[Having found a way to break the deadlock, you are overjoyed. Starting over once more, you immediately go to Uchiha Shisui and explain the situation facing the Uchiha clan, hoping to gain his approval.]
[Unfortunately, because you are merely an ordinary Uchiha clansman whose strength has not been recognized by Shisui, he instead suspects you have ulterior motives and does not heed your advice. Everything unfolds as before. You fail to escape.]
The others watching the Sky Screen in the Shinobi World couldn't help but find this amusing.
Was this the Uchiha Clan? It was truly interesting. Without any strength, even if what you said was true, they won't believe it. This certainly matched their stereotypical impression of the Uchiha.
Even the Uchiha themselves couldn't help but uniformly pinch their foreheads. Without any strength, relying purely on words—how could you possibly convince anyone, let alone a fellow Uchiha!
They had been careless. They had thought this time they might finally survive, but they had forgotten about this aspect.
The Uchiha tradition was respect for the strong. There was no helping it.
[However, you are not discouraged. You once again explain the situation to Shisui and voluntarily submit to being restricted by Kotoamatsukami. Moved by your spirit, Shisui acknowledges your reasoning and no longer reveals the Mangekyō's abilities to Konoha's higher-ups.]
[But the Uchiha clan's situation does not improve. The sentiment in favor of the coup grows ever stronger. With no other choice, Shisui uses Kotoamatsukami on Uchiha Fugaku, reversing his stance. Unfortunately, even with the clan head opposing the coup, the anger among the Uchiha clansmen cannot be suppressed.]
[They no longer heed Fugaku's orders and launch the coup anyway. Unable to bring himself to harm his own clansmen, Shisui ultimately chooses suicide. Everything returns to the original starting point. The Uchiha's coup is swiftly crushed by Konoha. You die. Escape failed!]
The Konoha trio watching the Sky Screen—Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Tsunade—were left somewhat speechless.
All they could say was that this approach was indeed typical of the Uchiha.
The clan head disagreed, so they simply refused to follow orders? People say power flows from the top down, but in reality, it flows from the bottom up.
Even the Hokage—without the support of those below, his power was like a castle in the air.
The ANBU, the Jonin squads, the support of the major clans—not a single one could be lacking.
Hiruzen now found himself wondering: at that time, could he truly have resolved the Uchiha problem through other means?
In all the attempts shown on the Sky Screen, no matter what was done, everything seemed to lead to the same conclusion.
No matter how you looked at it, the situation seemed unsolvable. Could it be that Danzō had accidentally done something good?
No, that wasn't right. There had to be a solution. If he had simply extended goodwill, Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi—three pairs of Mangekyō—would have all been loyal to Konoha. Without their top combat power, the other Uchiha couldn't have caused any real waves.
[Starting over once more, you feel somewhat disheartened. But the obsession born from hundreds of deaths drives you to pull yourself together. You resolve to survive by any means necessary. This time, you take a different approach. Instead of trying to get close to Shisui, Fugaku or Itachi, you choose to be a Uchiha Dove faction member.]
[On the eve of the massacre night, you spend your time interfering with the Hawk faction members as they carry out their security duties, loudly proclaiming the Will of Fire. In the end, the hardline Uchiha are provoked. They find some excuse to lock you up in the Police Force headquarters.]
[Because the Uchiha are an autonomous clan, Konoha higher-ups' hand cannot reach inside, and the Uchiha themselves are unwilling to deal with you. When the massacre night arrives, Itachi's attack is mainly focused on the Uchiha clan's ordinary members. The Police Force side is primarily handled by Mr. Simp, but Mr. Simp is unaware of your existence.]
[At this point, you seize the gap. You remove your Sharingan, seal it into a scroll—so that Mr. Simp cannot sense it—and thus, for the first half of the massacre night, you survive.]
[However, the latter half of the night is equally critical. When Shimura Danzō's men arrive to dispose of the bodies, you use a Shadow Clone to play dead. Then, when Kakashi leads a team to collect the bodies, you pretend to come back to life. As long as the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, knows you're not dead, you'll most likely survive.]
Inside the Uchiha clan grounds, the Uchiha looked at each other, their lips twitching.
They really wanted to ask the Sky Screen: is there no more dignified way to survive? The method described was full of uncertainty—one moment of carelessness and they'd still die.
"Gouging out your eyes and sealing them... how much would that hurt…"
"What about playing dead with a Shadow Clone? What if someone finds out?"
"What if, when you pretend to come back to life, Kakashi just finishes you off with another stab?"
"And... would the Third Hokage really be kind enough to let you live?"
Still, Uchiha Sasuke from the future seemed to have survived. How had he managed it?
And even so, this approach would only allow one or two Uchiha to scrape by. What about the entire clan? How could the Uchiha clan as a whole be preserved?
One person surviving and the whole clan surviving were completely different matters.
[After countless attempts, you finally realize that for an ordinary Uchiha clansman to survive the massacre night is harder than reaching the skies. Only by awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan can you truly survive and have the opportunity to change the fate of the Uchiha clan.]
[Once you have the Mangekyō Sharingan, externally you can deter Konoha's higher-ups from acting rashly; internally you can win over Shisui, rally a faction of your own, and even oust Fugaku from the clan head position to carry out reforms—relinquishing some of the Police Force's authority, extending goodwill to other Shinobi Clans and civilians, and so on.]
[Eventually, you can wait for Mr. Simp to expose himself, prove the Uchiha's innocence, and completely change the clan's fate.]
The entire Uchiha clan smile bitterly in their hearts.
Indeed, to change the future's outcome at the point in time shown on the Sky Screen, only the Mangekyō Sharingan would suffice.
Deterring the higher-ups, winning over Shisui, reforming the clan, extending goodwill... all of this relied entirely on the strength to hold it up.
Without power, everything was just empty talk. That was the reality of the Shinobi World.
However, Fugaku's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he listened.
These things... he can do them right now!
Earlier, when he had led the clansmen to confront the Third Hokage, the Hyūga clan had gotten a foothold in the Police Force. In hindsight, that turned out to be a good thing!
Wasn't extending goodwill just that simple? Who couldn't do it?
Fugaku turned to face the others: "Did you all hear that? The Sky Screen has given us the answer."
Everyone looked at him, and Fugaku continued, "From now on, we must take the initiative to extend goodwill. The authority of the Police Force can be shared with other Shinobi Clans, and the Police Force's methods of law enforcement must become gentle. Our attitude toward the villagers must also become friendlier."
"We must let the village see that the Uchiha are not a threat, but partners!"
Everyone looked at each other.
"Clan head... will this really work?"
"It will definitely work! The Sky Screen said that only the Mangekyō can change fate. I have the Mangekyō. Shisui has the Mangekyō. In the future, Itachi will have the Mangekyō, and even Sasuke will have the Mangekyō!"
"With so many Mangekyō, and given that we're not planning a coup, how could we possibly fail to change the Uchiha's fate?"
"Let's do it!" Tetsuka slapped his thigh, "Fugaku-sama is right!"
Inabi also grew excited: "Extending goodwill? We can do it too!"
"From now on, I'll smile at every villager I see!"
*****
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