Please Call Me Vice Clan Head

Within the clan compound.

Fugaku led Hayato straight to the shrine.

"Send word. We're holding a clan meeting."

The squad leaders following behind him raised no objections and immediately went to notify everyone.

Hayato followed them to the shrine, while Fugaku took the seat of honor. Then he patted the spot beside him. "Sit here."

Hayato raised an eyebrow. The seating arrangements were fixed.

At the very least, even the clan elders weren't allowed to sit beside Fugaku.

Hayato didn't refuse. He plopped down in the seat. To get anything done, he needed a position and the authority to match.

The Mangekyo alone wasn't enough.

As time passed, the clan members filed in. The clan elders saw what was happening but didn't voice any objections. After exchanging glances, they went to their assigned seats.

Fugaku continued to sit with his eyes closed, just as he had since returning.

"Clan Head, all the clan's ninja have arrived," Uchiha Yakumi said once he had confirmed everyone was present.

"Good."

At that, Fugaku opened his eyes and let his gaze pass over the clan members one by one.

"At this clan meeting, I'm announcing one thing. Uchiha Hayato will serve as Vice Clan Head and oversee all clan affairs from now on. I'll assist him."

The moment Fugaku spoke, the entire shrine erupted.

He had announced the appointment outright, without asking anyone's opinion.

The three clan elders exchanged glances. Yashiro was the first to break the silence. "Hayato, I heard you awakened the Mangekyo. Is that true?"

The clan members who hadn't known began to stir. Only the Police Force members remained silent.

They had all witnessed Hayato reveal his Mangekyo firsthand, and the sight still lingered vividly in their minds.

Everyone turned to look at Hayato, barely able to contain their excitement.

Hayato knew that if Fugaku's appointment were based solely on seniority, he wouldn't stand a chance. It could only be based on strength.

So when he opened his eyes again, the Three-Tomoe in them gradually transformed into the Mangekyo. At the same time, the Uchiha Clan's distinctive, sinister chakra spread throughout the shrine.

"Good! Good! Heaven favors our Uchiha Clan!"

Yashiro and the other clan elders burst into laughter, their joy at the thought that the Uchiha Clan might yet survive spilling into their voices.

"Hayato has the Mangekyo. I support him becoming Vice Clan Head!" Yashiro was the first to voice his support. The Uchiha Clan valued strength above all, and Yashiro, a hardliner, saw this as a good sign.

As soon as Yashiro spoke, the Uchiha youths chimed in with their support.

They were the backbone of the hardliners and couldn't stand being pushed around by Konoha like this.

"Quiet." Seeing how excited the clan members were, Fugaku spoke up and immediately quelled the commotion. Then he turned to Hayato. "Hayato, you'll chair this clan meeting."

"Yes, Clan Head."

Hayato rose at once and bowed to Fugaku.

Second-in-command was exactly what he wanted. The one wielding the blade didn't need to stand at the front. As Vice Clan Head, with Fugaku taking the heat above him, he'd be able to accomplish more.

Besides, Fugaku had probably made this arrangement because Hayato was so young.

That meant Fugaku would still have to cover for him.

"Esteemed elders, fellow clan members, the first thing I'll do as Vice Clan Head is make sure we're all clear on one thing."

Hayato looked around and spoke slowly, word by word. "From today onward, there must be no more talk of 'rebellion' within the clan."

His words struck the shrine like a stone hitting water, and the entire room erupted into noise again.

"What are you talking about?" Yashiro, who had been grinning from ear to ear, froze. He shot to his feet. "Brat! You've only just become Vice Clan Head, and already you're telling us to shut up!"

"Clan Elder, please call me Vice Clan Head." Hayato lifted his eyelids slightly and replied coolly.

Yashiro flushed with anger, his face turning red as he pointed at Hayato. The two other clan elders started to rise as well.

Hayato raised a hand to stop them. "I'm saying this because the Uchiha Clan doesn't need this kind of talk, and we can't afford to have it."

"Because our Uchiha Clan needs to take a different path."

"A different path?" Inabi scoffed. "What path haven't we tried over the years? And how has the village responded? Ever since the Night of the Nine-Tails, we've been penned up in this clan compound!"

"Clan elders, let me ask you: if we rebelled right now, what chance would we have?"

Yashiro and the others froze and looked at Hayato. But the meaning in the young man's eyes was clear: don't count his Mangekyo among their assets.

No one could answer that question.

Hayato pressed on. "Thirty percent? Or fifty?"

The question was unmistakably scornful. The faces of the clan elders and the Uchiha Clan's leading members darkened. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that your reaction proves you already know what our chances of winning a rebellion are."

"But we've held clan meetings over and over these past few years, haven't we? What have you managed to agree on in the end? Nothing! Even I, a clan member who's barely taken part, know you're arguing over how to rebel. So tell me—"

"What does talking about rebellion get the Uchiha Clan?"

"Does it make the village wary of us? Are we handing them the knife ourselves, then waiting for the day the Uchiha Clan is wiped out?"

"Today's farce has already proved my point. We personally went to ask the Third Hokage to clear our name. Was that because you didn't want to rebel?"

"No. It was because you weren't ready—or, to put it plainly, because you didn't have the confidence!"

Silence fell.

It wasn't just the clan elders. Even the Police Force squad leaders were quiet.

When Hayato revealed his Mangekyo, they should have been shouting that the Uchiha Clan was going to rebel.

But when Hayato suggested going together to the Hokage Building, not one of them had objected.

Yashiro took several deep breaths. "Then tell us: if we don't rebel, what do we do?"

"Our clan's Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage founded this village. You could say our clan is half its owner. What we need to do is reclaim that status and the authority that comes with it."

"Typical young—"

"Enough!" Fugaku cut in. "Today, at the Hokage Office, when Danzo kept pressing us at every turn, it was the so-called young man you're talking about who stood up for the Uchiha Clan."

"Besides, Hayato is right. He's the Vice Clan Head now, and this is a clan meeting. Clan Elder, please mind the occasion."

Yashiro's face turned white, then green.

Only after saying that did Fugaku look back at Hayato. "Hayato, go on."

Hayato nodded slightly and addressed the room. "Before we can achieve this, there's a lot we need to do."

Everyone watched him. Some even wore expressions much like Shisui's.

"What did the village rely on to spread rumors this time?"