I will become your nightmare!

"No, there has to be a weakness!"

"His Space-Time Ninjutsu may be powerful, but he can't possibly stay intangible forever. There must be a time limit!"

Several Uchiha clan members seemed to realize something and immediately suggested, "As long as we keep attacking, we'll eventually run out the time he can stay intangible. Then, if we coordinate with the clan head and Shisui, we'll definitely have a chance to defeat this monster!"

Everyone's eyes lit up at those words.

It had to be said that this was a very workable plan.

If Obito had been fighting this battle, even his formidable Kamui would probably have failed him here. Otherwise, in the original story, Konan's six hundred billion Explosive Tags wouldn't have nearly blown him to kingdom come, forcing him to rely on the forbidden technique Izanagi to escape death.

Unfortunately for them, Shinichi wasn't Obito. His Kamui was dozens of times more powerful than Obito's, and his dōjutsu power was inexhaustible. Those weaknesses simply didn't exist!

"You're really getting on my nerves!"

Even the most even-tempered person had a temper.

After enduring the Uchiha clan members' relentless barrage, Shinichi was starting to lose patience.

"Tsukuyomi!"

His Mangekyō Sharingan activated once more. Fueled by Shinichi's terrifying dōjutsu power, an enormous projection appeared out of thin air overhead-a projection of his own eyes!

This was a technique he had come up with in a flash of inspiration. Its principles were somewhat similar to Infinite Tsukuyomi, though its range wasn't nearly as outrageous. Still, using it against one or two hundred people was easy.

He called it "Pseudo-Infinite Tsukuyomi"!

It was an absolute killing move for taking on large groups of enemies!

"This is bad!"

The moment they saw those eerie Mangekyō Sharingan, the Uchiha knew something was terribly wrong.

But they had no chance to resist. Their consciousnesses were dragged straight into Shinichi's Tsukuyomi Space. Each of them found themselves nailed to a battered cross, with a Hatake Shinichi standing before them.

They knew the Shinichi before them wasn't his real self. After all, Shinichi ruled this Tsukuyomi Space. Creating millions of Shadow Clones would hardly be difficult for him.

"H-he actually pulled all of us into a genjutsu at once?"

"Does this guy really never run out of dōjutsu power? His strength is utterly unfathomable!"

The Uchiha stared blankly.

"I hope your Uchiha Clan remembers this!"

A faint, ambiguous smile appeared on Shinichi's face as he said softly, "I, Hatake Shinichi, will become your nightmare!"

At that moment, the Uchiha finally fell into despair.

They had never seen such a terrifying monster. He had single-handedly trapped every Uchiha ninja in a genjutsu space while still maintaining that absurdly enormous Susanoo in the real world...

How were they supposed to fight that?

What sane person would have the courage to oppose a being like this?

"The Uchiha Clan... is finished!"

That despairing thought rose unbidden in everyone's mind.

With such an impossibly powerful fighter in Konoha, their Uchiha Clan had actually wanted to stage a coup?

What was that if not a death wish?

They finally understood how laughably naive their earlier ideas had been, and they felt deeply ashamed of having doubted Fugaku. Their clan head hadn't been cowardly at all. He had truly been looking out for the clan!

Yet, absurdly, they had thrown his goodwill back in his face and chosen the most foolish path, heedless of their own lives.

If heaven gave them another chance, they would never repeat that mistake!

Meanwhile, in the real world.

The Uchiha clan members had all fallen into Tsukuyomi Space, knocked unconscious on the spot by the impact of Shinichi's dōjutsu power.

Fugaku and Shisui took the opportunity to dismiss their Susanoo. Their eyes weren't bleeding from overusing their dōjutsu power, either, because they had only been putting on a show. Neither had made any serious effort at all.

"So, how was my performance?"

Shinichi waggled his eyebrows at the two men, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. "Didn't I look just like the ultimate villain? I guarantee that from now on, my name will become a nightmare in your clan!"

His smug little expression practically said, Come on, praise me!

"If you hadn't warned us beforehand, I really would've thought you were going to wipe out the Uchiha Clan today."

After a moment of silence, Fugaku gave a wry smile.

Shisui nodded in wholehearted agreement. His gaze toward Shinichi was filled with admiration, along with a deeply concealed trace of awe.

The three of them had put on quite a show today, and none of them had fought seriously at any point.

But Fugaku and Shisui had discerning eyes. Naturally, they could see the vast gulf between themselves and Shinichi. If they had truly fought, their fate would probably have been even worse than the Fourth Raikage's!

That Susanoo alone, which seemed almost capable of tearing heaven and earth apart, could probably have flattened the entire Uchiha Clan with ease. No, perhaps even the entire shinobi world!

"Shinichi, it's only because you don't want to become Hokage. Otherwise, who in all of Konoha could stop you from doing anything you wanted?"

Something seemed to occur to Fugaku, and he sighed softly.

The Third Hokage's strength was deeply ingrained in everyone's minds. Even in his old age, he remained a veteran powerhouse renowned throughout the shinobi world.

But after this battle, Fugaku couldn't imagine how the Third Hokage alone could stop someone as monstrously strong as Shinichi. Even with the Nine-Tails' power added to his own, he would probably still crumble before Shinichi!

"We may be friends, but if you dare entertain those dangerous ideas again, don't blame me for beating you up."

Shinichi sounded exasperated.

Fugaku immediately shut his mouth. He knew Shinichi really would beat him up.

In truth, Fugaku wasn't wrong. If Shinichi wanted to, he could seize control of Konoha by force at any time. Then, who became Hokage would be decided with a single word from him.

He hadn't done so, not because he couldn't bring himself to strike at the corrupt Konoha High Command, but because he knew it wouldn't necessarily be good for Konoha.

Konoha's power structure had long since solidified. Even if he forced those old men to step down, who would handle all the work afterward? With Shinichi's temperament, he certainly wouldn't do it himself. He would have to find a group of capable successors before making his move!

Winning power was easy. Holding on to it was far harder.

Anyone who acted on nothing but hotheaded impulse was merely a brute with strength and nothing else!

Shinichi knew full well that building his ideal Konoha would take more than the overwhelming strength to crush everyone else. He would need brains, too!

"Shinichi, when exactly will they wake up?"

Shisui suddenly asked.

Time flowed differently in Tsukuyomi Space than in the real world. Even though less than a second had passed outside, they had no idea what their clan members had experienced within it.

"I was careful this time, and I didn't torture them. It shouldn't take more than half a day!"

Shinichi thought for a moment, then reminded them, "Oh, and you two need to hurry up and put on some makeup. Make yourselves look a little worse for wear, or it'll be trouble if they see through our act. I'm leaving the follow-up work of talking them around to you, too. I need to hurry home and cook for Naruto and Karin. Take your time dealing with this little matter, and don't come bothering me!"

"All right!"

At that, Shisui and Fugaku exchanged a glance, both smiling wryly.

So, in your eyes, rushing home to cook is what really counts as important?

Still, they knew that talking their clan members around was something only they could do. Shinichi couldn't help with that.

After all, Shinichi had already become an utterly vicious villain in the minds of the Uchiha clan members. Who had ever heard of a villain kindly comforting people and helping them see reason?

In short, the problem with the Uchiha Clan's Hawk Faction had been resolved for the time being.

Unless they truly had a death wish, they wouldn't dare mention staging a coup again, even if they had ten times the courage.