Just as the kunai in Gentō's hand stabbed toward Fugaku.
Boom!
Purple chakra erupted like flames, condensing into a skeletal arm in the blink of an eye and shielding Fugaku within it.
The kunai struck the translucent bone with a dull thud and could go no farther.
"Wh-what is that...?"
"Look at Lord Fugaku's eyes!"
The crowd erupted.
Fugaku slowly opened his eyes.
The three tomoe were gone, replaced by a pair of eyes no one in the clan had ever seen, their pupils etched with intricate patterns.
Elder Shin Gen slowly rose to his feet, his voice low.
"When the previous Clan Head fell in battle, Fugaku was at his side. Witnessing the Clan Head's death brought his Sharingan through its final evolution."
He paused, sweeping his gaze over everyone present.
"These are the same eyes as those of the legendary Madara Uchiha-the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
The crowd fell utterly silent.
Then a tremendous uproar broke out.
"He actually has the legendary eyes! Doesn't that mean Lord Fugaku is sure to win?"
"I told you Lord Fugaku would win!"
On the battlefield, Gentō let out a quiet sigh.
Having seen the original story, he naturally knew Fugaku possessed the Mangekyō.
He only regretted that he had failed to defeat Fugaku before he activated it.
The best approach he could think of had been to control Fugaku with genjutsu.
Unfortunately, Fugaku also possessed the Sharingan, so he could only be caught in a mild genjutsu.
If Gentō simply threw a kunai, Fugaku would easily recognize the danger and dodge, even in that state.
His only chance was to take on Itachi's appearance, tricking Fugaku's subconscious into seeing him as harmless and making him unable to bring himself to form hand seals.
Unfortunately, Fugaku had still broken free of the genjutsu at the last moment and activated Susanoo.
Fugaku reacted swiftly. The skeletal arm had barely formed before it slammed down at Gentō.
The purple skeletal palm whipped through the air, about to smash into him.
Almost everyone present held their breath.
Crash!
The thunderous impact left their ears ringing.
As the dust cleared, a yellow skeletal arm was revealed, firmly blocking Fugaku's attack!
Shock spread across everyone's faces.
Even Fugaku looked taken aback.
He had thought activating Susanoo would bring this duel to an end.
He had never expected Gentō to have awakened the Mangekyō as well!
Fugaku looked up.
Gentō's eyes also bore unfamiliar patterns.
Gentō gave him no time to think.
The yellow arm twisted, reaching to seize Fugaku's purple skeleton.
Fugaku reacted just as quickly, immediately retreating out of its grasp.
A moment later, the two skeletal arms collided again.
The shock waves rippled across the ground.
Several weaker Uchiha clan members staggered backward, and some fell flat on their backsides.
Both Susanoo were still in their first stage-nothing more than rudimentary skeletons, without armor or weapons.
It was brute force against brute force.
Fugaku's approach was straightforward: press the attack, keep pressing, and overwhelm his opponent with sheer power.
Gradually, however, he realized Gentō wasn't simply trading blows.
His opponent seemed to be searching for an opening to grab him.
Fugaku didn't understand what Gentō intended, but he had no intention of letting him succeed.
They exchanged several more rounds, with Fugaku maintaining the upper hand throughout.
He had trained longer than Gentō and had more combat experience.
As long as the battle continued like this, his victory was inevitable.
But during a brief opening as they changed positions...
Gentō's yellow Susanoo instantly seized the purple arm before it could evade him.
"Yomi-no-Mikoto!"
As the words left his mouth, Fugaku felt the space around him ripple like water.
A moment later, he had been dragged into an unfamiliar world.
In front of the Naka Shrine, only the bewildered clan members remained, staring at one another.
"What happened?"
"Where did they go? How did they disappear?"
"Where's Lord Fugaku?"
The Three Elders also rose, their expressions grave.
Elder Chie spoke quietly.
"This is likely Gentō's Mangekyō ability... Space-Time Ninjutsu. He took Fugaku away."
Meanwhile, Fugaku steadied himself and immediately surveyed his surroundings.
There was no sunlight here, nor any wind.
Gray mist surrounded him, obscuring the distance and severely limiting his vision.
The ground beneath his feet was solid and cold, like old stone slabs.
