As a jonin of the Uchiha Clan, Feng Yao ranked among the clan's middle-to-upper leadership.
At that moment, Fugaku and the elders were still discussing the coup.
In the Uchiha meeting room.
Fugaku sat at the head of the room.
Below him sat the radicals, led by Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Yashiro.
There were also several moderate, dovish elders.
The conflict between the village and the Uchiha Clan had intensified.
Even among the doves who advocated reconciliation with the village, many had joined the radicals.
As a result, the doves had no choice but to join the coup as well.
At that moment.
The radical elders led by Uchiha Setsuna were discussing the details of the coup.
Fugaku did not join the discussion, his expression solemn.
Chakra suddenly surged through space. Fugaku sensed something was wrong, but before he could prepare himself.
Feng Yao had already appeared in the Uchiha meeting room.
Instantly, all the arguing came to an abrupt halt.
Everyone present froze for a second, dozens of pairs of eyes turning in unison toward Uchiha Fengyao, who had suddenly appeared.
"Feng Yao, you... you?!"
Uchiha Setsuna was the first to react, crying out involuntarily.
His eyes went wide.
He stared straight at Feng Yao's Sharingan, even activating his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Looking at Feng Yao's wheel-shaped Sharingan, he seemed to think of something.
His whole body began trembling with excitement!
Fugaku was the second to react.
He, too, was startled inwardly.
He was also a powerful shinobi who possessed the Mangekyō.
Yet Feng Yao's arrival had left even Fugaku unable to react in time.
Then Fugaku saw Feng Yao's eyes, and his entire body suddenly jolted...
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan widened!
"Look!"
"Feng Yao's Sharingan?!"
"They aren't three tomoe..."
"..."
At that moment, a name surfaced in everyone's mind-Mangekyō Sharingan!
Uchiha Setsuna appeared before Feng Yao in an instant and spoke excitedly.
"Feng Yao, your Sharingan?!"
Under everyone's astonished gazes,
Feng Yao smiled faintly and said slowly, "That's right. I awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. That teleportation just now was also one of my Mangekyō abilities."
"Hahaha! Heaven favors the Uchiha!"
"Space-Time Ninjutsu!"
"With Feng Yao's Mangekyō Sharingan, our Uchiha Clan's coup is certain to succeed!"
Uchiha Setsuna gripped Feng Yao's arms, beside himself with excitement.
The room immediately grew lively.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan! I never thought I would see it again in my lifetime!"
"This is our Uchiha Clan's divine power!"
"This is the power our ancestor Madara Uchiha used to pacify the age of war!"
"Our Uchiha Clan will rise!"
Feng Yao gestured with his hand, cutting off the elders' discussion. Everyone immediately fell silent.
"Elders, I came here today for two things."
"The first, of course, was to inform you all that I have awakened the Mangekyō. As for the other..."
At this point, Feng Yao's voice turned cold, and his gaze sharpened.
He looked at Uchiha Fugaku.
"Uchiha Itachi, your own son, has already sided with the Third and leaked our plans for a coup!"
"Impossible!"
As those words fell.
The room erupted.
"What?!"
"Itachi betrayed the clan?!"
The expressions of Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Yashiro, and the other elders grew grave.
Konoha High Command already knew the Uchiha Clan was preparing to launch a coup!
Feng Yao spoke again, his voice as cold as ice.
"The Third has drawn up a plan to wipe out the clan. The one carrying it out is Itachi. Tonight, he will come to slaughter his own clansmen!"
Everyone found it hard to believe.
Yet, surprisingly, no one doubted Feng Yao.
Because, from what they knew of Itachi, there really was a strong possibility he would do something like this.
Even Fugaku, his father, instinctively believed Feng Yao.
Fugaku went blank.
He closed his eyes.
His body swayed slightly, as though he had aged ten years in an instant.
The eldest son he took the most pride in and valued most.
Had chosen that irrevocable road of no return.
The son in whom he had placed such high hopes.
Had chosen this way to end the conflict between the village and the Uchiha Clan!
"Fugaku!"
Uchiha Setsuna looked at Fugaku in disappointment.
