I Want to Challenge You, Fugaku

Fugaku Residence.

At seven and a half years old, Kagami Uchiha was already around five feet tall. Since he was attending the celebration, he wore a loose dark navy robe.

His features were sharply defined, and a faint smile always seemed to linger at the corners of his mouth.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Shisui followed behind him, looking around everywhere, his large eyes filled with curiosity.

"Brother, there are so many people here. What are they doing?"

"They're celebrating the birth of a child." Kagami Uchiha spoke blandly as he looked at the child in Uchiha Mikoto's arms, his gaze indifferent.

"Kagami, you're here." The somewhat aged Uchiha Shinka approached.

He looked toward Fugaku's family as they welcomed the clansmen and sneered. "I heard someone calling that little brat the Young Clan Leader. Heh."

"We Uchiha are not the Hyuga, playing at hereditary succession. Even Madara himself was only called the Young Clan Leader after displaying his talent."

"Does a child still in swaddling clothes deserve it?"

"If he can grow up normally, perhaps he really will be qualified." Kagami Uchiha replied calmly.

He disliked Uchiha Itachi, but he would not deny the boy's talent because of it.

"I often feel that those eyes of yours can see the future." Shen Huo sighed, smiling as he patted Kagami Uchiha on the shoulder.

"In a few more years, you might be able to defeat Fugaku. When that happens, I'll initiate an internal clan challenge. You're the one suited to lead the Uchiha!"

Kagami Uchiha shook his head.

In another year or two, the Third Shinobi World War would begin. Even now, border conflicts had become frequent.

According to the original course of events, the Uchiha would not get a chance to reach the Hidden Mist Battlefield until the later stages of the war.

Besides, the clan was not a united whole. The radicals made up the majority, but quite a few still chose to stand with the village.

Like Obito, who would later join Minato Squad. He was merely a more representative example.

Where else did Danzo's Sharingan come from before the Night of the Massacre?

To put it more darkly, Kakashi being allowed to keep his Sharingan in the future was also a compromise the Uchiha Clan made with the Fourth Hokage.

For a thousand years, the iron law of the Uchiha Clan had been that, no matter what, outsiders were not permitted to covet the Sharingan.

For it, the entire clan could be mobilized to hunt them down without rest until one side died!

Without Uchiha Madara, the Uchiha were nothing more than a group of weaklings to be bullied at will, no longer possessing the grandeur of the shinobi world's foremost great clan.

Fugaku probably had not awakened the Mangekyo yet. He had awakened it during the Third Shinobi World War.

If it was only a Three-Tomoe...

"I'll challenge Uchiha Fugaku shortly."

!!

Shen Huo's pupils abruptly contracted. "So suddenly?!"

"It's not such a big deal."

Kagami Uchiha swept his gaze over the crowd before continuing, "Since everyone is here, let's have a fight first. I don't want to be Clan Head just yet."

Fugaku was a fence-sitter. He lacked the ability to steer the Uchiha, but he would do as a transitional leader.

Kagami Uchiha intended to take the stage as the Uchiha Clan Head once the Third Shinobi World War began. That way, the Third Hokage's faction would have little energy to spare for targeting him.

For the Clan Head's child's Seven-Day Celebration, practically everyone qualified to participate in clan meetings had arrived, along with quite a few ordinary Uchiha clansmen.

At the banquet.

Uchiha Fugaku raised a toast to Shen Huo's table.

"Shen Huo Elder, thank you for your contributions to the clan."

"Kagami-kun, and little Shisui, Itachi is your younger brother. Please look after him in the future."

The gazes of the many clansmen crossed.

The divisions within the Uchiha Clan had already become obvious. The village was still pursuing a conciliatory policy toward the Uchiha, and Fugaku leaned toward peaceful coexistence.

Most Uchiha in the Military Police Force were considered doves.

It was only later, when the village's oppression of the Uchiha became too severe, that the radicals overwhelmed the doves.

At the beginning of the village's founding, the Uchiha Clan had grown weary of war and had even betrayed Uchiha Madara.

Kagami Uchiha set down his juice and slowly rose to his feet.

"Clan Head, on this fine day of passing down the flame, I would like to seek your guidance in ninjutsu."

Uchiha Fugaku's smile did not change. "Of course. Tomorrow, I'll wait for you at the Training Ground you usually use."

Kagami Uchiha pressed his lips together slightly, his smile barely visible. "Do I need to make myself clearer? I want to challenge you, Uchiha Fugaku."

If he had merely been an ordinary Uchiha youth, no one would have taken his words seriously.

Like some Uchiha boy shouting every day that he wanted to become Hokage—would the Third Hokage take him seriously?

But Kagami was different...

The Uchiha Clan revered strength. Whether one had awakened their eyes was one standard; after awakening them, each additional tomoe represented another rank.

Any Three-Tomoe Uchiha was universally acknowledged to possess jōnin-level combat strength.

"Kagami, isn't it somewhat inappropriate to say this on such an occasion?"

An Uchiha elder spoke up, wanting to give Fugaku a way out.

Kagami Uchiha looked at him and said blandly, "Since when do we Uchiha need to consider the occasion when we fight?"

"Has a long life of comfort made you learn from the Hyuga?"

If Uchiha clansmen still held differing views regarding the Hokage,

then when it came to the Hyuga—the people competing with them for the title of the foremost Dojutsu Clan—all Uchiha clansmen felt nothing but contempt and disgust.

What standing did you Hyuga have? You wanted to compete with my Sharingan?

But what was even more frustrating... the Uchiha currently had no Mangekyo, so they really could not suppress the Hyuga.

The Hyuga prided themselves on their noble, pure bloodline and looked down on the loud and boisterous Uchiha. The Uchiha likewise could not stand that bunch of effeminate fools.

Kagami Uchiha's words instantly left the speaker speechless.

Fugaku's gaze darkened slightly, and he waved to signal that Mikoto need not worry.

He looked gravely at Kagami Uchiha and said in a low voice, "You're not even a ninja yet. Isn't it too early to speak of challenging me?"

Kagami Uchiha turned and slowly walked toward the entrance, the clacking of his wooden sandals echoing through the hall.

He turned his head back. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan emerged in his eyes, and fierce chakra swept forth!

"Clan Head, I'll wait for you for one minute."

"Such powerful eye strength... It's no ordinary Three-Tomoe!"

"As expected of Kagami. He will definitely reach the realm of the Mangekyo!"

No one blamed Kagami Uchiha for disrupting the celebration.

To them, whatever a genius did was reasonable and forgivable.

No matter how rational an Uchiha might be, strength was the only thing they believed in!

There was a large open space before the Clan Head's residence. Facing Kagami Uchiha, Fugaku's expression was blank.

"I don't mind admitting weakness. If you truly want to become Clan Head, I'm willing to nurture you for a few years and let you take over the Clan Head's authority more smoothly."

"You're still too young to handle the village's affairs properly. I know you've been influenced by Shen Huo Elder. Some things aren't as simple as you think..."

"You're mistaken, Clan Head." Kagami Uchiha shook his head.

"I merely want to test my own capacity."

"And..."

Kagami Uchiha assumed a stance, smiling as he spoke.

"Nothing is as complicated as you think. This world..."

"Has always been decided by the strong, hasn't it?"

Whoosh!!

An invisible blade of sharpness shot forward.

Fugaku twisted aside to evade it. A wide swath of trees behind him was severed, crashing down with a tremendous roar.

A flash of scarlet emerged in his eye sockets.

"As a new father, I'll treat this as an educational exercise for Itachi."

Surging eye power spread out in an instant, carrying immense pressure.