Fugaku's Confidence

Uchiha Shrine, ancestral hall.

Beneath dim oil lamps, the shrine was packed shoulder to shoulder with Uchiha clan members.

They were all the clan's elite; even the weakest among them were special jonin.

Yet now, they were shouting with their necks craned like shoppers haggling at a market.

"Clan Head, Shisui, Inabi, Tekka, and Zhengye have all disappeared. Is Konoha preparing to make a move against us Uchiha!?"

"Yeah, yeah! We can't just sit around and wait for death!"

"Clan Head, give the order! We can't let ourselves be controlled by others!"

Uchiha Fugaku folded his arms and opened his half-lidded eyes. His gaze carried a natural calmness and pressure.

"What are you panicking for? Itachi has already gone to look for them. With their strength, there's no way they could have been taken down without a sound."

"Calm down first."

Swept by Fugaku's gaze, the clan members who had looked anxious opened their mouths, then shut them unwillingly.

The voices gradually died away, and Fugaku nodded in satisfaction.

These days, the Uchiha Police Force received countless complaints every day. Either they were accused of brutal enforcement, or their judgments were said to be unfair.

The radicals were constantly thinking of launching a violent coup, but as clan head, Fugaku had a better method.

With his arms folded, Fugaku swept his gaze across the impatient clansmen, though he had other plans in mind.

Itachi's position in the ANBU was his most prized move.

As long as Itachi continued earning the upper echelon's trust, the Uchiha would be able to seize the initiative at a critical moment.

When that time came, he would lead the Uchiha to unprecedented heights!

As for Shisui and the other three hawks not showing up today, that merely saved him some breath.

He looked at Uchiha Yashiro, who sat off to the side with his eyes closed. Yashiro was, in truth, also one of the leaders of the hawks.

But as a clan elder, he was ultimately more composed than the other clansmen.

Just as Fugaku was thinking this, Uchiha Yashiro abruptly opened his eyes and stared directly at him.

"Clan Head, why was the patrol authority over the western outskirts handed over?"

Hearing Yashiro address him that way, Fugaku's expression darkened slightly.

Though they differed politically, Fugaku and Yashiro had always been on good terms. In the past, they had addressed one another by name.

This was the first time Yashiro had called him Clan Head at a gathering.

There were only so many higher-ups in the clan. Upon hearing Yashiro's form of address, everyone began murmuring quietly.

"Hasn't our Police Force always patrolled the western outskirts?"

"There aren't any important assets there, are there? Does it really matter?"

"What do you know? This is the first time our Police Force has had its responsibilities reduced."

Several young clansmen whispered among themselves, their eyes repeatedly flicking over Fugaku's face.

Fugaku did not answer immediately. He lifted his teacup, took a sip, and only then spoke slowly.

"What we handed over wasn't patrol authority. It was bait."

"Bait?"

"The Third Hokage has been waiting for us to make a mistake. The more we retreat, the more he will think we're weak."

Fugaku set down his teacup, a barely noticeable curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

"When he lets down his guard, that will be the time for us to truly strike."

Yashiro was silent for a few seconds, but his brow did not relax.

"But we've given up too much."

Fugaku's lips curled upward, and a smile of total control flashed across his face.

"We want them to think that we Uchiha are backing down."

"When they think the Uchiha are no longer a threat, that will be the best time!"

Yashiro felt a faint unease in his heart. In a low voice, he asked, "Fugaku... how exactly is Itachi progressing? He should be able to access quite a bit of intelligence in the ANBU, shouldn't he?"

"Itachi is doing very well."

Fugaku's voice carried confidence and certainty.

"He has already established sufficient trust with the Third Hokage. Now, we leave the rest to time."

The yellow light gradually faded, and Zhengye and the other four opened their eyes.

Their surroundings were quiet and familiar.

Zhengye looked at the turtle in his hand. It showed 50% energy remaining. It seemed there was enough for the return trip.

"Huh? Isn't this the clan compound?" Inabi asked in surprise.

"Zhengye, is that a space-time ninja tool in your hand!?" Tekka asked, equally shocked.

This was something from legend.

Zhengye did not answer. He put away the plow and placed his hand against a nearby building, only for it to pass straight through.

[As expected, they're phantoms. Looks like the plan went smoothly.]

He put on a profound expression. "This is the night our Uchiha clan was exterminated, two years after Shisui's death."

"The night of the clan's extermination!? Our Uchiha clan was wiped out!?"

The expressions of the four beside him changed dramatically.

But they had also seen Zhengye's action. They each tried it for themselves and realized that everything around them was an illusion, though they could still touch one another.

Zhengye pointed at a utility pole. "There. One of the killers from the night of the clan's extermination."

