The Reversal

"Uchiha Yatsuhashi?!"

Uchiha Shisui, hidden in the shadows, gasped.

He wasn't dead? He'd actually come back alive!

In that instant, Shisui felt the huge stone weighing on his chest crash to the ground.

His nerves, taut until then, suddenly relaxed, and Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but break into a long-missed smile.

The problem he'd been worrying about had also been perfectly resolved by Uchiha Yatsuhashi's appearance.

His fondness for Uchiha Yatsuhashi soared to new heights.

Uchiha Fugaku looked at Yatsuhashi, who was being supported by Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

His eyes were full of confusion, too.

He couldn't help but lower his head and ask, "Weren't we told he was dead? How did he come back?"

Aside from those who had met Uchiha Yatsuhashi, the other Uchiha Clan members still had no idea what was going on.

Only after someone reminded them that he was the Uchiha Clan ninja they'd been preparing to mourn did they finally understand.

Minato Namikaze moved to Yatsuhashi's side almost instantly.

Without wasting a word, he quickly formed Hand Seals,

and unrolled a medical scroll.

As a gentle green glow of chakra enveloped Yatsuhashi's body,

Minato Namikaze's expression shifted,

but he didn't say anything.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Yatsuhashi said weakly.

Though Uchiha Yatsuhashi wasn't injured, the green chakra made him feel warm all over.

He'd planned to return to the village as soon as he'd recovered in Thousand Port City.

But he'd spent a little extra time getting used to his Mangekyō Sharingan along the way.

That had delayed him by a few more days.

Still, so the village wouldn't grow suspicious, he'd disguised himself as though he'd returned gravely wounded.

Yatsuhashi weakly raised his head and looked at Uchiha Fugaku. "I'm back."

The street, tense and on the verge of violence, fell into an eerie silence at this sudden turn of events.

Uchiha Fugaku smacked his dry lips a few times before finally forcing out a reply.

"Good to have you back."

Uchiha Yatsuhashi was bewildered. He had no idea what was going on.

At first, he'd thought the clan head was about to lead the Uchiha in a fight against the village.

If Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane hadn't spotted him from far away at the village gates,

and then brought him all the way here,

Uchiha Yatsuhashi might have waited in hiding to see what was going on before approaching.

"Ahem." Fugaku cleared his throat and, facing Uchiha Yatsuhashi, explained stiffly,

"We're standing up for you. The village sent a Genin like you on such a dangerous mission..."

Hearing Uchiha Fugaku say that right in front of the Fourth Hokage,

Uchiha Yatsuhashi almost replied without thinking.

"It wasn't dangerous, not at all. I did what I had to do for the village!"

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Tekka, standing nearby, heard Uchiha Yatsuhashi's words

and glared at him fiercely with his Sharingan.

Facing his Two-Tomoe Sharingan,

Uchiha Yatsuhashi hadn't even activated his own Sharingan.

But he still glared right back.

In that instant, Uchiha Tekka felt a chill crawl up his spine.

The chakra inside him suddenly went haywire for a moment,

as if something had been awakened, only to be forcibly suppressed again.

That brief surge of chakra

made Uchiha Fugaku, standing close by, narrow his eyes.

When he looked at Yatsuhashi again, his expression had turned strange.

Since Uchiha Yatsuhashi himself had said nothing, the other Uchiha Clan members had even less to say.

Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze looked at Uchiha Yatsuhashi with great approval.

"Even though you've returned," Minato Namikaze said warmly, breaking the deadlock,

"the village already issued you compensation for your presumed death. Since it's been given, there's no reason to take it back."

"Think of it as compensation from the village!"

"Compensation? For my presumed death?"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi's mouth twitched. "...Thank you, Lord Hokage."

Fugaku gave Minato Namikaze a long look, then glanced at Danzo, whose face was livid on the rooftop.

He snorted, then took Uchiha Yatsuhashi from Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

As if afraid Yatsuhashi might run off at any moment,

Uchiha Fugaku supported him himself.

With an air of unquestionable authority, he addressed the Uchiha behind him.

"Let's go. We're heading back."

Behind them, Minato Namikaze continued in a warm voice,

"After you've seen your parents, remember to come by the Hokage Office."

