Confrontation

The night was as dark as ink. The moonlight, though bright and snowy white, seemed to have been stained red by the Sharingan below.

At the Uchiha gathering, candle flames flickered uneasily, illuminating faces barely containing their fury.

The air was thick with surging chakra, as if a single spark could set all of Konoha ablaze.

After a long silence, Elder Setsuna finally stepped into the center of the clan meeting.

His frame was still gaunt, but his Sharingan burned like flames, its light sending a chill through those who saw it.

Setsuna slowly scanned the room. Wherever his gaze fell, clan members straightened their backs, Three Tomoe turning silently in their eyes.

"Uchiha..." His voice was hoarse and low, yet it rumbled through the shrine like thunder before a storm.

"How much longer are we supposed to endure?!"

His cane slammed against the floor, sending splinters flying. Elder Setsuna suddenly raised a hand, pointing toward Kage Rock outside the shrine, and cried out hoarsely.

"Ever since the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, we've been driven step by step to the brink!"

"The Police Force? Hah! It's nothing but a shackle they've locked around our necks!"

"We keep order in Konoha, yet all we get in return is the villagers' scorn."

"We protect the village's peace, yet when our own people are killed, we can't even get justice!"

"Danzo!!!" Elder Setsuna's voice suddenly rose.

"That despicable old scoundrel dared to attack one of our children on our own land!"

"And the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi..."

Setsuna drew out the words mockingly.

"He only locked him up for a few days before brushing the matter aside! Is this Konoha's fairness? Is this the Hokage's justice?! Is this their Will of Fire?!!!"

"Answer me, clan members! Are you willing to accept a Konoha like this?!"

"No!!" the clan members roared back, their voices nearly tearing the roof off.

A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Elder Setsuna's Sharingan. He took a sudden step forward and said sharply, "And the genius of our clan, Shisui Uchiha... he's dead!"

"He died under mysterious circumstances! The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, doesn't even dare to reveal the killer's identity! Why?"

"Because they're afraid! Afraid of our Uchiha fury, afraid of the power of our Sharingan!"

Hearing Shisui's name, the clan members below the stage shouted furiously, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Fugaku!" Elder Setsuna spun around, his Sharingan fixed on their "good" clan leader.

Elder Setsuna's voice turned low. "What are you still hesitating for? Are you going to stand by and watch the Uchiha Clan perish?!"

At last, Fugaku could no longer sit still. He slapped the arm of his chair and challenged Setsuna. "Elder Setsuna, what are you trying to accomplish by openly inciting the clan members?"

Setsuna looked at Fugaku from the stage and snorted.

"Fugaku, I never should have agreed to let you become clan leader. If anyone else had taken your place, things wouldn't have come to this."

"I have only one purpose today. Fugaku! Hand over the first version of the Flame Explosion Technique. It's the only way the Uchiha Clan can have any hope."

"If we keep going like this, we'll only die a slow death."

Setsuna was furious. Why was Chuanhe still refusing to hand over the first version of the Flame Explosion Technique?

The situation was obvious to anyone, even a civilian. They were already at the point of no return.

Chuanhe's reason was simple: he just didn't want too many people to know about the first version of the technique. That was all.

But when Fugaku heard those words, he was stunned.

As he understood it, Chuanhe would never turn down a chance to share the technique. Did that mean there really was nothing wrong with the first version?

At the thought, Fugaku couldn't help smiling.

He realized that perhaps his sons, Sasuke and Itachi, really could survive.

Seeing Fugaku like that, Setsuna grew even angrier.

The clan members below the stage murmured among themselves. They had no idea there were different versions of this technique.

"The first version?"

"Never heard of it. Could it be even stronger?"

"Going by the name, it doesn't sound all that powerful?"

Setsuna glanced around. This gathering included all the clan's elite Three-Tomoe members.

But he had deliberately left Uchiha Hui uninvited. He wanted to keep this hidden from him. It was the most important hope for the future of their clan.

Even Uchiha Madara hadn't been this powerful at his age.

Setsuna took a deep breath and shouted, "Clan members, the first version of this technique is only D-rank! That means anyone in the clan with chakra can learn it in a short time!"

"What?!"

"How is that possible..."

"It's only D-rank?!"

The entire meeting grew even noisier, while Fugaku remained silent.

Under normal circumstances, as the "clan leader," he would have to hand over the technique.

Yet Fugaku wore a faint smile.

Setsuna, who had been watching him the whole time, saw that he was still smiling and flew into a rage. "Fugaku!!! Are you still refusing to see reason? Then I'll just have to..."

But Fugaku cut him off.

"No. I agree. Elder Setsuna, here's the scroll you wanted." Fugaku calmly handed him a scroll.

Setsuna took it with a puzzled look. After reading it carefully, he smiled.

That was right. It was the real thing!

Still, he said to Fugaku in displeasure, "Fugaku, why did you only agree today? If you'd accepted sooner, things wouldn't have gotten this extreme."

Even the Militant Faction thought things had gone too far. The sun must have risen in the west.

"Tekka, take this scroll and make sure it's kept safe."

"Yes, Lord Setsuna." Even the way Tekka addressed him had quietly changed.

Not a single Uchiha there thought anything of it.

They had long been resentful of Fugaku's weakness. If this was how things would end, why hadn't he done it sooner?

If he was going to hand over the scroll anyway, why not do it earlier?

Things might not have reached this point.

Now that they had the scroll, there was no turning back. They could only prepare for battle in the very limited time they had.

"Clan Leader Fugaku, is there anything else you'd like to teach us, your good-for-nothing clan members?" Setsuna's icy words struck Fugaku one by one.

Every Uchiha in the room fixed their Three-Tomoe Sharingan on Fugaku.

Fugaku slowly stood. The three tomoe in his eyes spun faster and faster, transforming into a completely new pattern.

Setsuna's pupils contracted sharply.

"What I want to say is this: you've all been deceived. Someone else is the real mastermind."

Every Uchiha at the gathering fell silent.

The Mangekyō Sharingan!

Their clan leader actually possessed those legendary eyes!

"Chuanhe is the real culprit..."

Not a sound could be heard in the room. No one dared to challenge him—not even Elder Setsuna.

Under the pressure of the Mangekyō, they finally calmed down.

But, astonishingly, Setsuna challenged Fugaku. His voice trembled as he spoke.

"N-no... that's impossible. Chuanhe couldn't be involved. Do you know that Uchiha Hui has the Three-Tomoe Sharingan? He's only six! And he knows the Flying Thunder God Technique!"

"There's no way he could be involved!"

The clan members around them began murmuring among themselves.

Fugaku frowned as well. He had planned to reveal the truth now, so that even if they died, at least they would know why.

But Hui's Three-Tomoe Sharingan had taken him by surprise.

If Hui really was a spy, then why...?

Fugaku understood the Sharingan far better than most. That meant Chuanhe's feelings had to be genuine.

Fugaku suddenly realized the entire matter was shrouded in a fog he couldn't see through.

As for the Flying Thunder God, he had subconsciously dismissed it in light of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

"It really wasn't Chuanhe," a familiar voice said.

Shisui Uchiha, his strange Mangekyō Sharingan open, slowly walked toward them from behind the clan members. He was still in his Impure World Reincarnation state.

The clan members around him seemed to be pushed aside by an invisible force, making way for him without meaning to.

But every one of them was trembling with excitement. Shisui! He was alive!

"This was all a deception by the Konoha High Command! I'm sorry, everyone. This was my fault, too. The whole thing was one huge misunderstanding!"

The entire gathering fell silent. Only the clan members' Three-Tomoe Sharingan continued to spin.