Complete Submission

"See? Here, with a single thought, I can reshape everything." Uchiha Ao's voice mingled with the hum of warped space. He raised a hand and grabbed at the air. The chains around Uchiha Lei suddenly broke apart into streams of data, which twisted around and burrowed into his body.

Code flickered in Lei's pupils. The agony made blood seep from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. "Your ninjutsu, your bloodline, even your memories—they're all just 'data' that I can edit."

Just as Uchiha Lei's consciousness was about to be crushed by this power, Uchiha Ao suddenly withdrew all the pressure.

The streams of data retreated like the tide. Lei collapsed to the ground, gasping violently, his single eye filled with fear and disbelief.

The vines and whirlpools around the other clan members vanished in an instant, and they gulped down air as if they'd been given a new lease on life.

"This is the power of Takamagahara, and it will be your support in the days ahead." Uchiha Ao's voice rang through the space. "I brought you here not to kill, but to make you see that our enemies have never been one another."

The others exchanged glances, still unable to recover from what they had just experienced.

Uchiha Ao slowly descended from the heavens. Every step sent ripples of pixelated waves through the space.

The Uchiha of this generation had mostly heard about Madara and Hashirama secondhand, and had only a vague idea of them.

They had never seen Madara's Susanoo blot out the sky, nor witnessed Hashirama's Wood Golem pummel Madara.

Now, they watched Uchiha Ao reshape everything with a casual wave of his hand.

A thought arose in every clan member's mind.

Even the two of them together probably wouldn't be a match for him.

Lei felt it more keenly than anyone.

Of all the clan members present, he had come the closest to death.

Trembling, Lei pushed himself upright. His single eye was bloodshot, but all traces of disdain had vanished.

He stared at the pixelated glow still fading near the tip of Uchiha Ao's shoe, then shouted with fervent devotion, "I greet you, Clan Head!"

A wave of people bowing swept through the alternate space. The clan members who had once doubted him now looked at the young man and understood what true power meant.

"Rise." Uchiha Ao lifted a hand in a gesture of support, and pixelated ripples transformed into an unseen force that raised them all.

His gaze swept over each reverent face. Suddenly, the Mangekyō in his right eye blazed with a piercing red light, and all of Takamagahara began to collapse at dizzying speed.

Only then did they realize they had returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Tekka." Uchiha Ao looked toward Uchiha Tekka, who was still standing nearby in shock.

"Clan Head, at your service!" Uchiha Tekka's expression was even more fervent now.

Though he hadn't experienced what the other clan members had, the Clan Head's power had left a deep impression on him.

"Gather the clan members. I'll explain what we're doing next," Uchiha Ao ordered.

"Yes!" Without the slightest hesitation, Uchiha Tekka received his orders and dragged Inabi, who had been standing there dumbfounded, off with him.

Before long, all the clan members had gathered at the training ground.

"Ao-kun, what did you call us here for?" Shisui stepped out of the crowd and went to Uchiha Ao's side.

"One thing." Uchiha Ao turned to face the entire Uchiha Clan. "We're going to storm the Hokage Building."

???

Shisui wondered if he'd heard wrong.

What was going on? Hadn't Ao-kun always been so levelheaded? Why was his first move as Clan Head to storm the Hokage Building?

"Shisui, you don't need to dig around in your ears. You heard me right, and I didn't misspeak." Uchiha Ao looked at Shisui's gesture with exasperation.

"Ao-kun, isn't this a little too hasty?" Shisui hurriedly tried to dissuade him.

"How dare you question the Clan Head's decision!" Seeing someone contradict his Clan Head, Tekka was the first to object. So what if it was Shisui!

He was hiding behind the Clan Head. Shisui wouldn't dare lay a hand on him!

Shisui gave Tekka, whose face was alight with fervor, a long look, then turned his gaze to Uchiha Ao's stern expression. At last, he sighed helplessly. "I'm not questioning your decision, Ao-kun. But Konoha is heavily guarded, and the Third Hokage and Anbu are forces to be reckoned with. We need a thorough plan."

Actually, Shisui himself thought that with the Uchiha Clan's current strength, storming the Hokage Building would be a piece of cake.

Four Mangekyō users. What could Hiruzen Sarutobi possibly do?

Shisui still didn't know that Uchiha Ao had awakened the Mangekyō too.

