Fugaku's Death

"Knock, knock, knock."

Someone knocked on the office door, and Fugaku called out for them to come in.

It was a squad captain from the Konoha Military Police Force, someone he knew well. His Chakra also felt familiar.

"What is it?"

"Captain, the village higher-ups have expressed major dissatisfaction with how our Konoha Military Police Force handles disputes."

The higher-ups?

Fugaku frowned. The higher-ups' dissatisfaction with the Uchiha Clan had not begun just yesterday.

And the so-called dissatisfaction of the villagers was nothing more than an excuse.

They had only just helped the Fourth Hokage, yet those people were already this impatient?

Taking the report in front of him, Fugaku began reading it.

But in the next moment...

"Pfft!"

Fugaku's chest was pierced in an instant, blood dripping continuously.

The sudden sneak attack left Fugaku stunned.

How was this possible?

"You... you're not Jiang..."

"Who exactly are you..."

As he struggled to question him, blackness crept across half of the man's face, revealing a strange smile.

"Who am I? Going by seniority, I should be your third granduncle? Uchiha, descendant of Indra—I'll be taking your eyes!"

As the words fell, Fugaku, whose heart had already been pierced, grew weaker and weaker.

The disguised White Zetsu Clone returned to its original appearance, holding a Kunai across Fugaku's neck.

"Pfft!"

The windpipe that had been struggling to call out was severed instantly.

The blade cut through his artery and windpipe, and blood erupted violently, turning Fugaku into a blood-soaked figure.

"Gurgle..."

Fugaku, his windpipe cut open, still wanted to say something, but the air he inhaled was thick with the smell of blood. He could not force out a single word.

The black arm that had taken control reached for his eyes. A pair of bloody eye sockets closed as blood trickled down.

At that moment, a white figure rose from the ground. The blackness enveloping Fugaku peeled away inch by inch, merging with the white like a lump of rotten mud.

Inside the two glass bottles in its hand were Obito's eye and Fugaku's pair of Sharingan.

"As Madara's pawn, Obito cannot die yet. That Mangekyō Sharingan with its space-time ability cannot remain in Konoha either. So... you'll have to die, current Uchiha Clan head, Uchiha Fugaku."

"Whoosh!"

Fugaku's head jerked as a Kunai was thrust into his eye socket, destroying his brain. Afterward, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu slowly sank underground.

White Zetsu's voice rang out one last time. "Did we really have to be in such a hurry? I still wanted to ask him what the urge to take a shit feels like."

Black Zetsu responded, "The Fourth Hokage and that Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan just left. We need to rescue Obito as quickly as possible. Someone in this village knows of our existence, or Obito would not have failed. Let's go."

Ten minutes later, terrified cries rang out from the Military Police Force. Minato and Shisui, who had not gone far, quickly returned.

But Fugaku was already lying in a pool of blood. His pair of Sharingan had vanished without a trace, and Obito, who had been sealed in the prison, was nowhere to be found.

"Snap!"

Shisui hurriedly opened a hidden compartment beneath the desk. The Mangekyō Sharingan that he and Fugaku had placed there the previous night was gone.

"So there really was an accomplice. They managed to enter Konoha without anyone noticing, and even silently kill Captain Fugaku. Lord Hokage, could it be..."

Minato understood the suspicion Shisui had left unsaid: Uzumaki Sora.

Was the person who had intercepted Obito's right arm midway last night—the one who could skillfully use Flying Thunder God—the Black Shadow from the intelligence Exchange?

But judging from that conversation, the Black Shadow had clearly shown a bias toward the Uchiha Clan. Had he come to rescue Obito? Fugaku was not weak...

"Lord Hokage, Captain Fugaku died from excessive blood loss after a Kunai sliced open his artery and windpipe. And judging from the position in which he fell, it appears to have been suicide. However, the Kunai inserted into his brain should have been the enemy's doing," the medical ninja reported.

Suicide?

Minato frowned. Fugaku could not possibly have committed suicide. Then this ability to control an enemy was probably similar to the Nara Clan's Shadow Imitation Technique—both were methods of controlling opponents.

