Reversal

"Uchiha Yatsuhashi?!"

Uchiha Shisui, hidden in the shadows, exclaimed in surprise.

He wasn't dead? He had actually returned alive!

In that instant, the boulder that had been pressing down on Shisui's chest came crashing to the ground.

His long-taut nerves suddenly relaxed, and Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but reveal a long-lost smile.

The problem that had been worrying him just moments ago was perfectly resolved by the appearance of Uchiha Yatsuhashi.

His favor for Uchiha Yatsuhashi rose to even greater heights in his heart.

Uchiha Fugaku watched Yatsuhashi being supported by Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

His gaze was equally filled with confusion.

He couldn't help but lower his head and ask, "Wasn't it said that he died? How did he come back?"

Except for those who had seen Uchiha Yatsuhashi before, the rest of the Uchiha Clan members had no idea what was happening.

It wasn't until someone reminded them that this was the Uchiha Clan ninja they were preparing to mourn that others finally reacted.

Minato Namikaze moved in front of Yatsuhashi almost instantly.

Without any wasted words, he quickly formed hand seals.

A medical scroll unfurled.

As a soft, green glow of chakra tightly enveloped Yatsuhashi's body, Minato Namikaze's expression shifted slightly, though he said nothing more.

"Thank you, Hokage." Yatsuhashi thanked him weakly.

Although Uchiha Yatsuhashi was not actually injured, the green chakra made his entire body feel warm.

He had intended to return to the village as soon as he recovered in Thousand Port City.

It was only because he spent some time on the road familiarizing himself with his Mangekyo Sharingan that he had been delayed by a few days.

However, to avoid arousing suspicion from the village, he had disguised himself to look as if he had returned severely wounded.

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

The street, which had been on the verge of a violent confrontation, suddenly fell into an eerie silence due to this unexpected turn of events.

Uchiha Fugaku smacked his dry lips, eventually managing to force out a single sentence.

"It's good that you're back."

Uchiha Yatsuhashi was bewildered, not understanding what was wrong with them.

At first, he had assumed the clan leader was about to lead the Uchiha Clan in an armed conflict against the village.

If Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane hadn't spotted him from afar at the village gate and brought him here themselves, Uchiha Yatsuhashi might have waited in the shadows to see what was going on before revealing himself.

"Ahem," Fugaku cleared his throat. Facing Uchiha Yatsuhashi, he explained in a stiff tone, "We were just standing up for you. The village actually sent a genin like you on such a dangerous mission..."

Hearing Uchiha Fugaku's words, and with the Fourth Hokage standing right there, Uchiha Yatsuhashi spoke up immediately.

"It wasn't dangerous, not dangerous at all! For the sake of the village, this is what I should do!"

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Tekka, standing to the side, heard Uchiha Yatsuhashi's remarks and glared at him fiercely with his Sharingan.

Facing his two-tomoe Sharingan, even though Uchiha Yatsuhashi did not activate his own eyes, he glared right back.

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

The chakra within his body uncontrollably surged into chaos for a split second, as if something had been awakened only to be forcibly suppressed.

This momentary fluctuation of chakra...

Uchiha Fugaku, standing within arm's reach, felt his pupils constrict sharply.

When he looked at Uchiha Yatsuhashi again, his gaze had turned peculiar.

Since Uchiha Yatsuhashi, the person directly involved, had said nothing, the other members of the Uchiha Clan found it even harder to speak up.

Beside them, Minato Namikaze looked at Uchiha Yatsuhashi with great admiration.

"Although you have returned," Minato Namikaze's gentle voice broke the stalemate, "there is no reason to take back the solatium the village has already issued."

"Just consider it compensation from the village!"

"Solatium? Compensation?"

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

Fugaku took a deep look at Minato Namikaze, then glanced at Danzo, whose face was ashen on the rooftop.

He snorted coldly before taking Uchiha Yatsuhashi from the hands of Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

As if worried he might run away the next second, Uchiha Fugaku supported him personally.

With unquestionable authority, he spoke to the Uchiha Clan members behind him.

"Let's go, we are returning."

Behind them, Minato Namikaze continued in a gentle tone, "After you see your parents, remember to come to the Hokage Office later."

This was both an instruction and a silent warning to the Uchiha.

He expected Uchiha Yatsuhashi to be delivered to him in one piece later.

