Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't be killed. Uchiha Fugaku was no Shimura Danzō, driven by a murderous thirst for purges. But interrogation, perhaps a bit of pressure—an object lesson for the former Third Hokage and the entire Sarutobi clan? That, he considered necessary.
Uchiha Setsuna ordered the ANBU to detain Sarutobi Hiruzen and escort him to the ANBU prison. Whether intentional or not, they even paraded him through Konoha's streets—twice.
As for Hiruzen, already hollowed out from despair and crushed under the weight of the "traitor to the village" label, he moved like the walking dead, utterly numb to the horrified, enraged, and disbelieving gazes of the shinobi and civilians around him.
"Until the truth is fully uncovered, I hope Elder Sarutobi will use this time to rest and reflect."
With a slam, Setsuna shut the cell door, leaving Hiruzen alone in the dark, sunless prison—brooding in silence.
At the same time, the entire village's public opinion exploded. Even though Fugaku had not formally charged Hiruzen with any crime, everyone had seen the man taken away by the ANBU. Everyone had heard Uchiha Inabi read the Hokage's order.
Overnight, Hiruzen became the villain of the village—a traitor, a conspirator, a backstabber who had betrayed the Hokage and betrayed Konoha!
Though the Sarutobi compound was now surrounded by ANBU, that didn't stop furious villagers from hurling stones, rotten vegetables, and eggs at it nearly every day.
The Sarutobi clan's shinobi, helpless in the face of both ANBU restrictions and civilian outrage, could only hole up inside—silent, ashamed, and powerless.
They couldn't fight back, couldn't speak up, couldn't lash out. They had no choice but to bury their humiliation and endure.
But buried anger and hatred would eventually erupt—and when it did, the one who would bear the brunt of it all…
Would be the man they once revered as a god.
Their disgraced clan head.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Of course…
Fugaku wasn't particularly interested in any of this.
He'd always intended to purge the Sarutobi after taking office. Whether it was Konoha led by the Uchiha, or the old Konoha, there was simply no place for a bloated, influential Sarutobi clan.
So their downfall had always been expected.
But right now, there was something far more important on his mind.
Something he cared about much more than the Sarutobi's collapse—
Restoring the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan!
...
Kirigakure.
"How bad is your eyesight right now?" Yoru asked casually, leading the casually dressed Fugaku—freshly summoned via Reverse Summoning by Miroku—toward the Kekkei Genkai Laboratory.
Fugaku glanced around curiously, studying his surroundings.
Hearing Yoru's question, he sighed bitterly.
"It wasn't terrible… until I fought that guy. After that, I'm pretty much blind."
Dominating the battlefield against Kumogakure had come at a cost.
Susanoo, the ultimate ability of the Mangekyō, required tremendous chakra and ocular power. Despite how easy it looked in the original timeline—Madara and Sasuke tossing out Mangekyō abilities like candy—those two were total cheaters.
They both had Indra's chakra and Eternal Mangekyō eyes.
The real situation? You had to look at early Mangekyō Sasuke.
That kid went from awakening his Mangekyō to full-on blindness in fifteen days. Sure, he spammed Amaterasu at everything that moved during that period, but still—it showed just how much of a toll Susanoo took on the eyes.
Fugaku, determined to raise his standing, had essentially fought the entire Kumogakure forces with his Mangekyō active.
Though the Soul Society had done most of the heavy lifting, the stress on his eyes had been real.
And the final straw?
His battle with Obito.
His dojutsu were shattered, and the resulting rebound nearly blinded him.
"Susanoo and Mangekyō abilities are indeed powerful… but they're cursed with tragedy," Fugaku sighed.
"That's why I kept mine hidden for so long."
"Almost blind, huh."
Yoru looked a little surprised—but not shocked. That was par for the course when it came to the Mangekyō.
"Relax. After today, you won't need to worry about your eyesight anymore. In fact, your ocular power will actually increase. As long as you don't push yourself into unlocking some fourth-stage evolution or trying for a perfect Susanoo, you'll be fine."
"R-Really?!"
Fugaku's heart raced.
He had only hoped to slow the degeneration, to stave off blindness for a while.
But now Yoru was saying he could fully restore his eyes—and even make them stronger?
Was this real?
Owning a Mangekyō was like driving a supercar: the speed and power were amazing, but what really kept you up at night was how fast it burned through fuel.
But if Yoru could top off the tank and even upgrade the engine?
His position as Hokage would be rock solid!
Fugaku was so thrilled he actually started walking faster, catching up to Yoru with a trembling voice full of excitement.
"You really can restore my eyes—and make them stronger?!"
"Heh. Of course. And we'll be using a very traditional shinobi method to do it~"
Yoru gave him a knowing glance as they arrived at the Kekkei Genkai Lab.
"Since you fought him—and lost—you must've noticed how unusual his ocular power was."
"From his first appearance at Higashimatsuyama, to the Nine-Tails Incident, to your battle with him…
He only has one Mangekyō—yet he hasn't shown any signs of degeneration.
Meanwhile, your two Mangekyō are on the brink of collapse."
"The key lies in his Wood Release."
Yoru formed a hand seal and pushed open the lab door.
Fugaku followed close behind—and froze.
Inside was a full-blown biological research facility.
Racks and tables lined with instruments. Shelves filled with containers and jars—some holding Byakugan, some Sharingan.
