"Ahem, come to think of it…" Sasuke couldn't help coughing twice, clearing his somewhat sore throat as he muttered in confusion, "Didn't Mother say she was just going out to throw away the trash? It's been… what, half an hour already?"
Just as that thought flashed through his mind—
He heard a set of familiar footsteps. Instinctively looking up, he saw his father approaching, his face cold and expressionless.
Uchiha Fugaku cast a glance at the untouched dinner on the table.
Expressionless, Uchiha Fugaku said, "I'll give you only three minutes. Finish your meal immediately, then go to the backyard for training. I expect you to master the chakra control techniques of walking on water and climbing trees within half a month."
"If you fail, your daily training time will increase by five hours. If you still fail after that, another five hours will be added—until you have no rest at all, twenty-four hours a day."
"And another thing."
Fugaku took a deep breath and added, "Do not mention the words 'Absolute Justice' in front of me again. I am no longer the Uchiha clan head, nor the Chief Captain of the Police Force."
"I no longer bear the burdens I once carried. Which also means, I no longer need to fear the things I once feared. Now I'm the one with nothing to lose, and Keizumi's the one who must be cautious."
Uchiha Fugaku didn't care whether Sasuke could understand these last few words or not.
Just as he kept a stern face and was about to turn to leave—
A sudden noise from outside the house caught his attention, causing his brow to furrow slightly.
From the sound, Fugaku could tell that many footsteps were approaching.
The intruders seemed to have directly entered his residence!
"Stay here. Don't come out," he said to Sasuke before stepping out the door.
But what he saw made him freeze on the spot.
He saw—
One after another, fully armed Uchiha Police Force shinobi flooding into his estate.
Some stood on the eaves, others on the treetops; some blocked the entrances, and still others hid in unseen corners.
They had surrounded the entire residence, sealing it completely—so tightly that not even a mosquito could have escaped.
Uchiha Fugaku also noticed that many of the Police Force shinobi already had their hands on their sword hilts, their stances ready to strike at any moment.
The stern look on his face immediately darkened.
His gaze, filled with extreme displeasure, fell upon the Uchiha shinobi who stood at their head.
Uchiha Fugaku forced down his anger and asked the expressionless Uchiha Keizumi before him, "Keizumi… what is the meaning of this? I have already handed over the position of Chief Captain to you, yet you bring so many clansmen here at night to surround me. Is it because you sense that I am your only threat, and so you want to eliminate me?"
Fugaku could not help but fill in the blanks with his own conspiracies.
Because he could not imagine what wrong he had done to warrant being surrounded by so many Police Force shinobi.
The only possible explanation was—
[Absolute Justice] was finally revealing its fangs, preparing to eradicate dissent within the Uchiha clan!
The radical faction led by Uchiha Setsuna had already been purged by Absolute Justice; now, the last remaining faction—the moderate one led by himself—would likely fall victim to the same ruthless hand.
"Uchiha Fugaku, those whose hearts are filthy see filth in everything."
The one who spoke was not Uchiha Keizumi, but a Police Force shinobi.
He stepped forward, stared directly at Fugaku, and said expressionlessly, "Keizumi-sama has come here to arrest you and bring you into custody. Because earlier this evening, you committed the crime of intentionally harming a child—or rather… of attempted murder!"
"You strangled your own son until he was nearly asphyxiated. If not for your wife's timely intervention, would you have even loosened your grip? Can you swear, upon the name of Uchiha, that not even a trace of murderous intent crossed your mind at that moment? Can you swear it before heaven?"
The interrogation from the Police Force shinobi made Fugaku's heart tremble.
How had outsiders learned of what had happened within his own home?
What in the world was going on?
"…Keizumi, this is my family affair. Sasuke was not harmed—he's perfectly fine. Neither the charge of intentional injury nor that of attempted murder applies to me."
Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath, calming himself slightly before speaking again.
"A parent's strict discipline toward their own child, by the laws of Konohagakure, would at most constitute domestic violence."
He grew increasingly composed, until he finally recited the very legal statutes once set by the Uchiha clan.
"For cases of domestic violence deemed minor, verbal education and warning shall be the primary measures. For more severe cases, a fine shall be imposed along with verbal education and warning, and the offender shall be detained for fifteen days with the sentence suspended. That is already the maximum penalty."
His gaze swept across the group. "Yet judging by your current stance, it seems you yourselves have already violated the laws and regulations of Konohagakure. To violate the law in the name of enforcing justice—can that truly be called justice?"
