Time Was Up

His eyes were bleeding.

His vision had grown dim and blurred.

But it was enough.

Fugaku looked at the Uchiha clansmen standing close before him.

The little ocular power he had left was enough to lead his clansmen toward a clear view of the road ahead.

The two sides had regrouped.

"Clan Head, those Root shinobi went too far! They killed anyone they saw, even ordinary Uchiha clansmen!" Someone burst into tears and accused them the moment he saw Fugaku.

"Yes, Clan Head! Let's strike back!!"

"Quiet!" Fugaku barked, and all the noisy Uchiha clansmen fell silent.

Looking at the indignation on their faces, Fugaku sighed inwardly. This was the Uchiha Clan.

Proud and unruly, easily swayed by their emotions.

Even as clan head, he had no particularly good way to suppress their intense feelings.

"Bury all your hatred in your hearts for now. The Nine-Tails has failed. We Uchiha have lost this round," Fugaku said gravely. Not far away, Konoha's ANBU forces were continuously rushing over.

"...Now, everyone, break through according to the original plan!"

Only a little over twenty Uchiha Clan shinobi remained gathered before Fugaku.

This was an enormous loss for the Uchiha Clan.

Yet it was also a baptism.

The Two-Tomoe Sharingan, Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and even those who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in battle after witnessing the deaths of comrades and family... they would all become the backbone of the Uchiha Clan's revival. They could not be lost here.

After using his authority as clan head to forcibly suppress the clan's various grievances, Fugaku turned toward the girl, somewhat surprised and somewhat relieved.

"Izumi..." Fugaku patted Uchiha Izumi's shoulder reassuringly, and she immediately broke down in tears.

Uchiha Izumi had once been Itachi's lover. In this incident, she was also the only Uchiha clansman who had awakened from the Three-Tomoe Sharingan to the Mangekyō Sharingan.

—For today, she had watched her family die miserably before her eyes.

"How... how is Itachi?" Izumi wiped away her tears and looked up.

Now, Itachi was all she had left.

"I'm grateful that you still care about his safety, but for now... consider him dead," Fugaku said. "In the coming battle, we will need your strength."

Izumi nodded heavily.

She and her parents had never really supported the coup. They still held hopes for Sarutobi and the other Konoha higher-ups, which was why they had always remained outside the Uchiha Clan's inner circle.

But after Root shinobi stormed into the Uchiha District today and slaughtered freely, such expectations had been almost entirely buried alongside her parents the moment they died beneath blades and had their Sharingan gouged out.

With a powerful enemy before them, the Uchiha were more united than ever.

What doves and hawks? The Uchiha now had only one faction—the revenge faction!

Sarutobi and Danzo would never allow these Uchiha clansmen, who bore hatred toward Konoha, to leave Konoha alive. The battle ahead would be exceptionally dangerous.

After arranging the breakout formation, Fugaku turned to Uchiha Tetsu.

"Did you complete the task I gave you?"

"I did." Tetsu pulled open the bundle of cloth in his hand, revealing Ibiki's head beneath it.

His head was the key to opening one of Konoha's prisons.

"Good." Fugaku nodded slightly. "When we break through, Konoha will certainly send its entire force to pursue us. Stay here and look for an opportunity to rescue Setsuna... Don't worry. I can sense that your trip will go rather smoothly."

Uchiha Setsuna was an elder who had plotted a famous rebellion during the Second Hokage's era. After being suppressed for attempting rebellion, he had been imprisoned in Konoha's prison ever since. Now that the Uchiha Clan was short on manpower, they naturally had to find a way to rescue him.

Tetsu nodded, then looked at his clan head and hesitantly asked,

"Then what about you, Clan Head?"

"Will it go smoothly?"

Fugaku glanced at him without answering. He merely said slowly to all the clansmen,

"...Afterward, Uchiha Setsuna will become the next clan head of the Uchiha Clan."

The air fell silent for a moment. Fugaku smiled.

"That is assuming something happens to me... I cannot see so far into the future as to witness him leading the Uchiha Clan, but I understand him. Back when Konoha and the Uchiha were not yet so tense, I often visited him in prison. I believe in his abilities."

"Enough. Prepare to move. Other than Tetsu, everyone follows behind me."

"We..."

"...will carve a path through with blood."

"Yes!!" They followed behind their clan head, their formation like a long blade stabbing toward the impregnable wall Konoha had already raised before them.

The air exploded amid the blazing flames.

The long blade dragged through the ruins. Their hatred was so sharp that nothing seemed able to stop them from leaving this place. With the utmost resolve, that blade cut into the wall of iron before them.

Then—

—The melee erupted!!

"Fang Wolf Fang!!"

"Susanoo!"

Facing the two white streaks hurtling straight at him like drills, Fugaku roared.

This ghostly blue fiend dragging a tomoe chain had descended who knew how many times already. Yet no matter how many times it appeared, its sheer difficulty still left people helpless.

The tomoe chain entangled Kuromaru's attack, but the drill formed by Tsume Inuzuka drove straight into Susanoo's chest.

"You Inuzuka Clan... truly are Konoha's loyal dogs!"

Fugaku sneered and controlled Susanoo to smash both dogs away together.

The Uchiha Clan members behind him also temporarily repelled their enemies.

"Keep moving," Fugaku said.

But Izumi, standing behind him, could clearly tell that even his voice was trembling as he spoke... After a full day of fighting, he was plainly nearing his limit.

The Susanoo above Fugaku had been reduced to nothing but bones. Izumi took a deep breath and asked,

"What do I need to do to use that technique and help you, Clan Head?"

Izumi, who had only awakened the Mangekyō today, still did not know how to use Susanoo.

"It's all right. I can hold on a little longer..." Fugaku's smile was strained.

Swarms of insects buzzed through the air as the enemies continued to close in.

From the Inuzuka Clan to the Aburame Clan, then the Ino-Shika-Cho families, Sarutobi's loyal retainers, it seemed the other Konoha clans had already reached a consensus regarding this farce involving the Uchiha.

The road from the Uchiha District to the forest outside Konoha was not long, yet nearly every inch of progress for Fugaku's group had to be paved with blood. Konoha's side seemed to have spotted Fugaku's weakness, or perhaps they were unwilling to risk shinobi casualties in a prolonged battle. In any case, they kept rotating their forces, attacking once before retreating, using this method to wear down his stamina.

Until, at a certain moment, the terrifying ghostly blue fiend that had risen around Fugaku suddenly began to collapse.

In the darkness, an eye narrowed slightly.

Time was up.