As for the Kunai driven into the brain, that had not been uncommon during the Third Shinobi War. All Five Great Shinobi Villages had secret techniques targeting the brain. If death had occurred only recently, there was a chance of extracting the needed intelligence.

But... Uzumaki Sora?

Judging from Shisui's clash with him last night, the person who had obtained the Flying Thunder God Jutsu did not possess much power. Without Flying Thunder God and his reaction speed, he might not even be a match for an ordinary Chunin.

So even if he had caught Fugaku off guard, he might have injured him, but he should not have been able to control him.

Uzumaki rather than Uchiha—an Uzumaki Clan genjutsu? No, perhaps Uzumaki Sora had merely laid a false trail?

"Have the Barrier Team come over. I need to know the condition of the village barrier. Then have the Jonin Squad arrange a team equipped with sensory Jonin to begin tracking them. Shisui, take a team of Anbu with you and provide support at any time."

The Anbu directly under the Hokage accepted the order and vanished in a Body Flicker. Shisui also left after hearing it, his thoughts in turmoil.

The Uchiha Clan, already precarious amid the storm, had lost Fugaku as its clan head. The Hawk Faction and Dove Faction would clash again over this. If someone from the Hawk Faction became clan head, then...

Beneath the underground cavern, the rescued Obito had already regained his right arm.

After immediately replacing his eye with the Sharingan, he asked, "Who leaked my information to Konoha? And Kakashi's eye..."

White Zetsu spoke from the side in a strange tone. "Uzumaki Sora. I saw him when you were captured. You looked pretty pathetic, Obito."

"Bang!"

Obito smashed the wooden table with a single punch. "If it weren't for that bastard Kakashi using my eye to restrain me—damn it!"

Obito vented furiously in shame and rage. After a long while, the black figure took out a scroll. "The information about Hashirama Cells and the Mangekyō Sharingan has been completely exposed. I think you should calm down and study properly. This is the scroll he left for you. The power recorded within is what you need right now."

Taking the scroll, Obito received a glass bottle from White Zetsu. "The eyes of Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan head. Very nice Three Tomoe. If I remember right, Uchiha genjutsu requires Sharingan."

Looking at the items in his hands, the Tomoe in Obito's eyes spun rapidly.

Power!

Only enough power would allow him to capture the Tailed Beasts and initiate the Eye of the Moon Plan.

And that person lurking in the shadows, Uzumaki Sora!

Three days later, Konoha, at Uchiha Fugaku's funeral.

Dressed in black, Yun looked at the Stone Tablet before him. Fugaku was dead. He had not expected that.

Though he had long since thrown the plot out of his mind, the chaos the Uchiha Clan would face next was easy to imagine.

With Fugaku dead, Itachi was only a little over five years old. He would not even be able to attend the Ninja Academy until next year. At Itachi's age, it was clearly impossible for him to become clan head.

And Shisui...

If he could be persuaded to use the ability called Kotoamatsukami, then Fugaku's death might not necessarily be a bad thing.

"The captain was assassinated right after the Fourth Hokage left the Military Police Force..."

"I heard the Jonin Squad and Anbu who went after them found nothing at all..."

"It was the same with Shisui. The enemy seemed to have vanished into thin air..."

"An ability that lets someone vanish into thin air... During the Third Shinobi War, didn't they say the Fourth killed fifty enemy ninjas instantly with a single jutsu?"

"Only the Fourth can use space-time ninjutsu..."

"Can Konoha no longer tolerate the Uchiha? We were clearly the founders of this village, the masters of this village."

"Even the captain was assassinated. We have no chance left..."

"Quiet! Don't talk nonsense!"

Listening to the speculation of the surrounding Uchiha clansmen, Yun frowned slightly.

In the original history, judging from Fugaku's attitude, he had not wanted to rebel. Yet even a clan head like that had been dragged along by his clansmen until he had no choice but to rebel.

Now that the Uchiha had also lost Fugaku, things like defecting did not really matter. But as a modern person accustomed to peace and good food, life in Konoha was still better...