Fugaku Reveals Mangekyō

Sarutobi Hiruzen chatted away with a cheerful smile, yet he still did not receive so much as a single word of response from Uchiha Fugaku.

Whether it was through toughness or compromise, there was not a syllable to be found.

Uchiha Fugaku simply stood there, quietly watching them perform.

Even as slow as Sarutobi Hiruzen was, he now sensed that something was wrong.

He secretly gestured with his hand behind his back, deciding it was best to have the Anbu recall Namikaze Minato first.

At the very least, with Namikaze Minato present, Uchiha Fugaku should not be able to act so arrogantly.

Outwardly, however, he continued without missing a beat: "Since you have no objections to this matter, Fugaku, let's proceed with haste. If you have any needs, the village will provide a certain degree of support."

Silence remained.

It was so quiet that a bead of cold sweat rolled down Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead.

Something was wrong—something was incredibly, monumentally wrong.

How could Uchiha Fugaku, a man accustomed to compromise, display such an indifferent attitude at a time like this?

Glancing at Xuanye, who was truly doing nothing and had even picked up a piece of fruit from the table to munch on, Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth and grabbed a document from the desk.

Clearly, this matter was not something they had decided on a whim; the written requirements had been prepared beforehand, even stamped with the Hokage's seal.

"Fugaku, this is a decision issued by the village, you must obey—"

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen decided to take a hard line, he looked up and saw three pitch-black Tomoe appearing in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.

That was not all; the three Tomoe slowly merged together, forming a complex shape similar to one they had seen before.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō were both old men who had walked from the Warring States Period to the present, having lived through the era of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara.

How could they possibly fail to recognize these eyes?

Mangekyō... Uchiha Madara!?

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales, had trembled in his boots at the sight of the reanimated Uchiha Madara, his post-traumatic stress disorder triggered instantly.

As men from the same generation as Ōnoki of Both Scales, and as ninjas of Konoha, how could they not recognize these eyes?

Young ninjas who had not experienced the Warring States Period could not imagine the sheer, terrifying deterrence that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara held over that era.

To those who had not lived through the Warring States Period, looking at Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara was like a frog in a well gazing at the moon in the sky.

To those of them who had experienced that era, looking at those two names was like an ant looking up at the vast heavens.

Although they were young at the time, they had all witnessed Uchiha Madara's arrogance as he looked down upon the world, as well as the hundreds-of-meters-tall Wood Golem and Susanoo.

Was that even a realm reachable by humans?

Although textbooks claimed that he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was the strongest Hokage in history.

Only he knew that in front of men like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was nothing but a little girl!

What a joke! They had clearly suppressed the Uchiha clan so forcefully, so how could another pair of Mangekyō appear?!

Konoha did not have a second Senju Hashirama to emerge now!

How could Shimura Danzō not recognize what Sarutobi Hiruzen recognized?

He subconsciously took a step back, wanting to shield Sarutobi Hiruzen behind him.

But unlike Sarutobi Hiruzen, his eyes held a trace of undisguised greed.

Shimura Danzō was obsessed with the power of Wood Release and the Sharingan, to the point of madness.

Over the years, he had been researching the First Hokage's Wood Release cells and had secretly collected many Sharingan, all to obtain these two powers capable of pacifying a chaotic world!

Everyone believed that the Senju and Uchiha clans had reconciled, established the system of hidden villages, and reached deep cooperation with the great nations, thus ending the Warring States Period.

But the older generation knew that it was not the Senju and Uchiha who ended the chaos, but Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara themselves!

To what extent were those two powerful?

Powerful enough that as long as they were alive, no one dared to start a war.

The facts bore this out: in the battle at the Valley of the End, Uchiha Madara faked his death, and Senju Hashirama was left severely wounded.

What followed was simple: Senju Hashirama died in the morning, and the First Shinobi World War began in the afternoon.

Those who had not witnessed the Thousand Armed Buddha and the Perfect Susanoo could not even imagine such greatness.

Anyone who had visited the ruins of the Valley of the End would never dare to imagine that those were the traces left by a battle between mere humans.

In the face of such power, whether a Genin, Chūnin, or Jōnin, they were all fodder to be crushed underfoot; numbers were utterly meaningless against such ninjas.

Even the so-called Tailed Beasts were not worth mentioning in front of these two; they were merely slightly larger pets.

Yet, before them, this Uchiha Fugaku—whom they had always considered a soft target—actually possessed this power without a sound?

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind was filled with images of Uchiha Madara manifesting a Perfect Susanoo hundreds of meters tall, slicing a mountain peak in half with a single swing of his blade.

At the thought of that scene, Sarutobi Hiruzen, much like Ōnoki of Both Scales, felt a cold sweat drenching his back.

He was terrified that Uchiha Fugaku might unleash a Susanoo right here in the Konoha Hokage office building.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer concern himself with the fact that Shimura Danzō had pushed him to the front; he hurriedly reached out his hand, not to weave signs, but in an attempt to temporarily steady Fugaku.

At the very least, he had to wait until the Anbu notified Namikaze Minato and he could rush back as quickly as possible.

"Fugaku, you must not act rashly. Whatever the matter is, let us sit down and talk it through properly; there is nothing that cannot be discussed."

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen missed the Little Sun immensely; when Namikaze Minato was around, their side at least possessed a deterrent force.

However, recalling the heaven-piercing Susanoo giant of Uchiha Madara, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not help but begin to doubt whether Namikaze Minato truly had the ability to defeat Fugaku.

Namikaze Minato seemed to be a peerless grass-cutting tool for group battles, but when facing a true powerhouse, his offensive power was ultimately somewhat lacking.

One could hardly expect him to take that specially crafted kunai and pierce through the defense of a Susanoo, could they?

Moreover, what was more important was that this was the heart of Konoha; if they were on the battlefield, Namikaze Minato could simply flee if he couldn't win, as no one could stop someone who had mastered the Flying Thunder God technique.

But with a battle erupting inside Konoha, Namikaze Minato might be forced to take the attacks of the Susanoo head-on in order to protect the village.

In the face of a Complete Body Susanoo, Namikaze Minato was still a tier below.

The first thing Sarutobi Hiruzen had to do now was, naturally, to stabilize Fugaku.

Konoha had just concluded the Third Great Ninja War and could not afford the losses that would be caused by a Susanoo rampaging within the village.