"Uchiha Tairen, I'm sorry—this curse is beyond me. If you really want it lifted, you'll have to find the one who cast it."Uchiha Toritama's voice was steady, clipped. "Don't bother hunting around for other sealing masters. Trust me—none of them can touch this. This isn't a problem for ordinary jutsu-breakers."
"My fūinjutsu is deep, but even I have no answer for this mark. In Konoha, the only one who might've stood a chance was the late Uzumaki Mito.""That's all I have to say. Excuse me." With that, Toritama strode away.
Tairen scoffed once he was gone. "Hah—so much for the Uchiha's top sealing ace. In the end, he's just a blowhard who couldn't even do this. I refuse to believe that, aside from that brat, there's no one capable of removing it."They kept searching, but Tairen's moves didn't stay secret for long—word reached Uchiha Fugaku.
Yō, busy training, had no idea just how fast the Uchiha patriarch would move. From the moment Yō planted the Soul Control Curse on Jun'etsu, he'd known a talk with Fugaku might come. But he hadn't expected it so soon.
"Yō Natsume, right?"Fugaku appeared alone. His eyes were like midnight carved into steel—cold, lethal. "Lift the curse on those two, and our score is settled.""Or—if you think to use that curse as leverage against the Uchiha, to bargain or threaten—try it. Let's see which acts faster, you or my Sharingan.""If I seize you with the Sharingan, everything about you will be laid bare. You'll become a slave to the Uchiha name—living forever under Konoha's scorn.""And your little girlfriend will be nothing but collateral—broken, forever unable to raise her head."
Fugaku's tone was infinitely harder than Tairen's or Toritama's; Yō felt the pressure like a physical thing.
"Hah… so I have no choice then. I'll lift the curse and set them free." Yō wiped the cold sweat from his brow and gave a short laugh."You can think that if you want. This isn't a threat—it's a negotiation. You're smart; you know what to do. Stirring up the Uchiha without reason will make your life miserable." Fugaku crossed his arms; it wasn't a plea, it was an order. And Yō felt it in his bones.
Tairen and the others only represented themselves. Fugaku represented the whole Uchiha clan. Yō wasn't arrogant enough to challenge an entire clan—especially not when Fugaku's three-tomoe Sharingan marked him as an elite jōnin. He had no right to fight that.
"So then—if I agree—how will you guarantee Tairen and Yūsuke won't come after me later?" Yō's eyes burned as he stared down Fugaku.