Uchiha Fugaku's face, once ever calm and heavy with worry, now carried only a cold, absolute resolve.
He looked upon those former subordinates who now raised their blades against him.
He looked upon his wife, who had completely betrayed him, and then turned once more to glance at the younger son who would never understand his painstaking intentions—the last trace of hesitation in his heart was utterly severed.
At last, he had "figured it out."
It was his own past indecisiveness—his compromise and indulgence toward that so-called "Absolute Justice"—that had allowed Uchiha Keizumi's extremist ideology to grow and fester within Konohagakure like a malignant tumor.
And so, today, he, the patriarch of the Uchiha Clan, was being forced off his seat by his own clansmen.
Under Keizumi's leadership, the entire Uchiha Clan was charging madly toward a cliff that stood in total opposition to the Will of Fire of Konohagakure.
This was no "revival" of the clan—it was dragging the entire Uchiha into an abyss of eternal damnation!
And all of this could have been avoided!
It was his own string of weaknesses that had allowed such tragedy to befall the Uchiha Clan.
A burning sense of remorse and responsibility seared through his heart.
If only he had been firmer back then—if only he had decisively stopped Keizumi...
If only he had strangled that "Absolute Justice" within its cradle...
"Keizumi."
Fugaku's voice was deep and hoarse, cutting through the clamor of the scene.
He ignored the cold blades pointed at him from all sides, his gaze locking dead onto the root of it all.
"Since it was the cause I sowed that has borne this vile fruit…"
Fugaku spoke slowly, as the chakra within his body began to surge like a waking beast, "Then I shall, in my own way, atone for my mistake—and drag the Uchiha, who have strayed from their path... back onto the right track!"
The instant his words fell, the already-tense Police Force shinobi made their move.
"Uchiha Fugaku has chosen to resist the law through violence! He's even injured one of our comrades!"
A shinobi with twin tomoe Sharingan shouted in rage, eyes filled with faith in Absolute Justice and fury toward their former clan head.
"Everyone! In the name of the Police Force's Absolute Justice—take him down!"
Several elite shinobi burst forth at once, the blades in their hands gleaming with cold light as they charged toward Fugaku from every direction!
In an instant, a sharp killing intent enveloped Fugaku!
Yet, faced with this siege, Uchiha Fugaku merely narrowed his eyes slightly.
[Hum—!]
A chilling surge of ocular power mixed with chakra burst from within him like a tangible storm. The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch, and fragments of stone were blown aside by an invisible shockwave.
[Rumble—!!!]
In the next moment, a colossal skeletal arm of deep violet chakra erupted from the ground before Fugaku!
Its five fingers spread wide—and with a casual sweep toward the charging shinobi—
"What?!"
"Not good!"
The leading members of the Police Force turned pale in shock!
They had no time to react. A terrifying pressure, like an overwhelming storm, surged straight toward them!
Their forward charge was forcibly halted.
His body staggered uncontrollably backward, the muscles on his face trembling violently under the pressure of the wind, even his breath halted for an instant.
Cold sweat instantly beaded upon the foreheads of several people.
The expressions in their Sharingan were replaced entirely by horror!
"Th-this… what kind of power is this?!"
An Uchiha chūnin of considerable strength barely managed to steady himself, staring at that slowly retracting gigantic purple skeletal arm—his face written full of disbelief.
Beside him, an Uchiha jōnin forced the words through clenched teeth: "Susanoo! This is one of the supreme ocular techniques spoken of in the legends of the Sharingan!"
Such power was already far beyond what ordinary shinobi could comprehend!
"This is no longer a battle you all can take part in, meow."
A strange, languid voice broke the brief silence.
The ninja cat, Tachibana Jirō, was now sitting beside Uchiha Keizumi's feet.
Its body was short and plump, having been almost ignored by everyone before.
Tachibana Jirō licked its paw, gazing at that massive purple skeletal arm as it spoke slowly: "Meow, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi—those two truly are father and son. Perhaps that little bastard Itachi's extreme and obsessive nature was inherited from you, old man."
It tilted its head slightly, as if thinking seriously: "By comparison, that brat Sasuke is much more normal. Maybe… he takes after his mother? Tsk, what a rare stroke of fortune amid this family's misfortune, meow."
After finishing its remark, Tachibana Jirō lifted its head to look at the unmoving Uchiha Keizumi beside it, its tone turning respectful: "Keizumi-sama, shall we now…"
Before it could finish its question, Uchiha Keizumi's cold, emotionless voice sounded ahead of time.
"Uchiha Fugaku—violent resistance against the law, use of Mangekyō Sharingan illusion to inflict mental harm upon law enforcers—crime aggravated by one degree."
His gaze pierced through the dispersing smoke and dust, locking onto Uchiha Fugaku.
"The judgment of Absolute Justice toward the criminal villain 'Uchiha Fugaku' is…"
A brief pause, yet the air froze to its limit.
"—Execution without mercy!"
The moment those icy words fell, Uchiha Keizumi moved.
He too stepped forward.
[Boom!]
A surge of chakra far more violent and scorching than Fugaku's erupted from within him, like a volcano that had been suppressed for a thousand years.
The visible red energy wrapped around him like blazing flames, scorching and melting the ground beneath his feet to charred black.
