Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils contracted slightly, but his expression remained a calm smile.
Showing no emotion on his face was something the Third Hokage had mastered to an absolute degree.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched as Itachi's body stiffened, caught in an impossible dilemma.
To go meant choosing his clan over the Hokage, right in front of the Hokage himself.
To refuse meant openly defying the new clan head's very first summons.
"Go ahead, Itachi."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke first, breaking the suffocating silence.
A warm smile spread across his face as he played the part of a gracious elder who understood his subordinates.
"Clan matters take priority."
Itachi's body relaxed slightly.
Itachi gave Sarutobi Hiruzen one long, searching look, then bowed to take his leave.
Then Itachi turned to Kenji and answered in a low voice.
"Understood."
With that, Itachi lingered no longer, his figure flashing once before vanishing into the night.
Kenji gave the Hokage a perfunctory bow and turned to leave as well.
The training ground fell silent, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen alone beneath the cold light of the moon.
The smile on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face slowly faded.
In its place was a deep, wary dread of Uchiha Shinsuke.
Uchiha Shinsuke...
This new clan head had not even needed to appear in person.
With nothing more than a single subordinate sent in his place, he had effortlessly dismantled the carefully arranged plan and placed the Hokage himself in an utterly humiliating position.
Naka Shrine.
Deep within the shrine, Shinsuke sat upon the stone chair that symbolized the clan head's seat.
Uchiha Fugaku stood at his side, half a step behind.
That small shift in position announced to everyone present an undeniable truth.
The transfer of power at the core of the Uchiha Clan was now complete.
Every jonin had assembled, with only Uchiha Itachi nowhere to be seen, yet Shinsuke showed no intention of waiting.
Shinsuke's gaze swept the room and first came to rest on Uchiha Toka, the former Deputy Captain of the Uchiha Guard.
"Toka."
"You have served the Guard for many years and rendered great merit."
"Effective today, you are relieved of the position of Deputy Captain of the Uchiha Guard and appointed Elder of the Uchiha, to advise me alongside Elder Fugaku."
Toka snapped his head up, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes, which quickly gave way to quiet understanding and reverence.
This was a promotion in name and a demotion in fact.
A hollow elder's title in exchange for the real authority he had held.
Yet Uchiha Toka had not the slightest impulse to resist, for after witnessing Shinsuke's overwhelming power, he understood that compliance was the only choice.
"...Yes, I understand, Clan Head."
Toka bowed deeply.
Shinsuke's gaze then shifted to another man.
Uchiha Tekka.
"Tekka."
Shinsuke looked at him and smiled.
"When I was still a squad leader, you were already a unit commander, yet you never used your seniority to pressure me and instead showed me considerable care."
"That goodwill, I have never forgotten."
Tekka's heart lurched; he had not expected the new clan head to bring up old times in front of everyone.
"I, Uchiha Shinsuke, never shortchange my own people."
"From this day forward, you will assume the position of Deputy Captain of the Uchiha Guard!"
"I need the Guard to become a truly sharp blade that belongs to the Uchiha and the Uchiha alone, can you do that?"
These words left Uchiha Tekka utterly stunned.
His whole being was dazed, for leaping straight from unit commander to Deputy Captain was a trust and promotion of the highest order.
Tekka's body trembled slightly with excitement as he dropped to one knee and struck his fist hard against his chest.
"I, Uchiha Tekka, swear loyalty to the Clan Head unto death!"
"I will not fail this charge!"
"Very good."
Shinsuke gave a satisfied nod and finally looked toward the three young men who had followed him since his days as a squad leader.
Min, Tetsu, Kai.
At this moment the three stood perfectly straight, their eyes burning with fervent devotion toward Shinsuke.
Under Shinsuke's careful cultivation and the resources channeled their way by the system, they were no longer what they once were, and each had reached the strength of a newly promoted jonin.
"Min, Tetsu, Kai."
"I appoint the three of you as unit commanders of the Uchiha Guard."
"I need you to become my most reliable eyes and arms, carrying my will into every corner of the Guard."
"Yes!"
