The air in the underground secret room of Naka Shrine was heavy.

The faint light of candles flickered in the darkness, barely outlining the silhouettes of every Uchiha clansman high-ranking member present. On those faces, once arrogant or shrewd, there remained only a gray defeat, as if drained of all blood.

Fear spread quietly through everyone's veins.

The blueprint of the "Konoha Special Detention Center" that Uchiha Itachi brought back was deeply etched into everyone's minds. The dense design of the cells, that cold and cruel capacity limit of "three thousand people," crushed the last shred of fantasy they held regarding compromise and luck.

The butcher's knife was already hanging over the necks of all the clansmen.

The so-called buffer period was nothing more than the last bit of breathing time left for prisoners before execution.

Uchiha Inabi, the elder in charge of finance, had eyes that always shone with shrewdness, but they were now dull and turbid. His withered fingers traced patterns on the stone table unconsciously, and his lips quivered, but he could not make a sound.

Uchiha Yatsushiro, the elder in charge of clan security, with his muscular build, now looked like a trapped beast whose fangs had been pulled. He leaned dejectedly against the stone chair, staring blankly at the ground.

Even the usually most radical Great Elder, Uchiha Setsuna, was silent. On that wrinkled face was the stillness before a storm.

Uchiha Fugaku's expression was grim, the veins on his clenched fists bulging. As the clan leader, he could feel this despair eroding the foundation of the clan. His gaze eventually fell on the young man who had remained calm from beginning to end.

Qi.

In the entire secret room, only Qi's expression showed no change. It was as if that blueprint, which was enough to drive the entire Uchiha clansman into a desperate situation, was nothing more than a piece of insignificant waste paper in his eyes.

Fugaku looked at Qi, with a glimmer of final hope in his eyes.

Under everyone's gaze, Qi slowly stood up.

He did not walk to the center; he simply stood in his place, his calm gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Look at your expressions."

The voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"Fear, despair, and resignation. Is this all the Uchiha clansman elders can show when the clan is facing life and death?"

The bodies of several elders trembled slightly. Subconsciously, they raised their heads, but they dared not meet Qi's deep eyes.

"Is the honor of the Uchiha clansman really just sitting here waiting for death, waiting for the prison others have tailored for us to be completed day by day?"

Qi's voice suddenly rose, exploding in the oppressive secret room!

"Can compromise bring peace?"

Without waiting for anyone to answer, Qi gave the answer in a firm, decisive tone.

"No! Ever since the Second Hokage established the Military Police Force, every one of our compromises has only been met with tighter surveillance and deeper suspicion! It has only brought us tighter shackles that push us step by step to the edge of the village!"

He took a step forward, his words carrying a bloody reality.

"During the First Shinobi World War, the number of our Uchiha sacrifices was the highest in the entire village, and the Memorial Stone was filled with the names of our clansmen! What did we get in return? We got the Second Hokage's intensified exclusion, and the order to drive us to the corner of the village!"

"During the Second Shinobi World War, Uchiha Kagami fought to the death to protect his companions, interpreting the Will of Fire with his life! What did we get in return for that? We got the Third Hokage's indulgence of Danzo, and an increasingly open alienation of our Uchiha clansman!"

"Can showing weakness win trust?"

His voice rose again, carrying a near-roaring anger.

"No! During the Nine-Tails Incident, we expressed our loyalty immediately, even willing to hand over the power of the Military Police Force to prove our innocence! But what did we get in return? We got our entire clan placed under house arrest, and twenty-four-hour uninterrupted surveillance by the Anbu! Our show of weakness only makes them think we are weak and easy to bully, only making them more unscrupulous in splashing dirty water on us!"

Qi's gaze was like a sharp blade, piercing into the heart of every Uchiha clansman!

"We are like hawks raised in a cage! While they contentedly enjoy the glory and deterrence that we bring to Konoha with our Sharingan, they are constantly calculating how to break our wings, pluck our feathers, and turn us completely into a bird in a cage that cannot fly and cannot resist!"

These words tore open all the grievances, oppression, and injustice that the Uchiha clansman had endured for decades, exposing them before everyone!

Inside the secret room, the breathing of all the elders became heavy. The deathly despair in their eyes began to be ignited, bit by bit, by a flame called anger.

Qi's gaze swept over everyone, taking in the subtle changes in their expressions.

"Now, the cage has been built, and the butcher's knife has been raised! They don't even bother to maintain their final disguise anymore! Tell me, what else do we have to compromise on? What else do we have to show weakness for?"

"Our only way out is to use all our strength, use every drop of our blood, to break this damned cage and fly towards the sky that truly belongs to us!"

These words made everyone's blood burn completely.

"But..." Uchiha Inabi's voice trembled slightly. He was instigated by Qi's words, but reason would not let him ignore the most fundamental problem, "Money... Lord Qi, where will the money needed to found a nation come from? We have no way back, but we also do not have enough capital to walk that only path to survival!"

This question caused the atmosphere that had just ignited to cool down a little.

Everyone's gaze focused on Qi again.

Qi looked at Uchiha Inabi, and a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"You ask me where the money comes from?"

He changed the subject, pointing outside the secret room, in the direction of Konoha, which was shrouded in darkness.

"I'll tell you! Konoha's centuries of prosperity have half the credit belonging to us Uchiha! Since the Warring States Period era, we have used our blood and Sharingan to build half of this village's foundation! Without us, Senju Hashirama could never have pacified the chaotic world!"

Qi's voice was full of infinite bewitching power.

"Our wealth is not just in our own treasuries! It is also in the vaults of those parasites who are clinging to Konoha, sucking our blood! It is even more so in the castles of those fat and wealthy Daimyos of the Land of Fire!"

He unfolded a map of the Land of Fire, his finger pressing heavily on the location of the capital of the Land of Fire.

"Thirty percent of the annual tax revenue of the Land of Fire's Daimyo's mansion comes from the stability of the commercial districts maintained by our Military Police Force. Over eighty percent of the orders from Konoha's ninja tool suppliers require protection from us Uchiha. Those wealthy merchants, those nobles, their comfortable lives were exchanged for the lives of our clansmen!"

"They owe us! They owe us Uchiha decades of blood debt! Now, it is time to make them pay it all back with interest!"

"They want us to die on our knees, but we Uchiha will live standing up!"

"And not just live, but live better than anyone else!"

Boom!

The last sentence, like a spark igniting a powder keg, instantly ignited the fighting spirit in the hearts of all the high-ranking Uchiha members in the secret room!