It was both a reminder and a silent warning to the Uchiha.

He expected them to bring Uchiha Yatsuhashi back to him safe and sound later.

But Uchiha Fugaku didn't take issue with it now.

And so Uchiha Fugaku led the Uchiha Clan members away without another word,

their earlier arrogance gone.

They returned the same way they'd come.

Only the Anbu and Root shinobi remained on the street, exchanging bewildered looks.

Unlike the Uchiha Clan members trudging away, Uchiha Fugaku was in excellent spirits.

A clear smile tugged at his lips, and even his steps seemed lighter.

He'd demonstrated the Uchiha Clan's strength to the village and intimidated Konoha's higher-ups.

In the end, he'd even won a personal promise from the Fourth Hokage.

As far as he was concerned, the outcome was a spectacular victory!

So even if Uchiha Yatsuhashi hadn't come back from the dead in front of everyone,

Uchiha Fugaku would still have led the clan back.

After all, what would shinobi from other villages think of the Uchiha Clan if they really traveled all the way to the Land of Water?

They'd gone all that way just to mourn a Genin.

Everyone would probably think the Uchiha were crazy.

Wouldn't that make their clan head look even more ridiculous?

Meanwhile, Uchiha Yatsuhashi, supported by Fugaku, was speechless.

The clan head had been ready to clash with the village just a moment ago, as if a fight could break out at any second.

Now he was acting as if nothing had happened, leisurely making his way back.

Just as I thought...

Uchiha Yatsuhashi grumbled inwardly.

The Second, Senju Tobirama, was right. The Uchiha are all a little off their rockers.

The Uchiha Clan's Ancestral Grounds.

Uchiha Fugaku unusually sent away all the other Uchiha Clan members.

Only Uchiha Yatsuhashi was kept behind.

Uchiha Tekka wore an openly gleeful expression.

Everyone thought Uchiha Yatsuhashi had just offended Uchiha Fugaku.

He'd made Fugaku lose face in front of the Fourth Hokage.

And Uchiha Fugaku's strange behavior the whole way back

seemed to confirm what everyone suspected.

Though Uchiha Yatsuhashi had escaped disaster in the Land of Water, he'd probably still be skinned alive now.

"Hmph. You offended the clan head. Did you think you could just walk away?"

"Now you're in for it."

Uchiha Tekka sneered inwardly and even slowed his pace on purpose,

hoping to hear Uchiha Yatsuhashi scream.

Inside the tea room, candlelight flickered.

Uchiha Fugaku sat at the head of the room.

His usually stern, imposing face revealed nothing.

But his silence was more suffocating than a shout.

He didn't rush to act. He simply studied Uchiha Yatsuhashi where he stood,

his deep-set eyes moving over him again and again.

He looked entirely different from when they'd first met.

The longer Uchiha Fugaku looked at Yatsuhashi this time, the more he liked what he saw.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi, standing before him, felt distinctly uncomfortable.

The tea room was frighteningly quiet.

He had no idea what Fugaku intended to do,

but the pressure of being in the presence of someone so powerful

still weighed heavily on him.

After a long while, Fugaku finally spoke.

His voice was unhurried, yet the words struck Yatsuhashi like a hammer.

"Let me see your eyes."

"What?"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi's heart lurched. "My eyes? What's wrong with them?"

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Fugaku stopped wasting words.

He shifted, instantly closing the distance between them.

It happened so suddenly that Uchiha Yatsuhashi never expected

Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan's head, to attack him without warning.

By the time he reacted, Uchiha Fugaku's left hand was already pressed against his chest.

"Thud!"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi flew backward, completely out of control, crashing through the wooden window behind him

before landing in a heap on the courtyard's cold stone paving.

The night sky stretched overhead, a cold moon hanging high above.

Inside the tea room, the candle flames danced wildly.

Uchiha Fugaku stood where Yatsuhashi had been. He made no move to pursue him.

He merely lowered his eyes. His gaze, once black as ink,

now blazed with a suffocating crimson light.

Three Tomoe spun wildly in his eyes, merging and transforming before finally settling into a strange, intricate pattern.

It was the Uchiha Clan's unique Mangekyō Sharingan.