Ren's words fell, and the basement of Naka Shrine went silent.
He gave no one a chance to catch their breath. Turning to face the assembled clan members, he issued an order.
"Now, the entire clan will vote!"
Ren raised his voice.
"Those who support me as the new clan leader, stand to my right. Those who oppose me, stand to my left."
The room erupted.
A vote, just like that? He was forcing Fugaku out on the spot!
Fugaku sat in the place of honor, teeth clenched as he glared at Ren.
"Ren, don't get too arrogant. Choosing a new clan leader is no game."
But no one paid any attention to Fugaku's impotent fury.
Tap.
Footsteps sounded through the basement.
Everyone turned toward the sound. Uchiha Shisui, who had just revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, walked to Ren's right and took his place.
"I support Ren."
Shisui had spoken.
The entire room gasped.
"Lord Shisui actually..."
"He has the Mangekyō Sharingan, and even he's thrown his full support behind Lord Ren."
Before anyone had recovered from the shock of Shisui's choice—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Clothes whipped through the air.
Tekka Uchiha led the forty-three young elites who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan forward. They stood to Ren's right.
Forty-three pairs of scarlet eyes gleamed in the darkness, their Three Tomoe radiating pressure.
"We'll follow Lord Ren to the death!"
Tekka and the others shouted as one.
The balance had shifted.
But many of the peace faction, the neutrals, and the older clan members remained where they were, hesitation on their faces.
They had seen Fugaku's incompetence. Still, openly taking sides in a rebellion made them uneasy.
Ren looked at the wavering clan members without a flicker of expression.
He had no time for a warmhearted campaign to win votes.
"Looks like some of you still don't understand the situation."
Ren narrowed his eyes. A savage killing intent burst from him and swept through the basement!
Crack, crack, crack—
The flagstones beneath his feet began to split, unable to withstand the terrifying Chakra.
He looked toward the clan members who were still hesitating.
"Let me make this clear. Anyone who refuses to support me today..."
Ren paused, then gave a cold laugh.
"I'll break his arms and legs myself and throw him to the right with the rest of you, crippled!"
Hiss—!!!
Everyone in the room drew a sharp breath.
It was naked coercion.
The peace faction and neutral clan members who had still been hesitating shuddered under the force of his killing intent.
They glanced at Uchiha Yashiro, whom Ren had subdued in a single move and who still could not get up from the floor. Then they looked at the forty-three fierce Three-Tomoe elites beside Ren.
Anyone with half a brain knew what to choose!
"I... I support Lord Ren!"
An elder from the peace faction raised his hand and hurried to the right.
"I support him too! Clan Leader Fugaku's decisions have brought disaster on us. I don't want to go down with him."
"Lord Ren is the Uchiha Clan's only hope."
Once the first few moved, the remaining clan members surged toward Ren's right.
In less than a minute, the once-crowded center of the chamber stood empty.
More than half the clan had gathered behind Ren.
On the left stood only Uchiha Inabi and a dozen or so diehard members of the Military Police Force, along with Fugaku Uchiha, slumped in the place of honor, his face ashen.
The outcome was decided.
Fugaku was clan leader in name only.
"It's settled."
Ren withdrew his killing intent and looked up at the seven elders on the dais.
"More than half the clan supports me now."
"The opinions of the remaining deadbeats don't matter. Elders Council, what's your decision?"
Called upon by Ren, the first elder rose with the help of his cane and fixed his clouded eyes on him.
The first elder knew Fugaku had lost. In both strength and standing, Ren had already met the standard for succession.
But as the representative of the clan's highest authority, he had one final question to ask.
"Ren."
The first elder's voice was low and solemn.
"You have moved to remove Fugaku and laid bare the crisis facing our clan."
"I ask you only this: if you become clan leader, can you truly guide the Uchiha Clan through this unprecedented crisis?"
It was the question everyone present cared about most.
Every eye turned to Ren.
Ren did not answer the first elder directly. Instead, he turned to the young elites standing behind him.
Tekka and the others understood. With all their strength, they roared in unison:
"Make the Uchiha great again!!!"
"Restore Uchiha Glory!!!"
