After the discussion, he headed alone toward his bedroom deep inside the residence, preparing to change into his gear.
He pushed open the door. The room was unlit, and only the cold moonlight filtering through the window lattice cast pale, grid-shaped shadows across the floor.
In the bedroom, which should have been empty, a figure sat quietly in a chair by the wall. His posture was even respectful, as if he had been waiting for some time.
Fugaku's expression froze. Chakra surged instinctively, and the three Tomoe in his eyes began spinning rapidly as he locked onto the uninvited guest.
Who was it?
How could someone have slipped in here without making a sound?
Were the guards outside just for show?!
The moonlight shifted, faintly illuminating the man's profile.
It was Uchiha Du Yang.
Uchiha Fugaku laughed.
He hadn't expected Uchiha Du Yang to be so bold.
He hadn't even gone looking for the man yet, and the man had already come to him.
But at that moment, Du Yang simply sat there quietly, his head slightly bowed as if paying his respects to the clan leader, yet utterly calm.
It was as if he weren't trespassing in the clan leader's bedroom, but politely paying him a visit.
"...Uchiha Du Yang."
Fugaku's voice dropped low.
He gently shut the bedroom door behind him, as if deliberately shutting out everyone else.
In the room, only the two of them remained, facing off.
Uchiha Fugaku asked, "What are you doing here? Who gave you permission to come in? You should have waited outside."
Du Yang slowly raised his head. The moonlight finally illuminated his face completely. His expression was calm and unruffled.
Then he looked at Fugaku and spoke. "Clan Leader, I'm sorry to trouble you so late at night. As your junior, I have been discourteous."
"However, before the midnight bell tolls, there are some things I must discuss with you alone."
Fugaku's gaze turned cold as he demanded,
"What do you want to discuss with me?"
Du Yang said, "Clan Leader, don't you want to know where your eldest son, Itachi Uchiha, is?"
Uchiha Fugaku froze for a moment, then snapped, "I knew it... Where have you hidden my son? If you lay a finger on him, I will kill you."
"My family is my bottom line. They matter more to me than my own life. I will protect them at any cost. You need to understand that."
Du Yang continued, "I see. Then, Clan Leader, what do you think of the Uchiha Clan?"
Uchiha Fugaku answered seriously,
"The Uchiha Clan is everything to me. I would give my life for the Uchiha."
Du Yang asked one final question,
"I see. Then, Clan Leader, abandon tonight's operation, or I'll have Itachi Uchiha killed."
"Tonight, you have only two choices."
Uchiha Fugaku stared at Du Yang for a long moment.
Threatening the clan leader so openly—he really had become utterly lawless.
But Fugaku could see in his eyes that Du Yang was serious.
If anyone else had said those words, Uchiha Fugaku would have dismissed them as empty bluster and killed them on the spot.
But Du Yang had been the last person to see Itachi Uchiha.
Then Itachi had disappeared that very night.
So Fugaku had no choice but to believe him.
Du Yang gave Fugaku ten minutes to think it over.
Fugaku thought long and hard before finally saying, "I accept."
Du Yang smiled.
He could now be certain that this man truly wasn't suited to lead the Uchiha Clan.
In Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, his family mattered far more than the Uchiha Clan.
Du Yang didn't need to test him like this to figure it out. Fugaku's actions up to this point had already revealed what kind of person he was.
If Du Yang hadn't stepped in and killed Itachi Uchiha, then on the night of the massacre, Fugaku would have obediently let his eldest son kill him.
A man with the Mangekyō Sharingan, the clan leader of the Uchiha, would have let himself be killed without putting up the slightest resistance.
This also showed, in a way, that Uchiha Fugaku had known all along that his son had betrayed the Uchiha Clan.
He had already made his choice between the two.
If Uchiha Fugaku had chosen the Uchiha Clan, he should have taken the opportunity to kill his son as soon as he learned that he had sold out the clan.
After all, his son, Itachi Uchiha, had become a traitor and was now on Konoha's side.
It was a cruel choice, but it was the choice Uchiha Fugaku had faced.
Clearly, he hadn't made it, and the night of the massacre had come to pass.
Because Uchiha Fugaku had chosen his family.
He couldn't bear to lose his son,
and his reasoning was simple.
If his son, Itachi Uchiha, killed him and wiped out the entire clan, there was still a chance that both his sons could survive.
As for the rest of the clan, well, for the sake of his two sons, they would just have to die.
For a member of a shinobi clan, putting family above fellow clan members wasn't much of a problem.
It was perfectly normal.
Du Yang was the same way.
But someone who put family above clan, and as clan leader could only lead everyone into rebellion... whose son was on Konoha's side... and who was forced to choose between family and clan, absolutely couldn't be allowed to lead a clan.
Especially not the Uchiha Clan.
Du Yang didn't care about other clans, but all his family members belonged to the Uchiha Clan. Uchiha Fugaku had to die.
Not only because he would surely kill Du Yang for killing Itachi Uchiha, but also because he was now the ringleader of the Uchiha Clan's planned rebellion.
So Du Yang completely crushed the hopes this father had placed in his son.
"Clan Leader, I'm sorry. I lied to you. I've already killed your eldest son, Itachi Uchiha."
"You are a complete failure. You don't want to kill your own son, but you don't want to face the consequences of a failed rebellion either."
"Letting your son kill you back then would have been your greatest release. But now your son has disappeared, so you've decided to throw caution to the wind, is that it?"
"You never really wanted the Uchiha to seize power. You just wanted revenge on Konoha."
Uchiha Fugaku was left speechless by the accusation. He even stumbled back two steps, trembling all over.
Du Yang had hit the nail on the head, pointing out what he truly thought and the very thing that tormented him most.
He, Uchiha Fugaku, had never wanted to rebel in the first place.
But he had no choice. He had already been pushed into it.
He had thought being killed by his son would be the best possible ending, but now his son was going to be killed.
Uchiha Fugaku suddenly burst into laughter and explained,
"You're right. The Uchiha Clan could never succeed in a rebellion, but we can bathe Konoha in blood and even bring it to ruin."
"I want revenge on Konoha!"
"Konoha brought all this pain upon the Uchiha and condemned me to a lifetime of oppression."
"Konoha killed my son and turned him into this wretched state.
"Konoha took away my hope and left me unable to see a way forward."
Uchiha Fugaku seemed to have fallen into a state of madness.
He had been suppressing his feelings for far too long.
His son's disappearance had already given him an answer: Itachi had most likely died at Du Yang's hands.
Yet today, Du Yang had given him a glimmer of hope, only to snuff it out completely.
As long as his son was alive, Fugaku could endure anything for as long as necessary.
But his son was dead. He would have his revenge.
The next moment, the Mangekyō Sharingan appeared in Uchiha Du Yang's eyes, strange and cold, brimming with murderous intent.
The sheer power of its ocular prowess made even Fugaku, a clan leader with a lifetime of battle experience, feel his heart sink.
The Mangekyō!
Just as he suspected—Du Yang had awakened those eyes too.
Uchiha Fugaku said furiously,
"You're going to kill me and betray the clan? Seize power in a coup?"
"Don't worry. You killed my son, so I'll kill you too."
Du Yang replied coolly,
"Only a failed rebellion is called treason. If it succeeds, it's a revolution."
"I'm going to carry out a thorough reform of the Uchiha Clan."
Before you continue