Uchiha Icarus relaxed visibly upon seeing Uchiha Yū and Uchiha Setsuna looking grim. Clearly, Uchiha Yuan hadn't suffered any loss this time—otherwise, their expressions wouldn't have been so awful.
Just as Icarus was about to enter, he was stopped by Uchiha Yakumi, who had just exited the house. Following him was a visibly concerned Uchiha Shisui.
"Elder Icarus, the clan head wishes to speak with Uchiha Yuan alone. Please wait a moment," Yakumi said.
Icarus glanced at Shisui and nodded in acknowledgment.
Inside the room, Uchiha Fugaku had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and was staring directly at Yuan. "Yuan, you have these eyes as well, don't you?"
Yuan said nothing, merely activating his own Mangekyō in silence.
"As expected. When did you awaken them?"
"Around half a year ago," Yuan replied casually, making up a timeline on the spot.
"Half a year, huh? No wonder you were able to so easily suppress Yashiro at the clan council, and even force Kitsuchi to retreat at Kikyo Mountain."
"What about you, Clan Head? When did you awaken your Mangekyō?"
"I awakened them a little earlier than you—about a year ago. At the time, a comrade sacrificed himself to protect me. Overwhelmed with grief, I awakened these eyes."
Yuan asked, "How many people in the clan know about your Mangekyō?"
"Only the clan's senior members. Now, you are the next to know."
"I see."
"Yuan, the Mangekyō Sharingan may be powerful, but it is also cursed. If overused…"
Fugaku then began to explain information Yuan already knew well.
Yuan didn't interrupt or reveal that he already understood everything. He listened quietly and thanked Fugaku at the end.
Once that was over, Fugaku left without lingering or mentioning anything about the Third Division of the Konoha Police Force.
After Fugaku departed, Icarus and Shisui rushed in.
Icarus asked a few questions to confirm Yuan was unharmed and then took his leave.
Shisui asked worriedly, "Yuan-senpai, the clan head didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Shisui held a special status among the doves and knew Fugaku quite well.
Yuan smiled and shook his head, then countered, "Shisui, do you think the clan head has a lot of power?"
"Of course. As head of the clan, he holds great authority," Shisui answered without hesitation.
"Then have you ever wondered—if he has so much authority, why hasn't he tried to bring order to the chaos within the clan?"
Shisui was stunned. Yuan was directly questioning Fugaku as a leader.
Fugaku wasn't just the Uchiha clan head—he also had the Mangekyō Sharingan. Yuan daring to challenge him like this was shocking.
However, after being slowly "brainwashed" by Yuan over time, Shisui, though he knew it wasn't right to question Fugaku, couldn't help but start to reflect—why had the clan head done nothing to resolve the clan's internal conflict?
Yuan noticed Shisui's blank stare and knew his words had triggered deep thought.
Over the time they'd spent together, Yuan had confirmed one thing: Shisui was smart—exceptionally so. But his vision was limited. He simply couldn't see the bigger picture, lacking the perspective to comprehend the world more deeply.
After all, unlike Yuan, Shisui hadn't been raised on modern philosophical or political thought. He didn't come from a world where people learned "how to slay dragons" from textbooks.
This was the advantage of transmigration—an overwhelming edge in worldview and knowledge.
In truth, Yuan stood on the shoulders of giants while observing the world.
"Shisui, you must know that Fugaku has the power and ability to unite the clan. And yet, look at the current state of things—
The hawks and doves are constantly clashing. And not only internally—our clan's relationship with the village is worsening.
We've just gone through the Third Great Ninja War and suffered immense losses. On top of that, the village's attitude toward us is far from welcoming.
Right now, more than ever, the clan needs unity. Only through aligning our goals and ideas can we move forward as one.
Just imagine—if Fugaku had stamped out all dissent and unified the clan, the Uchiha would be far more formidable. At the very least, the village would be forced to take us seriously.
And if we do well enough, earn enough influence—we could even become Hokage ourselves!"
Yuan's words left Shisui dumbstruck. He hadn't expected Yuan's ambitions to reach the level of clan leadership.
That was bold—extremely bold.
But now Shisui couldn't help wondering—what if Yuan really did become clan head and achieved everything he claimed? What kind of future could the Uchiha have then?
After a long pause, Shisui's expression finally became resolute.
"I'll work hard to get stronger. I'll support you," he said seriously.
Hearing this, Yuan smiled.
Shisui's statement meant one thing: after all this time, the "brainwashing" had succeeded. He had officially defected from the doves to Yuan's side.
To be fair, Yuan knew that not all the Uchiha's problems stemmed from Fugaku's actions. It wasn't fair to place the blame entirely on him.
But his indecisiveness was undeniably one of the main reasons behind the clan's eventual downfall.
So it would be best for Fugaku to step down sooner rather than later.
And to make that happen, there were only two ways. One was through peaceful negotiation. But in the Uchiha clan, that was never an easy option.
After all, every Uchiha was proud and arrogant. To reason with them, you had to first prove that you deserved to reason with them.
And how did you earn that right?
Simple—by force.
In the original story, Naruto had already demonstrated the best way to "tame" an Uchiha.
No matter how hard he tried to reason with Sasuke, it never worked. But once he beat Sasuke down at the Valley of the End, everything got resolved.
"Looks like I'll have to follow Naruto's example," Yuan thought. "If I want Fugaku to step down, I'll need to use a little violence."
(To Be Continued...)