I'll Have to Be Clan Head

Uchiha Fucheng flicked the blood off his kunai.

With a casual slash, he severed the carotid artery of the Sand Ninja, who no longer had any strength to resist.

An unexpected notification appeared.

Fucheng paused for half a second.

[Changed the course of Sand Ninja Baki's life]

[Reward: Sand Ninja Baki's Fate Dice]

"Baki? The Jōnin who led Gaara's team during the Chunin Ninja Exams? Did I... kill his dad or his grandpa?"

Fucheng didn't dwell on it. He immediately spent the minimum ten Recognition Points to use the Fate Dice.

That was about as much as an ordinary character was worth.

Dice roll: 4.

A roll of 4 meant a skill ability reward!

Reward [Sand Ninja Baki's Wind Release ability, Wind Release Chakra Form Transformation, Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation]

Fucheng narrowed his eyes as he sensed a warm stream of chakra appear out of nowhere inside him.

Fucheng now had four elemental talents: Lightning Release, Fire Release, Earth Release, and Wind Release. He only needed Water Release to have all five elements.

With three Sand Ninja Jōnin taken out, the five remaining enemy Sand Ninja were no match for them.

Only one puppet master could barely be considered a Special Jōnin.

But against Fucheng, Fugaku, Seimei, and Kaen, they didn't last even two exchanges.

By the time Uchiha Fucheng summoned the giant eagle down to the ground, the five remaining Sand Ninja were long dead.

Fucheng looked at Fugaku, subtly picking up where their earlier conversation had left off.

"My injuries aren't serious this time. What about Yashiro and the others? How are they?"

Fugaku's expression turned somewhat grave. "Yashiro rescued several seriously wounded Konoha Ninja. Since their injuries were so severe, he took them and withdrew ahead of us."

Before Fucheng could introduce the people on the giant eagle's back to Fugaku and Seimei, Uchiha Hezi was the first to jump down and rush over excitedly.

"Uncle Seimei!"

After they introduced themselves, Fucheng learned that Uchiha Seimei and Uchiha Hezi's father were brothers.

Uchiha Kaen was also a close cousin of Mikoto's mother.

Fucheng grumbled inwardly, Looks like it's not just a family of people with cataracts. The Uchiha family has plenty of red-eye disease and close-relative marriages, too.

It felt like every Uchiha was related to everyone else somehow.

After everyone climbed down from the giant eagle, Fugaku praised it. "That's quite a summon you've got!"

"His name's Garuda." Uchiha Fucheng tossed a few Blood-Replenishing Pills to Garuda, the giant eagle waiting off to the side.

Fucheng looked at Uchiha Hezi and asked, "Hezi, you had a clear view from up high. What's happening on the main battlefield?"

Hezi pointed north and northeast. "The Sand Ninja to the north are still fighting our ninja force. To the northeast, there's a lot of smoke and explosions. Most of the Sand Ninja forces have been scattered.

"There are a lot of explosive traps in that direction, so our ninja force doesn't seem to have pursued them very far."

At Hezi's words, Fugaku raised his brows, his voice stern but tinged with excitement.

"It must be Hatake Sakumo! The northeast is where Lord Hatake Sakumo attacked from. Looks like he defeated their expert."

Seimei and Kaen, who had accompanied Fugaku, were both lightly injured.

Fucheng was puzzled, too. "Weren't you with Lord White Fang, intercepting the Sand Ninja's core forces? Why were you lying in ambush here just now?"

Fugaku gave a bitter, helpless smile. "The interception plan didn't go well. The enemy we encountered was too strong. In particular, the Sand Ninja had a couple with Kage Level strength who controlled powerful puppets designed to attack entire groups.

"A lot of Konoha's ninja force died. If Lord Hatake Sakumo hadn't drawn those two Sand Ninja experts northeast, we might not have had a chance to withdraw after getting wounded."

After a moment's thought, Uchiha Fucheng assessed how the battle was unfolding.

