Fugaku's Resolve

Uchiha Obito, now completely unrecognizable, even had Cursed Seal on his face representing Sealing Jutsu, making him look like he had activated Sage Mode at first glance.

"Obito," Uchiha Fugaku said, "I've come to see you."

Before betraying his clan, Uchiha Obito was Chunin of the Uchiha Clan. Although he was not outstanding, he was not useless either. For Uchiha Obito's age at the time, becoming Chunin was already a very good achievement among his peers, not to mention that he had not yet awakened his Sharingan.

When news of his death on the battlefield reached the Uchiha Clan, it did not cause much of a stir—not for any other reason than that Uchiha Obito was not the only clansman to die in the war.

The family is more concerned about the Sharingan, which may seem cold-blooded, but it is a normal reaction for a bloodline family.

If someone were truly cold-blooded, they wouldn't have respected Uchiha Obito's "last wish."

That's just how the Uchiha Clan genes are; making an Uchiha Clan cold-blooded is harder than preventing him from going crazy.

In Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, Uchiha Obito was extremely cold-blooded.

As the head of the Uchiha Clan, he could not tolerate anyone harming the clan for any reason, even though the clan had not done anything to wrong him during Uchiha Obito's upbringing.

Looking at Uchiha Obito's actions after his drastic personality change, it was all an attempt to provoke a high degree of antagonism between the Uchiha Clan and Hidden Leaf Village. Everyone knows what the consequences would be.

"Clan Chief Fugaku." Uchiha Obito looked at the somewhat familiar face before him. "It's been a long time."

"Hmm." Uchiha Fugaku nodded. "I've always had a question: putting aside the village, has this clan ever wronged you?"

"No," Uchiha Obito said.

"Then what do you think is the difference between humans and animals?" Uchiha Fugaku asked again.

"Clan Chief Fugaku doesn't need to judge me with such a condescending attitude," Uchiha Obito said. "I simply want to end this era that has no future."

"High and mighty." Uchiha Fugaku nodded. "That's a good word. You are indeed arrogant and conceited, cold-hearted. You're willing to destroy your own clan for a woman from another clan. You're worse than a beast."

"Clan Chief Fugaku, you know nothing. Just vent your anger. What a wonderful world I want to create is something you ninjas would never understand."

"Your world is nothing but garbage." Uchiha Fugaku shook his head. "It all started with your incompetence and arrogance. So many of your clansmen died in the Third Shinobi World War, but you didn't react at all before. This shows how selfish and cold-blooded you are. As someone like that, there's no need for you to whitewash your actions."

This is what Uchiha Fugaku disliked most about Uchiha Obito.

He didn't care that the older generation of his clansmen shed blood in order to ensure that young people like him could grow up smoothly.

He wasn't too saddened by the death of a familiar member of his tribe.

A girl outside died, and he went berserk.

From Uchiha Fugaku's perspective, this is very difficult to empathize with and understand.

Therefore, given that they judged Uchiha Obito to be a cold-blooded monster, they scoffed at the things that Uchiha Obito firmly believed in and regarded as righteousness.

Uchiha Obito fully received Uchiha Fugaku's disdain and contempt, and he shut his mouth.

"Your eyes will remain with the clan," Uchiha Fugaku said. "The same goes for Hatake Kakashi. I will speak with Minato about this and get your eyes back. This will be your compensation to the clan."

Uchiha Obito suddenly looked up.

"Those are things I gave you; no one else has the right to touch them."

"Your opinion is irrelevant now." Uchiha Fugaku finished speaking, turned to leave, and said, "Since you've abandoned everything here, you're worthless to those you've abandoned."

Judging from Uchiha Obito's reaction, he didn't seem as resolute as he thought, but...

This wavering was still directed at outsiders, not his own family; when it came to his own family, he was ruthless and decisive in using underhanded tactics.

Uchiha Fugaku was therefore certain that Uchiha Obito had never cared about the village or his clan from the beginning; he had no sense of collectivism and was purely an individualist.

To put it kindly, such people are not bound by the constraints of a village or clan, are not morally coerced in any way, and have a free spirit.

To put it another way, you could say he's an ungrateful wretch who can't be tamed. In his eyes, the lives of his entire family are far less important than some random person he finds pleasing to the eye outside.

Since that's the case, Uchiha Obito's eyes cannot remain unclaimed. The Uchiha Clan has no obligation to respect the "last wishes" of an outsider, especially one who wanted the Uchiha Clan to die.

Chapter 50 Fugaku's Determination

Emerging from the underground prison, Uchiha Fugaku was still somewhat depressed.

Over the years, he has been thinking about one question.

