"Father, recently, many people in the clan have been discussing Shisui's matter. Some people are even using the opportunity to discuss you… Is it all right to ignore them?"
Practice shuriken and sharpened shuriken lay scattered across the ground.
The young Itachi Uchiha wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Fugaku Uchiha, who was watching him with an expression that was half gratified and half exhausted.
Carefully, he opened his mouth and asked.
"The matter has already spread. Even if I want to control it, it cannot be controlled."
Fugaku Uchiha sighed and walked to Itachi Uchiha's side, raising his hand to touch his eldest son's damp hair.
"Father…?"
"Itachi, there is no need to care about those people's words. They only suddenly learned news that created too great a gap in their hearts, and they urgently need to find someone on whom they can vent their unease and dissatisfaction…"
"But before this, they clearly also supported Father in submitting a request to the Hokage to exchange Shisui back from Kirigakure, didn't they?"
Itachi Uchiha looked up slightly at Fugaku Uchiha's exhausted face. His eyes carried considerable indignation and displeasure.
"Pushing all the responsibility they also share onto Father alone is far too much…"
"Itachi, you are still young. These things are never as simple as they appear on the surface."
Fugaku Uchiha shook his head, bent down, and picked Itachi Uchiha up from the ground.
Carrying his eldest son, who was panting from high-intensity training beyond his age, he left the clan training ground and walked toward his residence.
"Focus on your training, Itachi… I will think of a way to handle the clan's affairs properly.
"Although it looks turbulent now, with people's hearts unsettled, in the end, it is only because everyone has lost their confidence. It is about time to let them know some things I did not want them to know before."
"Things you did not want them to know before?"
Itachi Uchiha tilted his head and asked his father curiously, "What is that, Father?"
"Nothing much. Only something that both you and Sasuke will be able to possess in the future… But do not tell anyone else about this, all right?"
As Fugaku Uchiha said this, he also forced a smile onto his face, one that was nevertheless sincere.
"But Father has not told me what it is at all…"
Itachi Uchiha puffed out his cheeks and spoke gloomily.
"Your current capacity is still not enough to contain that kind of thing~"
Looking at Itachi Uchiha's childish and adorable little face, Fugaku Uchiha laughed heartily and ended the topic.
Even though he was about to face those clan members and elders who had already panicked, not only unable to help but constantly dragging him down, after sending Itachi Uchiha home, it still could not stop him from having a bright and positive mood in this moment.
…
Later that evening.
The Uchiha clan's council hall.
Wearing his modified Konoha jonin vest, Fugaku Uchiha walked into the council hall.
Looking at the clan members already filling the hall, all of them wearing clothing characteristic of the Uchiha clan, his expression did not change as he walked through the path the crowd had left for him and sat down on the seat reserved for the Uchiha clan head.
Then he coughed lightly and announced the official beginning of today's clan meeting.
"I believe everyone already knows that in the past few days, intelligence extremely unfavorable to the reputation of our Uchiha clan has been spreading through Konoha Village at an astonishing speed…
"As elites of the clan, I believe all of you are deeply concerned about this matter. Today's clan meeting is being held precisely to discuss how we should conduct ourselves amid this surging wave of public opinion."
"Because there are many people present today, this clan meeting will begin with Elder Uchiha Nanto. Everyone, please express your opinions in order…"
The moment Fugaku Uchiha's voice fell, the white-haired old man called Uchiha Nanto slammed his cane hard against the ground and spoke fiercely, his beard bristling with anger.
"Hmph. Although I do not know through what channel Shisui's intelligence fell into Konoha's hands, the fact that this intelligence, which should have been classified, has spread throughout the village until everyone knows it absolutely cannot be separated from the meddling of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and those two Hokage advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane!
"They must be planning to use this chance to suppress our Uchiha clan and use our lowered heads to establish the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze's absolute authority!"
"Exactly! That is right! Without the permission of Konoha's higher-ups, how could this kind of intelligence casually become known to shinobi at the chunin and genin level?"
Uchiha Yuki, who was sitting beside Uchiha Nanto, echoed angrily.
"We merely made the kind of request every Kekkei Genkai clan would make to Konoha. Yet they plan to use the mistake Shisui himself committed to settle accounts with the Uchiha clan. Their calculations are far too obvious!"
