Chapter 293: Look Into My Eyes!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Jiraiya shot to his feet, his eyes wide as he stared at Uchiha Ren in disbelief.

Tsunade also frowned deeply. Although disbelief flashed in her eyes, she still managed to remain relatively calm, unlike Jiraiya who reacted so dramatically.

In truth, despite Tsunade's fiery temper, when facing serious matters she was often far calmer than Jiraiya, whose personality tended to be carefree and impulsive.

Uchiha Ren remained composed, speaking in a calm voice.

"What exactly do you mean by impossible, Jiraiya-sama?"

"That Hiruzen Sarutobi would never sacrifice the Hyūga Clan Head to stop a war?"

"That the Uchiha Clan could never be annihilated?"

"That Orochimaru-senpai would never attack Hiruzen?"

"Or that you would never stand by and watch?"

Jiraiya swallowed.

Although hesitant, he still forced himself to reply.

"All of it is impossible!"

After a pause, he added:

"The Hyūga Clan's status is extremely high. Even if they aren't as powerful as the Uchiha, calling them Konoha's second greatest clan wouldn't be an exaggeration."

"The Hyūga Clan Head holds enormous influence in the village. There's no way the old man would hand him over!"

Jiraiya knew his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, fairly well.

It wasn't impossible that Hiruzen might sacrifice someone in exchange for peace.

But the problem was—

Ren claimed the person sacrificed was the head of the Hyūga Clan.

That was the leader of one of Konoha's great clans!

Even if Hiruzen wanted to do such a thing, would the Hyūga Clan agree?

And if they did, what would happen to their honor?

The Hyūga were a deeply traditional clan—they valued pride and reputation above almost everything.

That was why Jiraiya simply couldn't believe Ren's claim.

Jiraiya continued:

"As for the old man exterminating the Uchiha Clan… that's even more absurd!"

He looked at Ren with a hint of caution in his eyes.

"Do you even realize how powerful your clan is?"

"According to the intelligence the old man gave us, the Uchiha Clan currently possesses at least three pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"Three pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"Do you realize what that means?"

"With that kind of power, how could the old man possibly wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan?!"

Finally, Jiraiya glanced toward the silent Orochimaru beside them and added with absolute certainty:

"And no matter what happens, I refuse to believe Orochimaru would attack the old man."

"If something like that really happened, I would never stand by and watch!"

"Naive."

After hearing Jiraiya finish, Ren simply shook his head.

His tone was filled with mockery.

"You seriously underestimate your teacher."

"Up until the Seventh Hokage, I suspect the combined tenure of the other six Hokage wouldn't even surpass the time Hiruzen Sarutobi personally held the position."

"In terms of strength, Hiruzen might rank near the bottom among the Hokage."

"But when it comes to schemes, political maneuvering, and hypocrisy…"

"He is unquestionably the strongest Hokage."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Ren explained calmly.

"It's simple."

"You're only looking at the surface-level strength written on paper."

"But if you want to survive within the village's political system, you can't judge things by surface strength alone."

"You think the Hyūga Clan would never yield to Hiruzen?"

"What if Hiruzen used the power of the entire village to place the Hyūga Clan in opposition to everyone else?"

"You say the Uchiha Clan is powerful?"

"I won't deny that."

"But whether you're truly the strongest is another question."

"The Uchiha Clan has existed for a thousand years."

"Yet even counting every generation combined, your clan has only produced about a thousand shinobi."

"But over a decade later, there were rumors in the village about the three thousand Sarutobi clan forces."

"Whether that rumor was true is hard to verify."

"But if you were paying attention today, you would have noticed something."

"During the Fourth Hokage election ceremony, over one hundred extra votes of jōnin confidence suddenly appeared."

"Where do you think those votes came from?"

"And with Hiruzen's methods…"

"He didn't even need to sacrifice a single soldier to destroy the Uchiha Clan."

"..."

"Impossible!"

Jiraiya had already been stunned by Ren's explanation, but hearing that the Uchiha Clan could be destroyed without losing a single soldier was too much.

"There's no way that could happen!"

"Why not?" Ren replied coldly.

"How do you think the Senju Clan disappeared?"

"Since the founding of Konoha, how many small clans have quietly vanished from history?"

"You just said the Uchiha Clan currently has three pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan, didn't you?"

Ren gave a faint, bitter laugh.

"I can tell you clearly that in the original timeline, the Uchiha Clan actually had four pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan."

"But what difference did it make?"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō exploited the Uchiha's loyalty to the village."

"First, they secretly eliminated one of them."

"Then they turned another against the clan."

"A third was wandering outside the village."

"And the last one refused to fight the one who had been turned against them."

"And after that…"

"Everything became very simple."

"Root sealed off the clan compound to prevent any survivors from escaping."

"And the one who had been turned…"

"Raised his blade inside the Uchiha Clan Compound."

"Men, women, and children."

"Not a single one was spared."

Ren paused.

He took a deep breath, calming the turbulent emotions rising within him before continuing.

"As for Orochimaru-senpai attacking Hiruzen…"

"And you watching from the sidelines…"

"Perhaps after being disappointed countless times, you simply decided to grant him a dignified death."

Jiraiya's mouth hung open.

Although Ren's words left him speechless, doubt still filled his eyes.

When it came to politics, Jiraiya could hardly be considered knowledgeable.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have raised disciples like Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, Minato Namikaze, and Naruto Uzumaki—all of whom carried the same naïve idealism.

So he truly struggled to comprehend Ren's perspective.

At that moment—

Orochimaru suddenly spoke.

"Hmm… as for me…"

"I actually think such an ending for the old man would be quite appropriate."

He had just admitted Ren's claim.

Regardless of how the future unfolded, the very reason Orochimaru agreed to help restrain Jiraiya today was because he already held such thoughts in his heart.

"Orochimaru… you…"

Jiraiya stared at him in shock.

That was their teacher!

Yet Orochimaru had acknowledged it so calmly.

"Words are meaningless," Ren said, shaking his head.

His eyes suddenly turned crimson.

The Sharingan spun slowly within them.

"Let me show you the future I have seen."

He raised his gaze toward them.

"Look into my eyes."

◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇

◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!

◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.

◇ Read 70+ chapters ahead on P@treon → /Sagamaster789