Shinji Uchiha: That's It?

Clap! Clap! Clap!

In the Secret Chamber,

loud applause rang out.

"Clan Head Fugaku, these are the subordinates your leadership has produced? They ignore the Clan Head's orders and start fighting the moment they lose their tempers."

Big Brother Shinji strolled through the mist, a faint smile on his face. "Are you going to let this farce continue?"

"Zonghe! Stand down!"

Uchiha Zonghe glared at Ryuka and sheathed his sword resentfully. "Clan Head, I'm sorry. I was too impulsive!"

Fugaku shook his head. "Big Brother Shinji, do you really have to take things this far?"

Big Brother Shinji said earnestly, "Clan Head, aren't you the one who brought the Uchiha Clan to this point?"

"Faced with the village's relentless prejudice, you made one wrong decision after another, dividing the clan and making the village ever more wary of us. Forgive me for asking, but why didn't Clan Head Fugaku lead our people against that unidentified Uchiha back then and support the Fourth Hokage?"

"Were you watching Konoha suffer for your own amusement?"

"If so, don't blame Konoha for laughing at us now!"

"In short... you bear responsibility for trapping the clan in this impossible position. You're no longer fit to lead it. Otherwise, the only future awaiting the Uchiha is annihilation!"

"..."

"..."

As the mist thinned, every clan member fell silent.

"I'll concede your other points for now, but Fugaku did nothing wrong on the Night of the Nine-Tails!" An elder so old he could barely open his eyes rose unsteadily, leaning on his cane.

Big Brother Shinji looked over and frowned.

This man...

He was a living relic of the Uchiha Clan.

If the old man hadn't spoken, Big Brother Shinji would almost have forgotten he was there—forgotten he was still alive.

Uchiha Genshiki!

An old man from Madara Uchiha's generation!

"Back then, an Uchiha of unknown origin suddenly appeared in Konoha and controlled the Nine-Tails with his Sharingan. We ruled out everyone in the clan at the time, but suspicion still clung to us. The Third Hokage ordered the Uchiha Clan to stay inside while large numbers of ANBU surrounded our compound instead of dealing with the intruder. Tell me, who was in the wrong?"

The old man looked at Big Brother Shinji with pity. "Isn't that why your parents died back then?"

In the corner,

Uchiha Itachi's eyes flew wide.

He had been only four or five then and hadn't known the whole story. Today, he heard a version utterly different from the one told by Konoha's leadership!

ANBU...

Surrounded the Uchiha?!

Did my sneaking out cause Big Brother Shinji's parents to die? Who killed them? Who were they protecting me from?!

Big Brother Shinji was silent for a long moment before saying quietly, "Yes... prejudice is a mountain in people's hearts. I won't deny that. But Konoha wasn't just Sarutobi's faction. It was made up of many great clans... And wasn't the Fourth Hokage in office back then? Why obey the orders of a Hokage who had already stepped down?!"

"Even if Clan Head Fugaku had simply led the clan's elite out that night and killed Hiruzen Sarutobi in the chaos?!"

!!!

Uchiha Fugaku jolted and stood frozen.

The others exchanged looks.

But...

Interest stirred on face after face, as though they could barely hold back their thoughts.

That actually sounded like... a good solution?

"So, to sum up."

Big Brother Shinji continued, "As long as the Fourth Hokage lived, could the clan really be condemned just for disobeying Hiruzen Sarutobi? Could Hiruzen Sarutobi tell all of Konoha that we were wrong to rescue the Fourth Hokage?"

"And if he did, wouldn't it be interesting to watch the Third Hokage and Fourth Hokage clash?"

Big Brother Shinji gave a cold laugh.

"If he didn't use that as a pretext against us, how would Hiruzen Sarutobi explain to the Fourth Hokage why ANBU had surrounded the Uchiha Clan and kept us confined? The Fourth Hokage seemed gentle, but... he was no pushover! Wouldn't that have been the perfect chance for the clan to become part of the village?"

Uchiha Genshiki stood stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "Ah, I'm old. My mind isn't what it used to be. I'll leave the rest to you young people."

Just then,

a low sigh came from the darkness near the stone tablet.

Fugaku raised his head. "I understand... Big Brother Shinji, then you shall have your wish."

