"You've lost, Fugaku. Don't make this worse."
Standing on a rooftop, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked down at the Uchiha clan head encased within Susanoo's ribcage of blue chakra.
"I promise to spare the Uchiha—just as the Second Hokage did when Uchiha Setsuna rebelled."
Uchiha Setsuna had been a member of the Konoha Police Force during the Second Hokage's era. He tried to rally the Uchiha to wrest power back from the Senju, only for his rebellion to be crushed almost instantly by the ANBU.
Setsuna hadn't been clan head, and his "rebellion" had been strangled in its cradle. Compared to Fugaku's current situation, the scale and nature were completely different.
But Hiruzen's message was clear:
Only the ringleaders would die.
He wanted Fugaku and a handful of high-ranking Uchiha to surrender and spend the rest of their lives in prison, while the remaining Uchiha would be spared.
"Who said I've lost?" Fugaku asked calmly.
"The Nine-Tails hasn't appeared. Your plan already failed. Isn't that enough?" Hiruzen frowned. Aside from the damage already done to Konoha, he couldn't see what Fugaku hoped to gain by dragging this out. "I never knew you hated Konoha this much."
"I don't hate Konoha," Fugaku shook his head. The distortion of his features under the Mangekyo's strain made his face look twisted with rage. "But my clan hates you and Danzo to the bone!"
"Hiruzen!"
"It was Tobirama, it's you, it's Danzo—one generation after another, you've pushed the Uchiha aside! From Konoha's founders to glorified police!"
"You had us watched day and night!"
"You forced us to move our compound from the center of the village to this remote corner!"
"And today—without even a declaration—you stormed into our home with blades drawn!"
"If the Uchiha don't resist, we'll never see the light again!"
Hiruzen firmly shook his head at that last line.
"That will never happen."
He also rejected the accusation just before it.
"You kidnapped Naruto first. We entered your compound to stop something much worse."
Fugaku just gave a thin, mocking smile and shook his head.
Who hit first didn't matter anymore.
That back-and-forth was over.
Only the outcome between Konoha and the Uchiha still mattered.
As if remembering something, Fugaku glanced around.
"Tell me… how did you find my hideout? I was so close."
Feeling a brief flicker of pride, Hiruzen turned and looked at Neiki, who was standing a little behind the front line. He said:
"It was our Hyuga's strongest spear—Neiki—who found you with his Byakugan."
If Neiki hadn't arrived when he did, and Fugaku had fully unleashed the Nine-Tails, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Because of Neiki, Hiruzen's anger toward the Hyuga clan had eased a shade, even as his irritation toward the Hyuga elders grew.
A talent like this, wasted as nothing more than the Hyuga clan's private attack dog.
Fugaku couldn't help thinking of his own son—another of Konoha's Twin Prodigies, always mentioned alongside Neiki.
That son still hadn't appeared.
Fugaku wasn't surprised.
After all, he was a coward.
A coward who couldn't choose between his clan and the village.
As if venting had burned the edge off his fury, Fugaku's tone grew calmer. He glanced at Neiki with a hint of understanding.
"I suppose that's not just any ordinary Byakugan you've got there."
He knew Konoha had Byakugan users, so he'd laid down special anti-Byakugan ninjutsu around his hideout. Yet Neiki had still found him. That was not something standard Hyuga eyes could do.
Neiki didn't respond, faintly annoyed.
He'd helped Fugaku so much, and now Fugaku was staring at him?
How ungrateful.
Did Fugaku really think Naruto had made it this far on his own?
"Where is Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, unable to hold back any longer. "He's done nothing to the Uchiha. You've already failed. Release him now, and then we can talk about the rest."
His concern for Naruto—the orphan of the hero—was obvious.
"Oh?" Fugaku's lips curled. "You want to see him that badly?"
A terrible suspicion clawed up in Hiruzen's chest.
"What did you do to him?" His voice dropped, edged with warning.
He didn't believe Fugaku would kill Naruto, especially now that the attempt to summon the Nine-Tails had supposedly failed.
Naruto had no clan.
Fugaku still did.
Crossing that final line would gain Fugaku nothing.
But Fugaku's answer wasn't what he expected.
"Nothing special," Fugaku said lightly. "He's fine."
"Since you're so eager to see him… I'll show him to you now."
He suddenly slammed his right hand onto the rooftop.
Black sealing formulae exploded outward from his palm, crawling across the tiles like living ink.
Sensing something horribly wrong, Hiruzen and the others looked down.
The rooftop—
Was trembling.
This… this is—
They heard Fugaku shout:
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The next moment—
ROAR!!!
A bellow shattered the clouds for miles.
Tiles tore free and whipped into the air; nearby buildings crumpled like paper before a hurricane.
Against the sunlight, a colossal shadow rose over Konoha.
Staring up at the massive creature before them, both Uchiha and Konoha shinobi—even those fighting deep inside the compound—froze, weapons lowering.
All who had survived the Nine-Tails' attack years ago recognized that silhouette instantly.
This was—
The Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails in an eight-tailed, skinless cloak of chakra.
Its eyes—
Reflected the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Fugaku hadn't summoned the Nine-Tails from afar.
He had dragged it out of Naruto.
Using the tailed-beast unsealing technique, he had forced Naruto into an eight-tails state—just one step short of a full Nine-Tails release.
Just one small step left.
But Neiki had found him before he could push Naruto past that final limit.
With Hiruzen's forces crashing down on him, Fugaku had been forced to stop the transformation early.
Even so—
This incomplete Nine-Tails was more than enough to bring catastrophe to Konoha.
"So?"
"Hiruzen!"
"Tell me—have I lost?"
"Has the Uchiha… really lost?"
Fugaku stared at the stunned Konoha shinobi, at Hiruzen's darkened expression, then burst into wild laughter.
"This time, there is no Minato."
"Hiruzen…"
"Do you still think you'll win?"
PS:
Uchiha Setsuna- Historical Uchiha from the Second Hokage's era, member of the Konoha Police Force.
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