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Chapter 63 - CHAPTER 62

  "Brother-in-law, you overestimate me."

  Duan shook his head. He had no interest in the so-called revival of the Uchiha. He had not awakened the Mangekyō, much less the Eternal Mangekyō or the legendary Rinnegan.

  "Very well. I won't force you."

  Fugaku mistook Duan's refusal as modesty. Smiling faintly, he patted his brother-in-law's shoulder and dropped the matter. But then his eyes grew serious, his voice lowering.

  "Tell me honestly, Duan. If one day our Uchiha truly attempt an armed coup, what chance do you think we have of victory?"

  Duan's answer came flat and decisive. "At most, thirty percent."

  He did not even count his own strength in the equation.

  "…You see the same as I do."

  Fugaku's bitter smile betrayed the weight on his heart. He explained that even if Uchiha crushed the Hokage faction, dismantled Anbu and the allied clans, and seized Konoha's seat of power, it would only be half a coup.

  The problems that followed would be far worse.

  Inside the village, the Uchiha were loathed. No one would accept them as Hokage. Beyond the walls, the other Great Shinobi Nations would seize the chaos to invade, turning on Uchiha from all sides.

  "In the end, it would be destruction." Fugaku's voice was heavy. "That's why, Duan, you must remember—the true hope for Uchiha lies not in rebellion, but in what the Sage of Six Paths left on this tablet."

  His words were earnest, almost pleading.

  Duan's eyes flickered, but at last he nodded calmly. "I understand, brother-in-law."

---

  He stepped forward, crouching before the stone tablet.

  Fugaku felt relief. Duan had finally recognized the significance of the scripture—perhaps he would seek guidance in the ancient words.

  But then—

  A glint of steel flashed in Duan's gaze. Without warning, he drove his fist into the stone with thunderous force.

  Boom!

  The chamber shook, dust cascading from the ceiling. The gust of his strike blew out the braziers, drowning the secret room in pitch-black silence.

  "Duan, what are you doing?!"

  Fugaku's voice trembled with shock. He relit the braziers, only to find the stone tablet utterly unmarked—its surface flawless, not a single crack marring its ancient body.

  Of course. The Sage himself had inscribed this relic. He imbued it with power beyond steel, ensuring his message would endure for millennia, guiding future generations toward unity.

  But Duan only narrowed his eyes.

  "A stone left by a dead man? I don't believe it's unbreakable."

  He clenched his fists again.

  "Duan, stop!" Fugaku roared, rushing forward.

  Too late.

  "Za Warudo."

  Time froze. Within the stillness, Duan and his Stand unleashed a storm of fists.

  "ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

  Hundreds of strikes rained down on the tablet in mere seconds, each blow carrying the full weight of his resolve.

  Time resumed.

  Fugaku grabbed Duan's wrists, halting him—relieved he had stopped the madness in time. But then came the sound.

  Crack.

  Fugaku's head whipped toward the tablet. His heart sank as he saw it—webs of fractures spreading across the stone's once flawless surface. The illusions dissolved, the writing unraveling into nothingness, and then—

  Crash!

  The great stone tablet, the legacy of the Sage of Six Paths, crumbled into rubble at their feet.

---

  "…"

  Fugaku's mind reeled. His grip slackened, his strength gone. He fell to his knees, hands trembling as they sifted through shards, his eyes refusing the truth before him.

  "Why… why would you do this?" His voice was raw with anger, disappointment, confusion.

  Duan stood above him, indifferent. "Brother-in-law. Entrusting the fate of our clan to a single stone, whose origin you cannot even prove—is that fitting for a leader?"

  "This was the stele of our ancestor, the Sage of Six Paths!" Fugaku's voice cracked.

  "So what."

  Duan's tone was cutting. "The words of the dead are shackles. The Uchiha's path must be forged by the living."

  His arrogance or conviction—it was impossible to tell. But Fugaku was struck silent, his breath caught in disbelief.

  "Rebuild it if you wish," Duan said coldly. "But from this day, let our generation carve Uchiha's history with our own hands."

  With that, he turned and left the chamber.

---

  To him, the decision was not rash. He knew well enough the rest of the stone's secrets: the merging of Yin Release and Yang Release, the truth Madara deciphered, the theft of Hashirama's power, and the awakening of the Rinnegan. He knew too of the final tampering—Black Zetsu's deceit, the Eye of the Moon plan.

  That cursed stone was the seed of ruin, the whisper that led Madara and others astray. Better to smash it than let it fool another generation into chasing Infinite Tsukuyomi—a hollow dream world.

  What meaning was there in a life where freedom was illusion, and reality replaced with fantasy?

  Duan desired no such world. His pursuit was absolute freedom—body and soul unbound.

---

  Long after Duan's departure, Fugaku remained, staring at the rubble.

  At last, his expression hardened. Slowly, his Mangekyō spun to life, tomoe twisting into its kaleidoscopic form.

  In silence, he activated its power.

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