At this moment, the Uchiha clan was not as calm as it appeared on the surface. No matter how slow or unconcerned one was about their clan, after a whole day, they would have reacted to the strangeness of the situation. Moreover, although Obito's status in the clan was not high and he was considered a dead-last, his presence in the village was quite strong. And he had a grandmother.
"Aunt Five, this is the situation with Obito. Please… accept my condolences!" Fugaku sighed. He knew that making the old woman believe Obito had defected from the village was harder than making her believe Obito was dead. But Obito had indeed betrayed the village. Under the guidance of a terrifying mastermind, he had evaded the personal pursuit of the Anbu captain. The current situation could no longer be concealed.
"This…" The old woman collapsed into her chair, the light gone from her eyes. She still couldn't believe Obito would do such a thing, but Fugaku himself had come to explain the situation. How could she deceive herself any longer? Obito had defected from the village. She muttered to herself, two streams of tears flowing down.
"How could he betray the village! Did he forget that he still has me, his grandmother?"
"Aunt Five, my condolences!" Fugaku bowed respectfully, then turned and left the house. Looking at the crowd gathered outside, he sighed and waved his hand.
"Disperse. What are you all gathered here for?"
"Clan Head, this, is this matter true?" a clan elder stepped forward and asked in a low voice.
Fugaku frowned. "What matter?"
"I heard that Obito went to the Naka Shrine, discovered some secrets there, and that's when the incident happened," the elder replied.
Fugaku looked at him in surprise, then his face quickly became stern. "Elder, don't spread such rumors. Obito's matter is simply that he couldn't get over his own personal issues, which is why he betrayed the village." He looked at the other person seriously.
"Go back. Don't spread such rumors anymore."
The elder was startled by Fugaku's gaze. The previous Fugaku had always been a "nice guy," saying either "okay" or "let's talk next time." He had never seen Uchiha Fugaku with such a sharp and terrifying gaze. His lips trembled, then he nodded.
"Yes, yes, Fugaku-sama!"
Once one started, the others followed. Everyone was persuaded to go back. But this kind of thing couldn't be suppressed. Moreover, this matter was related to a rather sensitive place within the Uchiha clan. The Naka River! That was the place of origin for the Uchiha clan. The elders knew more, and thus had more speculations about that place, becoming even more certain that Obito might have learned some secret at the Naka Shrine.
***
"Fugaku-sama, the elders are having a meeting in the clan tonight. You weren't invited. Do you know about this?"
"Shisui." Fugaku looked at the intelligent young man before him. He sighed in his heart. Uchiha Shisui… just like Kagami Uchiha back then, kind, smart, and possessing a special wisdom. If Kagami Uchiha were alive today, the position of clan head might have nothing to do with me. But he's too smart! He sighed inwardly and advised, "Shisui, you are still young. Don't worry about these things. Study and train hard, strive to become stronger… these things are more important than anything."
"But." Shisui started to speak, then stopped. After a few seconds, he lowered his head.
"Yes, Fugaku-sama!" He had the urge to go to Kyohiko, but rationally, he understood—this was an Uchiha family matter. Unreservedly revealing everything to Kyohiko could, in the end, put the Uchiha clan in a difficult position. He sighed, filled with confusion for a moment.
***
The Police Force, the Uchiha clan, seemed to be patrolling the streets as usual. But upon a closer look, they were clearly not as serious as usual, nor did they have their usual proud demeanor. Each one of them seemed to be heavy-hearted.
Fugaku sighed softly. He knew that the Uchiha were now in a precarious position, but besides waiting and enduring, he really couldn't think of a better way. Participate? That was not a good idea.
Just as he was frowning, a voice sounded beside him. "Clan Head Fugaku, do you have time to chat?"
"You are…" Uchiha Fugaku was startled and quickly turned his head, only to see Kyohiko standing beside him. His pupils shrank. Just now… he hadn't sensed the other's approach at all. This meant that if Kyohiko wanted to assassinate him, with such means combined with the Flying Raijin, it would be an incredibly easy task. Fortunately, Ryoumine Kyohiko was not Danzo. If it were Danzo, Fugaku would be more worried and afraid.
"Do you have time?"
"Of course." Even though the other party was young, Fugaku did not change his respectful attitude.