An indescribable, foul air hung all around him. It smelled neither of rot nor smoke, but of something... abandoned for a very, very long time.
All five of his senses were severely suppressed here.
He tried to sense chakra.
But it was like having his limbs trapped in mud; he couldn't exert any strength.
"Is this... Space-Time Ninjutsu?"
Fugaku muttered to himself, scanning his surroundings.
Gentō had vanished completely into the mist.
Then Fugaku immediately sensed a foul presence clinging to him, beginning to erode the chakra within his body.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Fugaku swiftly formed hand seals and spat out a fireball.
But it had barely traveled any distance before it visibly shrank and dimmed. Like a candle in the wind, it flickered a few times and died.
The mist closed in again.
Fugaku's brow furrowed.
Both the power and range of his ninjutsu were being greatly reduced by this space.
He knew he had to find Gentō and defeat him as quickly as possible.
The longer this dragged on, the worse his position would become.
After much hesitation, Fugaku finally decided to use his own Mangekyō Sharingan.
His ability was to foresee the next five seconds!
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
An image of what would happen five seconds later appeared in his mind.
The mist remained thick in his vision.
The ground was unchanged.
There was no sign of Gentō.
The only change was that his condition had worsened under the space's corrosive influence!
"What kind of bizarre ability is this?!"
With his ocular technique proving useless, he continued trying ninjutsu.
If Fire Release wouldn't work, he would try Earth Release.
He formed hand seals and struck the ground.
The ground didn't budge.
Meanwhile, Gentō was hiding in the mist, quietly watching Fugaku.
Unlike Fugaku, whose senses were suppressed and whose body was being eroded...
As the master of this space, he was completely unaffected!
If he wished, he could subject anyone who entered this space to its corrosive influence, or leave them unaffected.
This was his ocular technique, "Yomi-no-Mikoto"!
Once he found an opening and dragged someone into Yomi Space, the space would continuously erode them.
Unless he granted permission, their only way out was to use another form of Space-Time Ninjutsu.
If they couldn't escape, they would end up just like Fugaku now-possessing great power but unable to use it, drained to death as the space eroded their chakra!
Fugaku's senses were suppressed, and his chakra was dwindling bit by bit.
He tried several more times within the mist.
Fire Release, shuriken, even attempting to track Gentō with his Sharingan.
Unfortunately, none of it worked.
The erosion left him with less and less chakra.
More than ten minutes passed.
Fugaku stopped moving and stood still.
He raised his head, looking into the gray haze overhead.
"...I surrender."
Gentō's figure slowly emerged from the mist.
He said nothing, simply walking over to Fugaku and resting a hand on his shoulder.
Space warped again.
In front of the Naka Shrine.
A tear seemed to open in space, and the two figures reappeared.
Seeing them return, the surrounding Uchiha clan members all looked on curiously.
Who had won?
Fugaku's face was somewhat pale.
He turned to Elder Chie.
"I lost."
An uproar immediately swept through the crowd.
Despite knowing how powerful Gentō was, many had never expected him to defeat Fugaku.
Even after hearing Fugaku admit it himself, they still found it hard to believe.
But the truth stood before them.
Shisui stood quietly in the crowd.
His gaze settled on Gentō, then shifted to Fugaku, his eyes flickering with thoughts no one could discern.
Mikoto stood a little farther away, her hands loosely clasped in front of her, unable to hide the worry for her husband in her eyes.
Beside her, Itachi tilted his head up, his calm gaze moving from his father to Gentō.
He said nothing.
But a thoughtful look appeared on his face.
Elder Chie nodded gently, looking pleased.
"In that case, my vote goes to Uchiha Gentō."
Unable to contain himself any longer, Elder Zong Yan strode forward, seized Gentō's hand, and raised it high.
His voice rang out.
"I hereby declare that Uchiha Gentō is the new Clan Head of our Uchiha Clan!"
The instant Elder Zong Yan made the announcement, a system notification sounded in Gentō's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the mission! The family panel has officially been unlocked.]
Gentō was filled with excitement.
Only now, upon becoming Clan Head, had the Family System been fully unlocked!
He immediately opened the system interface with a thought to inspect the newly unlocked family panel.
Before you continue