Olive Branch

Yue suddenly reached out, wanting to hold Sasuke.

Fugaku was about to refuse when he sensed a subtle ocular power locking onto him.

That girl who had awakened the Mangekyo...

He stiffly nodded, signaling Mikoto to hand over the child.

He had not sensed any hostility directed at Sasuke.

Though Mikoto was worried, seeing her husband nod, she could only carefully place Sasuke in Yue's arms.

Yue took the infant carrying the reincarnated chakra of Indra, his movements unexpectedly gentle.

"So this is... the hope of the future?"

Yue looked at little Sasuke in his arms, a complicated glint flashing through his eyes.

In the original Fate line, this child would lose every member of his clan a few years later, then awaken a one-tomoe Sharingan in fury.

"Hikari, come take a look."

Yue turned and called to Uchiha Hikari, who had been standing guard at the doorway.

Hikari froze for a moment before hesitantly walking over. Looking at the soft little creature in Yue's arms, she awkwardly tucked the hands that had slaughtered countless people behind her back.

"This is... a cub?"

Hikari leaned closer curiously and extended one finger, tentatively poking Sasuke's rosy cheek.

Soft, warm, and it moved.

"Mmph..."

Seemingly poked awake, little Sasuke frowned, smacked his lips twice, and instead of crying, reached out with his tiny hand and grabbed Hikari's finger.

Hikari's entire body stiffened, as though she had been hit by a paralysis technique.

For the first time, an emotion called "amazement" surfaced in those hollow eyes.

"He grabbed me." Hikari turned to Yue, panic in her voice. "Yue, is he trying to attack me? Should I counterattack?"

"Pfft..."

Yue nearly failed to hold the child steady, while Mikoto covered her mouth and chuckled. The tense atmosphere immediately eased considerably.

"He's saying hello to you, you idiot."

Yue smiled and shook his head before handing Sasuke back to Mikoto.

"Raise him well. This child will be incredible someday."

With that, Yue's smile faded. He turned and walked straight to the seat of honor in the Japanese-style room, sitting down without the slightest courtesy as though he were the master of the house.

"Alright, enough family chatter."

Yue raised his head. His deep right eye became cold and sharp once more as he looked directly at Fugaku Uchiha.

"Mrs. Mikoto, sorry for the trouble, but take the children out first. What comes next isn't suitable for children."

Fugaku nodded at Mikoto.

Though Mikoto was full of worry, she was an intelligent woman and knew that some matters were beyond her ability to interfere with.

She gave Yue and Hikari a deep look, then carried Sasuke and led Itachi, who kept looking back with every step, out of the room. Thoughtfully, she slid the shoji door shut behind them.

As the sound of footsteps faded away, the air in the room froze once more.

Hikari silently stepped into the shadow behind Yue, her hand returning to the hilt of her sword as she resumed her unapproachable demeanor.

"October 10th, when Kushina Uzumaki gives birth."

Yue Uchiha did not beat around the bush. He immediately dropped a bombshell powerful enough to blow apart all of Konoha.

"An Uchiha Clan Masked Man will take advantage of the instant when the seal is at its weakest to undo the Nine-Tails' seal and use the Sharingan to control it, destroying the village."

Fugaku's hand jerked violently, splashing several drops of tea.

There was still more than a month to go. Even the higher-ups probably did not know the exact delivery date, so how did the man before him know? Was it his Mangekyo's ocular technique?

"When that time comes, so long as the reflection of the Sharingan appears in the Nine-Tails' eyes that night, the Uchiha Clan's fate will speak for itself."

"Let me tell you what I saw first. After the Nine-Tails goes berserk, they will immediately order the Uchiha Police Force to evacuate civilians and absolutely forbid you from approaching the Nine-Tails. Because they will be afraid—afraid that you will control the Nine-Tails, and even more afraid that this was a coup planned by you."

"And once the disaster ends, the villagers and shinobi who suffered heavy casualties will discover that the Uchiha Clan, who possessed the Sharingan and should have been able to suppress the Nine-Tails, emerged completely unscathed from the catastrophe."

Yue leaned forward slightly, staring intently at Fugaku's pale face.

"By then, even if Danzo and the Third did nothing, the seeds of suspicion would take root in everyone's hearts. The Uchiha's situation would become even worse than it was now. You would go from Konoha's 'founders' to 'suspects,' and eventually be driven into a corner of the village and watched like thieves."

"This is boiling a frog in warm water."

Fugaku's breathing quickened.

"The Fourth Hokage wouldn't do that. He's allied with us."

"Oh? Right, I forgot to mention it. The Fourth Hokage will die in the Nine-Tails' rampage, and then the Third will return to power, with Danzo following right along."

He wanted to refute it. He wanted to say that the Fourth Hokage could not possibly die, that the Third would not be so heartless.

But what if it was true?

Reason told him that if the Fourth died and the Third regained power, things might truly unfold just as Yue had said.

After all, during the years the Third had ruled Konoha, Fugaku had watched the Police Force's authority gradually get stripped away bit by bit.

That sense of distrust had long since seeped into his bones like a festering parasite.

"Then... what do you want me to do?"

Fugaku raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. "Since you know this intelligence, do you want us to stop that Masked Man? Or prove our innocence to the village that night?"

"Prove your innocence? Don't be naive."

Yue sneered as though he had heard a joke.

"No matter what you do, once the Nine-Tails appears, this is a dead end, unless..."

Yue's tone shifted, suddenly becoming deeply enticing.

"Unless the Uchiha stop playing this childish game with Konoha's hypocritical higher-ups."

He took a special metal plate engraved with the coordinates of Rōran from his robe and gently pushed it before Fugaku.

"Bring your clansmen and come with me."

"Where?" Fugaku stared at the metal plate.

"Rōran."

Yue leaned back in his chair and spread his arms, painting that grand vision. "It is an independent kingdom entirely under my control. There is no daimyo giving orders, no Hokage treating you with suspicion and suppressing you. There is inexhaustible energy there, as well as technology beyond this era."

"If the Uchiha Clan goes there, you won't need to serve as some gatekeeping Police Force. Your power will be respected there, not feared."

"The entire clan... relocating?"

Fugaku abruptly stood up, his wide sleeve knocking over the teacup.

"That's impossible! The Uchiha are one of Konoha's great clans. Our roots are here! Our glory, our land, our ancestors' monuments... they are all here! If we flee now, we will become true rogue ninja, homeless dogs!"

Fugaku's chest rose and fell violently. As the clan head, he could not easily agree to a decision that meant abandoning his ancestors' legacy and betraying the village, even with a blade held to his throat.

That deeply rooted sense of "great clan honor" and "Konoha bonds" made him instinctively reject the proposal.

"Honor?"

Hikari, standing in the shadows, suddenly spoke coldly.

"The dead have no honor."