Following him all the way back to the Police Force headquarters, Kyohiko didn't stop, but walked straight towards the abandoned training ground next to the Police Force building. He only stopped when he reached the vicinity of the training ground. Fugaku quickly stopped behind Kyohiko.
"Fugaku-senpai, have you been to this place before?"
"Of course." Uchiha Fugaku nodded. He smiled. "The scenery here is very good. Sometimes when I'm feeling down, I come here to relax, and practice ninjutsu or taijutsu."
"Uchiha Obito is a small fry, but the person behind him is a great threat to all of Konoha. If Danzo were still alive and in Konoha, what do you think he would do?" Kyohiko said with a smile.
Fugaku was silent. He looked around, thoughtful, then said, "He would probably move us from the village to here. If we resisted, Danzo would be even happier."
"Yes, that way, he could complete his vision," Kyohiko chuckled lightly.
Fugaku said, "You are not like Danzo."
"I am not Danzo. Otherwise, the Hokage-sama and I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to get rid of him. Of course, no one expected the current result. The Cloud Village's A is still a 'guest' in the Anbu." Kyohiko revealed a small piece of information. He glanced over. Fugaku was indeed stunned when he heard the name "A." A few seconds later, he came back to his senses.
"A, the son of the Third Raikage?"
"Yes." Kyohiko sneered and explained the situation at that time. Anyway… these things would soon no longer be secrets. Throwing them out now could also make the Uchiha clan weigh their options. Even the Third Raikage was no match for them. Could the Uchiha do it?
As expected. After hearing the brief account, Fugaku's eyelids twitched, and his face subconsciously lowered. Only then did he remember that although Kyohiko had grown, he was still a teenager, slightly shorter than him. He looked into the distance.
"Danzo actually wanted to collude with outsiders. He deserved to be killed. Our Uchiha clan will definitely not learn from him, and it's impossible for us to get involved with any Guardian Shinobi." Fugaku's tone was firm.
"Daimyo-sama is certainly important, but the system of our Konoha village and the Land of Fire was established long ago. If it is broken due to the schemes of some careerists, it will not be good for anyone."
Kyohiko smiled. "If it's a time for expansion, you are certainly not a very good clan head."
"In times of crisis, I am not a very good clan head either," Fugaku sighed. He was very self-aware. He didn't have any particularly outstanding talent, nor the ability to defy fate and save his clan. In the current situation, he didn't know what to do for a moment.
Fortunately, the higher-ups in Konoha had changed. If it were still the old generation, he might have gradually become like those elders—conspiring to rebel! But now, he had another path. Following the Hokage faction represented by Tsunade and Kyohiko seemed to be a good choice. Of course, Fugaku was not yet at the point of pledging his allegiance. He also had to observe, think, and then unite the voices and strength of the clan before he could finally make a decision.
So, meeting with Kyohiko… since the unexpected defection of Obito, he had longed for it. He just hadn't expected that it would be Kyohiko who would take the initiative to find him. Through perceiving his emotions and expressions, Kyohiko began to have a preliminary judgment of Fugaku's current mentality and thoughts—Fugaku was still close to Konoha. At least, he was inclined to cooperate with Konoha in the current situation, or even make some changes, but definitely not an extreme approach like rebellion.
Kyohiko was thoughtful. In the original timeline, Fugaku had slowly leaned towards the path of rebellion, which was actually related to the Night of the Nine-Tails. The Night of the Nine-Tails had cut off the Uchiha clan's path of retreat. One reason was that Namikaze Minato had died. The Third Hokage and Danzo were back in power. Another was that the Uchiha's Sharingan had played some unimaginable role during the Night of the Nine-Tails, which made the Uchiha's position awkward.
Now, none of this had happened. He had hope for Konoha, especially since the Third Hokage and Danzo were both gone.
Kyohiko chatted with him for a while. Fugaku gradually opened up and began to talk about some of his own ideas. At this point, Kyohiko stated his purpose for this trip.
"Clan Head Fugaku, you should know about Senior Orochimaru, right?"
"Yes."
"He proposed a hypothesis to me. Is it possible that Madara didn't die, but exists in some special state, such as a soul, a chakra life form, or even, has taken over someone's body and consciousness?" Kyohiko proposed his idea.
Fugaku was stunned for a few seconds, then replied, "You mean, does the Uchiha have such a technique?"
"Yes, is there such a possibility?" Kyohiko asked.
