In the Uchiha District—inside radical territory—everything had changed.
Compared to half a month ago, the enclave had doubled in size.
It had to.
Too many people had defected. Territory expanded, barriers were redesigned, patrol routes rebuilt, open posts and hidden sentries reassigned—layer after layer tightened into place.
As for the Uchiha Police Force?
Forget it.
The moment Uchiha Jhin truly took control, he ordered every radical to withdraw. And once more, softliners and moderates began joining, Jhin gave a second order: anyone who came over would also leave the Police Force immediately.
Now, the Police Force was nothing but an empty shell.
On paper, it still existed. Fugaku was still the Commander. The Police Force headquarters still had people "on duty."
But in reality, no one was enforcing anything anymore.
What was Fugaku supposed to do? Take two or three elders and a handful of elite jōnin and start doing street patrols himself?
Even Fugaku didn't have the face.
…
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was dark enough to choke the light.
Fugaku stood below the desk, quiet and still.
Hiruzen slammed a hand down, voice sharp with anger.
"Clan Head Fugaku, this is too much!"
"Can you even do your job as Police Force Commander? Look at the village—look at the chaos!"
"Where are your people? Why is no one enforcing the law right now?"
He looked ready to explode.
Yes, the Uchiha were unstable. Faction infighting was tearing them apart. And Danzō was assassinating Uchiha whenever the mood struck him, treating the district like a field of chives to harvest again and again.
But none of that gave the Police Force a pass to do nothing.
In Hiruzen's mind, as long as the Uchiha weren't wiped out yet, the Police Force had to keep functioning.
Because if the Uchiha stopped constantly offending civilians, where would the "righteous" justification come from—where would the public excuse come from—to keep pressing them?
But faced with Hiruzen's fury, Fugaku stayed strangely calm.
He only glanced at Hiruzen, then spoke with weary resignation.
"Most of the Uchiha have already gone to the radicals. What I can command now is Shisui, two or three elders from the moderates and softliners, and six or seven elite jōnin under them."
"Shisui serves in ANBU. Those elite jōnin have to protect the elders—and they have to guard against the 'enemy-village spies' that keep appearing at night."
"Are you seriously asking the Clan Head to go patrol with a few elders?"
Fugaku lifted his hands slightly, palms up.
He'd entered full burnout.
Yes—he was helpless.
And he was done pretending otherwise.
Hiruzen choked on the answer, unable to speak for a long moment.
Damn it.
When you really thought about it… Fugaku wasn't lying.
This "Clan Head" had already become a commander with no army.
Hiruzen smoked in silence for a while, then asked slowly, as if still hoping something could be salvaged.
"Did you prepare any countermeasures at all?"
"No." Fugaku didn't even lift his eyelids. "I can't think of any."
"Uchiha Jhin is using an open scheme. I lost. Fair and square."
He truly had no answer—and so he accepted it.
That was his nature.
In the original story, faced with Itachi, he'd been the same: calm, resigned, letting the blade fall.
Now he was repeating it.
Hiruzen's mouth twitched. He almost wanted to slap Fugaku across the face.
What kind of useless man—
Sure, Fugaku wasn't Jhin's match.
But surrendering without even putting up a fight?
Now things had gotten messy.
If Fugaku didn't compete with Jhin inside the clan, then once Jhin unified the Uchiha and freed his hands, what came next?
More upheaval.
More trouble.
No. Absolutely not.
At this point, Fugaku was finished—clearly beyond saving. As unwilling as it felt, Hiruzen would have to fight on Fugaku's behalf.
At the very least, he needed to help Fugaku pull in some people—force the Uchiha to keep tearing each other apart.
Hiruzen sighed, a tired heaviness pressing into his chest.
He never expected he'd have to personally intervene on Fugaku's behalf.
But Fugaku's incompetence was so shocking that it left Hiruzen almost speechless.
It was time for Shisui to support him more.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Hiruzen knocked on the desk. An ANBU operative dropped to one knee.
"Hokage-sama."
"Go find Uchiha Jhin," Hiruzen ordered. "Tell him to come to the Hokage's office immediately."
ANBU nodded and left at once.
As the door closed, the room went quiet again.
Hiruzen didn't even bother looking at Fugaku now. He only smoked, eyes narrowed, thinking.
What words—what leverage—could make Uchiha Jhin take even a single step back?
…
Meanwhile, in radical territory—inside the inner courtyard—
Uchiha Jhin sat with a young Uchiha jōnin standing before him.
But what truly held Jhin's attention wasn't the man's rank.
It was his name.
Uchiha Inabi.
Fugaku's absolute confidant.
One of Fugaku's most trusted men—and one of the strongest Uchiha in the clan.
"You're defecting to me?" Jhin's eyes flickered. "Honestly, I don't understand."
"You're Fugaku's core man. Why would you come to me?"
"As his closest confidant, it shouldn't be hard for Fugaku to keep you safe."
Jhin didn't hide his suspicion.
Inabi's position was too awkward.
Fugaku's most trusted man… openly defecting to the radical elder?
No matter how you looked at it, something felt off.
Inabi's expression didn't change.
"I have a younger sister. The district isn't safe."
"I have to guard the Clan Head every day. I don't have time to protect her. That's the surface reason."
He paused.
"Truthfully, I've lost hope in the Clan Head."
"The day you became a radical elder and established this territory, I thought Fugaku should've stopped you—no matter the cost."
"Even if it meant fighting a battle inside the clan, he should've done it."
"His indecision cost him the best chance he'll ever get."
Inabi's gaze was steady—almost cold.
"Now the village's slander grows worse by the day. Uchiha vanish every night. Fugaku is Clan Head, and yet he can't find any way to stop it."
"Even after your method proved it could work, Fugaku still couldn't bring himself to imitate it."
"That's when I finally saw him clearly."
"Fugaku has no decisiveness."
"War or peace—at least choose one."
"But with his hesitation… and the complex relationship between the clan and the village… I believe following Fugaku is a death sentence waiting to happen."
He breathed out.
"That's why I'm defecting to the radicals. Sincerely."
"Fugaku isn't fit to be Clan Head. I want to support Jhin-kun as Clan Head."
"I don't know whether the Uchiha's situation will improve under you."
"But I do know this—"
"It will be better than Fugaku."
"And that's enough."