figure it out. Look at your companions—all bluster and wounded pride, no strategic thinking. If every Uchiha is like them, the clan won't exist in thirty years. The village will see to that."

"You're talking about genocide," Fugaku said quietly.

"Am I?" Rei's tone was conversational, almost friendly. "I'm talking about political reality. What happens to clans that make themselves inconvenient? What happens to bloodlines that accumulate too much power without corresponding loyalty? Look at it from the Hokage's perspective—would you tolerate a potential threat in your own village?"

The silence that followed was heavy with implication. Fugaku was thinking, Rei could tell. The other two were simply angry, but anger without intelligence was just another word for weakness.

Without warning, Rei stopped and turned to face them. The killing intent that rolled off him was like a physical force—concentrated malice distilled into pure psychological pressure. In his previous life, he'd been nobody special. In this one, he'd killed enough people to stock a small cemetery.

The three Uchiha leaped backward, Sharingan blazing to life instinctively. Fugaku's three tomoe spun with desperate intensity while his companions struggled with their inferior two-tomoe eyes. Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads as they faced down the accumulated weight of Rei's violence.

"Interesting," Rei said, studying their reactions with clinical detachment. "You feel it, don't you? The difference between academy exercises and real killing. That's what separates children from shinobi—not technique or chakra control, but the willingness to end lives."

He let the pressure fade, watching them struggle to regain their composure. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I was just making a point about perception versus reality."

Fugaku's apology came automatically, a reflexive response to defuse a dangerous situation. The fact that he'd apologized to a supposed subordinate without thinking would gnaw at him later, Rei knew. Good. Let it fester.

"I know where the elders live," Rei said with mock helpfulness. "No need to escort me further. Have a pleasant evening."

He vanished in a flicker of movement, leaving the three to contemplate their own inadequacy.

---

The Uchiha compound felt like a mausoleum—all traditional architecture and lingering ghosts of former glory. The clan's isolation was a poison they'd drunk willingly, mistaking proud independence for political suicide. Rei had no love for the place, but it was still technically his heritage. Blood meant something in this world, even when it ran cold.

The meeting hall was exactly what he'd expected—four ancient relics nursing their tea and their grudges in equal measure. Their guards flanked him like honor guard for an execution, hands resting on weapon hilts with practiced ease. They'd confiscated his obvious weapons at the door, though anyone with sense would realize that a shinobi's most dangerous weapon was always his mind.

Rei took his place with deliberate casualness, sitting cross-legged instead of kneeling. The reaction was immediate and predictable.

"Show some respect," one of the guards snapped, unable to contain himself.

"Respect?" Rei's head tilted with innocent curiosity. "My parents died when I was young—nobody taught me proper manners. But you seem well-educated. Tell me, is it respectful to speak before your superiors? Because I don't recall the elders giving you permission to address me."

The guard's face went through several interesting color changes before settling on mortified red. He dropped to one knee in supplication, begging forgiveness from the elders with stammered apologies.

"Clever," wheezed the eldest of the four ancients. His smile was approving, as if Rei were a particularly promising snake he'd discovered. "We've heard interesting things about you, young Rei. Hatake Sakumo has extended an invitation to join ANBU after your promotion. Quite an honor."

'Here it comes,' Rei thought. 'The recruitment pitch.'

"The Police Force has need of talented individuals," another elder interjected smoothly. "Your skills would be better utilized serving the clan directly. There's no need to waste your potential in the Hokage's personal army."

Rei almost laughed. These fossils thought they were being subtle, maneuvering him like a piece on a shogi board. They had no idea they were already dancing to someone else's tune.

"The Police Force," he repeated thoughtfully. "You mean the organization that handles parking violations and noise complaints? How... stimulating."

"The Police Force maintains order within the village," the third elder said stiffly. "It's a position of great responsibility."

"It's a cage," Rei corrected. "A very pretty cage designed to keep the Uchiha contained while giving them the illusion of importance. But perhaps that's the point?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. The guards' hands tightened on their weapons while the elders exchanged meaningful glances.

"You speak of things you don't understand," the fourth elder said coldly.

"Do I?" Rei's smile was all teeth and no warmth. "Tell me, honored elders—how did you learn about my ANBU invitation? It was supposed to be confidential information, known only to Sakumo-sama and myself. Unless, of course, someone else has been keeping very close tabs on my activities."

The silence that followed was deafening. Rei could practically see the gears turning in their ancient minds as they realized he'd identified the leak. Danzo's meddling was like a signature written in poison ink across every dirty political maneuver in the village.

"We have our sources," the eldest finally said.

"I'm sure you do. Just as I'm sure those same sources have been very helpful in ensuring the clan remains isolated and suspicious. Very convenient for certain parties who benefit from Uchiha instability."

Rei stood smoothly, his movement causing several guards to tense reflexively. "I appreciate the offer, truly I do. But I think I'll stick with my original plan. ANBU offers much better career prospects than traffic duty."

"You would betray your own clan?" The words carried the weight of absolute condemnation.

"Betray?" Rei's laugh was soft and cold. "Honored elders, I haven't been part of this clan since the day my parents died and nobody bothered to check if their child was eating. You ignored me for years until I became useful, and now you want to claim ownership? That's not loyalty—it's commerce."

He headed toward the door, then paused for a final observation. "Besides, who says I can't serve the clan's interests from within ANBU? After all, someone needs to keep an eye on what the village leadership is really planning. And I suspect they're planning quite a lot."

The implications of his words would keep them awake tonight, Rei knew. Let them wonder whether he was offering to spy for them or threatening to spy on them. Uncertainty was a more powerful weapon than any blade.

As he walked back through the compound's empty streets, Rei reflected on the evening's entertainment. The elders thought they were playing politics, but they were children fumbling with weapons they didn't understand. The real game was being played by people like Danzo and the Third Hokage—masters of manipulation who moved entire clans like pieces on a board.

Soon he would be one of those pieces himself, inducted into ANBU and sworn to serve the village's darker necessities. The thought should have disturbed him more than it did. Instead, he felt only the cold satisfaction of a plan falling into place.

Behind him, the Uchiha compound settled into uneasy quiet. In a few years, it would be painted with blood and emptied of all life save two brothers whose hatred would reshape the world. But that was still to come.

For now, there were only the old men and their schemes, the young men and their pride, and the slowly tightening noose that would eventually claim them all.

Rei smiled in the darkness. Some fates were simply too delicious to prevent.

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