"Whether this was Shisui's own mistake is still uncertain. After all, he was taken back to Kirigakure by that Fourth Mizukage. With that monster-like talent of his, it might not be impossible for him to make up for his weakness in genjutsu over these two years and reach the point where he can control Shisui."
Uchiha Genka, who was sitting in a different direction from Uchiha Nanto and the others, shook his head and spoke in defense of Shisui Uchiha.
"Genka, I know you once faced the Fourth Mizukage directly in that battle and were instantly defeated by him, but you are overestimating the Fourth Mizukage's abilities far too much."
Uchiha Nanto stroked his white beard and said in a deep voice, "The shinobi of the Kaguya clan have never produced anyone skilled in genjutsu. Even if Rei Kaguya has talent and strength no less than Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, it is impossible for him to surpass Shisui, the most talented genjutsu user of our clan, in the field of genjutsu, where the Kaguya clan has no aptitude at all…
"Stop inflating others' prestige and destroying our own morale!"
"Then are you saying Shisui willingly became a Kirigakure shinobi?"
The Uchiha elder sitting at the far-left area suddenly widened his eyes, staring fixedly at Uchiha Nanto as he asked sharply, "Are you questioning Shisui's will and character!?"
"Hmph, Uchiha Yo… You are Uchiha Kagami's brother. Of course you will speak from Shisui Uchiha's position."
Uchiha Nanto, representative of the radical faction, retorted without backing down.
"But ask your own conscience. A child of nine, not even ten years old, no matter how mature he is, is still a child who has not undergone a series of trainings to resist interrogation and the like. What exactly makes him capable of withstanding the interrogation and brainwashing methods of the Village of the Bloody Mist?"
"Because he is Shisui Uchiha! Because he is the most talented and most mature child to have appeared in our Uchiha clan since we took root in Konoha. None can compare to him!"
Uchiha Yo, representative of the conservative faction, also struck the tatami beside him with force and shouted sharply.
"But he is now one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen! No matter how talented he is, he is already a traitor who betrayed his clan and village!"
Uchiha Nanto snorted coldly, his expression unfriendly as he turned his gaze toward Fugaku Uchiha, who had been quietly listening to the clan members argue below.
"Clan Head Fugaku, you have a decent personal relationship with the Fourth Hokage. You should have confirmed the truth of this information from him, yes?"
"Regrettably, whether it is Lord Jiraiya, who went to investigate the assassination incident, or the intelligence I obtained from the Land of Wind through the clan's intelligence network, both without exception show that Shisui Uchiha wore a Kirigakure forehead protector and came to handle the assassination incident initiated by Root as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and as the acting Mizukage."
Fugaku Uchiha stated news that everyone already knew in their hearts, yet had been waiting for him to say personally.
His emotions did not fluctuate much.
Hearing this, Uchiha Yo's expression darkened. He snorted coldly, closed his eyes, and stopped speaking.
Meanwhile, the elder representing the neutral faction, the one closest to Fugaku—Uchiha Kaito—spoke before Uchiha Nanto could continue, using the tone of a good-natured mediator.
"All right, all right. The two of you should stop arguing over whether Shisui betrayed us willingly for now… Was this meeting not held to discuss how to deal with the public opinion in the village that is unfavorable to the Uchiha clan? Let us talk about serious matters."
"Hmph. What is there to discuss? We simply bite down first and insist that Shisui Uchiha's defection is his personal action and has nothing to do with the Uchiha clan. Then we publicly issue a bounty for Shisui Uchiha, showing that we will never tolerate traitors. That would settle it, wouldn't it?"
Uchiha Nanto snorted angrily.
With slanted eyes, he looked at the few Uchiha jonin sitting beside Uchiha Yo, who had opened their mouths as if wanting to say something.
His gaze turned cold.
"Or are you conservatives planning to let Konoha's higher-ups stretch their hands into our clan? Or return part of the authority of the Konoha Military Police Force to calm their purge and targeting of the Uchiha clan?"
"The situation is stronger than us. Right now, we do not have the power to clash head-on with Konoha. If we refuse to cooperate over such a severely negative matter, it will only make our position even more awkward."
