An emergency clan meeting, Shisui appears

The Uchiha Clan Head's residence.

In the spacious Japanese-style courtyard, a bamboo deer scarer filled with water, then struck a stone with a crisp clack.

Inside the room, the light was dim.

Fugaku Uchiha sat cross-legged at the head of the room, holding a cup of hot tea, his brows knitted together.

The situation within the clan had grown increasingly chaotic lately. The radicals' demands rose in wave after wave, leaving him, the Clan Leader, barely able to breathe.

"Father."

The sliding door opened gently. Itachi Uchiha removed his shoes, entered respectfully, and knelt before Fugaku with perfect posture.

Fugaku set down his teacup. Looking at the eldest son who made him so proud, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little.

"Itachi, have you finished Sasuke's enrollment paperwork?"

"Yes. Sasuke was assigned to Class A."

Itachi gave his report.

"Good."

Fugaku nodded and was about to offer a few words of encouragement when he noticed something odd in Itachi's expression.

No one knew a son better than his father. He sensed something was wrong.

"What is it? Did something happen?"

Itachi remained silent. Ren's words to Sasuke on the street surfaced in his mind, along with the sight of Ren's back as he walked away.

"Father, we ran into Ren on our way home."

Itachi raised his head and met Fugaku's gaze.

At the mention of Ren, Fugaku's fingers paused slightly.

"Ren? What did he say to you?"

Fugaku's feelings about Ren were deeply complicated.

The young man's standing in the clan was far too high. Among some of the younger members, Ren's words carried even more weight than those of their Clan Leader.

"Ren helped Sasuke out of a difficult situation."

Itachi recounted everything that had happened on the street, then his tone grew grave.

"But Ren told Sasuke to use his strength to prove the Uchiha's power to all of Konoha, to prove we deserved our place as the foremost clan."

"He also promised to give us custom-made chakra weapons if we took first place."

As Fugaku listened, his expression froze.

"Father."

Itachi looked at Fugaku.

"Ren's words sounded like encouragement for the younger generation, but I sensed something dangerous about him."

"He... has radical ideas."

"I'm worried he may have sided with Yashiro and the other radicals."

Bang!

Fugaku slammed his teacup onto the low table, splashing tea across the floor.

What he feared most had finally happened.

"Ren..."

Fugaku clenched his teeth as helplessness welled up within him.

He knew the current situation all too well.

The Konoha Leadership's suppression of the Uchiha was already out in the open, and the village's civilians were full of complaints about the Military Police Force.

Every day, the clan's radicals clamored to seize power by force, while he remained caught in the middle, desperately trying to preserve that fragile balance.

Fugaku knew how deep Konoha's foundations ran. The ANBU, Root, the great shinobi clans—which of them would be easy to handle?

If the Uchiha truly launched an armed coup,

it would be a road to certain death, dragging the entire clan into the abyss of destruction.

The only reason he could still keep the radicals in check was that they lacked a truly top-tier fighter capable of leading them.

Yashiro, Inabi, and the others shouted loudly enough, but their strength fell short of commanding everyone's respect.

Ren, however, was different.

He was a terrifying figure who had forced the Third Tsuchikage to retreat with a single S-rank Lightning Release technique on the battlefield, the man who had saved countless Uchiha lives.

If Ren openly broke with him, rallied the radicals, and led them into rebellion, the entire Uchiha Clan would spiral out of control. Even his right to speak as Clan Leader would be stripped away!

"I cannot let things reach that point..."

Fugaku gripped the fabric over his knees, fine beads of sweat seeping onto his forehead.

Just as Fugaku's thoughts descended into turmoil,

Whoosh!

A dark figure suddenly landed in the courtyard outside.

An Uchiha clan member in a Military Police Force uniform dropped to one knee and spoke urgently.

"Clan Leader! The Grand Elder has just issued an emergency notice!"

Fugaku's heart sank. An ominous feeling swept over him as he pulled the door open and stared at the clan member.

"A notice from the Grand Elder? What is it?"

"The Grand Elder has ordered every clan member who has awakened the Sharingan to go to the Naka Shrine!"

The clan member lowered his head, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.

"The Grand Elder said a matter that will determine the clan's survival requires a clan meeting!"

Fugaku froze as though struck by lightning.

An emergency clan meeting, a matter that would determine the clan's survival,

and he, the Clan Leader, was the last to be notified!

Fugaku's breathing quickened.

For the Grand Elder to bypass him and call a clan meeting directly, something enormous must have happened.

"I understand. Prepare the carriage at once."

Forcing down his shock, Fugaku strode out of the room.

The Naka Shrine, on the outskirts of Konoha.

Hidden deep within a dense forest, this ancient shrine was forbidden ground for the Uchiha Clan and the ancestral sanctuary where their forebears were enshrined.

Ordinarily, its gates remained tightly shut.

No one but the Clan Leader was permitted to set foot inside.