The four followed his gaze and were all struck as if by lightning.

Because crouching atop the utility pole was Uchiha Itachi, slightly taller in build and dressed in ANBU attire.

Itachi looked at his older self, and an ominous feeling surged in his heart. His voice was slightly dry.

"Zhengye, what do you... mean?"

Zhengye did not answer him. Itachi from two years later had already demonstrated it through his actions.

He leaped down from the utility pole, his ANBU short sword drawing a cold gleam beneath the moonlight.

A middle-aged man had just emerged from an alley. Before he could even see who had come, the blade had already plunged into his throat.

Blood splattered across the wall. The man clutched his neck and fell to his knees, his body twitching a few times before going still.

"That was... Uncle Yamada..." Tekka's voice trembled.

But this was only the beginning.

Itachi continued onward, each step taking another life.

The Tanaka couple who ran the general store, Granny Chizuru who sold dango, Uncle Kinoshita who fished by the river every evening.

Those ordinary people in the Uchiha compound—people who were not ninja at all, merely civilians living peaceful lives—fell one by one beneath Itachi's blade.

"No!" Shisui, left with only one eye, reached out in agony.

"Stop! Itachi!"

He shouted, but Itachi from two years later turned a deaf ear. His body passed through Shisui's as he continued the slaughter.

Shisui's lips moved. He suddenly turned toward Zhengye. "This is genjutsu, isn't it, Zhengye?"

Zhengye's expression was numb. Although he had watched the story of the clan's extermination countless times in his previous life, this was his first time experiencing it firsthand.

"You're a genjutsu master yourself. Do you think you're real? Are you still trying to deceive yourself?"

Zhengye's words shattered Shisui's delusions.

[That's right. I am proficient in genjutsu myself. Is this real or genjutsu? Am I still deceiving myself?]

He suddenly turned his head toward the eleven-year-old Itachi.

At that moment, Itachi's mind had been completely seized by his older self from two years later.

He could no longer maintain his cold, composed façade. He could only stare in shock as he watched himself continuously slaughter his clansmen.

Inabi's fists were clenched so tightly they had turned white, his nails digging into his flesh.

"No... don't..." His voice squeezed out through clenched teeth.

Then they saw the little girl.

Five-year-old Baihe. Baihe, to whom Inabi brought candy every time he returned from patrol.

Itachi dragged her out of a wardrobe. She curled up in the corner, crying out, "Big Brother Itachi!"

Itachi did not hesitate.

The moment the blade fell, Inabi's eyes turned red.

"No—!"

He charged at the Itachi from two years later like a madman, trying to stop that blade—but his arm passed through Itachi's body, grasping nothing.

Inabi staggered, turning back to look at the still-bleeding corpse, then at the real killer standing beside him in ANBU attire—his fists clenched with a cracking sound.

Then he turned around and punched the eleven-year-old Itachi in the face.

"You bastard!!!"

Tekka hurriedly grabbed Inabi from the side. "Calm down, Tekka. This hasn't happened yet."

The eleven-year-old Itachi did not dodge. He did not even raise a hand to block.

He fell to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes remained fixed on the version of himself carrying out the slaughter.

"Do you see it? This is the so-called capacity you speak of."

Zhengye crouched down and looked at Itachi. "Without Shisui guiding you, you will eventually be brainwashed by Sarutobi Hiruzen and walk down this path."

Itachi's former pride had been completely shattered. He could only watch in agony as his older self slaughtered their clansmen without restraint.

Zhengye gripped Shisui's shoulder and turned him toward the fallen bodies.

"Look carefully."

His voice was like a blade, carving into Shisui's heart stroke by stroke.

"That old woman selling dango—she died beneath Itachi's blade because you told Konoha's higher-ups that your Kotoamatsukami could control them."

Shisui's body trembled violently.

"Uncle Yamada, who bought candy for Baihe—he died because you committed suicide, making Danzo even more unscrupulous."

"And Baihe—she was only five. When she called out 'Big Brother Itachi,' did you ever think about that?"

Shisui opened his mouth, but could not say a word.

"You placed the Uchiha's future in the hands of an eleven-year-old child, then used death to escape everything."

"Shisui, you caused all of this."

Shisui could finally no longer hold himself up. His knees slammed into the illusory ground.

"It was me..."

His gaze fell upon a corpse—it was Uchiha Yashiro.

He lay in front of his own home, covered in sword wounds.

"It was me who told the Third Hokage... that I had Kotoamatsukami... It was me who made them believe the Uchiha had to be destroyed..."

His voice grew quieter and quieter, finally becoming soundless sobs.

Zhengye stood behind him without offering comfort.

Some pain had to be borne alone.