Uchiha Keizumi spoke expressionlessly. "Weak laws inflict secondary harm upon the victims and serve as protection for the perpetrators. They only shroud justice in a layer of dust that can never be wiped away."
"The moment I assumed this position, I began revising the Police Force's enforcement statutes. I have also been making reasonable amendments to certain unjust laws within Konohagakure."
"Uchiha Fugaku, for your actions today, there will be no lenient judgment. At the very least, you will spend three years in the Konohagakure Prison for reflection."
Uchiha Fugaku: "!!!"
"Keizumi! You are abusing your authority as Chief Captain of the Police Force!"
He had not expected that Uchiha Keizumi would, right from the start, make use of the Police Force's power to amend the laws of Konohagakure!
For all the years he had served as Chief Captain of the Police Force, he had never once abused that authority.
Whenever a law required revision in keeping with the times, he would consult the Hokage first, and only after the Hokage approved would he make the change.
But Uchiha Keizumi's conduct was clearly unilateral—
He had not sought anyone's opinion!
This was outright dictatorship!
"Keizumi…" Uchiha Fugaku gritted his teeth. "If I refuse to go with you, does that mean you will order the Police Force shinobi to take action against me? Will you resort to force?"
Uchiha Keizumi said, "Yes."
Such a simple and candid response left Uchiha Fugaku momentarily at a loss.
Just as his face grew taut, he suddenly heard a faint noise behind him, and his gaze involuntarily shifted backward.
He saw Uchiha Sasuke had ignored his warning and stepped out, half his body leaning forward to peer outside.
A sudden thought flashed through Uchiha Fugaku's mind, and he spoke stiffly. "Then what if Sasuke doesn't believe that I harmed him? What if my wife testifies that I did not harm Sasuke?"
"Fugaku, there's no need for this."
That familiar voice made Uchiha Fugaku's whole body freeze.
He watched, wide-eyed, as his wife slowly stepped out from behind Uchiha Keizumi and stood before him.
A spark of realization flickered through Fugaku's mind.
"…Mikoto, it was you who reported me?" he said, each word forced out in disbelief.
"Yes."
Uchiha Mikoto's expression was complicated. "I can't let you continue down this path of obsession, nor can I allow you to mold Sasuke into a second Itachi. Sasuke shouldn't inherit Itachi's extreme way of thinking. I won't listen to whatever excuses you have—it was you who hurt Sasuke. I think you need some time alone to calm down."
"This is both a way to protect Sasuke and a way to protect our family. I'm sorry, Fugaku. If you wish to hate me, then go ahead and hate me. I'm doing this for Sasuke's sake. Right now, in this whole family, I'm the only one who can protect him—and who still wants to."
Uchiha Fugaku stood there in a daze.
He felt as though he had been utterly betrayed—a naked betrayal from his own family, one that struck him harder than any other betrayal ever could.
The fist hidden within his sleeve clenched tightly, as a feeling rose within him that he had wasted the better half of his life living like a dog.
He had labored and fought for the Uchiha clan, for his family, for so many years.
What had it all been for?
Was it for betrayal?
Itachi… at most, had only differed from him in ideals. Even if one day they ended up turning against each other, that would only be because their paths and positions had diverged, nothing more.
But Mikoto—
She should have been on the same path as him, standing on the same side.
How could she do this to him?
[Crack—]
A faint sound rang out as a fracture spread across the ground beneath Fugaku's feet, a sign that the chakra within his body was surging wildly.
This alone was proof of the formidable strength he possessed.
"Uchiha Fugaku, what do you think you're doing?" one of the Police Force shinobi narrowed his eyes, immediately drawing the blade at his waist. His stance turned tense as he warned sharply, "Suppress that killing intent of yours! Are you trying to resist the law with violence?!"
"Resist the law…"
A trace of confusion flickered across Uchiha Fugaku's stiff expression.
But in the next instant, that confusion vanished, replaced by an utterly calm and unfluctuating look.
He spoke slowly, each word deliberate. "I am upholding the final traditional stance of the Uchiha clan. As the former clan head, I take pride in carrying out the clan's true mission."
"I will not allow the Uchiha clan to exist with only one voice. I shall become the one and only second voice. I, Uchiha Fugaku, do not acknowledge your so-called 'laws' of Absolute Justice!"
The moment his words fell—
Uchiha Fugaku's scarlet eyes flashed, and the Police Force shinobi who had challenged him suddenly froze in place, as though seeing something utterly terrifying. In the next instant, he let out a piercing scream, his entire being collapsing into madness.
"AAAHHHHHHH!!!"
As the scream echoed out, all the Police Force shinobi around them changed expression in unison.