"The Fourth died in battle. There will be a meeting tomorrow to discuss postwar matters."
"You must attend."
Xuandou nodded and continued walking out of the village.
Early the next morning.
Xuandou returned to Konoha with all the Uchiha clan members.
The procession of over three thousand people passed through the village gates and entered the devastated village.
After a night of emergency work, the ruins of Konoha had undergone an initial cleanup.
Collapsed houses had been dug through, and rubble lay piled in small hills.
But there were even more bodies.
Civilians and ninja alike lay neatly arranged in an open space, waiting for their families to say their final goodbyes.
Cries shook the sky above the clearing.
Just then, the Uchiha Clan's procession came into view.
The crying gradually quieted.
Countless gazes turned toward them.
"That's... the Uchiha Clan..."
Someone murmured.
"They... how come not a single one of them died?"
"Look at their ranks. They're all in perfect order. Not one of them is injured!"
"Impossible... it was so chaotic last night. How could not a single one of them have died?"
Someone suddenly shouted:
"They must have known in advance that the Nine-Tails was going to go on a rampage, so they went into hiding!"
Eyes full of suspicion turned toward the Uchiha clan members.
"Damn it! They must have something to do with the Nine-Tails' rampage!"
"Exactly! Didn't you see the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's eyes last night? They looked exactly like the Uchiha's Sharingan!"
"It must have been those damn Uchiha's doing!"
"I was wondering why the Nine-Tails suddenly attacked Konoha. So the Uchiha were behind it!"
"They controlled the Nine-Tails to attack the village!"
"Damn Uchiha! You all deserve to die!"
The grief-stricken, furious crowd surged toward them.
Twisted faces, eyes blazing with fury, fingers pointing at the Uchiha clan members...
The Konoha Military Police Force personnel who had come to welcome their clansmen were also furious at the sight.
Inabi immediately stepped forward and demanded:
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
He pointed at them.
"The Konoha Military Police Force risked their lives to save you last night. Have you forgotten?"
"More than a dozen of our people died saving you!"
The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Then a man spoke in a sneering tone:
"Hmph. Who knows whether your people really died or just faked it?"
"Exactly!"
Someone immediately chimed in.
"Maybe it was all just a show for us!"
"Bullshit!"
Inabi trembled with rage and rushed forward to attack, but the clansmen behind him held him back firmly.
Fugaku stepped forward, trying to ease the tension between the two sides with an explanation:
"Everyone, calm down. We tried to organize an evacuation drill earlier precisely to prepare for something like this..."
"You never said the Nine-Tails was going to go on a rampage!"
A middle-aged woman cut him off shrilly.
She held her child's corpse, her face streaked with tears yet twisted with rage:
"If you'd said the Nine-Tails was coming, we would have run long ago! Why didn't you tell us?"
Fugaku opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.
What could he say?
That even if they had told them, they wouldn't have believed it?
That just yesterday, they had been cursing them for meddling?
That they had kept saying they didn't need the Uchiha, that Danzo would protect them?
"Exactly!"
Someone else in the crowd shouted.
"No matter what, so many of us died, but not a single one of you Uchiha did!"
"You have to take responsibility!"
"You Uchiha should bear all our losses!"
"Compensation! You must compensate us!"
The crowd erupted again.
Fugaku stood there, looking at those furious faces, and suddenly felt very tired.
Shisui stood at the very front of the procession, watching everything without a word.
His gaze swept over the clamoring faces, the hate-filled eyes, and the hands pointing at the Uchiha.
Yesterday, these people had been calling for Danzo to save them.
Yesterday, these people had been cursing the Uchiha for meddling.
Yesterday, these people had said, "We don't need you Uchiha to protect us."
Today, they were saying, "The Uchiha must bear our losses."
They even called his clansmen's sacrifices an act.
A powerful impulse suddenly rose within him: I want so badly to change their minds!
Immediately afterward, a tearing pain shot through his eye sockets!
Shisui let out a muffled groan and instinctively covered his eyes.
He could clearly feel the three tomoe in his eyes appearing on their own and spinning wildly, as though something were forcibly kneading, compressing, and fusing them.
The intense pain made his entire body tremble, but he gritted his teeth and made no louder sound.
A moment later, the pain receded like a tide.
He slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes.
The three tomoe in his eyes had vanished.
In their place was an intricate pattern he had never seen before.
Shisui froze.
A flood of information suddenly poured into his mind.
About the abilities of these eyes.
About their name.
"Koto... amatsukami?"
He murmured to himself.
Beside him, Xuandou keenly noticed the change in Shisui.
He turned his head, his gaze settling on Shisui's eyes.
His pupils contracted slightly.
That was... the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Shisui had awakened the Mangekyō.
But now was not the time to discuss it in detail.
The people of Konoha were still pressing closer.
They gradually closed in around the Uchiha, looking very much as though they intended to surround them.
Just then, a masked figure suddenly flashed into view between the two opposing sides.
"Orders from Lord Third! Uchiha clan members are to return to the Clan Grounds. Clan Head Xuandou and the chief of the Konoha Military Police Force are to attend a meeting at the Hokage's Office!"
The people of Konoha paused, then reluctantly opened a narrow path.
Some were still muttering under their breath, but ultimately, none dared defy the Hokage's orders.
Xuandou waved a hand expressionlessly and led his three thousand clansmen back to the Clan Grounds under the furious gazes of Konoha's people.
Because of its remote location, only a handful of homes in the Uchiha Clan Compound had been affected by the shock waves from the Nine-Tails, while the main buildings remained almost entirely intact.
Xuandou quickly arranged for his clansmen to settle in. Just as he was about to catch his breath, Inabi arrived with a group of people.
"Clan Head Xuandou."
Inabi pushed the door open and entered, followed by more than a dozen people.
Xuandou glanced over them. They were all prominent fighters in the clan, and several had their Sharingan active.
They had come prepared.
Inabi got straight to the point, making no attempt to hide his resentment:
"Xuandou, the people of Konoha and its leaders are all so stupid. Why don't we Uchiha launch a coup?"
His voice carried anger that had been suppressed for a long time:
"Just look at how they acted today! Yesterday, they cursed us for meddling. Today, they said we were putting on a show."
"More than a dozen of our police personnel died, and they said those deaths were faked! We saved so many people, and they said we had ulterior motives!"
"What is there left to protect in a village like this?"
"Exactly!"
A clansman behind him chimed in.
"With the strength we Uchiha have now, even the Hokage's Anbu might not be able to beat us! Let's just do it and become Hokage ourselves!"
"Right!"
"We should have done this long ago!"
Several people voiced their agreement, excitement in their eyes.
Beside them, Fugaku instinctively wanted to rebuke them, but after glancing at Xuandou, he swallowed his words.
Xuandou did not answer immediately.
He knew the radical faction within the Uchiha Clan was starting to make its intentions known.