"I know that, of course." Uchiha Ao glanced meaningfully at Uchiha Itachi in the crowd before continuing, "That's why we need a reason to storm the Hokage Building."

"A reason?" The clan members exchanged glances, unable to make sense of what their Clan Head meant.

"Ao-kun, given our current situation, what reason could we possibly have to storm the Hokage Building?" Shisui asked, confused.

Uchiha Fugaku came over to try to talk him out of it as well. "That's right. Konoha has practically driven us out of the village already. What reason could we have to storm the Hokage Building?"

"Shisui, you know Danzo, right?" Uchiha Ao looked at him.

Shisui immediately understood.

A few days ago, after changing Itachi's mind, he had asked how the Konoha F4 planned to handle what had happened.

Uchiha Itachi had told him to find a way to deal with it himself.

Shisui might not know the Hokage well, but he knew Danzo.

Would Danzo really pass up such a good opportunity?

"You mean Danzo has already made a move?" Shisui asked.

Uchiha Ao smiled without confirming or denying it. Beside him, Fugaku looked confused.

"Actually, on the day of our clan meeting, Sister Izumi and I ran into a Root ninja when we went out." Uchiha Ao narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing in them. "He was very good at hiding. If he hadn't let a hint of killing intent slip when he saw us, I wouldn't have noticed him."

As soon as he finished speaking, a whirlpool appeared beside him. A Root ninja wrapped in bandages tumbled out and hit the ground.

Dark purple data patterns flowed along the man's neck. He looked just like someone forcibly restrained by the power of Takamagahara.

Uchiha Ao strode forward. His Mangekyō Sharingan reflected the ninja's horrified face. "I read all his memories."

"Ao-kun... you have the Mangekyō too?" Shisui stared fixedly at the intricate patterns in Uchiha Ao's eyes.

"Yeah, I awakened it yesterday." Uchiha Ao answered casually without turning around.

At the young man's raised hand, fragments of shattered memories appeared in the air:

In a dimly lit chamber, Danzo's withered fingers stroked a Sharingan.

More than twenty Sharingan of various sizes sat immersed in glass containers.

"This..." Uchiha Fugaku staggered back half a step and caught himself against a wooden post. His voice was as hoarse as if it had been scraped by sandpaper. "So, after that war, Danzo lied when he said the enemy had destroyed our clansmen's bodies. They..."

He couldn't finish. Fugaku's legs gave way, and he dropped heavily to his knees.

He trembled as he covered his face. Tears seeped between his fingers, mingling with his ragged breaths. "It was me... I was the one who pushed our clansmen into the abyss!"

The usually composed clan head was nearly broken as he spoke. "All these years, I kept yielding and led everyone in bowing their heads to Konoha... I had no idea that every step we retreated was another knife handed to that beast, Danzo!"

Mikoto rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her husband's trembling body, but Fugaku shoved her away.

Kneeling on the ground, the man slammed his forehead against the flagstones with a dull thud. "Those children who went missing... those clansmen who never made it home... they must have hated me as they died! They must have hated me, their useless clan head!"

He pounded his chest with his fists, scraping his knuckles raw against the ground. "I should've noticed sooner! The suspicious missions, the clansmen who vanished without explanation, the way Danzo looked at us every time..."

"Kill them!" Uchiha Tekka's eyes were bloodshot, his veins bulging. "I'll tear Danzo to pieces! They'll pay for what they did to our clansmen!"

The crowd erupted. Sharingan opened across the gathering, a sea of crimson light.

"Blood for blood!" "Kill the Konoha High Command!" Cries of rage rang out one after another, as years of pent-up anger and hatred burst forth.

Shisui's Sharingan spun rapidly. Watching the memories of their clansmen being brutalized, he felt murderous intent surge within him. "Ao-kun, I'll be the first to charge!" His voice was cold and resolute. "Danzo will pay for what he's done!"

Uchiha Ao stood on the raised platform, looking at his enraged clansmen. "Everyone! We've endured long enough! Now it's time to show Konoha that the Uchiha aren't lambs waiting to be slaughtered!"

His voice rang like a bell across the entire Uchiha Clan Compound. "Three days from now, under the cover of darkness, we'll storm the Hokage Building, expose their crimes, and avenge our fallen clansmen!"