Shisui Awakens the Mangekyo

"The Fourth Hokage has fallen in battle. A meeting will be held tomorrow to discuss post-war affairs."

"You must be there."

Xuandou nodded and continued walking toward the village gates.

Early the next morning.

Xuandou led all the Uchiha clansmen back to Konoha.

The procession of over three thousand people marched in a massive, imposing line, passing through the village gates and into the scarred, devastated village.

After a night of emergency efforts, the ruins of Konoha had been partially cleared.

Collapsed houses had been pried open, and piles of rubble and debris were heaped into small hills.

But there were even more corpses.

Civilians and ninjas alike were laid out neatly in the open space, waiting for their families to bid their final farewells.

The sound of weeping filled the air.

Just then, the Uchiha clan's procession appeared in everyone's line of sight.

The crying gradually subsided.

Countless gazes turned toward them.

"That's... the Uchiha clan..."

Someone muttered.

"They... how is it that not a single one of them died?"

"Look at their formation, it's perfectly orderly. Not a single one is even injured!"

"Impossible... it was so chaotic last night, how could not a single person have died?"

Someone suddenly shouted out:

"They must have known the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was going to run amok in advance, that's why they hid outside!"

Gaze after gaze, filled with suspicion, turned toward the Uchiha clansmen.

"Damn it! This Nine-Tailed Demon Fox incident must have something to do with them!"

"Exactly! Didn't you see the eyes of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox last night? They were exactly the same as the Uchiha's Sharingan!"

"It must be the work of the damned Uchiha!"

"I was wondering why the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox suddenly attacked Konoha; it turns out it was the Uchiha's doing!"

"They controlled the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox to attack the village!"

"Damn Uchiha! You all deserve to die!"

The grief-stricken crowd surged forward.

Twisted faces, eyes spitting fire, and fingers pointing accusingly at the Uchiha clansmen...

The members of the Police Force who had come to meet their kin felt their own anger rising at the sight.

Inabi immediately jumped out and demanded:

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

He pointed at the crowd:

"Last night, the Police Force risked their lives to save you—have you all forgotten?"

"To save you, our Police Force even sacrificed over a dozen men!"

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Then, a man spoke up with a sarcastic sneer:

"Hmph, who knows if your people are really dead or just faking it?"

"Exactly!"

Someone immediately chimed in.

"Maybe it was just a show you put on for us to see!"

"Bullshit!"

Inabi was trembling with rage and rushed forward to strike, but was held back tightly by the clansmen behind him.

Fugaku stepped forward, attempting to ease the tension by explaining:

"Everyone, please calm down. We tried to organize evacuation drills beforehand precisely to prevent such situations..."

"You didn't say the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was going to run amok!"

A middle-aged woman shrilly interrupted him.

She was clutching the corpse of her child, her face covered in tears yet twisted with malice:

"If you had told us the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was coming, we would have run away long ago! Why didn't you say anything?"

Fugaku opened his mouth, but was momentarily lost for words.

What could he say?

Should he say that they wouldn't believe them even if they told them?

Should he say that just yesterday, they were still cursing them for meddling in other people's business?

Should he say that they kept insisting they didn't need the Uchiha, and that Danzo would protect them?

"Exactly!"

Someone in the crowd shouted again.

"No matter what you say, so many of us died, yet not a single one of you Uchiha died!"

"You have to take responsibility!"

"All the losses suffered by us civilians should be borne by you Uchiha!"

"Compensation! You must pay compensation!"

The crowd boiled over once more.

Fugaku stood where he was, looking at those angry faces, and suddenly felt very tired.

Shisui stood at the very front of the line, watching all of this without saying a word.

His gaze swept over those clamoring faces, over those eyes filled with hatred, and over those fingers pointing at the Uchiha.

Yesterday, these people were still shouting for Danzo to save them.

Yesterday, these people were still cursing the Uchiha for meddling.

Yesterday, these people said, "We don't need your Uchiha protection."

Today, however, they were saying, "The Uchiha must bear the losses."

They even claimed that the sacrifices of his clansmen were nothing but an act.

He suddenly felt a powerful impulse: he wanted so badly to change their perspective!

Immediately following that thought, a tearing, agonizing pain erupted from within his eye sockets!

Shisui let out a muffled groan, instinctively covering his eyes.

He could clearly feel the three tomoe in his eyes manifesting on their own, spinning frantically as if being forcibly kneaded, compressed, and fused by some unknown force.

The intense pain made his whole body tremble, but he gritted his teeth hard, refusing to make a louder sound.

A moment later, the pain receded like a receding tide.

He slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes.

The three tomoe in his eyes had vanished.

In their place was a complex pattern he had never seen before.

Shisui was stunned.

A massive amount of information flooded into his mind.

Information about the abilities of these eyes.

Information about their name.

"Kotoamatsukami?"

He muttered to himself.

Beside him, Xuandou keenly sensed Shisui's abnormality.

He turned his head, his gaze falling upon Shisui's eyes.

His pupils constricted slightly.

That was... the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Shisui had awakened the Mangekyo.

But now was not the time to discuss it in detail.

The Konoha civilians were still pressing forward step by step.

They gradually surrounded the Uchiha, clearly intending to hem them in.

Just then, a masked figure suddenly flashed between the two opposing sides.

"The Third Hokage has issued an order! All Uchiha clansmen are to return to their district, and Clan Head Xuandou and the Minister of the Police Force are to proceed to the Hokage Office to attend a meeting!"

The Konoha civilians hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly cleared a narrow path.

Some were still muttering under their breath, but in the end, they dared not defy the Hokage's order.

Xuandou waved his hand expressionlessly, leading three thousand clansmen as they returned to their district under the angry glares of the Konoha civilians.

The Uchiha Clan Grounds were located in a remote area, so only a few civilian houses had been affected by the Nine-Tails' shockwave; the main structures remained almost entirely intact.

Xuandou quickly arranged for the clansmen to settle down, but just as he was about to catch his breath, Inabi arrived at his door with a group of people.

"Clan Leader Xuandou."

Inabi pushed the door open and entered, followed by over a dozen men.

Xuandou swept his gaze over them; they were all prominent combatants of the clan, and several of them already had their Sharingan activated.

They had come prepared.

Inabi got straight to the point, his face showing undisguised resentment:

"Xuandou, since the people and the high-ranking officials of Konoha are so foolish, why don't we, the Uchiha, launch a coup d'état!"

His voice carried a long-suppressed fury:

"Look at the faces they made today! Yesterday they cursed us for meddling, and today they claim we were just putting on a show."

"We lost over a dozen men in the Police Force, and they claim it was a fake death! We saved so many people, and they say we have ulterior motives!"

"What is left in this village worth protecting?"

"Exactly!"

A clansman behind him chimed in.

"With the current strength of our Uchiha, even the Hokage's Anbu might not be able to defeat us! Let's just do it and become the Hokage ourselves!"

"Right!"

"We should have done this a long time ago!"

Several others echoed in agreement, their eyes filled with excitement.

Fugaku, standing to the side, instinctively wanted to rebuke them, but after glancing at Xuandou, he swallowed his words.

Xuandou did not answer immediately.

He knew that the radical faction within the Uchiha clan was starting to make their move.