The Clan Assembly dissolved into chaos, leaving behind a fractured and panicked crowd.
Stripped of his political victory and utterly humiliated, Clan Head Fugaku Uchiha lacked the face to remain at the Naka Shrine. He offered a few weak, placating words to the remaining Moderates before hastily retreating to his estate.
Uchiha Shisui watched Fugaku's retreating back, his eyes heavy with profound disappointment. 'Can a man this passive truly suppress a mastermind like Jin?' Shisui wondered silently.
However, Fugaku's leadership was no longer Shisui's primary concern. Jin's revelation regarding Danzo Shimura was too catastrophic to ignore. The allegation that the Root Commander possessed a right arm grafted with Hashirama cells, embedded with stolen Sharingan, and wielded the lost Mangekyou of Uchiha Kagami threatened to tear the village apart.
Shisui took a deep breath, his decision made. "Clan Head," he called out, his tone rigid and formal. "I am going to see the Hokage immediately. I must personally verify the intelligence regarding Danzo's possession of a Mangekyou Sharingan."
Without waiting for Fugaku's permission or acknowledgment, Shisui executed the Body Flicker Jutsu (Shunshin), vanishing in a blur of motion.
Fugaku's face darkened with absolute fury. Jin had already battered his authority; now, Shisui was blatantly ignoring the chain of command. A suffocating anger burned in Fugaku's chest, but lacking the leverage to punish Shisui, he forcefully swallowed his pride and continued his silent walk home.
***
Shortly after Fugaku arrived at his estate, Uchiha Inabi rushed into the main hall, dropping to one knee.
"Clan Head, we have a critical situation," Inabi reported, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "The Radical Faction—both their shinobi and civilian families—have completely relocated. They have consolidated around Uchiha Jin's residence. They erected a defensive barrier, established overlapping patrol routes, and stationed hidden sentries. They have created a militarized zone within our own district."
The news was a direct assault on the clan's unity. Factions were common, but physically dividing the territory and establishing an independent military chain of command was borderline treason.
Crash!
Fugaku hurled his teacup against the wall, shattering it into pieces. "Bastard!" he roared, his Sharingan blazing to life. "What is Jin trying to achieve? Does he want to forcefully tear the Uchiha Clan in half?"
Fugaku was trembling with rage. For years, he had walked on thin ice, swallowing every insult from the Konoha Administration just to keep the clan whole and avoid a massacre. Now, Jin was ripping that fragile stability to shreds in a single night.
Inabi remained kneeling, his head bowed. However, internally, he felt no sympathy for his Clan Head. Instead, Inabi's eyes flickered with a profound sense of realization and doubt.
Jin's harsh words at the shrine echoed in Inabi's mind. He began to analyze Fugaku's track record, specifically during the Nine-Tails Attack seven years ago.
'When the Nine-Tails attacked, the Uchiha Police Force was fully mobilized to save the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze,' Inabi recalled. 'But Danzo ordered us to stand down and remain at the compound. Back then, Jin—who was just an ordinary shinobi—argued that we should ignore Danzo, stating that Minato was the Hokage and our duty was to him. Fugaku rejected Jin's advice and obeyed Danzo.'
'The result? Minato died. The village blamed the Uchiha for the attack because we didn't help. We were stripped of our ancestral lands and pushed to the edge of the village.' Inabi's internal logic clicked into place. 'Jin was right seven years ago. Fugaku's obedience only brought us ruin. Jin isn't rebelling out of malice; he is rebelling because Fugaku's cowardice is literally getting us killed.'
Despite this realization, dividing the clan was a severe taboo. Inabi looked up, his eyes shining with a desperate, final hope. 'Give the order, Fugaku,' Inabi thought. 'Order us to crush the mutiny. Show us you have the spine to lead.'
"Inabi!" Fugaku snapped, breaking the silence.
"Yes, Clan Head!" Inabi responded, his tone sharpening, ready for war.
Fugaku's expression twisted into a knot of deep conflict. His anger warred with his inherent fear of confrontation. Finally, his shoulders slumped, the fire dying from his eyes.
"No... let it go," Fugaku sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. "The Uchiha cannot endure an internal war right now. We will deal with Jin later. Stand down. Treat the Radicals' relocation as if it never happened."
The light of hope in Inabi's eyes extinguished completely. His Clan Head was too weak to fight the village, and too weak to control his own men. "Understood," Inabi replied flatly. He bowed and left the room, his loyalty to Fugaku forever severed.
***
Outside, the Uchiha compound was a hive of frantic activity.
Arguments erupted on every street corner. The Moderates stubbornly insisted that the Hokage's leniency was Fugaku's doing, but they were quickly losing ground. Jin's warning about Danzo harvesting the eyes of missing Uchiha border patrols had struck a primal nerve.
For many, survival outweighed politics. Throughout the night, families packed their belongings, abandoning their ancestral homes to cross the newly drawn border into the Radical zone. The Radicals welcomed the defectors without hesitation. Every new arrival strengthened their numbers and validated Jin's absolute authority.
***
Inside the Radical zone, within the quiet confines of his bedroom, Uchiha Jin sat cross-legged.
His six-pointed Mangekyou Sharingan spun slowly in the dark.
Every use of a Mangekyou Sharingan damages the user's optic nerves, inevitably leading to permanent blindness. The only established methods to cure this degradation were transplanting a close relative's Mangekyou—creating an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan—or grafting the rapidly regenerating cells of Hashirama Senju.
Jin possessed neither. However, his analytical mind had dissected the mechanics of his unique Mangekyou dojutsu: 'Ame-no-Tokotachi' (Heavenly Standing).
Through careful experimentation, Jin had discovered a mechanical loophole. By activating 'Ame-no-Tokotachi' at a microscopic, baseline output, he created an energy loop. The jutsu expended one unit of ocular power to maintain, but its specific reality-manipulating properties passively regenerated two units over the same duration.
It was an agonizingly slow process, vastly inferior to the instantaneous recovery of an Eternal Mangekyou. However, for a strategist who relied on logic and patience rather than genetic cheat codes, it was the perfect solution. He could slowly heal his vision and replenish his reserves, preparing his physical body for the inevitable war to come.