Another elder screamed as well, terror twisting his voice until he forgot the pain in his shattered arms. "Where is Fugaku Uchiha? Where is he? What did you do to him?!"
"When did it start?" "From when, exactly?!"
Faced with their hysterical questions, Fugaku Uchiha only looked down at them. There was no joy of revenge and no pity, only coldness. His voice was calm to the point of fear.
"From the beginning," he said. "There was never any Fugaku Uchiha."
"There was only me." "From the moment you pushed me out to die, I wrapped my forehead in bandages and played my brother day after day, year after year."
His gaze swept over the four faces twisted by pain, fear, and collapse. Silence pressed down on them like weight.
"No… no…" one elder shook his head hoarsely. "How could this be? How could you hide it for so long?!"
Fugaku Uchiha slowly crouched down until he was eye level with the elder. His movements were unhurried, carrying a quiet cruelty. His voice was soft and chilling.
"I wonder that myself," he said. "How did you never notice?"
"For all these years, I did well as clan head, didn't I?" He pulled his lips into a curve that was not a smile but mockery. "Just a single bandage, and you never saw through it."
"You people are truly arrogant, and laughable."
His words shattered the last defense in the hearts of the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family elders. They stared at the glaring Caged Bird curse mark on Fugaku Uchiha's forehead and felt everything they believed in collapse. Rage mixed with the terror of being judged by their own sacrifice, and it pushed them toward madness.
"Why, Fugaku Uchiha! We… cough!" The thin elder tried to speak but coughed up blood, his voice shaking. "We did it for the Ryoma Clan!"
"For order in the Ryoma Clan! It was a necessary sacrifice! Don't you understand?!"
"Necessary sacrifice?" Fugaku Uchiha repeated, turning to him. The mockery on his face deepened. "Well said."
"Then now," he said, his eyes moving over all four of them, "for me, and for the 'rebirth' of the Ryoma Clan…"
He paused. Under their shrinking pupils, he suddenly reached out toward the coughing elder.
"Please." "Make a 'necessary sacrifice' as well."
"No…" The elder screamed in absolute terror.
His resistance meant nothing. Fugaku Uchiha's fingers plunged into his eye socket with precise coldness.
A wet tearing sound followed. "Ahhh!"
Blood and unrecognizable tissue poured out as Fugaku Uchiha pulled free a pale Pure Byakugan still connected by nerves. The sudden cruelty froze the others, fear bursting from their chests.
"You! What are you doing?!" One elder screamed hoarsely, kicking the floor and dragging his ruined body backward to escape Fugaku Uchiha. The other two whimpered and crawled away in panic.
"Fugaku Uchiha! You can't do this!" another elder roared. "You're destroying the Ryoma Clan! You're destroying its legacy, you madman!"
Fugaku Uchiha stood up slowly, holding the dripping eyeball. "I said it already," he whispered as he walked step by step toward them. "This will be the rebirth of the Ryoma Clan."
He reached the elder and ignored his frantic struggle. One hand clamped onto his head, forcing it still. Two fingers moved toward his bulging Pure Byakugan.
"No! Don't! Please! Fugaku Uchiha!" The begging was broken and pathetic.
Another wet sound rang out. The elder's plea turned into a shrill scream as his body curled and shook on the floor, hands clutching the bloody holes in his face.
The last two elders turned deathly pale. Their teeth chattered, and they could not even scream as they watched Fugaku Uchiha walk toward them without expression. The sounds followed one after another.
When it was over, Fugaku Uchiha stood straight and took out a container filled with green liquid. He gently placed four pairs of Pure Byakugan inside, sealed it carefully, and then turned to Danzo who had watched in silence.
"There are still some Otsutsuki Clan Main Family members outside," he said coldly. "I will help Neji Hyuga Ryoma deal with them. I'll leave this place to you."
Ignoring the brief flash of greed in Danzo's eye, he spoke without warmth. Danzo narrowed his eye, calculated for a moment, and nodded.
"Mm," he answered hoarsely. "Don't forget our agreement."
"Won't forget," Fugaku Uchiha said without turning back. He stepped out of the Washitsu and disappeared into the darkness beyond the door.
Inside, only the elders' painful breathing and screams remained. Not long after Fugaku Uchiha left, one elder jolted as if struck by a thought. He caught a terrifying detail from the earlier exchange.
"Wait… wait!" He struggled and screamed with all his strength. "What did you mean by clearing them? The screams outside… were those not… ahh!"
A wooden sandal came down hard on his lower leg and began to grind. Bone cracked with a sharp sound, and the elder screamed even worse than before.
Danzo stood above him, his single eye full of cruel amusement and killing intent. His foot pressed down slowly.
"You didn't seriously think," he said with malice, "that those screams were my Root helping you clean up the Branch Family, did you?"
The scream stopped at once. Even without eyes, the elder's face froze in terror and disbelief.
"The real prey," Danzo whispered like a snake, "was you arrogant Otsutsuki Clan Main Family bastards from the very beginning."
The realization crushed them all. The ones acting were not Root. The slaughtered prey were not the Branch Family. It was the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family being wiped out.
"No! You're insane! All of you are insane!" The elder collapsed, blood pouring from his empty sockets as he screamed with wrath. "You can't do this! The Otsutsuki Clan Main Family are the core of the Ryoma Clan… ahh!"
Danzo straightened and sneered. He stomped down again, shattering the other leg and drawing another scream.
"That's not something you need to worry about anymore," he said coldly. "It's a pity you sent Hyuga Tokuma's family away for secrecy. Otherwise I would have had more materials."
"But this is enough." "I won't let you die easily."
After that, Fugaku Uchiha did not go to assist other Branch Family members as he had said. Once he left the bloody Washitsu, his steps turned toward his own residence, or rather, his brother's estate. The house was silent, sharply contrasting with the distant chaos outside.
He stopped outside Hinata Ryoma Mirai's bedroom and pushed the door open just a crack. Inside, Hinata Ryoma Mirai slept peacefully, and in a nearby cradle, the newborn Hanabi slept wrapped in blankets. They were completely unaware of the night that would change their lives.
Fugaku Uchiha watched them for a moment, did not enter, and gently closed the door as if he had never been there. He then returned to the spacious bedroom of the "clan head" and pressed on a seemingly ordinary wall. A hidden door slid open, releasing cold, damp air from below.
Fugaku Uchiha stepped into the darkness without hesitation. The door closed behind him, cutting off all light and sound. He descended familiar steps until he reached the deepest part of the chamber.
A man sat there, worn but clean, hair messy, face haggard. His face was almost identical to Fugaku Uchiha's, but his forehead was smooth, without the Caged Bird curse mark. Hearing footsteps, the man slowly looked up.