"Chapter 15 - Dan, You're Too Gentle!

Before meeting Dan, Uchiha Hachidai and Shana had discussed probing Dan's stance, asking him about his thoughts on the clan leader, the clan, and the village. They didn't want to reveal the radical faction's stance right away, for fear of scaring the young man.

After all, in their view, a military coup might be too radical for a young man like Dan, who had been living a comfortable life.

It wasn't until this moment, after hearing Dan's statement, that they realized how wrong they had been.

If the Uchihas led by Hachidai and Elder Shana were considered radicals, then Dan was part of the "do-or-die" faction, ready to bring both the Uchiha clan and Konoha down with him.

Compared to this madman, the radicals seemed harmless and moderate.

"Radical? You're just too weak," Dan responded indifferently to Elder Shana's rebuke.

"Leave, now!" Elder Shana, his eyes wide with anger, pointed his cane towards the door, trembling with rage. "Your ideas are too crazy, they will only bring destruction to the Uchiha clan!"

Dan shook his head and walked away.

The door was pushed open.

Inaho and Tetsuhi, both looking stunned, watched Dan leave, speechless.

After leaving the mansion, Dan hadn't taken two steps before Uchiha Hachidai chased after him, shouting at his retreating figure, "Uchiha Dan, I'll pretend today's conversation never happened. If you dare to act in the name of our faction, I'll personally throw you in jail!"

In Hachidai's view, Dan's ideas were too dangerous. The radicals couldn't afford to be associated with him.

Dan ignored Hachidai's roar.

As the leader of the radicals, Hachidai was just another Uchiha Shana, or even less so.

After interacting with them, Dan was convinced that these insects could never succeed in a rebellion.

He walked around the corner without stopping.

Suddenly, Uchiha Fugaku appeared under the cherry blossom tree, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

"Brother-in-law," Dan greeted him, somewhat surprised.

"What happened? Why did Hachidai threaten to throw you in jail?" Fugaku, his poker face filled with surprise, asked his brother-in-law about the situation.

Dan answered truthfully, "As you can see, I couldn't get along with those radicals, so we parted on bad terms."

Hearing this, Fugaku's face broke into a relieved smile.

He had been worried for a long time, and now he finally got a satisfactory answer from his brother-in-law, which was a great relief.

"Dan, you did the right thing. If Hachidai and the others give you any trouble, come to me. I, as your brother-in-law, will stand up for you," Fugaku said, patting Dan's shoulder.

"Thank you, brother-in-law," Dan nodded.

"Hahaha," Fugaku laughed heartily.

Today, he finally felt that his relationship with his brother-in-law had become a little closer.

The two walked down the street lined with cherry blossom trees.

"Dan, I've known for a long time that you're also a member of the moderate faction, right?" Fugaku asked.

"How did you figure that out?" Dan was puzzled.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fugaku crossed his arms, as if he had seen through Dan's thoughts, and analyzed it thoroughly.

"Dan, although you appear to be bigger and fiercer

than anyone else, your heart is gentler and kinder than anyone else's. This is what your sister Mikoto told me. You're clearly powerful, but you don't want to be a ninja. Instead, you live a simple life like an ordinary person.

You even moved out to live alone, giving up the Uchiha surname, never causing trouble. Isn't that enough?"

He looked at his brother-in-law with sharp eyes.

"You're right, brother-in-law," Dan nodded, not bothering to argue, but instead agreed with Fugaku's words. "I believe that everything the Uchiha have today is given by Konoha. No matter what happens, we should never oppose the village and always put the village's interests first."

Hearing this, Fugaku suddenly stopped, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Dan, you're too gentle!" He warned his brother-in-law with a serious expression, "Remember, being too gentle is a kind of weakness. We should strive for what belongs to the Uchiha, otherwise people will think we're easy to bully, understand?"

Fugaku was indeed a neutral party.

He didn't want the clan to be like Shisui, who followed the Will of Fire, putting the interests of Konoha before the clan, nor did he want them to be as radical as Hachidai, causing a violent conflict with the village.

As the clan leader, he hoped to achieve a balance: maintaining a relationship with Konoha while striving for the Uchiha's rights.

But this balance was hard to grasp.

If either the radical or moderate faction in the clan gained complete power, he, as the clan leader, would be swept along.

In the end, when the moderates were in the majority, he was a moderate, and when the radicals were in the majority, he became a radical.

He was a fence-sitter.

"You're right, brother-in-law," Dan admitted his mistake in the face of Fugaku's earnest advice.

It was funny.

Dan spoke differently to different people, as a result, the radicals thought he was too radical, and the moderates thought he was too moderate.

Hearing this, Fugaku's expression softened.

The two chatted for a while and unknowingly arrived at a crossroads.

"I almost forgot about the main event," Fugaku came back to his senses and said to Dan seriously, "Tonight is your sister's birthday. She said that rather than receiving a gift from you, she'd rather have you, her brother, come to our house for dinner."

"...Okay," Dan didn't refuse his brother-in-law's invitation this time.

"Great," Fugaku sighed in relief.

If he couldn't bring Dan back, he probably wouldn't see his wife's smile for the next month.

Suddenly, Fugaku seemed to remember something else.

"By the way, Itachi said... you have an employee at your gym who lives and eats with you. So, bring her along too," he said, his expression seemingly meaningful.

"Alright, see you tonight," Dan agreed, parting ways with Fugaku at the crossroads.

...

At the surveillance station, Itachi was on duty as usual, staring at the rows of monitors, watching over the Uchiha clan's residence.

Although he never said anything on the surface, he was somewhat resistant to this task.

During this time, he was at a loss, his gaze quickly switching between the surveillance screens.

Suddenly, he saw his uncle Uchiha Dan appear in the clan area on the screen, walking into a mansion with Uchiha Inaho.

Not long after, Dan came out alone, only to be stopped by his father Fugaku. The two chatted by

the roadside, seemingly enjoying their conversation.

What was going on?

Itachi stared at the screen, his mind racing to figure out what had happened.

Unbeknownst to him, the time for shift change had arrived.

Itachi stood up, hurriedly leaving work, eager to find out what had happened.

At that moment, neither Itachi nor any of the other surveillance personnel noticed a vortex-like distortion suddenly appearing in the surveillance screen of Naka Shrine.

It was a fleeting moment.