The grand hall of the Uchiha compound lay silent beneath the moon's cold gaze. Lantern light danced along carved pillars, illuminating the assembled patriarch and elders. At the center stood Uchiha Fugaku—calm, measured, his loyalty to both clan and village hidden behind a neutral mask. Flanking him were five voices of dissent and counsel, the Five Elders of the Uchiha Clan:
• Grand Elder (Hawk) Uchiha Setsuna
• Second Elder (Dove) Uchiha Takumi
• Third Elder (Neutral – Finance Head) Uchiha Mei
• Fourth Elder (Hawk) Uchiha Satoru
• Fifth Elder (Dove) Uchiha Jing
Fugaku rose, calling the meeting to order. He noted the conspicuous absences of his son, Itachi, and of the clan's brightest hope, Shisui. A hush settled, pregnant with unspoken fears.
Uchiha Setsuna spoke first, his voice sharpened with impatience. "We manage policing for Konoha. Yet every offense, every complaint, ends up at the Hokage's gates. Under Tobirama, we led—now under Hiruzen, our authority is ignored."
Opposite him, Uchiha Takumi's tone was softer but firm. "Authority without respect is tyranny. We can uphold order, yes—but pressing every grievance as a hammer only fractures the village further."
Satoru rose, eyes blazing. "We are Uchiha—Founding Clan of this village! If the Hokage Office no longer honors our role, why wait for their permission? We strike at the heart of the problem."
Takumi's hands shook. "Strike? Rebellion will drown Konoha in blood. Our duty is peace—for clan and village alike."
Jing pressed forward. "Are we debating defection? Because if we march on the Hokage Office, we already have."
Satoru's laugh rang cold. "Defection? No. Restoration. We reclaim what was ceded by complacency."
Mei stood between them, voice steady. "We walk a knife's edge. The clan bleeds if we fracture entirely. Let us negotiate—seek redress through the Council of Five."
Her plea dissolved into murmurs as hawks and doves bickered anew, layering fear atop fury. Seeing that the discussion was getting nowhere, Uchiha Setsuna slammed his hand on the lacquered table. "Enough of this submissive nonsense! We are the law in this village, not the errand boys of Hiruzen Sarutobi! Ever since he slithered back into power, we've been reduced to watchdogs leashed outside his office."
Takumi rose slowly, voice trembling with restrained fury. "Submissive? You think restraint is submission? Maybe you forgot what real leadership means. Peace isn't weakness—it's the strongest force in a village built on blood."
Setsuna snarled. "Spare me the poetry! While we 'restrain' ourselves, our shinobi get dismissed, ignored, sabotaged. How long till we're erased from the Shinobi register?"
Satoru's voice exploded next, sharp as steel. "You want restraint? Restraint cost us respect. Restraint cost us trust! If we keep sitting in these damn meetings debating softness, we'll wake up surrounded by ANBU at our gates. We need action—and we need it now!"
Jing stood, fists clenched. "What are you proposing, Satoru? A march on the Hokage Office? An assault on the village? Is that what we are now—traitors in the night?"
Satoru's Sharingan flickered for a brief, dangerous moment. "We are Uchiha. We built this village. If taking back our rightful authority is rebellion, then so be it. We don't defect—we reclaim."
Mei stepped forward, hands raised, her voice taut. "This isn't claiming power. This is carnage waiting to happen. We'll be used as a scapegoat for war. For annihilation. You think they won't strike first?"
The room vibrated with discord. Doves shouted over hawks. Hawks threatened to walk out. A chair shattered against the wall as Mei's attempt to calm the chaos failed. Fugaku remained still, as always and then, Kai drowned out the voices to hear the system prompt.
📜 System Prompt: "Warning – Canon Disruption Imminent."
🎯 Mission Objective: Rescue Shisui.
🧠 Plot Anchor Identified: Danzo's secret meeting over, Shishui will be jumping to commit suicide 13 minutes from now.
🕹️ Reward: Activating Mangekyo Sharingan (Basic - With only Susanoo)
Kai's chest tightened as memories of shared training sessions with Shisui flashed before his eyes. Shishui's laughter, his unwavering trust—this was a bond forged in blood and battle.
Kai then looked at the unfolding chaos of the clan council meeting. "They keep talking. Always talking. Weighing ideals while Shishui bleeds somewhere in the dark. This Council—it's theater at best. A funeral march at worst."
Kai stared at the flickering lanterns as voices blurred around him. Fugaku watches. Setsuna snarls. Mei tries to soothe with reason. But reason won't stop a blade driven through Shishui's spine.
He felt his own pulse quicken, chakra starting to flare. Fifteen years in this clan... Fifteen years pretending loyalty for survival. Yet somewhere along the way—through missions shared, laughter stolen, training bruises traded—Kai had begun to care. Not about honor. Not about legacy. But about faces. And one face now teetered at the edge of death.
"I don't feel for the Uchiha as a clan," Kai admitted silently, "but I do feel for individuals. Shisui. Even Itachi. Even Mei."
And then there was strategy. The bigger picture. The coup hadn't arrived yet - but its ghost hovered in every corner of this hall. The Third Hokage wouldn't hesitate to strike the moment the Uchiha blinked.
