Uchiha Fucheng stood in the courtyard of Naka Shrine.
He was testing Susanoo while feeling the strain its power put on his eyes.
Two faint streaks of blood.
They ran from Uchiha Fucheng's eye sockets, but vanished quickly when he wiped them away.
This was Fucheng's first time activating Susanoo.
Once someone had a Mangekyō Sharingan, they could use this ability as soon as they adapted to their ocular power.
His Susanoo was a blue-white color, like lightning.
The bright white gleaming through the blue carried a hint of destruction. He wasn't sure if it was because of the healing ability in his left eye, Okuninushi, but the pain and pressure in his eyes were far less than he had expected.
His eyes had barely bled after he used the technique.
Fucheng's Susanoo looked very similar in color to Obito's.
But Uchiha Fucheng's Susanoo came with its own unique weapons.
Like Itachi's Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror.
Fucheng's Susanoo came with a lightning-shaped Thunder Sword and a great bow woven from vines.
Perhaps this was closely connected to Takemikazuchi's divine role as the god of archery and Okuninushi's divine role as a god of war.
He leisurely admired his Susanoo.
The ninjas beneath Uchiha Fucheng had all dropped to their knees.
Even the defiant elders on the platform had set aside their prejudices and humbly pledged their loyalty.
"Does anyone besides the First Elder object?" Fucheng looked down from above like a god.
He surveyed the courtyard, pleased to see every ninja bowing before him.
With everyone's approval, there was no need to waste any more ocular power.
After all, excessive use would diminish his eyesight.
Until he found a solution, Fucheng would have to use his Mangekyō sparingly.
He released Susanoo and descended before the crowd.
The elders on the platform and the ninjas below, including Fugaku, shouted together under the immense pressure:
"We greet the Clan Head!"
At those words, a system reward notification appeared.
[Changed Uchiha Fugaku's fate]
[Reward: Uchiha Fugaku's Fate Dice]
This was a real surprise for Fucheng!
"I can't believe Fugaku nearly got blown up by a Sand Ninja puppet, and that still didn't change his fate."
Fucheng grumbled to himself.
"I stole Fugaku's wife, and that didn't change his fate either. But now that I've become Clan Head, his fate has changed."
At Naka Shrine.
Fucheng officially took over as the new head of the Uchiha Clan.
The news also gave the Third Hokage and Danzo, who had been keeping a close eye on the Uchiha Clan, a sudden fright.
"A huge, blue giant?"
After hearing the Anbu report, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat frozen in his chair. He knew what this enormous blue terror was.
It had to be the Susanoo Teacher Tobirama had mentioned in his confidential records.
The Second had described in detail how Susanoo was an ability granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan in both eyes.
According to him, ordinary jutsu—even the full force of an elite Jonin—couldn't break through the giant body created by the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared blankly.
He looked out the window, took a deep draw on his pipe, then slowly exhaled a long plume of smoke.
It was as if he wanted to breathe out all the frustration in his heart.
"Some of the special policies Teacher Tobirama planned for dealing with the Uchiha seem far too harsh and extreme now..."
At Root Base.
Shimura Danzō had also received news of Susanoo.
Along with his shock, he felt even more hatred and greed.
"The Uchiha Clan really is evil by nature."
Having once been teammates with Kagami Uchiha, Danzo knew how formidable the Sharingan was.
He had also read many of Senju Tobirama's secret documents.
He had seen all the descriptions of the Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo.
But when "Susanoo" actually appeared in Konoha, the account of a blue giant like a god still filled him with dread.
"Fortunately, Uchiha Fucheng's special ocular technique is a healing ability."
Danzo sighed. "No matter how powerful this ocular technique is, it doesn't matter. Even an ordinary Sharingan is enough for me. Izanagi's special effects are far more useful than this healing technique."
Danzo had been plotting against the Uchiha Clan for too long. "Konoha should be grateful that this Uchiha Fucheng is so weak. Otherwise, just his special Mangekyō alone could have taken that evil Uchiha Clan to an entirely different level."
Shimura Danzō decided not to provoke the "volatile Uchiha" for now.
He wasn't Teacher Tobirama. He had little confidence in fighting a Mangekyō user.
He wasn't nearly as extreme as the Second!
Touching the bandages on his face, Danzo felt a peculiar sense of anticipation.
"I wonder if these harvested Sharingan can still evolve again..."
After officially becoming Clan Head, Fucheng moved from the courtyard next to Fugaku's to the central clan compound where their father had once lived: the Clan Head's residence.
However, Uchiha Fucheng didn't take away Uchiha Fugaku's position as captain of the Police Force.
Ever since he realized Fugaku was just as much of a doting older brother as Itachi, Fucheng had decided not to suppress him too much.
Now that his younger brother had become Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku, who seemed young but was actually exceptionally old-fashioned, felt much less pressure.
It was as if a thousand-jin burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
With his fate changed, Uchiha Fugaku was better suited to a purely administrative role like serving in the Police Force.
Fucheng silently offered a blessing:
"I hope the changed Fugaku can still rely on the inertia of fate and have Uchiha Sasuke and Itachi.
Otherwise, the Sage of Six Paths will pin the blame on me."
Fucheng didn't know how things would develop in this world.
But the reward for changing Fugaku's fate had come at just the right time.
It had finally solved his most urgent problem.
After becoming Uchiha Clan Head, Fucheng's Recognition Points also skyrocketed.
He received nearly 1,700 points all at once.
He tried investing ten times when he rolled Uchiha Fugaku's Fate Dice.
He spent 200 Recognition Points to roll.
The dice rattled. The result was 5.
[Obtained a moderate amount of Uchiha Fugaku's ocular power (ocular power from the same bloodline), improving the Sharingan bloodline talent.]
A searing heat!
This time, it wasn't merely warmth.
It was painful.
The moment he claimed the reward, a powerful surge of heat poured into Fucheng's eyes.
The ocular power he had spent using Susanoo—and the fatigue in his eyes afterward—vanished in an instant!
As if washed away by a stream.
When he opened his eyes again a dozen seconds later, the pattern in Uchiha Fucheng's eyes had changed once more!
The pinwheel design with its lightning-bolt tail now showed faint traces of another pattern.
The large tomoe in Fugaku's Mangekyō were slowly merging into Fucheng's eyes.
The faint lightning-shaped tomoe design seemed to still be in the process of merging.
The fusion was progressing slowly; it was nowhere near the leap to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Sensing the potent ocular power, Fucheng compared it with what he had before.
"The quality and quantity of my ocular power are still a little lacking. I'm still some distance from advancing to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
"But compared to my previous Mangekyō Sharingan, my ocular power has clearly increased.
"Investing 200 points was well worth it!
"Ocular power from Fugaku, a blood relative, is probably the most useful reward."
He adjusted the flow of his ocular power.
He concealed all the faint traces that had just appeared in his eyes, especially the newly emerged image of Fugaku's large tomoe.
By adjusting his ocular power again and again, he made sure his Mangekyō still looked like the "Lightning Pinwheel" from before.
No one else could detect the unusual fusion of ocular power.
Knock!
Knock, knock!
There was a knock at the door. Uchiha Yashiro, who was guarding the Clan Head, reported softly from outside Fucheng's room.
"Lord Fucheng, I've brought Mikoto, the mother you asked me to find."
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