Battle Against Fugaku, the Clan Leader! / Make the World Tremble Once More at the Uchiha Name!

"You idiots! And you still have the nerve to talk? Mo had already explained everything, yet you were still spouting meaningless platitudes!"

"What's the use of regretting it now? Can the lives of our clansmen come back? Can the Uchiha Clan's lost honor come back?!"

"Seriously! If I'd been there, I definitely would've understood what Mo meant! I can't believe people as stupid as you managed to awaken the Sharingan?!"

"..."

Battle Fugaku, Clan Head!

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Enough! This isn't the time to settle scores!"

Setsuna frowned and spoke sternly.

Only after his words fell did the venue gradually quiet down.

"In any case, Mo made the Uchiha name resound throughout the Ninja World once again and saw through Hidden Leaf's hypocrisy. His contributions to the Uchiha Clan are immense! At the same time, Mo's younger brother, Shisui, saved the lives of many clansmen on that battlefield! Without Shisui, the Uchiha's losses would have been even greater!"

"Hehe~"

Shisui stood beside Mo. Hearing that, he could not help but grin with a somewhat smug smile.

Setsuna ignored him and continued.

"Most importantly, Mo's strength. He killed the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Chiyo, and Ebizo. He is clearly the Uchiha's strongest expert at present, and according to Uchiha tradition... only the strongest may become the leader!"

After saying that, Setsuna glanced at Fugaku. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, he secretly nodded and continued.

"Of course, the Uchiha Clan is not devoid of sentiment. Considering that Fugaku has indeed given much to the clan, this old man proposes that Fugaku and Mo fight. The victor between them will become the leader of the Uchiha Clan!"

"This will be both a punishment for Fugaku and a reward for Mo and Shisui... Now, raise your hands to vote!"

As soon as Setsuna finished speaking, the Uchiha below all raised their right hands. The old man swiftly swept his gaze over the crowd and nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good. The proposal has passed. Fugaku, Mo, do either of you have any objections?"

"I have none."

Fugaku answered calmly. At this point, his heart had inexplicably settled down.

Before becoming clan head, Fugaku might still have held lofty ambitions of his own, hoping to lead the Uchiha to a new stage. But as he gradually came to understand the gap between reality and fantasy, he clearly recognized the limits of his own abilities, especially with such outstanding geniuses emerging among the younger generation.

During the past few days of public discussion, Fugaku had even entertained the thought of giving up outright. Of course, it was only a thought. Whether out of personal will or responsibility toward the clan, he could not simply step down.

Besides, even if Mo ultimately won, Fugaku still needed this battle to prove the legitimacy of the clan head's position.

"What about you, Mo?" Setsuna turned his gaze toward the boy beside him.

"No problem."

Setsuna nodded. "Good. Then let's go. The square outside the shrine is large enough."

As soon as he finished speaking, Setsuna led the way down from the platform and headed toward the main doors. The clansmen standing beside them immediately stepped forward and opened the doors, allowing sunlight to spill into the shrine once more.

A short while later, the Uchiha clansmen formed a circle around the edge of the square before the shrine.

At the center of the square, Fugaku and Mo stood facing each other from afar and slowly formed the Seal of Confrontation.

"Mo, don't hold back. Let me see the strength of the so-called Uchiha's strongest expert!"

Fugaku looked at the boy across from him with a resolute expression and blazing eyes.

"Fine, if you can see it."

Mo answered calmly, raising his right hand before his chest in a sword-hand sign.

Setsuna stood before the shrine gates with Shisui, who was only waist-high beside him. He struck the ground with his cane and said in a deep voice:

"The battle... begins!"

The instant his powerful words fell, Fugaku twisted his right hand. A large number of kunai slid from his sleeves, caught between his fingers, while scarlet bloomed in his eyes. He rushed at Mo first!

Mo quietly stood where he was, watching Fugaku's movements. Other than his eyes turning into a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he made no other move.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Fugaku suddenly swung his arm, hurling the kunai at Uchiha Mo. Then his hands rapidly began forming seals before him.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."

The kunai collided in midair, swiftly filling every direction around Mo. They fell like rain, and at the same time, Fugaku completed his hand seals. He brought his hands together before his mouth and sharply puffed out his chest.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Mo's expression remained calm as his right hand rested on the sword hilt at his waist.

"Clack—"

Futsunomitama slid half an inch from its sheath...

The next moment, dense black sword light erupted! The absolute black domain shredded every kunai around Mo!

Even the incoming fireballs were reduced to sparks beneath the black light and swiftly extinguished!

"What kind of ability is this?!" Fugaku's heart jolted, and his eyes widened.

But before Fugaku could recover, a figure suddenly appeared before him! A piercing rush of wind followed, and a brutally powerful uppercut smashed solidly into Fugaku's stomach.

"Bang!"

"Urgh!"

Fugaku's body immediately bent like a shrimp, his eyes bulging as though they were about to burst from their sockets.

Then Fugaku felt a pair of hands suddenly seize the hair at the back of his head and roughly yank his head up. Mo's calm scarlet eyes entered Fugaku's vision.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"

"Hah..."