[Rumble!]
[Rumble!]
Two even thicker, more ferocious crimson skeletal arms tore out from beneath the earth, crashing heavily into the ground!
Immediately after, a massive crimson skull of chakra broke through the surface and slowly rose upward.
Under the stunned gaze of everyone present, those two skeletal arms braced against the ground and exerted tremendous force!
With a teeth-grating sound of grinding bones and the earth-shattering rumble of the ground splitting apart—
A towering crimson skeletal giant, more than ten meters tall and only upper-bodied, stood imposingly within the Uchiha compound like a molten demon crawling out from the depths of hell!
Veins and muscles began weaving swiftly across its bones!
Before long, a crimson ninja blade formed within Susanoo's grasp.
Uchiha Keizumi stood within the red Susanoo, his eyes at some point already transformed into those complex, eerie patterns of the Mangekyō.
He looked down ahead with cold detachment.
Like Uchiha Fugaku, he too had activated that supreme ocular technique of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
—Susanoo!
"Everyone, do as Tachibana Jirō said."
Uchiha Keizumi's voice issued through Susanoo, carrying an indifference that brooked no argument: "Immediately evacuate all civilians within the Uchiha compound to the shelters! Send the wounded to Konoha Hospital at once! And have the Sannin Tsunade come forward to treat the mental trauma caused by Sharingan genjutsu."
Witnessing this confrontation between Mangekyō Sharingan, feeling those two ocular powers capable of destroying heaven and earth, the remaining Police Force shinobi, however unwilling, fully understood that the coming fight had long exceeded the bounds of what they could intervene in.
Moreover, one iron rule of "Absolute Justice" was—obey orders!
"Yes! Keizumi-sama!"
Without hesitation, all the shinobi answered in unison and swiftly carried out the commands.
Some escorted Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Sasuke away.
Some carried unconscious comrades toward Konoha Hospital.
More began efficiently organizing the civilian evacuations.
Uchiha Fugaku watched all of it coldly and did not move to stop them.
His entire focus had already concentrated on the crimson skeletal giant standing ahead.
That familiar, heart-pounding crimson stirred memories within him he dared not touch.
"Itachi..."
Fugaku's voice trembled with a barely noticeable quaver as he fixed his gaze upon Keizumi beneath the red Susanoo and asked, "He… he died beneath your Susanoo, didn't he? Right? Keizumi."
Uchiha Keizumi's answer was utterly cold: "He died cleanly; it was lenient for him."
[Crack—!]
A faint but clearly audible crisp sound rang out.
Uchiha Fugaku suddenly clenched his teeth so hard that the tip of a teeth was sheared off.
Driven by the surge of intense emotion, the ground behind him collapsed violently once more.
Another enormous purple skeletal arm burst through the earth.
Immediately after, more purple chakra poured forth wildly; chakra tissues like bone, veins, and muscle rapidly constructed themselves!
A purple Susanoo, only upper-bodied but rivaling the red Susanoo in scale, fully rose to its feet!
"Keizumi! I must stop you! I do this for the Uchiha Clan! I have a clear conscience! If stopping you requires that I give my life, I will have no regrets. The moment I made my choice, I cast my life aside!"
Uchiha Fugaku's voice issued from the purple Susanoo, no longer his usual steadiness but filled with resolve and a rasping intensity.
The patterns within his Mangekyō Sharingan spun madly, and an immense torrent of ocular power surged forth like blazing fire.
Within the enormous skeletal hands of his second-stage purple Susanoo, that profound ocular power and chakra surged and condensed violently.
A dark-purple naginata, ancient in design and fierce in form, gradually took shape!
The blade's body was wreathed in ominous violet chakra flames, its edge flashing with a chilling, heart-piercing gleam.
That massive purple Susanoo moved in kind, its vast skeletal joints grinding together with a teeth-aching screech.
Gripping the immense dark-purple naginata with both hands, it brought the weapon down in a towering, mountain-cleaving arc, carrying a terrifying force that could tear all things apart, striking fiercely toward the crimson Susanoo before it!
Where the blade passed, the air was forcibly displaced, letting out wailing screams like those of ghosts.
Facing this immense and powerful blow, Uchiha Keizumi's Susanoo instantly responded.
"Stubborn fool."
The icy voice rang out from within the crimson Susanoo.
Its surface, like flowing magma, showed not the slightest sign of retreat or avoidance.
Instead, the muscle-like chakra structures of its arms bulged violently.
With the same unstoppable momentum, it swung its molten crimson ninja blade upward—meeting the descending dark-purple naginata head-on!
[Clang!!!]
The two enormous weapons collided savagely, releasing a sound beyond the power of words to describe.
A massive energy sphere, swirling with violet and crimson light, burst open at the point of impact—
Then transformed into a destructive ring-shaped shockwave, spreading wildly in all directions like a raging tsunami!
[Rumble—!]
Uchiha Fugaku's nearby residence—its carefully constructed courtyard, walls, and rooftops—was crushed beneath that tangible wave of devastation as if an invisible giant hand had swept over it.
Rubble was flung into the sky like a storm of stones, while sturdy walls collapsed and shattered layer by layer like piles of blocks!
The aftermath of just that single clash nearly leveled the entire district.