The vast training grounds were packed with a dense, dark mass of people.
The Uchiha Clan had turned out almost in full.
No one was raising their voice.
Even hushed conversations were kept to a striking minimum.
Countless gazes converged on the center of the grounds.
This was an event without precedent in the entire history of the Uchiha Clan.
An open duel to decide the fate of the whole clan.
"Lord Shinsuke is definitely going to win!"
"Of course! Only Lord Shinsuke can lead our Uchiha and take back everything that is rightfully ours!"
"Clan Head Fugaku is too weak, his era should have ended long ago!"
These whispers, kept low yet unable to conceal their excitement, surged through the crowd like an undercurrent.
Uchiha Fugaku walked out at a measured pace.
He still wore the black crested haori that marked him as clan head.
Even in defeat, he would stand and lose with his head held high.
This was Uchiha Fugaku's final dignity as clan head.
At nearly the same moment Fugaku took his position at one end of the grounds, a far more intense stir swept through the crowd at the other end of the training field.
Shinsuke's figure appeared.
The manner of his entrance formed a striking contrast with Fugaku's heavy solemnity.
Shinsuke wore a simple black fitted outfit with both hands tucked casually into his pockets, his bearing as relaxed as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
Shinsuke's eyes were calm.
He did not even look toward Fugaku across from him at first, and instead slowly swept his gaze over the dense mass of clan members surrounding him.
Wherever his eyes passed, the young Uchiha clan members could not help but straighten their chests with excitement.
Shinsuke's composure was itself the most extreme form of dominance.
It was absolute confidence in his own strength.
A thousand meters from the clan district, within the thick canopy of a towering ancient tree that no one had noticed, several figures wearing pure white animal masks stood perfectly still.
The lead operative wearing a tanuki mask lowered a specially-made telescope from his eye and made a nearly imperceptible tactical hand signal to the cat-masked operative beside him.
[All targets in position.]
Their mission was one and only one thing.
To observe and record.
No matter what happened, they could only record.
This was the sole order issued by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, after a sleepless night.
On the other side, several Root ninja were also positioned there, and Danzō's orders were far more direct.
[Observe Shinsuke, identify any weaknesses in his Mangekyō abilities, at any cost.]
[If Fugaku is defeated, extract him before Shinsuke can kill him.]
A Mangekyō clan head stripped of his honor was a more valuable tool to Root than a corpse.
At the same time, undercurrents surged in every corner of Konoha.
At the Hyūga Clan's main house, Hiashi sat cross-legged on a cushion with his eyes shut, yet the veins at his temples were faintly pulsing.
"Clan Head, according to intelligence from the Branch House, the Uchiha's duel is about to begin."
A Main House elder reported in a low voice, his tone unable to conceal his agitation.
"Two pairs of Mangekyō."
Hiashi released those words softly, laced with deep bitterness.
The heads of the Ino-Shika-Chō clans had gathered on the back hill of the Nara Clan's grounds, where Nara Shikaku held a cigarette between his lips and stared in the direction of the Uchiha district for a long while without speaking.
"What an enormous headache."
He exhaled a ring of smoke.
"Whoever wins, the Uchiha are going to produce a leader of unprecedented power."
Akimichi Chōza folded his arms and said in a low voice, "That kind of power will directly challenge the Hokage's authority."
Yamanaka Inoichi's expression was the most grave of the three.
"I tried to sense that area, and it is terrifying, like a volcano on the verge of erupting."
"Shikaku, what should we do?"
Nara Shikaku ground his cigarette out against the stone table.
"Do nothing."
"Any move right now will be seen as taking sides."
"We can only wait."
In a corner of the crowd, in the least conspicuous spot, Uchiha Sasuke clutched his brother's hand tightly, his young face filled with bewilderment and curiosity.
Sasuke tilted his head back, looking at the two figures facing each other in the field, one the father who was strict yet loving in daily life, and the other, Lord Shinsuke who often brought him sweets and taught him shuriken techniques.
"Brother."
Sasuke asked quietly.
"Why are Father and Lord Shinsuke fighting?"
Uchiha Itachi's expression became impossibly conflicted.
Feeling the warmth of his little brother's hand in his own, what could he say?
That their father's stubbornness had led to this moment?
Or that Shinsuke's dominance would push the clan into an abyss of no return?
Itachi could not get a single word out.
He could only grip his brother's hand more tightly.
Time passed, second by second.
The Dove faction elder, Uchiha En, made his way trembling to the center of the grounds.
Uchiha En looked around at the crowd, his gaze passing over Fugaku, then Shinsuke, and finally sweeping across every clan member.
Uchiha En drew a deep breath and summoned every last ounce of his strength to let his voice carry to every single person present.
"This battle will decide the position of clan head of the Uchiha Clan!"
"The victor shall be the sole leader of the Uchiha!"
"The loser must swear a blood oath to support the victor's every decision for life, without any defiance!"
"This is the will of the Uchiha!"
Uchiha En slowly withdrew, leaving the entire training grounds to the two men who would decide the Uchiha's future.
The next instant, without any warning, three tomoe surfaced in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, spinning wildly before finally converging into a pair of complex and eerie cross-pinwheel patterns.
A heavy, mountain-like pressure surged forth from his dōjutsu and crashed down over the entire training grounds.
The Mangekyō Sharingan!
[Uchiha Shinsuke's Attribute Panel]
[Strength: Kage-level (capable of contending with seasoned Kage-level opponents).]
[Mastered Skills:
Ninjutsu: Fire Release full mastery, Lightning Release: Chidori, Lightning Release Chakra Mode (slightly surpassing the Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode), Lightning Fire Dragon's Breath (S-rank), Lightning Fire Rasengan, (some basic skills hidden).]
[Taijutsu: Uchiha-style Taijutsu (mastered).]
[Genjutsu: Sharingan Genjutsu, Advanced Genjutsu Release, Genjutsu Reflection.]
[Kekkei Genkai: Mangekyō Sharingan.]
[Dōjutsu: Mangekyō Sharingan (left eye: "Temporal Reversion," right eye: "Jutsu Amplification"), where Temporal Reversion has achieved a preliminary grasp of the time mystery, enabling reversion not only on oneself but also on enemies.]
[Clan Status: Uchiha Elder (Hawks faction, actual wielder of power, prestige has substantively surpassed the clan head).]
[Number of Loyal Clan Members: Over 350 (combat personnel only).]
[Overall Clan Strength Assessment: Kage-level.]