The three replied in unison, their loyalty utterly unconcealed.
A new era brings new men.
The Uchiha jonin assembled in the hall witnessed the new clan head's swift and decisive methods with their own eyes.
At that moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the shrine.
It was Uchiha Itachi.
The instant Itachi stepped inside, he keenly sensed the subtle shift in the atmosphere.
Every gaze snapped to Itachi at once.
Itachi bore that pressure in silence and walked into the crowd, finding his place.
"Itachi."
The voice of Shinsuke came from the stone chair.
"You are late."
Itachi's body tensed as he lowered his head to answer.
"My apologies, Shinsuke."
"You were in a secret meeting with the Hokage just now, were you not?"
The air inside the shrine plunged to freezing in an instant.
The expressions of most those present turned hostile.
A secret meeting with the Hokage?
At this sensitive moment when the clan's fate hung in the balance?
Itachi's heart sank completely.
Itachi had not expected Shinsuke's questioning to be so direct, so utterly merciless.
"I was only reporting a mission to the Hokage."
Itachi's defense sounded so hollow and powerless.
At that moment Fugaku, standing nearby, suddenly spoke.
"Itachi!"
"Can you not read the situation even now?"
Fugaku's gaze bore into his eldest son.
"I am ordering you!"
Fugaku's voice was resolute and unyielding.
"Withdraw from the ANBU tomorrow, and sever all ties with the ANBU completely!"
"From this point forward, your loyalty and your strength belong only to the Uchiha!"
Those words drained the color from Itachi's face in an instant.
Itachi instinctively wanted to argue back, wanted to speak the words the Hokage had spoken about peace and the greater good.
Yet when Itachi raised his head, what he saw was his father's stern face and the cold, scrutinizing gazes of the clansmen around him.
"Fugaku's order is my order."
Shinsuke rose slowly from the stone chair and looked down at Itachi from above.
"The ANBU is the Hokage's blade."
"And the people of my Uchiha Clan must never become another's blade."
"I give you two choices."
"First: withdraw from the ANBU at once and dedicate your complete loyalty to the clan that gave you life."
"Second..."
"Be stripped of every identity and privilege you hold as an Uchiha ninja, and get out of this land."
"From that moment on, you will be a traitor to the Uchiha."
Itachi's body trembled, almost imperceptibly.
Itachi looked at the unquestionable expression on Shinsuke's face and understood that this was no idle threat.
If he refused, he truly would be cast out by the entire clan and become a homeless wanderer.
Sasuke...
That thought flickered through Itachi's mind.
He could not lose Sasuke.
The words Sarutobi Hiruzen had spoken about protecting what mattered most echoed in his ears again.
Perhaps... he could agree for now and act accordingly.
After a storm of inner conflict, Itachi finally reached a decision.
Slowly, Itachi lowered himself to one knee and buried every emotion within him.
"I understand, Shinsuke."
"Father."
"I... will follow the will of the clan."
"First thing tomorrow morning, I will submit my resignation to the Hokage."
Hearing that answer, a flicker of relief crossed Fugaku's face.
The scrutinizing gazes of the clansmen around them gradually softened as well.
Only Shinsuke let a contemptuous, amused look flicker across his face, one that no one else noticed.
'A fine performance.'
'Too bad that before me, a transmigrator with a god's-eye view, every disguise you wear is nothing but a child's game.'
'Still, this works out well.'
Shinsuke laughed coldly within his heart.
'When you, you two-faced snake, jump out together with that old dog Danzō to carry out the clan massacre plan...'
'I will have the most complete justification to uproot you both.'
'Not a single one will escape.'
"Very good."
Shinsuke said evenly.
"Remember what you said today."
"Dismissed."
At his word, every jonin bowed in unison and then withdrew from Naka Shrine in orderly succession, like a receding tide.
Before long, the vast shrine held only Shinsuke alone.
Shinsuke slowly closed his eyes.
"System."
"Calculate and deliver the mission rewards."
The generous rewards for becoming clan head of the Uchiha were something Shinsuke had been anticipating for a very long time.