Facing the murderous intent directed at him, Uchiha Yuan's expression didn't change in the slightest. It was as if the killing aura had no effect on him at all.
He looked coldly at the Root operatives and said with pride,
"You rabble—Konoha's security has always been under the jurisdiction of the Uchiha Police Force. Now the village is under attack by the Nine-Tails, and yet someone has the audacity to forbid the Police Force from taking action.
Tell me, what exactly is Lord Danzō's intention? To me, he's the one who seeks to bring calamity upon the village."
"Insolence! How dare you speak ill of Lord Danzō!"
With a sharp rebuke, a surge of killing intent locked onto Yuan.
A gust of wind whirled past.
In an instant, a masked Root shinobi (ANBU-style mask) appeared right before him—blade flashing coldly through the moonlight as a katana came slashing down.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out. The katana was deflected mid-swing by a spinning shuriken.
"Enough! To raise a blade against an Uchiha before the Uchiha themselves—Root, are you trying to start a war with the Police Force?"
At the critical moment, Uchiha Fugaku appeared before Yuan in a blur, blocking the strike with his own shuriken.
The Root ninja who had attacked instantly leapt back into formation.
Fugaku's sharp eyes swept over the Root operatives, his voice low and steady.
"All members of the Police Force, return to headquarters."
"Clan Head!"
"The village has openly shown its distrust toward us—how can we simply back down?"
His command was met with indignant protest from the Police Force members, their fury barely contained.
"That's an order!"
Fugaku's brows furrowed as a powerful aura rolled off him, brooking no defiance.
One by one, the Uchiha officers withdrew, their faces full of anger and frustration.
Under Fugaku's silent watch, the Root operatives vanished in bursts of shunshin—but he could still sense their presence hidden nearby, continuing to monitor the entire area.
With a weary sigh, Fugaku turned to head back toward headquarters—only to find Uchiha Yuan watching him with a complex expression.
Catching that look, Fugaku smiled faintly, helplessly.
"Yuan, you must be wondering why I agreed to the village's unreasonable demand."
He lifted his gaze toward the distant Nine-Tails rampaging in the moonlight, his expression shadowed with conflict.
"There are things you don't yet understand."
Then he turned to Yuan's mother.
"Rei, take the children to the shelter. Now."
As Fugaku's silhouette receded into the night, Yuan's eyes flickered.
Clan Head, I understand your fear. The Nine-Tails—the mightiest of all tailed beasts—can be subdued only by the Sharingan. The village worries that our clan will seize this chance to control it.
But you don't realize… your compromise will only embolden men like Danzō.
I understand you—but I do not agree with you.
Seek unity through struggle, and unity will endure. Seek unity through compromise, and unity will perish.
"Yuan, come on, we must go."
His mother's urgent voice snapped him from his thoughts, and the three of them hurried toward the evacuation tunnels.
As they ran, a flash of cold light crossed Yuan's eyes. He could feel it clearly—a gaze locked onto him from the shadows.
It had to be one of the Root operatives.
Evacuation Tunnel.
The air was thick with panic and crying. Terrified villagers were being guided by shinobi into a hidden cave deep within the hills.
Moving slowly through the crowd, Yuan led his mother and sister toward the area where other Uchiha clansmen had gathered.
"Itachi-kun!"
Izumi's eyes brightened as she spotted a familiar figure. She ran toward him happily.
"Don't cry, Sasuke. It's all right."
In a quiet corner, Uchiha Itachi cradled a wailing infant, his face gentle as he tried to soothe him.
"Itachi-kun's little brother still cries so much," Izumi said with a soft laugh, reaching out to tap baby Sasuke's nose playfully.
Nearby, Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, scanning the area. His gaze paused briefly on the two of them, his brows knitting together slightly.
In his past life's memory, Itachi's eventual choice to slaughter the clan had been something Yuan could neither understand nor accept—and something he had sworn to change.
From the very beginning, he had stood in opposition to Uchiha Itachi.
This is troublesome. It seems Izumi has known Itachi for quite some time.
Well… I'll let my real body worry about that.
Yuan's eyes grew calm once more. The "him" sitting here in the shelter was nothing more than a shadow clone.
After escorting his mother and sister to safety, the real Yuan had slipped away unnoticed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions thundered in the distance. Fierce winds howled, the ground quaking violently as debris rained down.
Entire blocks had been reduced to rubble beneath the Nine-Tails' rampage. The combined resistance of the village's shinobi barely slowed the beast—if anything, their attacks only enraged it further. The Nine-Tails turned its fury toward the village center, advancing with terrifying speed.
A group of fleeing villagers screamed as a violent gust of chakra swept over them. The monstrous fox loomed behind them, its massive jaws opening, a claw raised high—
"Enma—Adamantine Staff!"
At the last moment, a staff extended from afar, slamming into the Nine-Tails' claw and shoving it back.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had arrived with his ANBU, joining the battle.
But even together, their strength was not enough to restrain the beast—they could only harry it, buying precious moments at great cost.
Uchiha Police Force Headquarters.
From the rooftop, Fugaku stood watching the chaos from afar. Below, the building echoed with the angry shouts of his clansmen.
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
"This… this can't be!"
In the distance, he saw it clearly—within the Nine-Tails' eyes, the telltale tomoe of the Sharingan were spinning.
That meant the beast was under a Sharingan's control.
Fugaku's brows knitted tightly.
Every Uchiha with awakened eyes was accounted for here—unless… there was someone else.
But that no longer mattered. The damage was done.
He understood, with grim certainty, that this incident would cast a shadow over the clan for years to come.
Once the village discovered the Sharingan's reflection in the Nine-Tails' eyes, suspicion and surveillance would only intensify. The Uchiha's position in Konoha would grow ever more precarious.
The rift between the clan and the village was now beyond repair.
Fugaku's expression shifted through light and dark as he stared at the raging beast in silence.
On a cliff not far from the Nine-Tails' rampage, a shadow flickered into view, landing atop a great tree.
Uchiha Yuan stood upon a thick branch, his eyes fixed on the monstrous fox in the distance.
"What terrifying pressure… such overwhelming chakra," he murmured.
All around, silhouettes were flickering into existence—shinobi rushing from every corner of the village, converging toward the battlefield.
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