Fugaku pondered, then said, "I cannot be certain. Madara's level and realm surpassed ours by too much. He… you know that the Uchiha clan has a higher level of Sharingan, but did you know, Madara once took his younger brother's eyes to heal his own injuries." He paused slightly, then said, "I've heard from the clan elders that after that, Madara became even stronger. His dōjutsu was almost invincible, and he never suffered from injuries or illnesses again."
"On my way here, I was thinking about a question." Kyohiko walked along the lake, saying with a smile, "If Madara used genjutsu and secret techniques to transform a person's memory and consciousness, making them believe they are the reincarnated Madara, would they act like Madara?"
Fugaku was stunned for a second. Then, he said, "Genjutsu is not my area of expertise. And at higher levels, I've heard there are some very powerful and special dōjutsu. It's unknown what Madara's dōjutsu specifically was."
"I'll have to trouble Clan Head Fugaku to help gather intelligence."
"Certainly."
***
Returning to the Police Force headquarters. Uchiha Yashiro looked towards the training ground. "Fugaku-sama, you were with that person just now?"
"Mm." Fugaku closed the office door. Inside, only the two of them remained. Fugaku sat down in his chair and let out a long breath.
"That young man is too strong!"
"Did you have a match with him?"
"No…" Fugaku recounted the general content of his chat with Kyohiko.
Uchiha Yashiro was astonished. He slumped into his chair, speechless for a long time. Previously, Yashiro had never thought that the simple defection of Obito would involve such a terrifying inside story, even dragging in the long-dead Uchiha Madara. Madara isn't dead? This… how is this possible!
But. "Clan Head, if Madara really isn't dead, then our clan…" Yashiro hesitated for a moment. "If we stay in Konoha, do we still have a future?" He could imagine. After Konoha found out that Madara wasn't dead, how wary they would be of their clan. After all, Madara was their ancestor, and now he had easily taken away a child. Perhaps Konoha already had many other ideas… At this moment, he finally understood why Fugaku had been so gloomy for the past two days. Anyone with such pressure on their shoulders would not be so relaxed.
"Clan Head, otherwise, tonight at the Naka River…"
"Still the Naka River?" Fugaku glanced at Yashiro and sighed helplessly. This was why he was unwilling to have meetings with this group of people.
"Konoha already knows. What's the point of going to the Naka River?" Conspiring, having meetings. That required sufficient secrecy. Now, at the Naka River, who knew how many pairs of eyes were staring. To conspire there again, what was the difference from going to the Hokage's tower and discussing it loudly?
"Clan Head, I was too foolish!" Uchiha Yashiro also came to his senses, lowering his head, ashamed.
"Yashiro, you are one of the few seniors I have. Don't get too close to those elders. Many of them have become corrupt and can only see a part of the benefits and risks." Fugaku frowned and sighed softly.
"There is no future in opposing a ninja village. Aren't the lessons of the Yuki and Kaguya clans enough?" Although the Yuki and Kaguya clans were not as good as the Uchiha, they were still an extremely powerful force. And the result? Kirigakure directly used their Tailed Beast Jinchuriki. That wasn't a battle, but an annihilation, a slaughter. A single clan had no ability to resist at all.
Yashiro sat limply in his chair. "But Madara is still alive…"
"Kyohiko is right. The current Madara might just be a soul, or perhaps a person created by the real Madara through genjutsu and secret methods." A cold glint flashed in Fugaku's eyes.
After hearing this, Yashiro nodded in deep agreement. "Back then, Shodaime-sama killed Madara, and Nidaime-sama also verified it. It's impossible for Madara to still be alive. The current Madara must be a backup plan he left behind, a fake with altered memories and consciousness." Thinking of this, he also "realized" Obito's role.
"So, that guy lured Obito away to brainwash and alter Obito's memory, to turn Obito into a new Uchiha Madara?"
"Obviously." Uchiha Fugaku nodded, a slight smile slowly appearing on his face. With Kyohiko's reminder and Yashiro's cooperation, he had gradually sorted out his thoughts! That's right. The "truth" is just as he said!
"Let's have a meeting." Fugaku stood up, a confident smile on his face.
"The uneasy turmoil within the clan, it's time to put a stop to it." Even if it was the real Madara, he had to tell his clansmen that guy was fake.
The truth wasn't important. It was important that Madara didn't exist!