Fugaku sat weakly on the ground, his face pale and his forehead slick with sweat.
It was clearly the result of chakra exhaustion.
The Third Hokage leaped into the field and quickly ordered the nearby medical-nin to begin treatment.
Once a medical-nin's chakra entered another's body, it could reveal a great deal of information. For this reason, it was typically forbidden for medical-nin from other clans to treat their own members.
But Fugaku was unusually cooperative.
He spoke in a faint voice, "A tragedy has befallen our clan, Lord Third Hokage."
"My son and Shisui... they have defected..."
At that moment, the medical-nin shot the Third Hokage a knowing glance, signaling that Fugaku was only suffering from severe chakra depletion and had no other injuries.
The Third Hokage's mind raced.
Just then, a figure landed in the center of the field.
A closer look revealed it to be Uchiha Kawasaki.
"Lord Clan Head, while you were confronting Itachi, I moved the clansmen to a safe location. We have only minor injuries; everyone else is unharmed."
The Third Hokage's eyes glinted. He then said, "What do you mean by this, Fugaku? Many Konoha ninja travel to train. It is not so strange that Itachi would wish to venture out and hone his skills."
Kawasaki seemed to pause for a moment before a look of understanding dawned on his face. He quickly added his support, "Yes, that's right. Itachi and Shisui left together to train. Clan Head, you mustn't worry."
Fugaku, however, still seemed unable to recover from the successive blows, staring blankly at the devastated clan grounds.
Kawasaki helped Fugaku to his feet and addressed the Third Hokage. "Lord Third, the Uchiha are deeply sorry for the chaos we have caused. But our Clan Head is severely injured and requires immediate treatment. We will take our leave."
The Third Hokage nodded his assent, allowing Kawasaki to escort Fugaku from the scene.
Other clans began to arrive in succession.
Witnessing the sheer destruction around them, they could hardly believe their eyes. If someone had told them a Tailed Beast had attacked, they would have found it more believable.
Who could have guessed that this was the terrifying destructive power of just two Uchiha?
Under the watchful eyes of all present, the Third Hokage fell into deep thought. Everyone awaited his decision.
Finally, the Third Hokage scanned the surrounding clans, but he could not read any intent to fight in their eyes.
There was only hesitation in their shifting gazes and retreating figures.
The Third took a drag from his pipe, slowly exhaling the smoke.
"Tonight, there was only a departure from the Uchiha. There was no rebellion."
With that, the Third Hokage had laid the matter to rest.
A collective sigh of relief passed through the other clans as they began to survey the half-destroyed Uchiha district.
The Uchiha grounds had been expanding year after year.
With clansmen lost in battle annually, many of the residential areas were actually vacant.
Furthermore, Kawasaki seemed to have evacuated the clansmen in advance. The Uchiha had suffered only injuries, with no fatalities.
Was this truly an accident, or was it a meticulously staged performance?
...
Leaning on Kawasaki for support, Fugaku returned to his residence.
His weakness was no act. He had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan many years ago.
After his vision began to decline to a certain point, he realized the damage was irreversible and had long since refrained from using his Sharingan.
Even now, his ocular power remained, but it was far from its peak, and summoning a Susanoo required a massive amount of chakra.
Just a short while ago, Fugaku had maintained a colossal first-form Susanoo, an effort that had consumed a vast reserve of his chakra.
Though he had only destroyed a few clan buildings, maintaining the giant Susanoo had nearly pushed him to the point of collapse.
Itachi was in a similar state, having only recently awakened his own Mangekyo Sharingan.
Fugaku had even taught him how to manifest a Susanoo on the spot. The effort of destroying half the district had left Itachi on the verge of fainting.
After all, Itachi was only eleven years old; his body was not yet capable of withstanding such a powerful chakra technique.
Fugaku touched the blurry edges of his vision. It seemed his eyesight had deteriorated even further.
"Kawasaki, this little play of ours... do you think the Third saw through it?"
Kawasaki shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course he did. Our strategy isn't a conspiracy; it's an overt gambit. Even if Hiruzen saw the truth, he wouldn't dare to tear down the facade right now."
"First, the Uchiha have already voluntarily relinquished their power. Second, it's because we Uchiha, well, we now possess three pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan."