Over a dozen scientists in white coats moved about, recording data, running tests, or analyzing samples. None of them reacted to Yoru's entrance beyond a respectful nod.
Fugaku swallowed hard.
He'd seen labs before—but nothing like this.
The sheer scale, the cutting-edge equipment, the bizarre biological samples…
And then—he saw it.
In a glass jar off to the side, a pair of blood-red eyes stared back at him.
He knew those eyes.
That was a Mangekyō Sharingan—no doubt.
That sinister chill, that dreadful aura—he could feel it in his bones.
To the Uchiha, Mangekyō were sacred treasures. To the world, they were feared relics of destruction.
And yet here, in this lab, one was just sitting in a corner.
"You're the Uchiha clan head. You must've read the Six Paths Stone Tablet hidden under the Naka Shrine.
After all, your clan held every major meeting there."
Yoru's calm voice pulled Fugaku back to reality.
"When the One God sought peace, he divided Yin and Yang. The two opposing forces clashed, merged, and gave rise to all creation."
"In that creation, the Sharingan symbolizes Yin Release.
And opposing Yin, of course, is Yang Release—the foundation of Wood Release."
"Yin cannot exist alone. Yang cannot grow alone.
Unless you reach the level of Madara and Hashirama, having only one side will always limit you."
Mangekyō were powerful—but led to blindness.
Wood Release was dominant—but required exceptional chakra quality and volume.
Yamato, Danzō—they were prime examples of its instability in ordinary bodies.
"So you're saying… the key to restoring my eyes is Wood Release?" Fugaku asked cautiously, already forgetting about the Mangekyō in the jar.
"To be precise—cells from the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama."
Yoru opened the inner chamber of the lab.
Fugaku followed—then froze completely.
Standing before them, dressed in a white lab coat, smiling up at them—
Was a face he knew very well.
"You've arrived."
The raspy voice. Pale lavender eyeshadow. Golden vertical pupils.
Even with a surgical mask on, that smile was unmistakable.
"Orochimaru…"
"Saa~ welcome, Fugaku-kun," Orochimaru purred, putting down his scalpel.
He had been dissecting a strange, pulsating piece of flesh—it twitched like it was still alive.
"I didn't expect you to be involved in this…"
"No need to be so surprised. Just like the Uchiha rose to power in Konoha, and you became Hokage—
Life is full of surprises, isn't it?"
Orochimaru removed his mask, licking the corner of his lips.
His eyes gleamed as they zeroed in on Fugaku's Mangekyō.
"Such beautiful eyes. Even now, dim as dying candlelight… they shine brightly enough to lure in countless moths."
Fugaku remained silent.
Orochimaru's eccentric nature had always made him… complicated to deal with.
Even though he was the Third Hokage's student, born of the mainstream Hokage faction, he'd always been able to work with the Uchiha.
Still—Fugaku didn't want to get too close.
There was something in Orochimaru's gaze—like he was staring at a test subject. A puppet.
It made his skin crawl.
"Alright, that's enough reminiscing," Yoru said. "Orochimaru, is everything ready?"
"Of course. Your instructions are always my top priority."
Orochimaru reluctantly tore his gaze from Fugaku's eyes.
Despite already having multiple Mangekyō samples, each one's unique ocular ability still fascinated him.
What secrets did Fugaku's eyes hold?
Orochimaru's tongue licked his lips again as he retrieved three sealed glass containers from a cabinet.
"As requested, I've prepared three grades of Hashirama cells.
We'll need a tissue sample from Fugaku-kun to determine which one is most compatible."
"Excellent."
Yoru nodded, clearly pleased.
Say what you will about Orochimaru's methods—the guy got results.
"Then let's begin."
"Gladly."
Orochimaru's grin widened.
"Fugaku-kun, please lie down here."
That smile sent chills down Fugaku's spine. His earlier excitement was gone.
This didn't feel like a medical procedure—it felt like he was about to get his eyes scooped out.
But Yoru was here.
So Fugaku took a deep breath and lay down.
Orochimaru calmly sliced a small cut on his arm and extracted a tissue sample.
He placed the sample into three petri dish—each containing a different Hashirama cell batch.
It wasn't just testing.
It was warfare.
Fugaku stared in disbelief as the tiny slice of his own cells began to writhe violently, reacting to the Hashirama cells like prey sensing a predator.
The pale white Hashirama cells twisted hungrily toward the Uchiha cells, like starving beasts.
The cells clashed, tore at each other—battling viciously.
Within moments, the first petri dish showed his Uchiha cells completely devoured.
Orochimaru calmly set that petri dish aside.
Then the second.
By the third petri dish, before the battle had even ended, Orochimaru picked it up and turned to Fugaku with a smile.
"Are you ready, Fugaku-kun?"
"Th-This…"
"This really can restore my eyes?!"
"When the One God sought peace, he divided Yin and Yang. The two forces clashed and merged to create all things."
Yoru's calm voice filled the room again.
"Hashirama's cells are unique. His body was close to a true sage. His flesh had surpassed mortals, reaching the pinnacle of Yang Release—exactly as described on the Six Paths Tablet."
"By merging those cells, you'll balance Yin and Yang within yourself.
That harmony will stabilize your chakra flow, and your ocular power will regenerate naturally."
"Of course… that depends on whether you can suppress the Hashirama cells."
"And… if I can't?"
Yoru chuckled and glanced at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's smile turned wicked.
"Well… then Kirigakure might end up with a brand-new sacred tree.~"