If the clan didn't have someone like Uchiha Shingen, how would the clan have dealt with the events of the night the Nine-Tails appeared?

The more I think about it, the more terrified I become.

Uchiha Fugaku knew very well what he would have done in the face of the Nine-Tails' rampage if Uchiha Shingen hadn't forcefully demanded that the clan take proactive precautions and responses at the clan meeting.

The Uchiha Clan and the Hokage Building... no, the Hidden Leaf Village, will each have only one side remaining.

The people will not remember the Konoha Military Police Force protecting them and taking refuge; they will only remember the harm that the Nine-Tails caused them. If someone with ulterior motives manipulates things afterward, the Uchiha Clan will be hated and ostracized by the entire village.

After that, there was only one path to take.

Konoha Military Police Force vs. Konoha Ninja army.

Uchiha Obito, how wicked your intentions were!

But it was precisely because of Uchiha Shingen that the Uchiha Clan was able to turn the tide after the Nine-Tails Attack, transforming crisis into opportunity.

So...

[Shingen! You'd better become the clan leader obediently!]

Clenching his fist tightly in his heart, Uchiha Fugaku maintained his poker face and strode towards the Hokage Building.

The affairs of the clan's territory have been temporarily entrusted to Yakumi, and Shingen is also here, so he doesn't need to worry about them.

The most important thing now is to use the position of Hokage's assistant to once again solidify Uchiha Shingen's exaggerated military achievements.

Killing on the battlefield is considered a military achievement.

Planning is also a military achievement, and it is an indispensable part of one's resume for entering the Hokage Building.

Just like the current Hokage, Namikaze Minato, who is known as the "Yellow Flash" or "Yellow Flash," which at first glance seems to refer to his speed.

However, the village leaders all knew that Namikaze Minato had made many contributions with his extraordinary reaction and decision-making abilities on the battlefield. Jonin Council, he had the authority to mobilize all the Jonin the village on the spot, and this ability was indispensable. Namikaze Minato was the most outstanding one since the founding of Leaf Village.

Uzumaki Kushina was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and this identity was indeed one of the important factors that led Namikaze Minato to be nominated as a candidate for Hokage. However, his talent and impressive resume were the core elements.

Uchiha Shingen also needed such a resume.

Back then, Namikaze Minato had Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, standing behind him, along with the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the entire Sarutobi Clan lineage.

Today, Uchiha Shingen has the combined support of the two powerful clans, the Uchiha Clan Hyuga Clan, though he himself is unaware of it.

While Uchiha Shingen's ability to strategize on the spot might not be as outstanding as Namikaze Minato's, he was in no way inferior to Namikaze Minato in his prime, and even surpassed him in many ways. The most convincing example of his ability to govern was his leadership skills.

No matter how difficult the task, Uchiha Shingen always has a way of doing it; this is the common perception among most people.

With the combined support of the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clans, Uchiha Shingen's resume would only be more impressive than that of Namikaze Minato back then, and among his contemporaries, let alone being more handsome, none could even compare to him.

Clan leader? That's too narrow-minded. Being the clan leader is just the beginning. Uchiha Shingen must enter the Hokage Building. Otherwise, not only will the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan not agree, but many others will also disagree.

Over the years, Uchiha Shingen has made countless friends, probably beyond his own count.

But Uchiha Fugaku could sense it.

Whether it's the Hokage or the Hokage's assistant, both will encounter difficulties in their work. Uchiha Fugaku is not like Shimura Danzō. Shimura Danzō was all alone, so it didn't matter. He could repeatedly jump around the limits of the rules. Uchiha Fugaku couldn't do that. And when he encountered difficulties, there would always be "friends" he didn't know at all who suddenly jumped out.

When asked, they all claimed to be Shingen's "friends".

After leaving his clan's territory, Uchiha Fugaku quickly entered the city. At this time, Hidden Leaf Village had completely entered the cleanup phase. The villagers had returned from the shelters, and the streets were filled with residents spontaneously helping the ninjas clean up the wreckage. As members of this military base, the villagers had this level of organization.

Uchiha Fugaku was a celebrity in the village, not only because he was the Hokage's assistant, but also because most of the villagers recognized his face. People kept greeting him along the way, to the point that his expressionless face could no longer be maintained.

By the time he arrived at the Hokage Building, he had entered another form of facial paralysis due to smiling too many times and for too long.

That won't do. If we go in like that, we'll be beaten to a pulp in no time.

Namikaze Minato often chuckles foolishly, but that's actually his weapon.

So, before entering the building, Uchiha Fugaku patted his face to relax his facial muscles. Feeling that he had recovered enough, he went inside.

As the political center of Hidden Leaf Village, the Hokage Building is also a prime target for the enemy.

