The ground shook under the thundering footsteps of hundreds of people.
The iconic uniforms of the Konoha Military Police Force formed a sea of blue and green. Even in the dark, they were unmistakable.
Every single one of them had their katana drawn.
Fugaku Uchiha was leading the charge.
The Clan Head, usually a man of stone-faced stoicism, wore an expression of pure fury mixed with frantic worry.
The images on the Sky Projection had nearly given him a heart attack.
Sasuke lying in a pool of blood. Naruto losing control. Danzo ordering a massacre.
That was his son. That was the future of the Uchiha. And Danzo had tried to snuff it out.
"Move!"
Fugaku roared.
Behind him, Yashiro, Tekka, and the other elite Jonin picked up the pace.
They were mentally prepared. Tonight was the final battle.
If the village wouldn't let them live, they would carve out a path of survival with their own blades. Uchiha steel was sharp enough to make the village bleed.
Even if the clan was wiped out, they would take a chunk of the high command with them.
The Mirage Dojo was just ahead.
Fugaku gripped his sword hilt, his mind racing through worst-case scenarios.
Maybe the shop was already leveled. Maybe Sasuke had been kidnapped. Maybe a bloodbath was underway.
Please let me be on time, he prayed.
The squad burst around the corner.
Fugaku skidded to a halt. The clan members behind him stopped dead in their tracks.
Everyone stared at the scene before them, their brains suffering a collective short-circuit.
The shabby little shop was still standing, lights on.
There was no Root blockade at the door.
Through the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, they could see everything inside.
Dozens of Root ninjas in black bodysuits were lying on the floor in perfect formation.
But the pose was weird.
Heads smashed into the floor, butts in the air. Like they were bowing in extreme submission.
What the hell is this? Everyone was confused.
In the center of this human carpet lay an old acquaintance.
Danzo Shimura.
The "Darkness of the Shinobi," who usually walked sideways through the village like a crab, ignoring even the Uchiha, was now eating dirt. Half his face was swollen like a pig's head.
"This..."
Yashiro swallowed hard.
He looked at the sword in his hand, then at Danzo on the floor.
Do we still fight? How?
Root got squad-wiped? Who did this?
Fugaku ignored Danzo.
His eyes scanned the shop interior.
Quickly, he found the small figure.
Sasuke was standing by the counter. He was filthy, his clothes stained with blood.
But he was standing. He was alive.
Fugaku felt a mountain lift off his chest.
If that shopkeeper hadn't intervened, if Danzo had succeeded, Sasuke would be a corpse right now.
"Sasuke!"
Fugaku shouted.
Sasuke turned his head.
The moment he saw his father, the seven-year-old's brave front collapsed.
"Father..."
Sasuke tried to run to him, but his legs gave out.
Fugaku flickered into the shop with Body Flicker.
He wasn't affected by the gravity field.
Roy sat behind the counter, tea in hand. He gave Fugaku a brief glance, then looked away.
That was permission.
Fugaku grabbed Sasuke in a bear hug.
"It's okay now." Fugaku patted Sasuke's back. "Father is here."
Sasuke gripped Fugaku's robe, sobbing uncontrollably. Snot and tears ran down his face. He was just a kid, after all.
"Father... Itachi... Danzo he..."
"I know."
Fugaku stood up, shielding Sasuke behind him.
He turned to look at Danzo, still glued to the floor.
"Danzo Shimura."
Fugaku ground the name out through clenched teeth.
If looks could kill, Danzo would have been sliced into a thousand pieces.
Just then, a dozen shadows landed on the roof of the shop.
The Hokage's direct ANBU Black Ops.
Moments later, more ANBU arrived from all directions, encircling the shop.
An ANBU Captain dropped down.
He took one look at the carnage inside—the prostrate Root agents—and his eyes widened behind his mask. But he quickly composed himself.
"Fugaku Uchiha."
The Captain's voice was icy.
"A serious assault has occurred here. Please stand down immediately and let us handle the crime scene."
He waved his hand.
Several ANBU moved to rush the shop, intending to "rescue" Danzo and secure the mysterious shopkeeper.
"Halt."
Fugaku spoke.
The ANBU didn't stop.
In their eyes, the Police Force was just glorified mall security. They had no authority to interfere with ANBU ops.
"I SAID HALT!"
Schwing.
Fugaku's katana flashed, blocking the ANBU's path.
"Clan Head Uchiha, are you disobeying a direct order?" The Captain's tone darkened. "We need to secure the suspect."
"Suspect?"
Fugaku laughed cold and hard.
He pointed at Danzo on the floor.
"That animal ordered the slaughter of the Uchiha clan. He ordered the death of infants. Is that the person you're protecting?"
"And the shopkeeper who saved my son, who revealed the truth... he is the suspect in your eyes?"
The Captain choked.
But his orders were absolute: Control the situation. Retrieve Danzo. Seal the information.
"This is a direct order from the Hokage's office. Obstructing the ANBU is treason."
The Captain drew the blade from his back.
Around him, the other ANBU drew their weapons. The air snapped with tension.
Outside, the Uchiha clan members surged forward, facing off against the ANBU.
It was a powder keg waiting for a spark.
"Treason?"
Fugaku lowered his head.
"You plan to exterminate us all, and you have the nerve to talk to me about treason?"
Fugaku's pitch-black eyes turned blood red.