"Shisui's Mangekyo... it could shift the tide. A weapon. A symbol. A deterrent." His decision crystallized in a heartbeat. No more waiting. No more consensus. Action would decide the night.
"I will rescue Shisui—not for the clan. For the war that's coming. For leverage. And maybe... just maybe... for friendship." Kai flared his chakra completely for the first time since it spiked, spinning tomoe igniting like crimson moons. Time to move. Let them talk. I'll act.
Just a few moments earlier - Changing Perspective to the Council Meeting
Just as Uchiha Satoru hurled another accusation across the chamber and Takumi shouted him down, the temperature in the room shifted—not from the elders' rage, but from the sudden, unrelenting pressure that flooded the Uchiha Council Meeting.
A wave of chakra slammed into the hall like a silent explosion. The hall quivered. Papers fluttered. Lantern flames flickered. Every elder, every jōnin, turned instinctively toward the source. Before anyone could respond, Kai Uchiha stepped into the lanternlight. His aura flared - far surpassing even elite jōnin and in that moment, every voice froze. Kai stood at the entrance, his 3-tomoe Sharingan spinning with almost hypnotic precision.
While Kai was never famed for battlefield flair or flashy ninjutsu, his presence was undeniable. He had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan before turning fourteen—a feat so rare, even prodigies whispered it with respect. But today....
Today, the chakra rolling off him was monstrous. Refined, unyielding, and far denser than that of any elite jōnin in the clan. It clung to the air like iron mist.
Even Fugaku's fingers twitched toward his sword. Mei's breath caught. Jing instinctively stepped back.
They knew my strength. They never respected it. I didn't need fame before — I needed results. And right now… they'll either follow or be forced to watch me lead. Kai raised his voice—calm, commanding, sharp as kunai: "Enough."
Silence followed. Not the awkward hush of a paused argument, but the stunned quiet that precedes revelation.
Uchiha Mei stared in astonishment. She never expected Kai to be this strong nor did she expect that the reason for disruption today would be him. She was sure Kai was a neutral. So, why this aggression today? thought Uchiha Mei. She decided that the best solution would be to stop pondering over the reasons and ask him directly, "Kai—why such intensity?"
Kai's voice cut through the rancor like a blade. "Your opinions are unnecessary. Tonight, Shisui is being hunted by the village's finest in the forest near the Naka River. He faces death. And you still quarrel over politics."
Kai's words thundered through the hall. His chakra crackled with urgency—not anger, but purpose. The gravity of his declaration struck hard.
Uchiha Takumi's lips parted in disbelief. "Shisui? Hunted? Now?" His voice trembled, the implications sinking in like poison. "We've been... arguing while one of our brightest bleeds unseen?"
Jing looked toward Kai, her Dove allegiance clear in her eyes. "How do you know this?" she asked, not to cast doubt—but to understand, to act.
Kai's eyes gleamed, sharingan pulsing. "I know because I see what you do not. I sense what you hesitate to face. And you're wasting time."
He let his chakra pulse once more, making every council member lean back, astounded at his strength. "I don't have time for debate. There is no room left for ideology. No hawk versus dove. Only clan, and crisis. We must save him—now. I request two jōnin squads of Uchiha, with two medical ninjas."
Setsuna's measured tone rose above it all: "Is this information confirmed?"
Kai's gaze never wavered. "Discussing its validity is secondary. We bring him back first, then deal with the consequences that follow."
Fugaku nodded, and then spoke for the first time since he started the meeting. "Then we move. No more debate. We rescue Shisui."
Jing followed without pause. "I'll coordinate evacuation. Our civilians don't need more uncertainty—tonight will be confusion enough."
Fugaku inclined his head. Uchiha Mei lowered her head. "I'll go with the squads. Shisui may need medical attention that only I can provide."
Fugaku observed all this—not as a leader weighing options, but a commander accepting his orders from inevitability. "Very well. Two elite teams, led by Kataro and Yoshiro. Uchiha Mei, you will oversee medical support. Let Kai take the lead since he knows what is important. Jing, take control of the Genins with Takumi to prepare the civilians and coordinate evacuations, your mission tonight is to protect the clan. Satoru and Elder Setsuna, start preparing the Clan Ninja. Tonight, while we don't want war, we will prepare for the same. Our mission tonight is safety of Uchiha Shishui by any means necessary."
Orders crackled through the hall. Genin messengers raced from the courtyard to sound alarms. Chūnin and higher shinobi started assembling in full armor. Lanterns swung toward the gates—this night would not end in council discord, but in battle for one fallen brother.
Kai gave a curt nod and vanished in a blink of crimson light, Sharingan guiding him toward Shisui's precarious fate. Following him were the assigned two Uchiha Jonin squads and Uchiha Mei with two medic ninjas, rushing towards the training ground near the Naka River where Shishui generally trained.
The Uchiha Council, once fractured by fear, found unity in the face of imminent crisis. And as the clan mobilized under Fugaku's command, the seeds of both salvation - and rebellion - were irrevocably sown.