"This is a critical juncture, with the Cloud Village on its way for peace talks. If we, the Uchiha with our three Mangekyo, were to rebel against Konoha, the village would suffer devastating losses even if they managed to win."
"At that point, the Cloud wouldn't be coming to negotiate. They'd be coming to annihilate the village."
"For now, all we need to do is proceed according to plan."
Fugaku endured the discomfort in his eyes and discussed the subsequent steps with Kawasaki. After entrusting the task of reassuring the clan to the Fourth Elder, he fell into a deep sleep.
...
Inside the Root headquarters, Danzo was meticulously reading through a report.
It detailed the severe losses the Uchiha clan had suffered.
"Are you telling me that all this destruction was caused by Fugaku and Itachi alone?"
His subordinate below answered affirmatively. "Yes, Lord Danzo. The majority of the buildings in their district were destroyed. The scene bears the marks of a battle between multiple Kage-level shinobi."
Could the power of the Mangekyo truly be so immense?
Danzo paced back and forth. Previously, Shisui had only told him about Kotoamatsukami.
Even when Shisui had been forced to reveal his Susanoo, it had been nothing this shocking.
Of course, Danzo did not know that the Uchiha's Susanoo had different stages of development.
Moreover, Shisui had been in poor condition at the time, his will to fight diminished.
The Susanoo he had used then had been a very conservative one.
"How many people did Itachi take with him?"
"Sir, we don't have an exact count yet. The Uchiha are not cooperating. Our initial estimate is over a hundred."
"And what is the Third's position on this?" Danzo asked, his eyelids lowered, his expression hidden in the shadows, betraying no hint of his thoughts.
The Root operative replied, "The Third Hokage has declared that what happened tonight was merely a departure, not a rebellion."
Upon hearing this, Danzo slammed his cane heavily on the ground.
"Hmph. Hiruzen, you've finally gotten old."
"You still insist on protecting ambitious clans like the Uchiha."
"Send men out. Tomorrow, spread the word throughout the village that the Third is incompetent and that Itachi and Shisui Uchiha led a clan defection."
"Yes, sir!"
After his subordinate had left, Danzo stepped deeper into the darkness, a greedy glint in his eyes.
The Mangekyo...
...
Within the Hyuga compound, Hiashi, Hizashi, and the other elders were examining the investigation report.
The level of destruction in the Uchiha district was akin to the aftermath of a Tailed Beast's rampage.
Could the Hyuga clan achieve something of this magnitude?
As one of Konoha's two most prominent clans, the Hyuga had always stood on equal footing with the Uchiha.
During the Third Great Ninja War, their strengths were comparable.
Though slightly smaller in number, the reconnaissance capabilities of the Byakugan were highly valued.
The Mist Village had rejoiced at obtaining even a single Byakugan.
It was a testament to the Byakugan's power.
But now, it seemed the Uchiha clan had produced two Mangekyo users.
One of them was the clan head himself, Fugaku Uchiha.
The other was even more astonishing: Itachi, at only eleven years old.
His potential for future growth was immeasurable.
"Clan Head, this was delivered from the Uchiha this morning."
Hiashi opened it. It was a letter of recommendation from Fugaku.
The gist of it was that Fugaku, due to injury, could no longer manage the Konoha Military Police Force and was recommending Hizashi to take over as Captain.
The rest of the letter contained some thoughts and plans for the future development of the Police Force.
It was clearly prepared well in advance.
After Hiashi finished, Hizashi and the other main family elders passed the letter around.
An unspoken understanding passed between them. This was Fugaku's complete withdrawal from Konoha's power structure.
Though Fugaku had hinted at it before, they had not expected it to happen so suddenly.
And in such a decisive manner.
Any discerning eye could see that the destruction of the Uchiha district was intentional. The houses that were destroyed were almost all vacant.
Casualties were practically nonexistent.
In a real battle, how could one possibly allow the enemy to evacuate their personnel beforehand?
"I feel like ever since Uchiha Kawasaki returned, Fugaku Uchiha has become a different person," Hizashi remarked.
Everyone present was astute. They had all observed Fugaku's actions before and after Kawasaki's return.
They all came to the same conclusion: Kawasaki was a man of immense wisdom.