One jonin from the conservative faction sighed and spoke helplessly.
"If you radicals want to stand hard against Konoha, then at least produce a clan member with the Mangekyo Sharingan, right? Without even the Mangekyo Sharingan, are we supposed to rely on the lives of jonin to resist Konoha's several Kage-level combatants?"
"With jonin who possess three-tomoe Sharingan, how can a group of five not hold off one Kage-level expert?"
Uchiha Nanto's face darkened, but he still insisted stubbornly.
"Do you think Konoha's other shinobi do not exist?"
The conservative jonin immediately found it difficult to endure.
"Even if the jonin of our Uchiha clan are outstanding enough, when facing enemy encirclement, they are still very fragile!
"Not to mention, Konoha not only has several times more jonin than our Uchiha clan, it also has dozens of times more chunin and genin. If our jonin are all held back by Konoha's Kage-level combatants, what about the chunin and genin in the clan? Are they supposed to bare their necks and wait for death!?"
"But if we take one step back this time, the next time Konoha's higher-ups will demand we retreat even further, won't they!?"
Uchiha Yuki took a deep breath.
He took over from Uchiha Nanto and became the speaker of the radical faction.
Opening his arms, he spoke loudly to all the Uchiha jonin present.
"Have all of you forgotten? Our Uchiha clan is one of the two great Kekkei Genkai clans that founded Konoha! Shouldn't we, like the Senju clan, be true masters of Konoha Village? But look at us now. Where does the Uchiha clan still look like masters of Konoha?"
"Let us put aside the First Hokage and Second Hokage. They truly were powerful experts who convinced us from the heart. But starting from the Third Hokage, the Uchiha clan's situation began deteriorating rapidly, didn't it?
"More and more targeting. Narrower and narrower paths for promotion. Drifting farther and farther away from the Hokage's seat… We have already been kicked out of Konoha's center of power by Hiruzen Sarutobi and the people who believe themselves to be the disciples of the Hokage!"
"Think about it! The Fourth Hokage is the disciple of the Third Hokage's disciple. Then when he grows old and steps down, the one who becomes the Fifth Hokage will definitely be his disciple as well!
"Originally, there was still Obito, that dead last among the Fourth Hokage's students, for us to place our hopes on. But after he died in battle, the Fourth Hokage's only disciple left is that Kakashi Hatake!"
"It will still be decades before the Fourth Hokage grows old. After Kakashi Hatake succeeds him, we will have to wait several more decades. After fifty or sixty years, will anyone in Konoha still remember that the Uchiha clan is also one of Konoha's founders? Will anyone still think we are qualified to run for the position of Hokage?
"At that time, what difference will there be between the Uchiha clan and the various large and small ninja clans that later joined Konoha?"
"And that is still an assumption made under the condition that the Fourth Hokage does not suppress us. What if he inherits the thoughts of the Third Hokage's faction and continues to suppress us?
"Are we supposed to become like the Senju clan as well, scattering our clansmen and merging the bloodline we take pride in into Konoha's civilians?"
"Can you accept something like that!? I absolutely cannot! And as long as we retreat even one more step after this incident, then having the entire clan dismantled and broken apart by Konoha's higher-ups will become a future we cannot avoid!"
Uchiha Yuki's speech had clearly been prepared beforehand.
But no matter how passionate or stirring his words were, the people present could not ignore the issue they had just discussed.
That was, they currently had no expert capable of conversing with Konoha's higher-ups on equal footing.
And without an expert who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Uchiha clan would not be much stronger than the Hyuga clan.
Did the Hyuga clan have the ability to withstand pressure from Konoha's higher-ups under such a severe situation?
They did not.
By the same logic, neither did the Uchiha clan.
The greatest premise behind their heated discussion here was the continued existence of the Uchiha clan.
Everything was for existence. Existence was everything.
Before they were forced to the absolute limit, even the most radical person in the radical faction would not publicly say something as treasonous as "overthrow the Hokage's tyranny, Konoha belongs to the Uchiha."
"Then… how about we deal with Konoha while secretly sending someone to Kirigakure to make contact with Shisui?"
Seeing the atmosphere fall into a stalemate, a female jonin sitting among the neutral faction opened her mouth quietly.
