"Hmph!"
Obito let out a cold snort.
So it really was a trap aimed at him.
With a casual stride, Obito walked straight through the storm of hidden weapons thrown by the Uchiha.
Every shuriken and kunai passed cleanly through his body and clattered uselessly onto the ground.
The personnel left behind at the Police Force had still harbored doubts before—but now they had seen it with their own eyes.
Every single weapon passed straight through the enemy.
No one dared relax. They immediately began executing the prearranged battle plan.
Rinrin's mission was clear:
First, ensure the safety of the clan members.
Second, keep this enemy pinned here.
If the enemy chose to retreat, then let him go.
They had already fired signal flares earlier. Whether it was the Great Elder, the Clan Head, or the Fourth Elder, all of them would have received the alert by now.
At this point, all that mattered was preventing clan casualties.
Recalling the intelligence provided by Elder Yu Feng, Rinjin waved his hand. Five elite Uchiha stepped forward with him, weapons drawn.
—
At the very moment Rinjin fired the signal flare, Fugaku had just escorted the Great Elder to the doorway.
When Fugaku saw the signal flare rising from the direction of the Police Force headquarters, his expression changed sharply.
Suddenly, a pair of hands seized his shoulders and blocked his path.
"Fugaku, you'd better stay here."
The Great Elder's voice wasn't loud, but his eyes shone sharply.
"Great Elder, what do you mean by this?!"
Fugaku stared at his clan uncle in shock.
The Great Elder raised his hand.
Mayumi appeared nearby, bringing several clan members with him.
All of the people Mayumi brought had been disarmed. They were the night patrol—Fugaku's direct subordinates.
"Clan Head… Clan Head…"
"Clan Head, we were attacked by Mayumi…"
"Clan Head, you have to stand up for us!"
They were all completely confused, unable to understand why their own clansmen had suddenly turned on them.
Upon seeing Fugaku, they rushed to complain all at once.
"Great Elder, are you rebelling against the clan?!"
Fugaku shouted coldly.
Despite political disagreements, the Great Elder had always been absolutely loyal to the Uchiha.
But this scene left Fugaku utterly unable to understand his intentions.
Fugaku himself was a Mangekyō Sharingan user. For now, he wasn't panicking—he simply wanted answers.
The Great Elder shouted sternly,
"Fugaku! Do you know that your son, Uchiha Itachi, has already betrayed the clan?!"
"He reported our planned coup to Konoha, and tonight, he has been ordered to exterminate the Uchiha clan!"
Fugaku's face changed dramatically.
"Impossible! Itachi would never betray the clan!"
Fury burned in the Great Elder's eyes.
"Arrogant fool! The coup was leaked by Itachi himself—"
"And you're still dreaming of a bloodless revolution!"
"All of our clan members who went out on missions recently were ambushed by Danzō's Root. Only Yu Feng made it back alive today."
"If Yu Feng hadn't rushed back day and night with this information, the Uchiha clan would already be dead—slaughtered under Itachi's blade without even knowing why!"
Fugaku's face turned ashen.
If this was true, then his failure as clan head was absolute.
The secret of the coup had been sold out by his own son.
His son, sent as a double agent, had defected to the enemy.
"Great Elder… is what you're saying really true?!"
Fugaku stared at the clan uncle who had devoted half his life to the Uchiha. He desperately hoped the Great Elder had been deceived as well.
But the Great Elder only returned his gaze with deep disappointment.
Did you ever make a contingency plan—for the possibility that Itachi might betray the clan?!
Fugaku was left speechless.
With his pride, how could he ever have made such a plan?
Otherwise, in the original timeline, he and Mikoto wouldn't have gone quietly to their deaths.
The Great Elder snorted heavily.
"I have now promoted Yu Feng to Fourth Elder. He is in full command of tonight's battle."
"Fugaku—if you don't want the Uchiha clan to be wiped out tonight, then behave yourself!"
—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Several figures landed nearby—it was Yusuke and his group, carrying Sasuke.
Seeing the tense standoff, Yusuke exchanged a glance with the Great Elder, then raised his voice to report:
"Reporting to the Great Elder! The Fourth Elder has successfully defeated Uchiha Itachi!"
"Using Sasuke, whom we recovered, he successfully turned Itachi to our side!"
"The Fourth Elder has already gone to the Police Force headquarters to deal with the accomplice Itachi brought to exterminate the clan!"
Yusuke handed Sasuke over to Mayumi and continued:
"By order of the Fourth Elder, the Great Elder and the Clan Head are to set aside their differences for now, organize personnel, and prepare to confront Danzō and Root at any moment!"
Mayumi already had his weapon drawn. Holding the unconscious Sasuke, he stared straight at Fugaku—the threat unmistakable.
Fugaku's face alternated between pale and flushed.
It was all true.
His son had betrayed the clan—and had even been ordered by Konoha to exterminate it.
He had known nothing. Prepared nothing.
He didn't even dare imagine how devastating the losses would have been without Yu Feng and the Great Elder.
Though the Great Elder was now using Sasuke as leverage, Fugaku understood completely.
At a moment like this, if orders conflicted, the Uchiha would be finished.
The Great Elder couldn't afford even the slightest uncertainty.
Fugaku wasn't worried about Sasuke's safety. As long as he didn't openly oppose the Great Elder, Sasuke would be fine.
What crushed him was his own failure—and shame—as clan head.
Fugaku let out a long sigh.
"Clan Uncle… I'm sorry."
The Great Elder's expression softened slightly, but there was no time for sentiment.
"Most of tonight's intelligence came from Yu Feng. He's already laid out the entire situation for me."
"Get through tonight first. Everything else can wait."
Fugaku nodded heavily.
"I understand. I'll organize the people immediately."
The Great Elder snorted.
"Drag those two idiots—Yanhe and Hongshu—out here. Let them see how their beloved Konoha plans to deal with us."
Fugaku responded awkwardly and hurried off to mobilize personnel.
As for Sasuke—let him sleep for now.
Yanhe and Hongshu were the Second and Third Elders.
They were the Uchiha's most prominent doves, staunch advocates of peaceful coexistence with Konoha.
Shisui had been Yanhe's subordinate.
But after Shisui's death, in just two short years, the Uchiha's authority over the Police Force had been drastically reduced.
With most clan members supporting the coup, the two elders had long since retired to live quietly at home.
The Great Elder wasn't dragging them out just to humiliate them.
They still had followers. Only by forcing them to face reality could the clan truly unite as one.
—
Outside the Police Force Headquarters
More than thirty Uchiha clan members, together with Rinjin and five others, had completely pinned Obito down.
Though Obito wore a mask, his expression beneath it was livid.
Despite having Kamui's intangibility, he couldn't counterattack at all.
Rinjin's six-man team knew his weaknesses frighteningly well.
The moment Obito showed any sign of becoming tangible, at least two Uchiha would target his head, neck, or heart.
After several thwarted attempts, Obito confirmed it—
His Kamui intelligence had been leaked.
And after the Uchiha fired the signal flares, there was obvious movement throughout the clan compound.
Had the Uchiha launched the coup early?
Or was this some other plan altogether?
Obito couldn't tell.
Throughout it all, Rinjin and the five Uchiha continued slashing at his body without pause.
Every strike passed through—but they never stopped.
Kamui's intangibility only lasted five minutes.
Over two minutes had already passed.
Obito didn't dare take any more risks.
He sank straight into the ground.
Rinjin raised one hand. The six of them stood back-to-back.
The other thirty-plus clan members remained on high alert.
Several minutes later, once they were sure Obito had truly left, they finally allowed themselves a moment to relax…
~~---------------------
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