Shaoyu slowly walked up to Fugaku, who was unable to move, and looked with great interest at the lingering expression of shock and anger on his face.
After about ten seconds, he gently snapped his fingers.
The Genjutsu: Release.
Fugaku swayed violently, gasping for breath as if he were suffocating. His forehead was instantly covered in cold sweat, and his eyes were filled with undisguised horror and fear as he looked at Shaoyu.
That brief moment of distraction made him truly realize what an absolute gap meant, and what it meant to have no control over one's own life and death.
His pride in his clan leader status and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan were utterly insignificant in the face of the opponent's absolute power.
"Now," Shaoyu's voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable sense of pressure, his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan eyes silently fixed on Fugaku.
"Can we sit down and have a proper talk, Fugaku... clan head?"
Fugaku's face was pale, and his lips moved a few times. In the end, all the words he wanted to say—to call for help, to reprimand, to uphold the dignity of the clan leader—were forcibly suppressed by the lingering cold fear and the cruel reality.
He glanced at Elder Setsuna, who remained silent but whose eyes were equally sharp, and then at the rogue ninja clansman before him, whose strength was unfathomable and who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
A deep sense of powerlessness and a chilling rationality welled up inside me.
The other party was able to infiltrate the heavily guarded clan territory silently, appear in Elder Setsuna Shazam's study, and control him with a single glance...
The implications are self-evident.
Resistance? Rebuke? In the face of absolute power, all are meaningless.
Fugaku took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his turbulent emotions, and tried to make his voice sound steady, although it still trembled slightly.
"... What should we talk about?"
He slowly walked to a chair and sat down, his movements somewhat stiff.
This is undoubtedly a form of surrender, acknowledging that the other party has the dominant role in the dialogue.
The Mangekyō Sharingan in Shaoyu's eyes slowly faded, returning to a deep black, as if that terrifying power of his eyes had never appeared.
He casually pulled up a chair and sat down, his relaxed posture putting even more pressure on Fugaku.
"Let's talk about the future of the Uchiha Clan," Shaoyu said bluntly, his eyes sharp.
"Tell me, as the new clan leader, how you plan to lead the clan to survive on this seemingly stable but actually wrecked ship that is about to hit an iceberg in Konoha."
Uchiha Fugaku pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.
"I believe in the Third Hokage; he will protect our Uchiha Clan."
?????????
As soon as Fugaku finished speaking, "I believe the Third Hokage will protect the Uchiha Clan," the air in the study seemed to freeze for a moment.
Elder Uchiha Setsuna's face twitched suddenly. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, it only turned into a cold snort squeezed out from between his teeth.
Uchiha Shaoyu, on the other hand, let out a low chuckle.
The laughter was devoid of warmth, containing only undisguised sarcasm.
"Trust the Third Hokage? Protect the Uchiha?"
Shaoyu repeated the two words as if savoring some enormous joke. He shook his head and looked at Fugaku as if he were looking at a hopeless fool.
"Clan Chief Fugaku, are you still grieving the loss of your father, or have you been blinded by the title of clan chief?"
Shaoyu's voice suddenly turned sharp, each word like a knife.
"Protect them? He'll only use more subtle and plausible methods to continuously shrink the Uchiha's living space and weaken their Uchiha power. You think you can get his help? That's wishful thinking!"
Fugaku's face turned pale and then red under Shaoyu's merciless analysis.
He wanted to argue that the situation wasn't so bad, and that he could change the higher-ups' opinions through communication and demonstrating loyalty...
But looking into Shaoyu's eyes, which seemed to see through all darkness, and at Elder Setsuna's undisguised disappointment and anger, these words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single one.
Deep down, he probably knew that what Shaoyu said was likely true, but he was unwilling and dared not face it.
"It seems that reasoning with you is a waste of time."
Shaoyu was too lazy to waste any more words with him.
"Listen, Uchiha Fugaku. I will show you, and the Uchiha Clan of Konoha, a clear path."
"In a few years, when the time is right, I will take all the members of the Uchiha Clan who are unwilling to wait to die in Konoha and who want to take control of their own destiny, and leave Konoha for a new place."
"Your task is to support and assist Elder Setsuna in the coming days to secretly ascertain the true thoughts of everyone in the clan, and, using your position as clan leader, provide the necessary cover and convenience for this matter."
"What?!"
Fugaku abruptly stood up, his face filled with shock and resistance.
"You want to split the Uchiha?! And you want my help?! That's impossible!"
"Your responsibility?"
Shaoyu chuckled and stood up as well, looking down at Fugaku with an imposing aura.
"Those who want to stay, you can keep them and play your trust game with the Konoha High Command. But those who want to leave, you have no right to stop them! Otherwise..."
Shaoyu paused, a chilling glint flashing in his eyes, and uttered a condition that would instantly freeze Fugaku's blood.
"Just in case, to ensure our cooperation goes smoothly, and also to leave you with something to remember me by... I will take your two-year-old son, Itachi Uchiha, with me."
??????
"What did you say?!!"
Like a beast whose tail has been stepped on, Fugaku's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated uncontrollably, and his violent chakra and killing intent erupted.
"You dare touch a single hair on Itachi's head! I'll fight you to the death!!"
The hatred of losing his son far surpassed any calculation of interests or ideological differences, instantly igniting all of Fugaku's anger and ferocity as a father.
He disregarded everything and lunged forward, even knowing he was no match for them.
However, his movements seemed pitifully slow to Shaoyu.
"It seems you still don't understand the situation."
Shaoyu sighed, and his Mangekyō Sharingan reappeared.
This time, the illusion was activated faster and more powerful!
Fugaku only felt a flash of red light before his eyes, and his spirit was once again dragged into an endless, cold abyss.
"No--!!!"
The despair and fear in the illusion were so real that they instantly shattered Fugaku's psychological defenses.
The Genjutsu: Release.
Fugaku collapsed to his knees with a thud, bracing himself with his hands and gasping for breath, his mourning clothes soaked with cold sweat.
He raised his head, his eyes filled with fear and humiliation as he looked at Shaoyu.
Although the illusion he had just experienced was brief, it was more effective in making him understand than any form of torture.
He didn't even have the ability to protect his son in front of this man.