Three tomoe spun wildly.
They didn't stop spinning.
They merged into a solid shape—a geometric triangle with a black dot in the center.
The Mangekyo Sharingan.
A chakra aura filled with pure destruction exploded from Fugaku.
Pebbles on the ground began to float, defying gravity.
The ANBU Captain stared at Fugaku's eyes in horror.
Those are... the legendary eyes?
Fugaku Uchiha was hiding this kind of power?
"Anyone who touches my son."
Fugaku's voice lost its usual commanding tone and sounded like a demon crawling out of hell.
"Anyone who touches this shop."
He took a step forward.
The pavement beneath his foot shattered into dust.
"The Uchiha will wash the Leaf in blood tonight!"
The ANBU stepped back, intimidated by the sheer pressure.
No one wanted to poke the bear right now.
An Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan was basically a human Tailed Beast.
In the midst of the standoff, the crowd parted.
An old man in the Hokage's robes walked through.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He wasn't wearing his hat. His hair was messy, and sweat was beading on his forehead.
He had clearly sprinted here.
He saw the situation inside.
He saw Danzo lying like a dead dog. He saw Fugaku's Mangekyo.
And he saw the shopkeeper behind the counter, watching it all like it was a matinee movie.
Hiruzen's heart sank to the bottom of the ocean.
The worst-case scenario had happened. But he had to stabilize it. He was the Hokage.
Hiruzen took a deep breath, forcing a look of pained regret onto his face.
"Fugaku, put down the sword first."
Hiruzen stepped forward, trying to use his "kindly grandfather" voice.
"There is a misunderstanding here."
"Danzo's actions were his own rogue decisions. I knew nothing about them."
"We are all comrades of the Leaf. Let's not let outsiders see us fighting."
The same old script. Fugaku was sick of this gaslighting.
In the past, he would have backed down to save face for the Hokage. Survival meant playing the game.
But tonight, the board had been flipped.
"Misunderstanding?"
Fugaku didn't sheath his sword. He pointed it straight at Hiruzen.
The ANBU gasped.
Pointing a blade at the Hokage? That was open rebellion.
"Was the Sky Projection a misunderstanding too?"
Fugaku's voice boomed.
Hundreds of onlookers heard him clearly.
"That line—'Make sure it's a clean job'—was that a misunderstanding too?"
Hiruzen's face darkened.
"That was... an image created by Genjutsu..." He tried to lie.
"ENOUGH!"
Fugaku roared, cutting him off.
"Hiruzen! How long are you going to keep acting?!"
"Danzo is lying right there! His Root agents are kneeling right there! If this shopkeeper hadn't intervened, my son would be dead! Naruto would be dead!"
Fugaku pointed his sword at the floor.
"Is this your 'I didn't know'?"
"Your Hokage Advisor mobilizes dozens of elite assassins to conduct a hit in the center of the village, and you tell me you didn't know?"
"Then what kind of failure of a Hokage are you?!"
Every word was a dagger.
Hiruzen wanted to argue, but he couldn't find a foothold.
Logic loop complete.
Either he was an accomplice, or he was an incompetent puppet.
Admitting either one meant his authority was toast.
This was a checkmate. An open conspiracy.
Fugaku turned his back on the Hokage.
He looked directly at Roy behind the counter.
The young shopkeeper was still calm, as if the political storm outside had nothing to do with him.
Fugaku sheathed his sword.
He bowed deeply to Roy. A full, formal bow.
It was the gratitude of a father and a Clan Head.
"This shopkeeper showed us the truth."
Fugaku straightened up and turned back to face the Third, the ANBU, and the villagers.
His voice echoed down the street.
"From this day forward."
"The Uchiha Clan takes no orders from the High Council."
" The Police Force will protect the villagers. We will no longer execute political orders from the Hokage's office."
"We trust only ourselves."
"And..."
Fugaku thumbed over his shoulder at the Mirage Dojo.
"This shop is under Uchiha protection."
"Anyone who wants to touch this place will have to ask the Uchiha sword first!"
"ROAR!"
Outside, the Uchiha clan members roared in unison. The will of the clan was united. This shop was now Uchiha territory.
Roy shrugged. He didn't really care—he was invincible inside the shop anyway.
But watching the drama unfold was entertaining.
The Uchiha drew their weapons and formed a human wall around the shop.
Hiruzen stood there, dazed.
The crowd of onlookers was growing.
In the past, if a clan defied the Hokage like this, the villagers would have turned on them.
But now? Silence.
The people looked at the Third Hokage with suspicion and coldness.
Some were even whispering.
"The Uchiha are right..."
"If the village tried to kill my family, I'd rebel too."
"I'm so disappointed in Lord Third."
The wind had shifted.
Hiruzen knew he had lost.
The Sky Projection tore off his mask. Fugaku's ultimatum broke his power.
If he ordered the ANBU to attack now, to suppress the Uchiha...
He would be confirming the charge of slaughtering his own comrades.
The villagers wouldn't support him.
Even the other clans—the Hyuga, the Ino-Shika-Cho, the Aburame—were watching from the sidelines, cold and calculating.
They were weighing the risks: If the Third kills the Uchiha today, will he kill us tomorrow?
The hearts of the people were gone. He couldn't lead the team anymore.
Cold sweat trickled down Hiruzen's forehead.
If he attacked now, Konoha would fracture. Civil war was one order away.