As the battle ended, countless Uchiha finally swarmed in.
"Satoshi, what are you doing?! You killed the young clan head!"
They looked at Itachi, who was lying in a pool of blood, and then stared at Satoshi, who stood holding his blade, with shock and fury, as questions and curses surged like a tide.
The air instantly became charged with tension.
Satoshi shook off the blood. He slowly scanned the enraged clan members, his gaze as sharp as a knife.
His voice was not loud, but it clearly suppressed all the clamor. "Itachi, son of clan head Fugaku, has been misled by Konoha's high-ranking officials, Danzo and others, and colluded with the rogue ninja Obito. They intend to slaughter every man, woman, and child of the Uchiha clan."
At these words, the entire scene fell into a dead silence.
This news exploded in the mind of every Uchiha.
Slaughter the entire clan? Executed by the young clan head himself?
If that were the case, then Shisui's death must also be inextricably linked to Itachi.
They looked at Itachi's corpse on the ground, then at the stern-faced Satoshi, and for a moment, they didn't know whom to believe.
Then, the pancake shop owner moved closer with a few severely wounded and dying clan members.
"We can testify. If it weren't for Satoshi, everyone would have died today."
Just then, the crowd parted as if by an invisible force.
Fugaku walked out step by step. The usually authoritative clan head now looked ashen, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
He looked at his son's cold corpse, then at Satoshi, who stood holding his blade.
His lips moved a few times, but in the end, he couldn't say anything. There was unspeakable grief in his eyes, and a deep sense of powerlessness.
Satoshi coldly asked, "Clan head Fugaku, do you have anything to say?"
Fugaku felt a buzzing in his head and his vision blurred.
He had anticipated many outcomes: being deposed as clan head by the enraged clan members.
Or being expelled from Konoha and losing his life in the struggle.
He just hadn't expected to have to personally expose his eldest son's crimes.
Things had come to this, and Fugaku had no retreat.
Once Itachi's plans in his brain were extracted, his second son, Sasuke, would surely be torn to pieces by the enraged clan members.
Fugaku painfully closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, only endless exhaustion and submission remained.
He painstakingly raised his head, faced all the clan members, and with all his strength, announced in a hoarse voice, "I resign from the position of Uchiha clan head. Satoshi will temporarily take my place."
After a brief silence, the Uchiha clan members once again brought up the issue of rebellion.
"Satoshi, lead us in rebellion!"
"That's right, those scoundrels in Konoha have gone mad, they're pinning every blame on us!"
...
Seeing this, Fugaku became anxious. Satoshi was young and impetuous, and he didn't understand the implications.
But then, Satoshi shouted loudly, "Silence! Rebellion? Don't talk nonsense!"
"Konoha is the village jointly established by First Hokage-sama and Madara-sama."
"This is our home. Konoha is theirs, and Konoha is ours!"
"The current situation is not because Konoha is wrong, nor is it because Hokage-sama is wrong. It's because there are treacherous villains lurking around Hokage-sama."
"They have deceived the wise Hokage-sama. They have sowed discord, attempting to destroy Uchiha."
"Our responsibility is not to destroy our home, but to set things right."
"What we need to do is to eliminate those malignant tumors, to help the great Hokage-sama, clear out the scoundrels around him, and restore peace and order to Konoha."
Hearing this, Fugaku was stunned.
This kid...
Satoshi's words had a hidden meaning. In just a few sentences, he had forcefully twisted a brewing bloody rebellion into an act of loyalty to cleanse the ruler.
The stance instantly shifted from rebellion to protecting the master, and the risk was minimized.
But some clan members didn't understand. They were still wondering why they suddenly had to work for the Hokage again?
Had Satoshi been bought off too?
Later, they heard people around them discussing in low voices, and only then did they realize.
Awesome!
At the same time, they also had a question in their hearts.
Where did Satoshi, at such a young age, get so much cunning? From whom did he learn it?
As they were discussing, a short figure came into their sight.
Sasuke returned home to find no one there. He searched everywhere for his parents and clan members.
"Father, why are you here? Nii-san..."
Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, he inadvertently caught sight of a figure kneeling on the ground.
It was his older brother, Itachi.
"Nii-san!"
Sasuke rushed over recklessly, only to find that Itachi had long since lost his life.
Under the immense shock, he let out a hysterical roar.
"AHHHHH!"
Accompanying this roar, filled with endless pain, a point of crimson suddenly lit up in Sasuke's originally dark and pure eyes, then condensed into a clear and eerie black tomoe, slowly rotating.
Under the extreme stimulation of his brother's death, Sasuke, at only seven years old, awakened his one-tomoe Sharingan in anger.
"Father! Who killed my brother? I want to avenge him!"
Sasuke suddenly looked up, his bloodshot one-tomoe Sharingan fixed on Fugaku, his body trembling violently from the extreme hatred.
Fugaku restrained Sasuke, who was on the verge of going berserk, and said nothing.
Revenge?
The former clan head's eldest son betrayed the clan, and now his younger son wants to assassinate the new clan head?
At that point, not only would their whole family be slaughtered, but their ancestral graves might even be dug up and thrown out.
Sasuke's frantic struggles gradually weakened, the immense mental shock and Chakra depletion causing his vision to blacken in waves, and his consciousness rapidly sank into boundless darkness.
What struck the clan members as strange was that despite the huge commotion they had caused, there was no reaction from the village.
In the past, Anbu would have already come knocking to question them. They might even have taken the clan head for half a day of interrogation.
It wasn't until the next day that Hiruzen sent someone to see the clan head of the Uchiha clan.
Hokage Office.
Hiruzen had smoked so many cigarettes that the entire office was filled with smoke.
He was well aware of the intense Chakra fluctuations and commotion that had erupted in the Uchiha clan compound last night, and even the appearance of the legendary Susanoo.
But the subsequent developments had completely deviated from his worst expectations.
He sent someone to summon the Uchiha clan head, wanting to personally ascertain the situation.
He hadn't expected Satoshi to be the one to open the door and enter.
When he saw him, Hiruzen suddenly froze for a moment.
Why did it seem like he saw a faint outline behind him?
It seemed he truly was getting old and his eyes were starting to play tricks on him.
After a brief moment of distraction, Hiruzen asked, "Where is Fugaku?"
Satoshi said, "Clan head Fugaku is ill in bed. He sent me to report on his behalf."
Hiruzen finally put down his pipe, looking at Satoshi with surprise, filled with emotion.
During the Chunin Exams, he thought Satoshi was just a talented ninja, but now he could even speak on behalf of the clan head.
Did he really hold such significant weight within the Uchiha clan?
However, this was also good. At least Satoshi had inherited Kagami's will, so he probably wouldn't do anything too outrageous.
"Come, sit down and talk. I'll brew you some good tea."
Hiruzen poured water as he spoke, "This was sent by Ōnoki's people. Even Koharu and the others haven't tasted it."
It was a good thing Fugaku didn't come today, or he would have been furious.
In the past, when he came, let alone tea leaves, he wouldn't even be given a cup of cold water.
It really was about treating people differently based on who they were.
Hiruzen was very clever and didn't mention the Uchiha's attempted coup. Instead, he asked about Satoshi's experiences outside, and casually said a few words about his hard work and that he should rest well during this period.
Satoshi followed his lead, briefly reporting on the mission situation.
Finally, Hiruzen subtly guided the conversation towards the core issue.
As they chatted, they finally got to the point.
"Danzo is missing."
"He's dead."
"Who killed him?"
"Itachi."
"And Itachi?"
"He's dead too."
"Where's the body?"
"Burned. The ashes are at the cemetery."