Mentioning Uchiha Fugaku only made Uchiha Yuan angrier.
How did the Uchiha clan end up with a clan head like that?
Fugaku's personality was defined by indecisiveness. He had no decisiveness or leadership whatsoever.
As the head of the clan, when his people were calling for rebellion, he sat in the middle, unable to make a decision.
And after learning that Uchiha Itachi had accepted the mission to exterminate the clan, he actually seemed relieved.
As if to say: "Finally, someone else is handling this dirty job. Whatever happens to the Uchiha, I'm not going to oppose my own son, right?"
And during Fugaku's tenure, he accomplished nothing.
First, he did nothing to change the Uchiha's image among the villagers, only deepening the division between the Uchiha and Konoha.
Second, he kept clinging to unrealistic hopes when the village leadership pushed harder and harder. When two tigers fight, one must fall. Unless one side is completely crushed or destroyed, peace is impossible. When Konoha was founded, the Senju thoroughly crushed the Uchiha—this is historical precedent. But Fugaku failed to learn from it.
Third, after preparing a coup for so long, they just gave up. Fugaku disgraced the entire clan.
As the leader of a major clan, one should at least have the mindset that even in the face of annihilation, we fight to the death and ensure our enemies don't have it easy! Not shrink away from even trying to fight.
What made it worse—Fugaku had a Mangekyō Sharingan. He wasn't lacking power. But as a powerful leader, he had lost his fighting spirit!
Take the Kaguya clan from the Hidden Mist as an example. Their situation had once been similar to the Uchiha's. The leadership didn't tolerate them, and under that influence, ordinary villagers demonized their kekkei genkai. When Haku showed his bloodline limit, his mother was killed by villagers!
The Kaguya, for all their lack of intellect, still realized in that moment: under the rule of the Fourth Mizukage (controlled by Obito) and the rest of Mist's leadership, there was no place for them.
In that situation, it was clear: only one side could survive. So they chose to fight to the death. If we've been pushed this far, we'll make sure Mist Village pays too!
So they launched a coup—and were completely wiped out. Only Kimimaro survived.
But their courage and fighting spirit didn't shame their ancestors!
And when Yuan thought of the Uchiha in contrast… it only made him feel ashamed.
That's why the position of clan leader absolutely couldn't be left to Fugaku. He had to be removed.
Only if Yuan became the head of the clan would there be a chance to change the Uchiha's fate.
With that thought, Yuan took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the other two battlefields.
Hyuga Asana was holding her own against a chunin—though defeating the opponent outright was proving difficult. Shibi Aburame had already taken out all four of his Mist enemies.
Seeing this, Yuan rushed over to assist Asana, and together they took down the chunin—securing the kill.
Asana didn't say something childish like "I could've done it myself." This was war, not a game. Acting tough for no reason would've been stupid.
Yamanaka Kagetsu, who had been staying behind, only stepped out once he saw the others had won.
Shibi Aburame quickly cleaned up the battlefield and led the team onward.
Yuan's team spent two full days scouting the battlefield and ran into three enemy waves.
Yuan killed five Mist ninjas in total, but only gained four attribute points.
Because one of the Mist wasn't really a ninja at all—basically equivalent to a fourth-year Academy student from the general studies class. Aside from having chakra, he was no different from a civilian.
After these days of observation, Yuan had figured it out: only by killing actual ninjas could he earn attribute points.
At minimum, the enemy had to be of genin level.
Cannon fodder didn't even qualify to give attribute points.
—
"Well, that's it for my mission this time," Shibi said once they reached the edge of the battlefield.
"Sensei Shibi, we dismantled so many traps and defeated three enemy groups. Doesn't that count as a major contribution?" Kagetsu asked.
"If this were a formal village mission, it would probably be classified as A-rank. For newly graduated genin, yeah, this is a big deal," Shibi replied.
"Yuan, Asana, did you hear that? An A-rank mission! We just graduated and we're already doing A-rank stuff. We're amazing!"
"The amazing one is Sensei Shibi. Don't forget—he handled most of the enemies," Yuan said.
"Yeah. He even overpowered a Jonin with ease. Among Jonin, he must be pretty high up," Asana added.
Being praised like that made Shibi a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and said, "My strength isn't considered top-tier in this warzone. At best, if we ran into one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, I might be able to get everyone out safely. Two swordsmen… I might have to make sacrifices."
At the word sacrifices, Kagetsu shuddered. He was the weakest of the group. If anyone was going to be "sacrificed," it would likely be him.
In contrast, Asana and Yuan were clearly stronger and more likely to escape.
This thought made Kagetsu feel an even greater sense of urgency. He needed to grow stronger—and fast. He wasn't ready to die here.
"Yuan, have you learned a new genjutsu?" Kagetsu asked.
"Tree Binding Death still isn't very stable."
"No worries. Once we're back at camp, use me for practice! Let's improve together."
Yuan smiled. "Sure—but don't run away when the time comes."
"Never."
Hearing their exchange, Shibi understood what Kagetsu was aiming for—he wanted to improve his mental techniques by resisting genjutsu.
Shibi didn't object to the idea. Quite a few members of the Yamanaka clan had trained that way. In the early stages, their mental jutsu—especially their sensory range—did improve noticeably. But over time, they developed genjutsu resistance, and their growth plateaued.
However, there hadn't been any cases of Yamanaka clan members training this way with Uchiha clan members.
After all, the Yamanaka were part of the Hokage's faction. Their relationship with the Uchiha had never been good.
But the Uchiha clan's genjutsu prowess was undoubtedly the best in Konoha. Combined with the Sharingan's power, if they were willing to help, Yamanaka members might actually see surprising results.
Thinking about this, even Shibi started to take an interest in the idea.
(To Be Continued...)