Based on the information available, Fucheng could guess that:

Konoha White Fang had probably already killed Sasori's parents.

Without those two Kage Level fighters to lead them, the Sand Ninja puppet corps would inevitably fall apart.

The Sand Ninja were bound to suffer a total defeat in this battle.

The battle to the north, where the two sides were still locked in combat, was only the Sand Ninja managing to hold out against Konoha for the moment.

With Hatake Sakumo returning to the fight and the reinforcements led by Tsunade joining from the rear, this large-scale battle between Konoha and the Sand Ninja was about to enter its final phase.

Fucheng looked at Fugaku. "What's next? Do we reinforce the battlefield to the north, or keep heading south to meet up with Yashiro and the others?"

Everyone looked to Fugaku, waiting for his decision.

Having narrowly escaped death on the battlefield, Fugaku didn't want to take the injured Seimei and Kaen back to reinforce the front lines.

But his younger brother's stare, the other ninja watching him, and the kunoichi's appraising looks made Fugaku fall into his old habit again.

He was torn!

This "indecisiveness" was practically a hereditary illness passed down through the Uchiha clan head's line for generations.

Take Fucheng and Fugaku's father, for instance.

When it came to "Uchiha Setsuna's rebellion," he'd been unable to make up his mind.

"Reckless and indecisive" described their father perfectly.

Many people in the Uchiha Clan were deeply dissatisfied with Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's policies for governing their clan.

They had always longed to reclaim political power from the Senju Clan.

But as clan head, he was unwilling to fully support the hawkish Uchiha in their resistance. At the same time, he wouldn't follow the village's rules and keep his head down, or unite with the dutiful, peace-loving doves in the clan to make a good life for them all.

In the end, the awkward choice of sitting on the fence could only lead to getting caught in the middle!

The clan head's line ultimately wound up in the awkward position of being disliked by both sides.

Later, when Uchiha Setsuna incited his clan members to rebel, Second Hokage Tobirama arrested him.

But Uchiha Setsuna also won the unanimous support of the clan's hawkish members.

By contrast, the clan head's line was seen by their own people as a bunch of "useless cowards with no backbone."

When Uchiha Setsuna was imprisoned, Fugaku's branch of the clan head's line naturally couldn't stay out of it.

They were punished harshly by the Hokage faction along with everyone else involved in the rebellion.

"Damn it, we can't win either way!"

The evil Uchiha in Tobirama's eyes had to include the clan head's line.

When faced with the unbeatable Senju Tobirama, Fugaku's father agreed to all sorts of humiliating conditions.

He became so miserable and despondent that he eventually died of depression.

Fugaku should have inherited the clan head position, but he was constantly pushed aside by the Second Elder, Uchiha Setsuna, and the hawkish supporters all opposed Fugaku taking over.

That was also why Uchiha Yan had sneered at Fucheng when he'd first woken up!

Uchiha Fugaku was already an adult, but his clan members had forced him to wait before taking over as clan head, claiming he was "too young and impulsive and needed a few more years of experience."

The Uchiha Clan would rather leave the clan head position empty than let Fugaku take over.

So Fucheng wasn't the least bit surprised that Uchiha Fugaku would drag his feet so much during the clan's massacre that it made people want to spit blood.

As far as Uchiha Fucheng was concerned, it was in his blood.

When Uchiha Madara deserted the village, the clan head's line couldn't make up their minds and ultimately stayed in Konoha while hedging their bets on both sides.

When Uchiha Setsuna tried to assassinate Tobirama, the clan head's line once again couldn't make up their minds and refused to take either side.

And then, during the clan's massacre, Uchiha Fugaku made strange decisions and did ridiculous things. It was all perfectly understandable.

He'd been dealt a great hand and played it terribly!

Seeing Fugaku still agonizing over the decision, Uchiha Fucheng decided not to wait for him.

Fucheng shook his head in self-mockery and thought, If you can't make up your mind, then don't choose. I'll be clan head from now on anyway! I'll choose for the Uchiha.