Uchiha Fugaku's body trembled before he collapsed limply to the ground.

"..."

The entire square fell silent. The Uchiha ninja stared blankly at the boy in the field, clearly still unable to process that overly simple battle.

Everyone had expected Uchiha Mo to win, but not even Setsuna had expected Mo to win so easily.

Yet all of this had been within Uchiha Mo's expectations.

After all, although Mo's eyes were still Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his ocular power had long reached the level of the Mangekyō. For some unknown reason, however, they had yet to evolve. And the Mangekyō possessed an overwhelmingly superior level of ocular power compared to the Three Tomoe!

Even if Fugaku obtained the Mangekyō Sharingan in the anime-original storyline, that happened after the Uchiha participated in the Kirigakure battlefield. At this time, he could not possibly be Mo's opponent.

"The victor, Uchiha Mo!"

Setsuna announced the result in a resounding voice. Immediately afterward, the entire square erupted as the crowd began discussing the battle all at once.

"Did you see Mo's movements? He was so fast! Fugaku didn't react at all!"

"Yeah! The gap in strength was simply too huge."

"I never thought Mo had already become this strong..."

"..."

Uchiha Mo slowly walked over to Setsuna's side, then looked at Setsuna and Shisui and gave a slight nod.

Setsuna immediately struck the ground with his cane again and said in a deep voice:

"Enough! Discuss it after we return. We will now continue the clan meeting in the shrine. Hona and Zenzo, you two carry Fugaku inside."

After saying that, Setsuna turned and pushed open the shrine doors. But rather than entering, he stepped aside beside the doorway and smiled at Uchiha Mo.

"Clan Head, please go first."

Mo glanced at him but said nothing. He simply lifted his foot and walked into the shrine.

Make the World Tremble Beneath the Uchiha Name Once More!

"..."

Mo stood on the platform at the deepest end of the shrine, his gaze sweeping across the room as one excited face after another below entered his sight.

No clan in the Ninja World would allow a boy under twelve to become its leader, even if he was the strongest person in the entire clan. But the Uchiha Clan was the sole exception, and that was why Mo stood where he did now.

He withdrew his gaze, spread his hands, and slowly began to speak.

"Forty-eight years ago, the Uchiha and the Senju Clan shook hands and made peace, ending the chaotic Warring States Era."

"Not only Hidden Leaf, but the entire current structure of the Ninja World was forged by the Uchiha and the Senju Clan. But now... the Senju Clan has perished, while Hidden Leaf, created by the Uchiha's own hands, seeks to exclude the Uchiha from power..."

"When has a pet ever had the right to drive its master out of the house?!"

His words echoed through the shrine, instantly igniting the clansmen's fury.

"That's right! The Clan Head is correct!"

"Hidden Leaf has been unjust, so there's no need for us to remain loyal to it!"

"Take back everything that belongs to the Uchiha!"

"..."

The Uchiha below the platform were filled with passion, veins bulging at their temples. Every one of them looked toward Uchiha Mo on the platform with expectant eyes.

Mo swept his gaze over the room, his expression cold, but his voice suddenly rose.

"There is no meaning in dwelling on past gains and losses, but the sacrifices of the past can be given meaning through the actions of the future!"

"The Senju of the Forest have vanished. The Uchiha Clan is now unquestionably the strongest clan in the Ninja World! No clan can rival the Uchiha, and no Kekkei Genkai can compare with the Sharingan!"

"I want you to follow me and rebuild the glory that belongs to the Uchiha! Not merely within Hidden Leaf, but until the entire Ninja World trembles in fear at the mere mention of the Uchiha name! Let the world tremble beneath the Uchiha name once more!"

"Well said! The Clan Head is wise!"

"Rebuild Uchiha glory!"

"Rebuild Uchiha glory!"

"Rebuild Uchiha glory!"

"..."

Setsuna could not help curling his lips as he watched the exhilarated clansmen below.

Hokage Office Building.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A burst of hurried knocking sounded in the office. Hiruzen Sarutobi held a document sent from the front lines in one hand and supported his smoking pipe with the other. Without looking up, he said:

"Enter!"

As soon as he spoke, the office door opened with a click. A ninja wearing an ANBU mask quickly approached the desk and dropped to one knee.

"What is it?" Hiruzen Sarutobi flipped the battle report in his hand to the reverse side and continued asking.

"Lord Hokage, the southeastern border reported signs of Kirigakure at the former site of the Land of Whirlpools. At the same time, the Reconnaissance Squad on the Hidden Stone battlefield said that the number of Hidden Stone ninja wandering through the Grass Country recently seems to have increased... Also, this is intelligence sent back by spies within the Land of Wind."

As he spoke, the ANBU ninja raised a scroll.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, set down the document in his hand, and looked up. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and said in a low voice:

"The Ninja World truly cannot remain peaceful for even a moment... Bring it over..."

"Yes!"

The ANBU ninja nodded, rose to his feet, placed the scroll on the desk, and then turned toward the door.

Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored him. With a sigh, he extinguished his pipe and set it down before picking up the scroll to read.

"..."