Dual clan leaders? (Seeking recommendations and follow-ups)

Naka Shrine.

The torii at the entrance of the shrine had stood for a century, its vermilion pillars already beginning to fade.

Yet, on the plaque at the very top of the torii, the glass-inlaid tomoe and the three characters for "Uchiha" still shimmered brilliantly under the sun.

Listening to the rustling of the wind through the leaves, Uchiha Chen strode up the blue stone steps of the shrine and soon spotted the two massive stone statues of armored Crow Tengu enshrined at the entrance.

The white-haired Uchiha Setsuna stood alone beneath the statues, gazing into the distance with a lonely expression.

His eyes suddenly fell upon Uchiha Chen, scanning his collar and attire over and over, and for the first time, his hollow gaze revealed a flicker of color.

Setsuna felt a bit dizzy.

Uchiha Chen's arrogant silhouette seemed to overlap in an incredible way with someone from his memories, causing him to mistake Uchiha Chen for another person in that fleeting moment.

"Madara, Izuna. I'm getting old; I can't even tell people apart anymore!"

Uchiha Setsuna let out a deep breath and shook his head, dispelling the phantom in his mind.

"Elder Setsuna, is something the matter? Why aren't you going in?" Uchiha Chen asked with suspicion.

Uchiha Setsuna regained his senses, the wrinkles on his face bunching together as he revealed a rare, faint smile:

"I originally came to dissuade you, but seeing you now, I know you cannot be dissuaded! That look of disdain for the world—keep it. I will cast my vote for you!"

The smile on Uchiha Chen's face grew even brighter. "To me, victory is a matter of course! Elder Setsuna, please!"

"No! Today, you are the protagonist!"

Uchiha Setsuna knew his place; he extended a scarred hand and pointed toward the dark interior of the shrine, signaling for Uchiha Chen to go first.

"Then I shall not decline!"

Uchiha Chen stopped hesitating and, carrying an aura of "none but me," strode into the shrine.

The position of Uchiha clan head was both an honor and a burden.

Especially since Madara's defection, the clan had been in disarray, suffering through internal strife for quite some time before a head was barely elected.

A few years later, Uchiha Setsuna led a rebellion; though he failed to take down Senju Tobirama, he did manage to take down the clan head at the time.

After the rebellion, the heavily depleted Uchiha fell into the hands of Mikoto's father, who later took in Fugaku as a son-in-law and passed the position to him.

However, counting the three clan heads since Madara, none had held much authority within the clan, far from the "one-man rule" enjoyed by clan heads during the Warring States period.

Ultimately, it was because the three generations of clan heads after Madara lacked sufficient strength.

Everyone was a Three-Tomoe; even if you were the "top expert," you could at most take on two other Three-Tomoe clansmen at once, so why should they listen to you?

So, if Fugaku doesn't have a Mangekyō, I only need to reveal mine, and these clansmen will all support me!

Uchiha Chen knelt on a redwood cushion, staring confidently at the Six Paths Stone Tablet covered in strange characters, his heart as calm as the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union—completely undisturbed.

But the atmosphere inside the secret chamber was quite bizarre.

Uchiha Chen's "usurpation" had no secrecy at all, bordering on a farce, so the jōnin of the clan had almost all received the news and were currently sizing up the composed Uchiha Chen.

Most of the middle-aged generation in the clan swept cold gazes over him, and among the younger generation, aside from the few sitting behind him, there was much dissatisfaction in their eyes.

Conversely, the elders from the village's founding era looked at him with appreciation.

Uchiha Chen ignored these gazes, his waist held straight, sharp as a newly unsheathed sword, only occasionally glancing at Uchiha Fugaku, who sat at the head.

Uchiha Fugaku was not wearing his usual attire today either, but had changed into a black tight-fitting combat suit, layered with the green flak jacket of a Konoha jōnin; he was clearly prepared as well.

"Everyone is here. Let's begin!"

Uchiha Fugaku stood up, scanned the clansmen in the secret chamber, and finally let his gaze fall on Uchiha Chen. "The reason for calling this clan meeting is a major matter."

He paused for a moment, reached out toward Uchiha Chen, and gestured to his own side:

"The Konoha Military Police Force is busy, and I cannot handle it alone. I intend to appoint an Executive Deputy Chief to assist me in handling affairs and managing clan business.

Chen, although you are young, your character is upright, and you have spread the fame of the Uchiha clan on the Eastern Front. Are you interested?"

A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples.

The Konoha Military Police Force and the Uchiha clan were two sides of the same coin. It had always been led by the Uchiha clan head as Chief, with four captains beneath him. There had never been a "Deputy Chief," let alone an "Executive Deputy Chief"!

This wasn't a deputy chief; this was a deputy clan head, or even a "co-clan head"!

Everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look at Uchiha Chen, wanting to see if he would be bought off by such generous terms.

"Fugaku, you disappoint me!"

Uchiha Chen stood up, no longer even calling him clan head, and flicked his sleeves, his eyes filled with arrogance and mockery.

"You could have chosen to fight me, you could have rebuked me with the righteousness of the clan head's title, or you could have even sent your confidants to assassinate me. None of that would have mattered!

But you chose to take a step back, hoping that a moment of concession would buy you peaceful coexistence, hoping that I would not push further under your retreat.

You are wrong!

The Uchiha can be killed, we can die in battle!

But even if the step ahead is a bottomless abyss or total destruction, the pride engraved in our bones and souls will never allow us to retreat even half a step!"

Uchiha Chen's lips curled up as he looked around at the many clansmen in the secret chamber, finally declaring with a resounding voice:

"Someone who doesn't understand the Uchiha, someone who doesn't act like an Uchiha—how can you be a proper clan head and lead the Uchiha to glory?"

Uchiha Fugaku furrowed his brows, his expression turning unsightly.

He scanned the clansmen and noticed many of them nodding slightly, including several of his own supporters; clearly, they found Uchiha Chen's words highly agreeable.

The very foundation of the Uchiha was arrogance.

He had believed his own actions were sacrifices and concessions made for the sake of the clan.

Yet, in the eyes of these clansmen, he was simply a coward who dared not face Uchiha Chen in battle, lacking the pride of an Uchiha.

He had already lost standing in the hearts of his people.

"Chen!" Uchiha Fugaku's voice turned somber, filled with indignation as he said:

"You think I am unfit to be the clan head? You think you are more suitable than I am to lead the Uchiha?"

"Of course!"

Uchiha Chen raised an eyebrow at Fugaku in provocation and performed the hand seals for the Summoning Technique.

The Flame Gunbai appeared out of thin air, which he gripped in his hand and planted firmly on the ground.

"Based on this alone, I am more fit to be the clan head than you!"

Uchiha Chen's confident, resounding voice reached the ears of every clansman in the secret chamber:

"Without the Flame Gunbai, can one even be called the head of the Uchiha?"