"Chen, this is the clan leader's seal!"
Uchiha Fugaku pulled an exquisitely crafted seal from his robes and struggled to sit up. He wanted to hand the token of the clan leadership to Uchiha Chen, but then he shook his head and said:
"I'd forgotten. You already have the Flame Gunbai. Why would you need this?"
"I still need it!"
Uchiha Chen said that, but he didn't take the seal Fugaku offered. Instead, he turned to look at a group of several dozen 'beggars' covered in dust hundreds of meters away and beckoned them over.
And so,
The thirty or so clan members who'd been watching finally started moving. They jogged over briskly and, under Uchiha Setsuna's loud shouts and directions, lined up in three rows.
One by one, the red-eyed fanatics stood ramrod straight, their backs as stiff as swords. Dozens of pairs of red Three-Tomoe stared fixedly at Uchiha Chen, their eyes brimming with admiration, excitement, and longing.
A hunched old man in his fifties even stuffed his long sword down the back of his shirt so he could stand a little straighter, forcing his chest out and gripping the sword with his back.
Damn, they'd never formed up this neatly even on the battlefield.
Seeing the Uchiha, famed throughout the Shinobi World for their larger-than-life personalities and defiant natures, display such discipline and obedience, Uchiha Chen knew this bunch of lunatics were desperate for a king of lunatics to lead them.
The Uchiha were simple that way. They instinctively admired clansmen who were strong and crazy enough, and often felt respect for outsiders with those same qualities.
Take Senju Hashirama, for example—a man who'd used force to shape the order of the Shinobi World according to his own wishes. Just how crazy and powerful did you have to be to do that?
Uchiha Chen slowly looked over each person.
These were the mid- and high-ranking members of the Uchiha Clan. Each might have several subordinates, relatives, and friends who'd awakened the Sharingan, so together they could reach almost the entire clan.
With their support, nothing could stand in the way of him taking over as clan leader!
Uchiha Chen pondered for a few seconds, then reached out and took the seal from Fugaku. The clan had made it after the Flame Gunbai was lost.
"From now on, I'm the Uchiha Clan Head. Who's for it, and who's against it?"
Uchiha Chen sprang lightly onto a tree that Susanoo had chopped down to a stump and looked down at the clan members.
"We're for it!"
The clan members, fired up, shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Clan Head Chen!"
The change of leadership in the Uchiha Clan was just that simple, plain, and steeped in the spirit of the Warring States era: a clan's authority naturally belonged to its strongest member.
"Good. I like your spirit!"
Uchiha Chen nodded.
"Now, let me say a few words.
"First, I don't like the way the clan's split into factions, with everyone at each other's throats and dragging one another down. That has to change!"
Uchiha Chen gave the leaders of the clan's major factions several pointed looks.
The Uchiha Clan could currently be divided into four factions: the doves, the hawks, the super hawks, and the conservatives.
The doves were led by Uchiha Ryoji. He wanted to follow the path his older brother Kagami had taken: integrate with the Hokage Faction, send talented youths to study under its members, and eventually become Hokage.
The hawks were Fugaku's political base. Their main strategy was to run directly for Hokage. Whether or not they won, they were going to become Hokage!
The super hawks were the rebels Setsuna supported. They wanted to kill Sarutobi Monkey, stage a coup, and seize the Hokage position. Finally, the conservatives thought the first three groups were too cautious. They'd rather establish a new Konoha and have the clan leader become its First.
In short, their methods differed, but their ultimate goal was the same: to become Hokage!
With a single glare, Uchiha Chen cowed several elders until they trembled and broke out in a cold sweat. Only then did he look away and continue:
"Second, since I'm the clan leader, everyone has to listen to me. My orders are to be obeyed and carried out unconditionally, without question! Finally..."
Uchiha Chen stood tall and released his razor-sharp presence without restraint. His voice rang with authority:
"Follow me, and we'll restore the Uchiha to their former glory and make our clan even greater!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Chen shot toward the woods like an arrow loosed from its bow. After just a few moves, he dragged out a disheveled figure.
"What's someone from the Hyuga Clan doing at the Naka River?"
Uchiha Chen unceremoniously tossed the pale-eyed man—clearly a member of the Hyuga Branch Family—to the ground.
"The village sensed the tremor. The Lord Third brought people to investigate. I..."
Stared at by dozens of Sharingan, the young man from the Hyuga Branch Family was so frightened he could barely think or speak. Still, he managed to get the gist across.
"The Lord Third's here!"
Uchiha Chen sneered. "Shisui, take Fugaku back to the clan compound to recover. The rest of you, stay here with me and wait for our Lord Third."
"Clan Head Chen..."
Shisui looked at Uchiha Chen pleadingly. He'd already rehearsed assassinating that old scoundrel Sarutobi in his head countless times, and now he wasn't even being taken along?
Seeing no response from Uchiha Chen, Shisui furrowed his brow but still reluctantly went to help Fugaku up.
"Everyone, loosen up a bit!"
Uchiha Chen looked at the dark forest beneath the moonlight and cracked his knuckles. Then he turned to the clan members and said:
"Here's a little game. You can knock them out, but you can't kill anyone or make a sound. Let's see who catches the most! The three people with the fewest captures will have their heads shaved!"
"Huh?"
The clan members clearly weren't used to Uchiha Chen's unpredictable train of thought yet.
But after their initial surprise, one by one they immediately got excited, flashing bloodthirsty smiles as they looked around at one another.
Now that was thrilling!
"Clan leader!" Uchiha Ryoji began, then hesitated.
He wanted to say this would worsen the conflict between the village and the clan, but remembering Uchiha Chen's earlier attitude of 'I alone have the final say,' he swallowed his words.
You've realized you should listen to the clan leader. Clan Head Chen is pleased.
But the reluctance on your face? The clan leader doesn't like that.
"Elder Ryoji, you're not up to it, are you?"
Uchiha Chen looked at Uchiha Ryoji with pity and sighed.
"I didn't think this through! You're not exactly young anymore. Not everyone's like Elder Setsuna, still hale and hearty, with plenty of life left in the old dog!"
Setsuna, who'd been singled out, puffed out his chest. He joined in with a mocking grin:
"I'm nearly seventy, and I can still eat five jin of rice and three jin of meat, then down two jars of wine. Before bed, I even practice swordsmanship for two hours. And you're already wilting before sixty?"
You old geezer, eat that much and you'll burst!
Uchiha Ryoji glared viciously at Setsuna, sprang three yards into the air, performed a set of high-level sword moves, then began doing one-finger handstand push-ups.
"I'm in excellent health! What I meant was, I'm going for first place!"
That damned competitive streak!
Uchiha Ryoji took a deep breath. As he balanced upside down, he felt a rush of blood to his head, and the bigger picture and the village were all forgotten.
A Uchiha man who was born to win could never admit he wasn't up to the task!
Before you continue