Uchiha Fugaku's estate sat deep within the clan's territory.
Shinsuke walked along the stone-paved path leading to the clan head's residence.
Every clansman he passed along the way, whether a patrolling Guard member or an ordinary woman or child, would immediately stop and bow the moment they saw him.
Their eyes were filled with fervent reverence.
At last, Shinsuke came to a stop before a heavy wooden door.
The two guards stationed there instinctively snapped to attention at the sight of him, then respectfully pulled the door open.
"Elder Shinsuke, the clan head is already waiting for you."
"Have a seat."
Fugaku gestured for Shinsuke to sit.
Shinsuke did not stand on ceremony, walking directly to the seat across from Fugaku and meeting his gaze.
"Shinsuke, were you not a little too extreme these past few days?"
He was referring to Shinsuke's iron-fisted actions of arresting people in broad daylight on the street and sweeping up every troublemaker in one fell swoop.
"The Guard directly moving to suppress village rumors is something that has never happened in Konoha's history."
"This will deepen the conflict between us and the village, making the Uchiha Clan's situation even more difficult."
Fugaku tried to use his authority as clan head, and the Uchiha's accumulated experience, to rein in the young man before him who was fast becoming uncontrollable.
"I hope you will slow down the reforms within the Guard, and adopt a more measured approach toward the villagers as well."
"This is for the sake of the clan's stability."
Shinsuke picked up the teacup in front of him but did not drink, only feeling the warmth radiating through the cup's wall.
"Stability?"
"Clan Head Fugaku, is the stability you speak of one where you allow Root to spread rumors among the civilians, slandering the Uchiha and undermining our foundations?"
"Is the stability you speak of one where our clansmen, when faced with baseless accusations, can only fall silent in humiliation like Sakumo Hatake, and even be driven to destruction?"
Sakumo Hatake was a taboo name in Konoha, one that could not be spoken of lightly.
"You!"
"I have no interest in arguing abstract principles with you."
Shinsuke cut Fugaku off, and drew a scroll from inside his robe, setting it lightly on the tea table and sliding it across.
"This is the progress report from my one month of overseeing Guard training."
Fugaku's gaze fell on the scroll, and after a moment's hesitation, he reached out and unrolled it.
"The elite squad of the Guard has seen an average chakra increase of fifteen percent."
"Thirty-seven Chunin, under the 'High-Efficiency Training Protocol,' have already touched the threshold of Jonin."
"Twenty-six clansmen have newly awakened the one-tomoe Sharingan, five times the number from the same period last year."
"Most importantly."
"Over ninety percent of Guard members now follow my orders and mine alone."
"The clansmen's loyalty and sense of honor toward the clan has reached its highest point since the Nine-Tails incident."
"Clan Head Fugaku."
Shinsuke's direct gaze bore down on Fugaku with a pressure unlike anything he had felt before.
"These are the results that your so-called extreme methods have produced."
"Do you still want me to slow down?"
Uchiha Fugaku had no words.
He had no rebuttal.
The clan head's authority he had always taken pride in proved, when confronted with these undeniable facts, to be so very fragile.
Uchiha Fugaku's greatest tragedy as a man was that he placed his hopes in the mercy of his enemies.
He did so toward Konoha's leadership, and toward himself as well.
Uchiha Fugaku always believed that compromise and concession could purchase peace and security.
What he failed to understand was that in the eyes of wolves, this only reads as weakness, and only makes their fangs sharper.
No wonder, then, that Uchiha Fugaku would ultimately die at the hands of the very "dutiful son" he had raised, Uchiha Itachi.
A man this irresolute might manage well enough leading an ordinary small clan.
But to stand at the helm of a powerhouse like the Uchiha was destined to be a tragedy.
After a long silence, Fugaku's spirit seemed to drain away, the whole force of his presence collapsing as he slumped back against his chair.
Uchiha Fugaku understood that from the moment Shinsuke had used those twelve guard units to crush the Guard's elite squad in the assembly, he had already lost.
For the sake of keeping the clan from tearing itself apart in internal strife, he had no other choice.
"From now on..."
Fugaku's voice carried a deep bitterness.
"The deployment of the Guard, control over clan finances, and the formulation of external strategy, you may participate in all decisions."
Having said that, Fugaku rose and walked to a bookshelf at the far end of the room, activating a mechanism.
The bookshelf slowly shifted aside, revealing a hidden compartment, inside which several scrolls lay quietly at rest.
These were the most secret techniques and historical records of the Uchiha Clan, things only the clan head had the right to keep.
"Take a look at these as well."
Fugaku placed the scrolls into Shinsuke's hands.
This gesture was no different from personally surrendering the entire power of the Uchiha.
Shinsuke accepted the scrolls.
[Ding! Detected that the host has overpowered Uchiha Fugaku and become the true authority of the Uchiha Clan!]
[Reward issued: Glory Points increased, Mangekyō ocular power greatly enhanced! Susano'o development progress increased!]
A surge of pure energy poured into both eyes, and Shinsuke could feel the power held within his Mangekyō Sharingan make another qualitative leap.
Just as Shinsuke was about to leave, Fugaku called out to him.
"Shinsuke."
Fugaku's voice carried a plea.
"Even so, I still hope that you can find, for the Uchiha and for the village, a path where both can coexist."
"Do not truly go that far."
This was his last, most powerless insistence as clan head.
Shinsuke stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"Clan Head Fugaku."
Unexpectedly, Shinsuke's tone softened.
"I will acknowledge that over these years, enduring humiliation and bearing your burdens in silence, your compromises and concessions did buy the Uchiha a brief window to breathe."
"In the circumstances of that time, it may have been the only choice."
Fugaku froze, not having expected Shinsuke to affirm him.
"But that era has passed."
"The period of dormancy you secured ends here."
Shinsuke's voice carried an overbearing force.
"Because I, Uchiha Shinsuke, have appeared."
"From today onward, we of the Uchiha Clan will never bow our heads to anyone again."
"The dignity we have lost, we will take back with our own hands."
"The position of Hokage in Konoha is long overdue for someone from the Uchiha to sit in."
With those words, Shinsuke did not linger, turning and walking away.
As far as Shinsuke was concerned, the seat of clan head was now within reach.