"I'm willing to hand over the position of Clan Head. Just don't let any more pointless fighting break out within the clan!"

Shinji Uchiha said, each word deliberate, "Clan Head Fugaku, forgive me, but I must refuse again!"

Fugaku truly didn't understand.

He had watched Big Brother Shinji grow up and regarded him almost as a son. But today... Big Brother Shinji seemed cold, almost unrecognizable.

"Big Brother Shinji, what exactly do you want?"

Shing—

Big Brother Shinji slowly drew his Tachi. "I want to claim the position of Clan Head openly, in the way an Uchiha should!"

"Uchiha Style: Flame-Leaping Sword!"

Boom!

Scarlet flames erupted along the Tachi. Before the clan members could react, a commanding voice rang out behind Uchiha Fugaku's head.

"Make your move!"

"What?! When did he create a Shadow Clone?!"

"He's too fast!"

"Even the Sharingan can't track where he is!"

The clan members with Three Tomoe Sharingan whipped their gazes around, erupting into an uproar as Big Brother Shinji struck first!

Meanwhile,

the flame-wreathed Tachi came down toward Fugaku's head!

The firelight flickered across his face, casting it in shifting light and shadow...

Poof!

The flaming Tachi fell, and Fugaku dissolved into a puff of smoke. Big Brother Shinji lowered his stance slightly, the blood-red Three Tomoe in his eyes spinning.

He searched for Uchiha Fugaku.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

"Shuriken?"

Big Brother Shinji scoffed, a little exasperated. Uchiha Fugaku was openly holding back...

"Wind Release: Breakthrough!"

Big Brother Shinji exhaled a fierce gale that blew every Shuriken away, then swung his sword through the air toward a dark corner!

"Uchiha Style: Sun Halo Dance!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The wind fed the fire. Crescent-shaped slashes of flame swelled inside the gale and struck the corner in a violent explosion. Fire soared upward, and the shock shook all of Naka Shrine, leaving it on the verge of collapse.

Yet somehow, despite that blindingly fast barrage, not one attack so much as touched Uchiha Fugaku's clothes.

In other words, by the time Big Brother Shinji used Wind Release to blow away the Shuriken, Uchiha Fugaku had already prepared the Body Flicker Technique to escape the danger!

Now he appeared silently behind Big Brother Shinji. "That's enough, Big Brother Shinji! I admit you're stronger than I am! Stop."

But a faint smile appeared on Big Brother Shinji's lips.

Just as I thought.

How far into the future can those eyes of yours see...?

"Forgive me, but no!"

Big Brother Shinji whipped his head around, the Three Tomoe in his eyes flaring. "Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

Uchiha Fugaku's expression stiffened. He froze in place.

Inside the Genjutsu,

five enormous stakes pinned down his limbs and spine, leaving him unable to move...

Fugaku sighed helplessly.

The Three Tomoe in his eyes transformed into a simple, flowing pattern.

"Genjutsu, release!"

His Mangekyo Sharingan hissed, and two trails of blood ran down from his eyes. But the next moment, Fugaku went still.

The Genjutsu space had not vanished.

The stakes pinning him had only driven in deeper!

"Big Brother Shinji's ocular power has reached this level...? Don't tell me he awakened those eyes long ago, too?"

Fugaku began to question everything.

If that was true, what was the point of continuing the fight?

His Dōjutsu...

Against a ninja as blindingly fast as Big Brother Shinji, it posed no threat at all. He could barely protect himself. No wonder Big Brother Shinji had insisted on a duel for the position of clan head.

Hiss!

In the stone chamber,

Fugaku's left eye snapped open. A bloody tear ran down his cheek. He clapped a hand over his eye and dropped to one knee...

"I lost. From this moment on, Big Brother Shinji is the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan!"

Big Brother Shinji looked down at the Lightning Blade in his left hand, then at Uchiha Fugaku, who had broken the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique only by exhausting his ocular power.

"...That's it?"

Big Brother Shinji began to question everything.

He could tell Fugaku wasn't pretending. In their clash of ocular power, Big Brother Shinji really had defeated him!

But...

Defeating an Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan using a single Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique... wasn't that too absurd to believe?

Or was Fugaku just that good an actor?

Fugaku held his eye and listened to Big Brother Shinji mutter.

He nearly coughed up blood on the spot...