The Naka Shrine opened its doors only for major clan meetings concerning the clan's fate.

Beneath the shrine lay an exceptionally spacious secret meeting chamber.

Years ago, Madara Uchiha had ruled the Uchiha as a dictator, relying on his terrifying strength that eclipsed everyone of his era.

After Madara defected from Konoha, the Uchiha Clan had thoroughly reformed its power structure to prevent another overbearing Clan Leader from dragging the entire clan into the abyss.

The Clan Leader's authority had been drastically reduced. Major decisions had to be discussed and agreed upon by both the Elders Council and the clan assembly.

By Fugaku's generation, being Clan Leader had become a deeply frustrating role.

Without Madara's overwhelming strength to suppress all opposition, he relied more on his steady approach and the prestige he had built over the years.

Real power had long since been carved up among those calculating elders.

Figures crowded the stone steps leading down to the Naka Shrine's basement.

Large groups of Uchiha clan members were arriving from every direction.

"Sharingan, activate!"

At the shrine entrance, two clan members on guard watched each arrival coldly.

There was only one qualification for entering the Naka Shrine's basement and joining this meeting that would decide the clan's fate—an awakened Sharingan!

Hum! Hum! Hum!

The arriving clan members wasted no words. They closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, their once ordinary eyes had turned scarlet.

One tomoe, two tomoe, three tomoe... pair after pair of Sharingan shone in the night, radiating chilling ocular power.

Only after confirming their eyes did the guards allow them into the basement.

The basement's interior was immense.

More than a hundred Uchiha elites who had awakened the Sharingan had already gathered there.

Murmurs rose and fell throughout the crowd, and the oppressive atmosphere in the chamber made it hard to breathe.

"What happened? Why would the Grand Elder suddenly call a clan meeting?"

A clan member with two tomoe lowered his voice, his face filled with confusion.

"Do you even need to ask?"

Uchiha Yashiro stood in the middle of the crowd, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning wildly as he waved his fist with a fervent expression.

"The Elders Council must have finally had enough of the leadership's oppression! They're preparing to order an attack on the Hokage Building! It's time for the Uchiha to strike back!"

"Exactly! I've had enough of being ordered around like a watchdog every damn day."

Uchiha Inabi loudly agreed from beside him, his hand already resting on the hilt of his Ninja Blade.

"The moment the Grand Elder gives the word, I'll go cut down that old bastard Danzo tonight!"

The radicals seethed with excitement, itching to charge out and unleash a slaughter right then and there.

Meanwhile, the conservatives in the corner had all gone pale.

"Have you lost your minds? Attack the leadership? That's treason!"

An older clan member pointed at Yashiro and furiously berated him.

"You'll get the entire Uchiha Clan killed! Once fighting breaks out, the village's ANBU and Root will surround us."

"Cowards! It's spineless fools like you who give the leadership the nerve to shit on our heads!"

Yashiro hurled the insult back.

Neither side would yield. Their arguments grew louder, throwing the entire basement into chaos.

Everyone was frantically speculating about the real reason for this meeting.

But radicals and conservatives alike understood one thing—after tonight, nothing in the Uchiha Clan would be the same.

Tap, tap, tap.

Just then, steady footsteps sounded on the stone staircase at the basement entrance.

The noisy basement fell silent.

Everyone turned, over a hundred pairs of scarlet Sharingan fixing on the entrance in unison.

Is the Grand Elder here?

Or is it the Clan Leader?

The assembled clan members silently guessed.

Yet when the figure descended the stairs and came fully into view, everyone involuntarily sucked in a breath.

It was neither the Grand Elder nor Fugaku Uchiha.

It was a young man wearing a dark, high-collared short-sleeved shirt, with a short blade strapped to his back.

Uchiha Shisui!

As they recognized him, uncontrollable cries of surprise erupted from the crowd.

"Shisui?! Why is he here?"

"My god, Body Flicker Shisui actually came to a clan meeting?"

"Hasn't he always been indifferent to the clan's internal power struggles? He hardly ever sets foot in the Naka Shrine! Why is he here today?"

Yashiro, Inabi, and the others exchanged looks, the fervor in their eyes replaced by shock.

This was Uchiha Shisui.

Across the entire Uchiha Clan,

aside from the immensely powerful Ren, Shisui was indisputably their strongest fighter!

Not only did he possess a Body Flicker Technique renowned throughout the shinobi world, he was also one of the rare elite fighters who had awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan!

A figure like him, who normally carried out only the village's most classified missions and whom even the Clan Leader could not summon, had actually made an unprecedented appearance at a clan meeting today!

Shisui ignored the gazes around him and walked into the basement without expression. With every step,

the terrifying pressure radiating from him made the nearby clan members instinctively retreat half a step, forcing a path through the packed crowd.

As they looked at Shisui's cold, stern expression, every Uchiha present finally understood: what would happen tonight was a hundred times more terrifying than they had imagined!