At the same moment as the duel between Shinsuke and Uchiha Fugaku, at the outer edges of the Uchiha district, Uchiha Kenji had not gone to watch the duel that would decide the clan's fate.
This was because Lord Shinsuke had entrusted Kenji and the elder guard unit behind him with an equally important mission.
This was a silent war, fought in the shadows.
BOOM!
A muffled thunderous impact accompanied by a violent surge of chakra traveled from the direction of the training grounds.
That was Clan Head Fugaku's Fire Release.
That sound was the signal that Lord Shinsuke and Clan Head Fugaku's battle had begun, and it was also the signal for them to begin their hunt.
"Move."
More than fifty guard unit members, dispersed throughout every corner of the clan district, struck outward in almost the same instant.
Beneath the wall in the southern sector, an inconspicuous bush rustled faintly.
The Root sensory ninja concealed within it did not even have time to react before his pupils reflected a pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan.
Genjutsu: Shackle Stake Technique.
The Root ninja's body seized up abruptly and his mind was plunged into a genjutsu.
He did not even manage to let out a single cry.
The next second, a kunai silently drew across his throat.
Blood erupted in an instant, and within moments that Root ninja had lost all signs of life.
Elsewhere, more than ten Uchiha surrounded several Root ninja, and Uchiha Shunichi, leading the unit, wasted no words and launched the attack directly.
With over ten Uchiha attacking simultaneously, the overwhelming firepower wiped out those Root ninja in moments.
In another location, a tanuki-masked operative was staring hard toward the training grounds through a specially-made telescope.
He suddenly sensed a faint breeze from behind him.
The instincts of a Hokage-direct operative made him reflexively attempt to use the Body Flicker Technique.
But it was already too late.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder like a vice.
"You have overstepped your bounds."
A young and cold voice sounded in his ear.
The tanuki operative's heart sank to the lowest depths.
He spun around to find three Uchiha ninja, and every one of their eyes was turning with three jet-black tomoe.
"We are the Hokage's direct operatives, acting under orders..."
Before he could finish speaking, one of the Uchiha interrupted him with impatience.
"Lord Shinsuke's orders are to escort all unauthorized persons out of the clan district."
That Uchiha placed deliberate emphasis on the word "escort."
"If they cannot be escorted out..."
The young Uchiha spread his lips into a wide grin, revealing a row of sharp white teeth.
"We break their limbs and throw them out."
The tanuki operative flew into a rage.
"Outrageous! Are you Uchiha trying to start a rebellion!"
The response he received was a kick of absolute speed.
Crack!
A sharp sound of bone splitting rang out.
The tanuki operative clutched his mangled right arm and let out a howl of pain.
The other two operatives concealed nearby attempted to provide support, but were effortlessly subdued by a number of Uchiha who appeared out of nowhere.
"Tell the Third."
Uchiha Kenji arrived and looked down at the operative writhing on the ground.
"This is an internal matter of the Uchiha."
"From today, this land does not welcome any prying eyes."
"Throw them out of the Uchiha district!"
The same scene played out again and again in every corner of the Uchiha district.
Those Root operatives concealed in the shadows were eliminated one by one in the most thorough and merciless manner.
They did not even have the chance to relay the thought that the Uchiha had turned.
And those operatives belonging to the Hokage were, without exception, beaten with broken limbs in the most humiliating fashion and thrown out of the Uchiha district.
As far as Shinsuke was concerned, Root ninja had no further reason to exist and were to be killed directly and cleaned up as needed.
As for the Hokage's operatives, once he took the seat of Hokage, all those operative members would be disbanded entirely and could return to normal life, contributing to the village through missions.
As for spies from other clans, on a great ancient tree a thousand meters from the Uchiha district, a Branch House member of the Hyūga Clan had his Byakugan activated and was gazing intently into the distance, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.
Within his field of vision, the chakra points belonging to the operatives and Root members were being extinguished one after another at a shocking speed, or being forcibly relocated outside the clan district.
A vast, invisible net was spreading rapidly outward from the Uchiha district as its center, sealing that entire area off completely from the outside world.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.
"Friend of the Hyūga, the hour is late, you should head back and rest."
The Hyūga clan member's body jolted and he turned around stiffly.
An Uchiha ninja had appeared soundlessly behind him at some unknown moment, a faint polite smile on his face, yet with not a trace of warmth in those Sharingan eyes.
"Our clan has some matters to attend to and is not in a position to receive guests."
The Hyūga clan member swallowed hard with difficulty.
He could sense that the other person's strength far surpassed his own.
He had no doubt that if he refused, his fate would be no different from those operatives.
"...Pardon the intrusion."
He deactivated his Byakugan, took the hint, leapt down from the tree, and disappeared swiftly into the darkness.
The Uchiha ninja watched his retreating figure, and the smile on his face slowly faded.
The sweeping continued.
The entire Uchiha clan operated like a war machine brought to precise and purposeful life.
Outwardly, a merciless purge and total isolation.
Inwardly, a pinnacle duel to decide their destiny.
Then, all at once, a suffocating mass of chakra surged skyward from the direction of the training grounds, bloodred, violent, and ominous.
Every guard unit member in the middle of carrying out their mission paused momentarily.
As one, they turned their gaze toward that direction.
Kenji's pupils contracted sharply.
He saw it.
A crimson demon god, thirty meters tall, rising from the earth.
That was... Susano'o!
The divine power of legend, said to be usable only by those who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!
It was Clan Head Fugaku's Susano'o!
A flash of shock and unease passed through Kenji's heart.
Could Lord Shinsuke handle this?
That was Susano'o!
Yet Kenji's uncertainty lasted less than one second.
Because an even more terrifying power erupted immediately after.
A great dragon woven from lightning and fire roared and slammed head-on into the crimson demon god.
And then, that supposedly indestructible Susano'o shattered completely before that lightning-fire dragon.
It was over.
The chakra fluctuations from the direction of the training grounds gradually settled.
Kenji slowly straightened up, his chest heaving violently.
Awe, excitement, and fervent devotion intertwined within him, and in the end all of it transformed into something close to absolute faith.
Kenji bowed deeply in the direction of the training grounds.
Then Kenji's voice rang out, giving instructions to the guard unit members around him.
"Hold the perimeter as it is."
"From this moment, without an order from the new clan head, not even a single fly is permitted to enter."
In the darkness, dozens of voices suppressing their excitement and fervor responded in unison.
"Yes!"
After tonight, the Uchiha district would forbid any outside force from prying eyes.