Yet, Uchiha Fugaku did not care about this at all right now.

And so, Uchiha Fugaku led the Uchiha Clan members away without any further nonsense, and without their previous arrogant air.

They returned exactly the way they had come.

On the street, only the Anbu and Root ninja were left, looking at each other in dismay.

Unlike the dejected Uchiha Clan members around him, Uchiha Fugaku was in a fantastic mood.

Not only was there a clear smile on his lips, but his steps were even a bit lighter.

Because he had already demonstrated the strength of the Uchiha Clan to the village and intimidated the high-ranking officials of Konoha.

In the end, he had even received a personal promise from the Fourth Hokage.

For him, this result was an absolute, overwhelming victory!

Even if Uchiha Yatsuhashi had not appeared before everyone, resurrected from the dead, he, Uchiha Fugaku, would have led the return anyway.

After all, if they had really traveled thousands of miles to the Land of Water, what would the ninja of other villages think of the Uchiha Clan?

Traveling such a long distance to the Land of Water just to pay respects to a genin for no reason—

everyone would probably think the people of the Uchiha were insane.

Wouldn't he, as the clan leader, have even less face to show anyone then?

Meanwhile, Uchiha Yatsuhashi, being supported by Fugaku, was speechless in his heart.

The clan leader, who a second ago had been at daggers drawn with the village and seemingly ready for a bloody conflict, was now walking back leisurely and composed, as if nothing had happened.

As expected...

Uchiha Yatsuhashi grumbled inwardly.

The Second Hokage Senju Tobirama was right; there is something a little abnormal about the people of the Uchiha.

At the ancestral grounds of the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Fugaku rarely dismissed the remaining Uchiha Clan members, but he specifically held back Uchiha Yatsuhashi.

Uchiha Tekka wore an expression of pure schadenfreude.

Everyone assumed that Uchiha Yatsuhashi had crossed Uchiha Fugaku earlier, making him lose face in front of the Fourth Hokage.

And Uchiha Fugaku's abnormal behavior along the way

seemed more like he was so angry he had started laughing.

It seemed to confirm everyone's suspicions.

Although Uchiha Yatsuhashi had escaped the Land of Water with his life, he would likely be stripped of a layer of skin for this.

"Hmph, you thought you could just walk away after offending the clan head?"

"Now you're finally going to get what's coming to you."

Uchiha Tekka sneered inwardly, even deliberately slowing his pace, wanting to hear if Uchiha Yatsuhashi's screams would follow.

Inside the tea room, candlelight flickered.

Uchiha Fugaku sat upright in the seat of honor.

His face, usually stern and imposing, revealed neither joy nor anger at this moment.

Yet, that silence was more suffocating than any roar.

He was in no rush to lash out, merely observing Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who stood before him, with those deep, piercing eyes again and again.

It was completely different from their first meeting.

The more he looked, the more Uchiha Fugaku found the Yatsuhashi standing opposite him to be pleasing to the eye.

Standing below, however, Uchiha Yatsuhashi felt nothing but extreme discomfort.

The tea room was deathly quiet.

He did not know what Fugaku intended to do, but the pressure radiating from his superior still weighed heavily upon him.

After a long while, Fugaku finally spoke.

His voice was slow and leisurely, yet it struck Yatsuhashi's heart like a heavy hammer.

"Let me see your eyes."

"What?"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi's heart trembled. "My eyes? What is wrong with my eyes?"

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Fugaku wasted no more words.

With a single movement, he instantly closed the distance to Uchiha Yatsuhashi.

It was all too sudden; Uchiha Yatsuhashi never imagined that Uchiha Fugaku, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, would launch a surprise attack on him.

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

"Bang!"

A muffled thud echoed.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi was sent flying uncontrollably, crashing straight through the wooden window behind him before landing in a pathetic heap on the cold stone slabs of the courtyard.

The night sky hung high, with a cold moon suspended in the vast expanse above.

Inside the tea room, the candlelight swayed violently.

Uchiha Fugaku stood where Yatsuhashi had been, choosing not to pursue him immediately.

He merely lowered his eyelids, his eyes—originally black as ink—now blooming with a suffocating crimson light.

Three tomoe spun wildly within his eyes, connecting, deforming, and finally settling into a complex and eerie pattern.

It was the unique Mangekyo Sharingan of their Uchiha Clan.