This is because it houses both the administrative and educational departments, Leaf Village's most experienced internal affairs personnel are all here.

Destroying this place would reduce Hidden Leaf Village's war organization capabilities by at least half.

Unfortunately, while the idea was good, the execution was lacking.

Having prepared in advance, Hidden Leaf Village had stockpiled enough fighting power here, and directly surrounded a group of elite Cloud Village troops who had infiltrated and ambushed them.

Although the Cloud Ninja Army launched a fierce attack afterward, only a few small groups of troops were able to break into the area before a certain bigwig regained his freedom.

Once the big shots arrive, forget about breaking in; you'll be lucky to even escape.

However, some people did manage to get in, and the building was somewhat affected.

After entering the building, Uchiha Fugaku could still see some signs of a battle, and he went straight to the top floor.

After Uchiha Shingen took over the ANBU, he quickly won over the former Root members, thus giving the Uchiha Clan friends within the ANBU.

For Uchiha Fugaku, he never imagined that one day the Uchiha Clan would become friends with Root.

However, with these friends from the original Root, Uchiha Fugaku's ability to track the whereabouts of those people in the Hokage Building was greatly enhanced, and also became much more timely.

At the same time, he also knew that Namikaze Minato now intended to separate the Root members from the ANBU, and the reason given was also very tough - special operations occupy a very important position in the functions of the ANBU, so they will be directly under the Hokage Building.

In other words, they are still officially part of the ANBU, but the ANBU has no jurisdiction over them. Conversely, from now on, these people will only be responsible for carrying out special operations and will enjoy the same treatment as the ANBU service, but they will no longer have the authority of the ANBU.

The position of Hokage is truly a test of character.

Uchiha Fugaku cleared his mind of unnecessary distractions and focused on the top level.

There were many ninjas coming and going in the corridor; they were relaying orders.

Uchiha Fugaku walked past the ninjas, reached the large conference room next to the Hokage's office, and pushed open the door to enter.

The ninjas come in and out from here.

After taking a good look at the layout of the meeting room, Uchiha Fugaku composed himself.

The legendary God of Shinobi sat in the main seat, wearing a harmless, simple smile.

Beside him sat the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, who, though seated in the secondary position, acted as if he were in the primary one. With an Edo Impure World Reincarnation- era face, he offered suggestions to Namikaze Minato on various matters.

Despite being the current Hokage, Namikaze Minato was signing orders with an expression of intense curiosity, like a chicken pecking at rice, as if he weren't the Hokage but rather the Hokage's ghostwriter.

On the other side of Senju Hashirama were the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and two old companions. The three of them were respectfully keeping the great God of Shinobi and easing the awkwardness of having nothing to do.

Senju Muzoku are everywhere.

When Uchiha Fugaku pushed open the door and entered, everyone looked at him.

Senju Hashirama's eyes lit up.

Senju Tobirama remained expressionless.

Namikaze Minato flashed a friendly smile.

"Fugaku, you've finally arrived! How's the southern part of the castle?"

"The main losses in the South City came from the enemy who infiltrated from the western forest, but their numbers were limited and the damage was not significant. The enemy attacking the South City were all blocked in the area between the prison territory and the south wall, and had no chance to break into the city."

"Well done!" Senju Hashirama felt he had found his chance to shine, and he said happily, "As expected of the Uchiha Clan, they are truly reassuring."

Senju Tobirama glanced at his older brother.

The expression in his eyes was quite rich.

Then he looked at Uchiha Fugaku.

"Uchiha Madara has returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound, right? Don't let your guard down; he's a dangerous person. If anything unusual happens, we'll provide support immediately."

If it were someone else, Uchiha Fugaku would probably have used his eloquence to deliver a sarcastic and pointed rebuttal.

But the person saying this is Senju Tobirama, and as everyone knows, Senju Tobirama's attitude towards the Uchiha Clan is not exactly friendly.

While the Uchiha Clan didn't treat the Second Hokage Senju Hashirama, they still maintained proper etiquette towards him.

There's no other reason than that. Although everyone knows that Senju Tobirama dislikes the Uchiha Clan, none of the methods he used against them could be used as leverage. On the surface, he seemed to be making good use of the Uchiha Clan, but in reality, he also provided them with the resources necessary to ensure the Uchiha Clan's normal development.

Although I don't like this kind of person, I still admire them.

However, Senju Tobirama's words were not a good answer.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and draped over his shoulder.

"Oh, are you the current Uchiha Clan Head?" Senju Muzoku looked at Uchiha Fugaku with a surprised expression, wondering where he had suddenly appeared from.

Senju Tobirama frowned.