Setsuna had always been disappointed and angered by Fugaku's indecisiveness.
Now, seeing the Mangekyō Sharingan reappear.
And the calm decisiveness Feng Yao displayed.
Made Setsuna resolve himself.
"Your incompetence has not only left the clan's room for survival endlessly squeezed!"
"Now you've even pinned our hopes for the coup on an ingrate, someone whose loyalties already lay apart from the clan!"
"I propose we remove Fugaku as clan leader and make Feng Yao our new leader!"
Everyone exchanged looks.
Indeed, Itachi normally disdained even speaking with his clansmen.
Instead, like Shisui, he was close to the Hokage.
As clan elders, they all knew that Itachi had been sent to act as a spy.
Knowing full well that Itachi was at odds with the clan.
Why had Fugaku still sent Itachi to act as a spy under those circumstances?
That left them with much to think about...
With his Mangekyō, Feng Yao was already the strongest Uchiha alive in everyone's eyes!
Moreover, his ocular abilities included Space-Time Ninjutsu, which reminded them of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Back then, the Fourth had cut his way through the battlefield with his Flying Thunder God Technique alone!
What mattered even more was that these elders knew Feng Yao.
They saw him as an Uchiha genius who was decisive when decisiveness was needed and rational when reason was needed.
Besides, they had long been dissatisfied with Fugaku.
In this time of danger, someone like Feng Yao was undoubtedly the best choice for clan leader.
"I agree!"
"I agree..."
With Uchiha Yashiro the first to respond.
Everyone else agreed as well.
"Yes..."
"You..."
Fugaku's face stiffened, his eyes showing disbelief, along with some embarrassment and humiliation.
Faced with the accusations from Uchiha Setsuna and the others, he naturally understood his own mistakes.
He also understood what the elders were thinking. In the end, Fugaku did not resist.
He yielded his position to Feng Yao.
"Clan leader!"
Feng Yao was inwardly surprised as well.
He had indeed come here aiming for the position of clan leader.
That would make his subsequent plans easier.
He simply had not expected elders like Uchiha Setsuna to be so helpful.
So Feng Yao readily accepted his rise to the position.
"Clan leader, what should we do now?"
Uchiha Yashiro was the first to ask.
He was both assessing him and at a loss.
Feng Yao's gaze was as cold as ice.
"Notify every clansman to stay on guard tonight. We'll lie in wait for them..."
"All right, I'll go right away!"
Uchiha Yashiro immediately rose.
"Wait. Tell the clansmen that if they encounter a masked man, they must not confront him head-on. Just keep him occupied and wait for me to come to their aid..."
"A masked man?"
Though puzzled, Uchiha Yashiro left without asking further questions.
Feng Yao looked at Fugaku.
Fugaku was still somewhat dazed, but he noticed Feng Yao's action.
Just as he was about to react.
Fugaku felt a sudden haze wash over him,
Fugaku was instantly alarmed and tried to break free, only to discover that he could barely do so.
"Don't struggle..."
Feng Yao's voice sounded beside him.
Hearing this, Fugaku abruptly turned toward Feng Yao, who had appeared beside him at some unknown moment.
Feng Yao stared at Fugaku, and his opening words shook him to the core.
"I know you possess the Mangekyō, and Itachi does too."
"I don't want to waste words on empty talk. Your decisions have disappointed me!"
"I'll give you a choice. As a father, you're a failure too. Doesn't Itachi want to wipe out the clan? Fine. Tonight, father and son will face off. If you win, Sasuke gets to live!"
"If Itachi wins, Sasuke dies!"
"Do not doubt my strength, and do not doubt my space-time ocular ability..."
When Fugaku first heard Feng Yao threaten him with Sasuke, he was furious.
But after Feng Yao finished his last sentence, he fell silent again.
Indeed, even setting aside the genjutsu prowess he had just displayed, that unfathomable Space-Time Ninjutsu alone made Fugaku feel that Feng Yao was beyond his ability to handle.
"I understand..."
In the end, Fugaku chose to bow his head.
Perhaps, under Feng Yao's leadership...
Fugaku gave Feng Yao a long, searching look.
"I understand..."
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