"Since Shisui can become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen over in Kirigakure, the Fourth Mizukage's impression of the Uchiha clan should be fairly acceptable, right? And the hatred between us and Kirigakure is not especially deep. Making contact with them and leaving ourselves a path of retreat…"
"Seal this part of her memory and throw her out!"
"Stop talking, Ayato! Do you know what you are saying!?"
"Have you neutral faction people gone insane?! How did you even dare bring someone so unclear-headed to the clan meeting!?"
The radical, neutral, and conservative factions were all shocked, confused, and horrified by Uchiha Ayato's problematic statement at the same time.
Then, just as the members of the three factions moved at once, preparing to deal with the possibly unclear-headed woman and throw her out, Fugaku Uchiha, who had been sitting in the clan head's seat with his eyes closed as he listened, slowly opened his eyes.
"Ayato, forget the fact that you attended today's clan meeting. Go back and rest."
"Ah? Uh, oh…"
Hearing Fugaku Uchiha suddenly call her name, Uchiha Ayato subconsciously raised her head and met the clan head's gaze.
Then her eyes rapidly became empty and hazy.
Like a marionette, she nodded stiffly to Fugaku Uchiha.
Then she gently pushed aside the Uchiha clansmen already surrounding her and left the clan meeting on her own.
"Fugaku!? You…"
Uchiha Nanto subconsciously wanted to rebuke Fugaku Uchiha for taking such a risky action.
But when his gaze met Fugaku Uchiha's, his eyes suddenly widened.
The black pupils in his eye sockets rapidly transformed into the three-tomoe Sharingan.
With a face filled with disbelief, he asked in a trembling voice, "You… you already have the Mangekyo Sharingan!?"
The moment these words came out, every Uchiha clansman's gaze turned toward Fugaku Uchiha.
Toward the Mangekyo Sharingan in his pupils, whose pattern was already completely different from the three tomoe.
Toward the clan head whose aura had never been so high.
"Yes. I was fortunate enough to awaken these eyes."
Fugaku Uchiha nodded, acknowledging the matter.
But before Uchiha Nanto and the other radicals could reveal ecstatic expressions and declare that the Uchiha should resist to the end, Fugaku Uchiha spoke calmly.
"Unfortunately, however, I do not intend to carry out the plan Elder Nanto mentioned because of this.
"In this storm, aside from cutting ties with Shisui Uchiha, the Uchiha clan should likewise make a gesture and concession toward Konoha.
"However, I will try to keep this concession limited within the authority of the Military Police Force."
"Why!?"
Uchiha Yuki leaped up emotionally, pointing at Fugaku Uchiha as he shouted with intense emotion.
"Do you not know that yielding once to Konoha's higher-ups will only make them demand more and more concessions from us again and again?"
"Because right now, I am the only one in the Uchiha clan. That is not enough to make Konoha's higher-ups completely stop suppressing us."
"We need to wait. Wait for the second and third holders of the Mangekyo Sharingan in the clan to grow.
"When that time comes, we will have the ability to fully break free from the shackles imposed on us by the Senju and the Third Hokage's faction. We will become the true masters of Konoha. We will produce the Fifth Hokage!"
"The second and… third?"
Hearing Fugaku Uchiha say such words with such confidence, all the Uchiha clansmen present looked at one another.
They all saw incomprehension and disbelief on each other's faces.
Then, Uchiha Kaito, who had the best relationship with Fugaku Uchiha, cautiously asked him, "Um, Fugaku? The second and third holders of the Mangekyo you mentioned… who exactly are they?
"And what is it that gave you such strong confidence?"
"Because these eyes of mine have already seen that future."
Fugaku Uchiha took a deep breath.
Toward all the Uchiha clansmen present, he used the ocular technique residing in his Mangekyo Sharingan with all his strength.
Self-Only Consciousness.
He pulled every clansman staring at him into an illusory world based on the information he already knew, then deduced and developed from there.
"Welcome to the future seen by the ocular technique residing in my Mangekyo Sharingan—Self-Only Consciousness."
Standing beneath Konoha's cliff wall, where the faces of the brothers Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha were carved, Fugaku Uchiha raised both hands high and calmly addressed the Uchiha clansmen whose faces were filled with shock.