"You're awake."
Shisui felt pain all over his body.
At the same time, his head felt like it was about to explode. His vision was terribly blurry, almost as if he were blind.
"Did the plan succeed?"
Shisui fell silent for a moment, then quickly realized what had happened.
In a hoarse voice, he asked.
"We counted eighteen dead: thirteen members of the Police Force and five clan members."
"We held the prayer ceremony yesterday."
Uchiha Tamaharu spoke, his tone somewhat downcast.
Although the casualties were fewer than expected, he still couldn't help feeling a little regret.
The biggest problem was that Konoha had kept too close an eye on them. Otherwise, they could have escaped without a single casualty.
"Cough, cough. That's already pretty good!"
Shisui coughed weakly, then forced a smile.
"Your injuries are severe, and the clan doesn't have any particularly skilled medical ninja. Konoha has kept us under restrictions for so long that our best can only manage a healing technique."
"Fortunately, Danzo didn't use poison this time, so you'll survive. You'll just need to rest for a while."
"Oh, and your Mangekyō Sharingan was transplanted back in while you were unconscious."
Uchiha Tamaharu told Shisui.
Three days had passed since they fled.
The Uchiha's morale was somewhat low, but everyone had plenty to do—building houses, hunting, and the like—so they hadn't had much time to dwell on what had happened.
"I was wrong!"
"If I'd trusted the clan from the start, the Uchiha might not have had to reach this point."
Shisui spoke earnestly to Uchiha Tamaharu.
Although he had agreed to the evacuation plan, deep down, he had still held on to some hope for Konoha.
But now, it seemed he had been far too optimistic.
Konoha really was as dark as Uchiha Tamaharu had said!
What had blinded him all this time?
"There's no time for you to wallow in regret. The Uchiha need help now."
"In three days, I'm taking a group out to sea. This island alone can sustain the Uchiha, but life here is too primitive."
"I didn't bring everyone here to live in the wilderness. I'm going to make the Uchiha stronger—and then we'll fight our way back into the Shinobi World!"
Uchiha Tamaharu made no attempt to comfort him.
Instead, he spoke bluntly.
Ten days had already passed since the system assigned the mission. The deadline was three months, which left eighty days.
Within that time, he had to become a Shichibukai or a great pirate with a bounty of at least 500 million.
And the nearly one thousand members of the Uchiha Clan couldn't go on living like savages here. They needed to connect with the modern world and engage in trade.
All of this needed to be done right away.
"Understood. I'll give everything I have to help the Uchiha Clan."
Shisui gritted his teeth and answered at once.
"I'll do whatever it takes to restore the Uchiha Clan's glory!"
Uchiha Tamaharu nodded, looking at Shisui with great solemnity.
Shisui's expression shifted. His lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything.
"The Uchiha are still so easy to fool."
Uchiha Tamaharu was speechless.
Of course, he didn't say it out loud.
"By the way, Itachi awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, too."
"When I brought you back that day, I'd knocked you unconscious. You were covered in blood."
"Itachi was waiting by the Portal to receive us. When he saw you like that, I told him you were dead. Then he awakened his Mangekyō and broke through the seal."
Uchiha Tamaharu had stood up, intending to leave, but remembered something he'd forgotten to mention. After telling Shisui, he pushed open the wooden door of the cabin, which had only been built two days ago, and left. The door slowly swung shut with a creak.
Shisui lay on the bedding, looking caught between laughter and tears.
Three days later.
At a training ground cleared on the island.
More than a third of the Uchiha Clan had gathered there.
"Today, I'm handing the position of Uchiha Clan Head to Uchiha Tamaharu. From now on, he will lead the Uchiha Clan back to glory!"
The first order of business was for Fugaku Uchiha to pass on the position of Clan Leader.
After what had happened, he realized that he had been too cautious, and nowhere near as decisive as the younger generation.
Besides, the resolve and strength Uchiha Tamaharu had displayed were exactly what the Uchiha Clan needed most right now.
"I'll do whatever it takes to restore the Uchiha Clan's glory!"
Standing beside Fugaku, Uchiha Tamaharu faced the clanspeople lined up below and made his solemn promise.
Shisui, standing in the crowd, felt a strange discomfort for some reason.
Still, he was the first to applaud and offer his congratulations.
A wave of applause quickly followed. On the night of their escape, they had seen for themselves how much their new clan head had done for them.
"Next comes the first step in the Uchiha Clan's return to the top."
"We'll formally integrate into this world, establish contact, learn the details of how it works, and understand where the Uchiha Clan stands in it."
Uchiha Tamaharu raised a hand to quiet the applause, then continued.
Meanwhile, someone wheeled over a blackboard about three meters long and one and a half meters wide.
"The strongest power in this world is called the World Government. It governs more than 170 allied countries."
Uchiha Tamaharu began explaining the situation to everyone.
When they heard that the World Government ruled over 170 countries, the people below gasped in astonishment.
Even Fugaku and Shisui had never heard this before.
"Of course, not every one of these countries is as large as one of the Five Great Nations. Most are about the size of the Grass Country or the Rain Country, though some are almost as large as the Five Great Nations."
"The World Government has four forces under its command that it relies on to govern these countries: the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, and its intelligence organization."
"Of these four forces, the Navy is the strongest. It has at least five fighters capable of matching a Hokage-level shinobi: three Marine Admirals, a Fleet Admiral, and a Vice Admiral. It also has hundreds of thousands of troops, including more than a hundred Elite Jonin-level fighters. The number of Jonin and Chunin is impossible to estimate."
As Uchiha Tamaharu explained the Navy's strength in detail,
the Uchiha, who had been excited just moments earlier, fell completely silent.
After all, this force seemed far too powerful to them.
Konoha had been weakened, yet it had still driven them into such dire straits. Could the Uchiha Clan really regain its glory under the rule of a power like this?
And Uchiha Tamaharu had already deliberately downplayed the Navy's strength.
After all, the Three Admirals were powerful enough to contend with Beyond Kage-level fighters—like the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha in their prime.
Someone like Tsunade or Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't stand a chance against them.
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