"Stand proud at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World!!!"
The forty-three voices thundered through the basement of Naka Shrine, their faces alight with fervor.
The pride and ambition in their cries stirred the fierce arrogance lying dormant in every Uchiha's blood!
"Make the Uchiha great again!"
"Stand proud at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World!"
Even the peace-faction elders and neutral clan members who had crossed over only because of Ren's threat were swept up in the emotion. They joined the frenzied chanting.
The basement rang with noise. More than a hundred pairs of Sharingan glowed red in the darkness.
The first elder watched the clan members below, united and burning with passion. His hand shook violently around his cane.
He could no longer remember how many years it had been
since he had last seen the Uchiha Clan so united!
"Good... good!"
The first elder's eyes reddened, and he nodded firmly.
He was about to formally declare Ren the new clan leader.
"Wait!!!"
At that final moment, Fugaku Uchiha rose from the place of honor.
His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving.
He knew he had lost the clan's support. But as clan leader, he still had his own last line of defense—and his pride!
"Ren!"
Fugaku strode down the steps and glared at him.
"You stirred up the clan with your words and forced them to take your side with threats. I won't accept this!"
"You won't accept it?"
Ren gave a cold laugh.
"What right do you have to object?"
"Because I'm still the clan leader!"
Fugaku roared and drew the Ninja Blade at his waist.
"The Uchiha Clan has always respected strength above all else."
"Words are empty in the end! If you want the position of clan leader, prove yourself with your strength!"
Fugaku pointed his Ninja Blade straight at Ren and issued his challenge.
"Ren, as the current leader of the Uchiha Clan, I challenge you to a duel."
"Whoever wins becomes the new clan leader!"
A stir ran through the room.
Then everyone fell silent and looked at Ren.
The Uchiha had a tradition of settling the clan leadership through duels.
Faced with Fugaku's last-ditch challenge, Ren burst into delighted laughter.
"Hahahaha! Good. Fugaku, you finally sound like an Uchiha man!"
Ren accepted at once.
"If you want to settle this in a fight, I'll oblige you! We fight now, at the clan's Great Arena!"
"Agreed!" Fugaku said through clenched teeth.
"I'll be waiting for you at the Great Arena."
With those words, Ren did something no one in the room had expected.
He casually formed a hand seal.
A muffled pop sounded, and white smoke rose from where Ren stood.
A breeze passed through, dispersing the smoke.
Uchiha Ren had vanished into thin air! Not even a trace of his Chakra remained!
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the fading smoke, mouths hanging open.
"That... that was..."
Uchiha Inabi's voice trembled too badly for him to finish. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
"A Shadow Clone?!"
Someone shrieked, his voice cracking.
At those words, the chamber erupted.
"Impossible! The one who stood here lecturing us until none of us could hold our heads up was just a Shadow Clone?!"
"He subdued Captain Yashiro, who has the Three Tomoe, in one move!"
"He didn't even use a jutsu. He pinned Captain Yashiro to the floor with one hand—and that was only a Shadow Clone?!"
"Good heavens... If a Shadow Clone can overpower an Elite Jonin, just how strong is Lord Ren himself?!"
Every Uchiha clan member present,
including the forty-three Three-Tomoe elites, felt his mind go blank.
They had thought they were already giving Ren's strength plenty of credit. Only now did they realize, with dawning fear, that they had seen a mere fraction of it!
Uchiha Yashiro, still on his knees and only just managing to catch his breath, froze when he heard the words "Shadow Clone."
He stared at the spot where the smoke had vanished. His face flushed deep red, then drained white.
He was a captain in the Konoha Military Police Force, an Elite Jonin with the Three Tomoe. Yet one of Ren's Shadow Clones had crushed him in a single move and ground him into the floor!
"Pfft!"
Yashiro wished the ground would open up and swallow him.
Fugaku Uchiha stood motionless, his hand shaking violently around his Ninja Blade.
He stared at the place where Ren had vanished, despair and dread filling his eyes. But he had gone too far to turn back.
"Hmph!"
Fugaku snorted and forced down his shock. Then his figure blurred into an afterimage as he vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
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