Within the barrier of the Uchiha Clan Grounds, over ten Uchiha elders were engaged in heated debate.
"Let me say this once more," the most senior elder declared, striking the table with a palm. His voice remained steady yet carried undeniable authority. "Fugaku and Mikoto are already betrothed. We're merely transferring the Clan Head position to Mikoto temporarily as a transitional measure. What's improper about this?"
Another elder sneered coldly. "Don't joke about this. The Uchiha clan has never had a female Clan Head."
"Times have changed."
"Even changing times shouldn't disrupt our traditions."
"This concerns the Uchiha's future! This isn't some game!"
The argument within the main hall intensified, Sharingan eyes flickering open and closed like a murder of crows ready to draw blades at any moment.
Meanwhile, outside the barrier, two figures sat quietly in the shadows beneath the corridor.
Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto sat silently side by side, neither setting foot into the main hall.
Mikoto's fingers dug tightly into her knees, her knuckles turning pale.
Being pushed into the Clan Head position related to her strength and Sunlight Power, but this was never something she actively sought.
Instead, it was precisely what she least wanted to see - something that would create awkwardness and distance between her and Fugaku.
She tilted her head to glance at Fugaku-nii.
Fugaku was slightly leaning back, gazing at the wooden eaves with a faint smile gracing his lips.
He showed no anger, no displeasure.
Just that... gentle, reassuring, dependable smile.
Mikoto quietly released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, her heart finally unclenching.
So Fugaku-nii didn't mind.
Her eyes trembled slightly as warmth flooded her heart. Noticing her subtle movement, Fugaku gently patted her shoulder, comforting her gently as he had countless times before.
Then he stood up.
Mikoto immediately looked up. "Are you leaving?"
Fugaku shook his head.
"I don't need to go in."
"Once they've reached their decision... they can just inform me."
Mikoto opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.
Fugaku simply gave her a gentle, encouraging smile.
Then he turned and walked away.
However, the moment Uchiha Fugaku stepped beyond the Uchiha family's gate...
That gentle face...
That reassuring smile...
Shattered silently in the empty corridor.
He gradually came to a stop.
Shadows fell across half his profile,
His Sharingan spun without a sound.
The gentleness vanished, replaced by a deep, icy, suffocating gloom.
Fugaku's fingers trembled slightly, his fingertips pale.
He clenched his jaw, using all his strength to keep from smashing his fist through the wall.
"...The Clan Head position."
"Why..."
"Why must it be taken from my hands?"
Earlier, in front of Mikoto, he hadn't shown even a hint of displeasure.
Because he knew
Uchiha Mikoto would become his wife regardless.
But!
He was also an Uchiha, with his own pride and dignity.
Now these things were being pressed upon the negotiation table by his clansmen,
Taken away by a group of elders and pushed onto his fiancée.
Fugaku took a deep breath, slowly raising his head.
"Mikoto is my future wife, the most outstanding woman in the Uchiha."
"But the Clan Head... should be me."
He lowered his head, shoulders trembling faintly.
"...Heh."
"Heh heh heh..."
Laughter seeped from the depths of his throat, shifting from faint to piercing, from suppressed to maniacal.
Uchiha Fugaku was laughing.
Not a gentle laugh.
Not a polite one.
But a deep, nearly terrifying roar of madness after long-suppressed pride had been torn apart.
The Sharingan spun rapidly within his laughter.
Two tomoe rotated incessantly, pulling at each other, merging.
Crack!
A third tomoe bloomed like a splitting point of light.
The Three Tomoe Copy Wheel Eye had fully awakened.
Simultaneously, from the shadows, the Houndour that had been following him all along lifted its head.
Sensing its master's drastic emotional shift, tiny sparks instinctively ignited across its body.
The sparks danced in the air, as if responding to the blazing obsession churning within Fugaku's heart.
With a low growl, the Houndour leaped to stand behind Fugaku, as if ready to absorb its master's rage and transform it into power.
From the dark corner of the wall came a wave of chilling fluctuation.
A shadow coalesced from black mist slowly emerged,
revealing strange yet smiling white eyes and fangs.
Gastly.
Like a mix of malice and jest, it slid out from the void.
It stared at Fugaku, its tone airy yet carrying a sharpness that struck straight at the soul:
"Uchiha Fugaku, you're filled with resentment, aren't you?"
Fugaku's laughter ceased abruptly.
He looked up, the three tomoe of his Sharingan flickering in the darkness, his expression returning to calm gentleness.
But that gentleness was deeper and more dangerous than before.
"Whose Ninja Beast are you?"
Gastly twisted like smoke, revealing a grotesque smile:
"Allow me to introduce myself."
"I am the embodiment of Uchiha Madara's will."
"Gastly."
But Uchiha Fugaku merely watched it quietly for a few seconds.
Then, he smiled.
Not a mad laugh, nor a mocking one.
But a faint, derisive smile upon hearing a clumsy lie.
"Do you really think I'd believe such a reason?"
Fugaku took half a step forward, his Sharingan slowly rotating, the three tomoe weaving an extremely sharp light in the darkness.
"Using the names of great figures to tempt, deceive, manipulate... such schemes were common in the Warring States Era."
"You're trying to fool me with Uchiha Madara? How naive."
As a genius raised with systematic elite education within the Uchiha clan,
Fugaku possessed an instinctive wariness toward power conspiracies and deceptive packaging.
Coupled with Gastly's form—shrouded in poison mist, lurking in shadows, deliberately concealing its identity—
it hardly seemed like any normal creature.
Fugaku raised his hand, his expression calm yet exuding an undeniable pressure.
"Sneaking around... and daring to approach me under the banner of Uchiha Madara."
"What do you take me for?"
The air began to distort.
The surrounding temperature abruptly changed.
Not rising, but being drawn away.
The Houndour stood at Fugaku's feet, its eyes glowing with a deep red light.
[Flash Fire]
At this moment, stirred by Fugaku's Chakra flow, it unexpectedly triggered an awakening within the host itself.
Fugaku's palm seemed to form a vortex, pulling in the surrounding sparks, heat, even the poison mist on Gastly's surface.
The air hissed as it was sucked in.
Gastly's eyes twitched slightly.
The black smoke was continuously devoured by Fugaku's palm,
Gastly floated mid-air, squinting, showing a trace of interest for the first time:
"Truly remarkable potential... as expected of Uchiha Fugaku."
But Fugaku wasn't swayed by the flattery.
He stared at Gastly, the three tomoe of his Sharingan seeming to strip it bare:
"Stop beating around the bush."
"What exactly are you?"
The wind howled as sparks swirled around his palm,
vaguely forming a crimson beast-like shadow that seemed ready to tear through the darkness.
Gastly grinned faintly, its fangs glinting coldly within the black mist.
"Shall I... show you in a more tangible way?"
The dark fog surged wildly around it, like a massive, gaping maw.
Yet in Fugaku Uchiha's eyes, there was only calm and fighting spirit.
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