Naka Shrine.
Tomita looked at Haru before him and let out a helpless sigh in his heart.
Even in his wildest dreams, he had never imagined an ending like this.
He had really been forced off the stage by Haru.
Still, this outcome was not entirely unacceptable.
The Haru before him possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
The future of the Uchiha was bound to be bright!
"Clan Head-sama!"
Tomita knelt on one knee before Haru and took out a magatama carved from jade from inside his robe.
That was the token of the Uchiha Clan Head, passed down from generation to generation.
Back then, when Madara had left Konoha, he had not taken it with him.
The only thing he had taken was the Uchiha Gunbai.
"I will lead the Uchiha toward an even brighter future!"
Haru accepted the token and made his promise to Tomita.
No matter how bad the future turned out, it could never be worse than the original story, where the Uchiha Clan had been reduced to only two or three survivors by that great filial son, Itachi.
...
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!!"
Just as Haru was about to accept the worship of the assembled Uchiha, he saw an Anbu ninja wearing a fox mask rushing over in a panic while shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Tomita-sama, Konoha's defensive barrier has been destroyed. An enemy has broken into the village!"
But when the Anbu ninja saw Tomita kneeling before Haru in front of everyone, his shouting gradually grew quieter.
What kind of scene was this?
The Uchiha Clan Head kneeling in public like this?
Seeing the Anbu ninja arrive, Tomita rose to his feet and said,
"I am no longer the head of the Uchiha Clan. The head of the Uchiha Clan is now Haru-sama!"
The fox-masked ninja froze and turned to look at Haru. For a moment, he was so stunned by the shocking news that he even forgot his original mission.
Only after several seconds did he finally recover and request that Haru lead the Uchiha Clan in defending Konoha.
Enemy attack?
Haru was a little confused.
Then he remembered the strike from earlier, which had seemed to smash something apart.
That thing must have been Konoha's defensive barrier.
"Lift the alert. Konoha's defensive barrier was destroyed by the aftershock of one of my casual attacks."
Huh?
Was that even human language?
Did he think Konoha's defensive barrier was some piece of trash?
That thing was the joint masterpiece of Mito, a sealing master, and Tobirama, the village's greatest research genius.
According to tests, it would take over a dozen jonin bombarding it in turn with ninjutsu to break it, or else it had to be hit by an S-rank forbidden technique.
A casual strike?
And just the aftershock?
The fox-masked Anbu ninja did not argue. After receiving Haru's firm answer, he immediately went back to report.
The man before him was the Uchiha Clan's new head. There was no benefit in offending him, especially not here, in the heart of the Uchiha stronghold.
Before long, the fox-masked ninja had already reported the truth, and the misunderstanding caused by Haru was quickly resolved.
But the later impact of the incident had only just begun.
Haru's casual strike had caused far too great a disturbance.
The Senju Clan, the Hyuga Clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, along with many smaller ninja clans, had already armed themselves and were preparing for a desperate fight.
What kind of enemy could quietly reach Konoha's doorstep and shatter the village's defensive barrier with such ease?
Combined with the news of Tobirama's death, many were already wondering if Konoha was finished.
Thus, every clan moved in response, using their own information networks, and in very little time, intelligence about what had happened in the Uchiha Clan that afternoon had already reached the hands of every major clan head.
When they learned the truth, the shock hit them almost as hard as if Konoha had actually been attacked at its gates.
The Uchiha Clan Head had changed.
Tomita had been replaced by Haru.
That alone was one thing.
But the truly terrifying part was that Haru had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!!
Some of those clan heads had been alive since the founding of Konoha and had witnessed Hashirama's Wood Release and Madara's Susanoo with their own eyes.
Two towering giants clashing against one another, every casual strike shaking heaven and earth.
They had seen that scene more than once.
It had been nothing less than a war of gods.
And now, the fear once inspired by Madara's Susanoo had returned.
The Uchiha had produced a second Madara.
But the Senju had not produced a second Hashirama.
Konoha was truly about to change.
...
Senju Clan district.
Mito looked at the intelligence in her hands, and her face had already wrinkled into a knot.
Since when had the Uchiha produced someone like this?
Haru's background, the missions he had carried out, the battles he had fought, the ninjutsu he specialized in, every piece of information had been laid out before her.
And the more she read, the more alarmed she became.
Haru's life could practically be split into two parts, with Tobirama's death as the dividing line.
While Tobirama had been alive, Haru had been the very image of a standard inheritor of the Will of Fire. There was even an official comment from Tobirama recorded in his file.
"Uchiha Haru. An anomaly among the Uchiha. A man who has risen beyond the limits of his clan and works tirelessly for the village. He should be specially cultivated."
That was Tobirama's own handwritten evaluation.
But after Tobirama's death, Haru's conduct changed so drastically that it was like night and day.
According to the intelligence, in order to intimidate his clansmen, Haru had even thrown a powerful ninjutsu directly into a crowd.
That was the behavior of a madman.
Still, with Haru having awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, such behavior suddenly made a lot more sense.
But when exactly had Haru changed?
If it had been before Tobirama's death, then that was truly terrifying.
An Uchiha who had already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan long ago had disguised himself as an inheritor of the Will of Fire, deceived Tobirama, and only revealed his true face after Tobirama died.
That kind of temperament, combined with that kind of strength...
It was even more terrifying than Madara.
Madara had been immensely powerful, but there were still certain things that, even if he understood them, he would not do.
And he would not lower himself to do them.
What he believed in was overwhelming power.
If someone disagreed, they could step forward and be beaten until they submitted.
Haru was different.
He knew how to endure. He knew how to wait for the best moment to strike.
Just like now.
Tobirama had died, and Haru had appeared.
Mito did not believe there could be such a perfect coincidence in this world.
It was simply too terrifying.
This child absolutely could not be allowed to remain.
Now that Haru was so eager to kick Tomita aside and become the Uchiha Clan Head...
Mito did not even need to think to know what his next target would be.
The seat of Konoha's Third Hokage.
Who could stop Haru?
Hiruzen?
Mito immediately discarded that option without hesitation.
What about her son, Toma?
Probably not him either.
Toma had not inherited his father Hashirama's Wood Release.
It seemed that only she, by borrowing the power of the Nine-Tails, could suppress Haru now.
But before that, she could first send Hiruzen to test the waters.
After all, he had Tobirama's dying appointment.
Since Tobirama had chosen him, then perhaps he really did possess some extraordinary quality that she had failed to see.
(End of Chapter)
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