The Uchiha Only Left

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Third Hokage heard countless rumbling sounds while he was still on the way.

When he arrived before the Uchiha Clan Compound, he saw entire stretches of Uchiha buildings smashed into rubble.

Beneath the smoke and dust rising into the sky stood an enormous orange-red Susanoo and another purple-black Susanoo.

The two massive entities slammed fiercely into each other, and the tremendous shockwave, carrying smoke and dust, radiated in every direction.

"How could this be..." The Third Hokage stood there in a daze.

How could Susanoo be so terrifying?

Of course, the Third Hokage recognized Susanoo. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had even taught him about it in detail.

It was a powerful ninjutsu possessed only by Uchiha Clan Members who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, known as the Power of the Gods.

Were Fugaku and Itachi both Mangekyō Sharingan users?

For so many years, Fugaku had never revealed it.

How old was Itachi!? He was already a Mangekyō Sharingan user.

And there was Shisui as well! The Uchiha Clan had three Mangekyō Sharingan users!

Seeing nearly half the Uchiha Clan Compound leveled to the ground,

the Third Hokage felt uncertain. The Fourth Hokage had died unexpectedly, Orochimaru had defected, and neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya was in the village.

Could he expect the other ninja clans to risk their lives against the Uchiha?

There was too much smoke and dust, and the Chakra pressure was too overwhelming. No one could approach or understand what was happening inside.

Itachi's voice faintly carried out from within.

"Father, what is there left in a Konoha like this to be attached to? They dared to take Shisui's eyes. The next target will definitely be you."

Fugaku shouted, "Shut up! Since Konoha was founded, we Uchiha have been part of it. What happened to Shisui was only an accident. The Third Hokage will give us..."

The rest could no longer be heard, but another enormous rumbling sound immediately erupted from within.

Outside the Uchiha Clan Compound, more and more people gathered. The Hyuga Clan was among the first to arrive.

Hizashi activated his Byakugan and saw two enormous masses of condensed Chakra.

He simply could not see what was happening inside.

The others could not even get close.

After a long while, the two Susanoo vanished.

Itachi's voice vaguely came from the smoke and dust. "Forgive me, Father." Then it gradually fell silent.

The Third Hokage waved his hand, and everyone rushed into the area.

They found Fugaku sitting on the ground, extremely weak.

Large beads of cold sweat covered his forehead, and his face was pale.

It was obvious that he had overexhausted his Chakra.

The Third Hokage jumped into the area and hurriedly had the Medical Ninja beside him treat Fugaku.

Once a Medical Ninja's Chakra entered a ninja's body, they could learn a great deal of information.

Therefore, Medical Ninjas from outside were generally not allowed to treat one's own people.

Yet Fugaku cooperated fully.

He opened his mouth and said weakly, "What a misfortune for my family, Third Hokage."

"My son and Shisui have defected..."

At that moment, the Medical Ninja gave the Third Hokage a look, indicating that Fugaku had merely overexhausted his Chakra and had no other injuries.

The Third Hokage silently calculated in his heart.

Just then, a figure leaped into the area.

Looking closely, it was Uchiha Natsuki.

"Lord Clan Head, while you and Itachi were fighting, I moved all the clan members to a safe place. There were only some minor injuries. Everyone else is fine."

The Third Hokage's eyes flickered before he said, "What are you saying, Fugaku? There are plenty of Konoha ninja who leave to train. Now that Itachi wants to go out and train for a while, there's nothing wrong with that."

Natsuki seemed stunned for a moment, then chimed in as though suddenly realizing something. "Ah, right, right. Itachi just went out to train with Shisui. Clan Head, don't overthink it."

Fugaku seemed not to have recovered from the series of blows. He stared blankly at the more-than-half-destroyed clan buildings.

Supporting Fugaku, Natsuki said to the Third Hokage, "Third Hokage, we Uchiha are deeply sorry for the disturbance caused this time. However, the Clan Head is seriously injured and needs treatment, so we will take our leave first."

The Third Hokage nodded and allowed Natsuki to take Fugaku away from the scene.

The other ninja clans gradually arrived at the area as well.

Looking at the devastated ground around them, they could hardly believe their eyes. They would have believed it if someone said a tailed beast had attacked.

Yet they had never expected two Uchiha alone to possess such destructive power.

Everyone saw the Third Hokage deep in thought and waited for him to make a decision.

After a long while, the Third Hokage looked around at the surrounding ninja clans. He saw not the slightest Fighting Spirit in their eyes.

Only shifting gazes and bodies shrinking back.

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and slowly exhaled.

"Tonight, the Uchiha only left. They did not rebel."

The Third Hokage defined what had happened that night.

The surrounding ninja clans finally relaxed, then began sizing up the more-than-half-destroyed Uchiha Clan Compound.

Because the Uchiha Clan Compound was expanded every year.

And because Uchiha died in battle every year, much of the compound was actually left vacant.

Moreover, Natsuki seemed to have evacuated everyone beforehand, so the Uchiha had only suffered some injuries, with no deaths.

Was it truly an accident, or had it been an act?

Natsuki supported Fugaku back to his residence.

His weakness was not an act. He had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan many years ago.

When his eyesight deteriorated to a certain extent, he discovered that it was irreversible, so he had not used his Sharingan since.

He still had some eye power left, but not much, and Susanoo required an enormous amount of Chakra to activate.

Just now, Fugaku had maintained that huge first-stage Susanoo, consuming a massive amount of Chakra.

Though he had only destroyed some buildings within the clan compound, merely maintaining that enormous Susanoo form had nearly drained Fugaku dry.

Itachi was the same. He had only awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan not long ago.

Fugaku had taught him Susanoo on the spot, and destroying more than half the clan compound had nearly made Itachi pass out.

After all, Itachi was only eleven years old. His body still could not bear such a powerful Chakra technique.

Fugaku touched the corner of his blurry eye. It seemed his vision had worsened again.

"Natsuki, will the Third Hokage see through this act?"

Natsuki shrugged carelessly. "Of course he'll see through it. This isn't a conspiracy; it's an open conspiracy. Even if the Third Hokage sees through it, he still won't dare tear apart the face."

"First, because the Uchiha have already voluntarily returned our authority. Second, because we Uchiha, hmm, have three Mangekyō Sharingan users."

"Now happens to be the critical moment when the Cloud Village has come for peace talks. If the three Uchiha Mangekyō Sharingan users rebel against Konoha, even if Konoha wins, its casualties will be devastating."

"By then, the Cloud Village won't be here for peace talks. They'll be here to destroy the village."

"For now, we only need to proceed according to the plan."

Suppressing the discomfort in his eyes, Fugaku discussed the following plans with Natsuki. Then, after handing the task of comforting the clan members to the Fourth Elder, he fell into a deep sleep.