Uchiha Fugaku paid no heed to the shock of those around him.
He continued to speak.
"One day from now, at the training grounds by the Naka River."
"Under the witness of all clan members, a duel will be held to decide the future of the clan."
"The victor will become the new leader of the Uchiha Clan, guiding the clan down the path of his choosing."
"The loser will surrender everything."
This was not a private struggle for power.
This was an open, public challenge, conducted in full view of all.
Uchiha Fugaku chose this way to defend his final dignity as clan head.
Even in defeat, he would lose as a true Uchiha.
He wanted every clan member to see that he, Uchiha Fugaku, was not a coward, that he had simply chosen a different path.
And now, as that path reached its end, he would meet the final judgment with his life and his honor.
Every gaze in the room instantly turned to Shinsuke.
Faced with this sudden, high-stakes challenge, how would this young Uchiha respond?
Shinsuke smiled.
This was exactly the outcome he had wanted.
Fugaku, in the end, was still an Uchiha worthy of respect.
"I accept."
Shinsuke stepped forward, and the oppressive force of his Sharingan descended once more.
"But I have one condition."
Uchiha Fugaku fixed his eyes on Shinsuke.
"Speak."
"This duel will decide more than just the position of clan head."
Shinsuke's gaze swept across the many clan members present.
"It will decide the singular will of the Uchiha."
"The loser will withdraw entirely from the core of power, and swear in the name of the Uchiha to devote his full support to every decision of the victor for the rest of his life, without any defiance."
"What I want is not a divided clan."
"But a unified clan, one that answers to a single voice, an absolutely dominant Uchiha."
This was to concentrate all power in the hands of one person.
What overwhelming audacity.
What extraordinary ambition.
Uchiha Fugaku fell silent.
He looked at Shinsuke before him, and seemed to see a young, purer, more rational, and far more fearsome warlord than even Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Fugaku understood that this was the final responsibility he, as clan head, had to bear for his clan.
Regardless of who won or lost, the Uchiha could not afford to keep tearing itself apart from within.
After a long silence.
"Fine."
Uchiha Fugaku spoke the single word in a low, steady voice.
"I agree."
"After this battle, the Uchiha will have only one voice."
The agreement was reached.
[Ding! The system detects that the host is about to face the decisive battle to unify the Uchiha Clan, triggering an Epic-level achievement!]
[Stage mission issued: The Clan Head's Battle!]
[Mission requirement: Defeat Uchiha Fugaku before the entire clan!]
[Mission reward: ???]
The clan meeting disbanded.
The clan members departed one by one, carrying a shock and bewilderment beyond words.
Two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan.
An open duel to decide the fate of the clan.
It left many ordinary clan members lost, uncertain whether it would be Shinsuke, representing the new generation, or Uchiha Fugaku, representing the old era, who would win.
Everything was still unknown.
At nearly the same moment the clan meeting ended, a single leaf in the shadows beneath the eaves of the Naka Shrine twisted faintly, then returned to normal, as if nothing had occurred.
A few minutes later, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen was puffing on his beloved pipe as he worked through a mountain of documents.
Knock, knock.
A light knock sounded at the door.
"Enter."
A Root operative wearing a tanuki mask appeared kneeling on one knee from thin air.
"Hokage-sama, urgent intelligence from the Uchiha Clan."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's pen paused, and he raised his head, a barely perceptible gravity flickering in his eyes.
"Speak."
"The Uchiha Clan held a clan meeting today, and Shinsuke and Uchiha Fugaku both awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Crack.
The pipe in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand snapped cleanly in two.
The Root operative's body pressed slightly lower as Sarutobi Hiruzen's gentle air vanished in an instant, replaced by a crushing pressure like a collapsing mountain.
"What did you say?"
"Say it again."
"Shinsuke and Uchiha Fugaku have both awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and the two have agreed to an open duel at the Naka River one day from now, with the victor becoming the sole leader of the Uchiha Clan."
The Root operative repeated every word under enormous pressure.
The sole leader.
Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly leaned back in his chair, and the calm and composure he usually carried faded from his aged face.
An open duel to decide the fate of the Uchiha.
What could he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, do?
Send Root operatives to stop it?
That would only confirm the guilt of Konoha's leadership for suppressing the Uchiha, pushing the entire clan completely to Shinsuke's side.
Stand by and do nothing?
Whoever won, a unified Uchiha Clan led by a Mangekyō Sharingan wielder would become an unprecedented and enormous threat to Konoha.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a wave of helplessness.
For the first time, he realized that he, the Third Hokage who had ruled Konoha for decades, could only watch like a bystander as events unfolded in the worst possible direction.
At the same time, in the dark and damp Root base beneath Konoha, a Root ninja appeared soundlessly before Danzō.
"Danzō-sama."
"Speak."
After the Root ninja finished delivering the intelligence, Danzō slowly rose to his feet, the right arm wrapped in bandages trembling with bulging veins.
Not from fear.
From extreme rage.
"Sarutobi, you fool."
Danzō muttered in a low, furious voice.
"This is the result of your so-called policy of appeasement."
"You let the Uchiha grow unchecked, and now they have become a cancer capable of overturning the village."
Danzō had always watched Fugaku's restraint with satisfaction, even welcoming it. A divided and weakened Uchiha was easier for him to move against.
But what Danzō had never anticipated was that beneath the guise of that meek lamb, a pair of Mangekyō eyes had been hiding as well.
What unsettled Danzō even more was Shinsuke, as both assassination attempts against this young Uchiha had failed, and now he had awakened the Mangekyō and was perhaps moments away from becoming clan head.
This was something Danzō had never foreseen.
"Uchiha Shinsuke must die."
Killing intent laid bare in Danzō's eyes.
"Fugaku can be kept. A Mangekyō wielder who has been defeated and stripped of his honor makes the finest tool."
"But for Shinsuke, if there is truly no other way, it will have to be done with Shisui's eyes and their genjutsu."
How extraordinarily difficult it would be to kill Shinsuke.
And what Danzō did not know was that the Kotoamatsukami he regarded as his ultimate trump card had already been rendered ineffective against Shinsuke.
Danzō had already lost his best opportunity, and the Shinsuke of today was no longer someone Danzō could easily control.
At the Hyūga Clan's main house, the atmosphere was solemn and frozen, as Hiashi sat in the seat of honor with representatives of the Branch House and several elders of the Main House arrayed below him.
"Two Mangekyō Sharingan."
Hiashi quietly released those words.
As one of Konoha's two great dōjutsu clans, no one understood better than the Hyūga what that signified.
It was a force that could change the tide of war, a power beyond any ordinary scale.
"Clan Head, the strength of the Uchiha Clan has already severely disrupted the balance of the village," one elder said with deep concern, "once they complete their consolidation, the standing of our Hyūga Clan..."
Hiashi raised a hand and cut him off.
"Pass the order."
"From today, the Hyūga Clan is to heighten its guard, and all clan members on outside missions are to avoid any conflict with the Uchiha unless absolutely necessary."
"We observe and wait."
All Hiashi could do was observe and wait.
That young man named Shinsuke had already announced his presence to all of Konoha in the most direct and forceful manner possible.
Hiashi's gaze drifted, without thinking, toward the garden.
Where did the future of the Byakugan lie?
The heads of the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans held an emergency meeting, as the storm stirred by the Uchiha Clan's not-yet-begun duel had already swept through all of Konoha.
At the center of that storm, Shinsuke stood alone on the rooftop of the Guard headquarters, gazing out over the entire clan district.
Kenji and Shunichi stood behind him like two statues, not daring to make a sound.
Shinsuke wanted all of Konoha to see, clearly and unmistakably, how a new Uchiha would be born.
He wanted everyone to understand that the era of the Uchiha being pushed around was gone, never to return.
"Fugaku."
Shinsuke murmured that name softly.
After tomorrow, the shinobi world would remember once more the fear of being ruled by the Uchiha.