Relying on the grand ideal of the Will of Fire, Tahara Rokuro had successfully outwitted Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But when he returned to the Uchiha compound, he wasn't met with praise or approval — instead, he was summoned by Fugaku and the others to the Uchiha Naka Shrine, where the ancient stone tablet that once misled Uchiha Madara was enshrined.
Ordinarily, someone of Rokuro's status would never be allowed entry here. Yet when he arrived, the place was already filled with many of the clan's elite shinobi — including not just Fugaku, but also the Three Great Elders of the Uchiha.
When Rokuro's gaze fell upon the eldest among them — Elder Uchiha Setsuna — a knowing smile of conspiracy curved across his lips.
"Clan Head, what's going on? I heard there was quite a commotion."
"Was it the Hokage's people picking on us Uchiha again?"
"Don't say that! Lord Third would never do such a thing. It must be an issue from our side.
You there — Uchiha Rokuro, right? Speak up. What did you do this time to even alarm the Hokage himself?"
Rokuro glanced toward the middle-aged Uchiha who had spoken last. From the man's seating position, it was obvious — a Dove Faction member.
That realization made Rokuro sneer with disdain. He didn't even bother to respond.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, can't you hear, brat!?"
"This Uchiha Rokuro is the son of that woman who's been selling sealing techniques lately.
Seems he's made quite a fortune from it too."
Another Dove Faction ninja chimed in, his tone sour and mocking.
The first man seized on that and immediately began to howl.
"As a member of the Uchiha clan, we should help each other in difficult times!
And yet your family profits while the rest of us suffer? Do you have any sense of clan solidarity!?"
Rokuro simply found a seat, crossed his arms, and turned toward them with a calm, cold gaze.
"Jealous, are you?
If you are, you don't have to buy anything from us.
Want a refund?
I can drop by tomorrow, remove the seal you bought, and give you every last coin back.
How's that sound?"
"Y-You—! Is that how you talk to your elders!?"
"Elders? Aside from sharing the same surname, what relation do we have?
We're not even close kin — barely distant relatives at best.
You're really overestimating your place."
Rokuro's blunt retort left the man red-faced and trembling with rage.
The Dove Faction ninja suddenly flared his three-tomoe Sharingan and lunged straight at him.
The three formed a triangle — Fugaku at the top, Rokuro and the Dove ninja at the base.
If Fugaku wished, he could have easily intercepted the attack.
Yet Fugaku didn't move.
He merely sat there with a dark expression, tacitly allowing the assault.
Rokuro's eyes flicked toward him briefly — then he raised his right hand, channeling chakra into the ring on his middle finger.
Tiny seal scripts — hundreds of them, each no larger than a sesame seed — instantly flared to life.
The next moment, four golden chakra chains burst from the ring, rapidly expanding and thickening as they wrapped the attacking Uchiha midair.
"W-What is this!? Release me!"
The Dove ninja thrashed wildly, but the chains' binding force was terrifying — strong enough to subdue even a tailed beast, let alone a mere Sharingan user.
"Rokuro, you!"
Fugaku finally spoke, but Rokuro had no intention of stopping.
He increased the chakra output, and the chains glowed brighter — the sealing power now fully activated.
Within seconds, the Dove ninja's chakra flow was completely suppressed.
Even his Sharingan dimmed and reverted to ordinary eyes.
"Enough, Rokuro! He's still one of our own — stop before this becomes bloodshed among brothers!"
Fugaku gave a discreet signal to his two bodyguards.
They used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside the bound man — one drew a kunai and slashed at the golden chains.
A sharp clang rang out.
The kunai snapped in two the instant it made contact.
The other guard tried to grab the chains barehanded — only to feel his own chakra being drained away, his limbs growing weak.
He released them in shock, backing off in terror.
The entire room fell silent.
Every Uchiha present had witnessed it — and in that moment, all trace of contempt vanished from their eyes.
Some even felt a twinge of fear — Fugaku and the elders included.
Elder Setsuna's clouded old eyes gleamed sharply.
Whether out of nostalgia or something else, he suddenly remembered a certain forbidden figure from the clan's history…
And in his mind, that shadow overlapped perfectly with the boy before him.
"Clan Head, why didn't you stop him sooner?
For a moment, I thought you had dust in your eye."
Rokuro's taunting tone cut through the silence as he dismissed the golden chains.
"My apologies, distant uncle — I just killed a rogue jōnin not long ago.
Guess the bloodlust hasn't quite faded.
You happened to provoke me at the wrong time.
Don't worry — if your fragile body got damaged, I'll cover all your medical bills.
After all, our family made tens of millions selling sealing scrolls.
Just bring me the hospital receipts."
The Dove ninja's face turned purple with humiliation.
Say what you will about the Uchiha — arrogant, temperamental, even a bit deranged — but they did know when to back down.
Just as they once yielded to Senju Hashirama to form Konoha, this man too swallowed his pride and retreated silently, though the murderous hatred in his heart still burned.
The air in the shrine grew heavy and tense — until Elder Setsuna finally spoke.
"That just now… was Adamantine Sealing Chains, wasn't it?
The Uzumaki Clan's exclusive sealing technique?"
"Sharp eyes, Elder," Rokuro replied with a half-smile, raising a thumb in mock admiration.
"You're the first to recognize it at a glance."
"Then," Setsuna continued, his tone probing,
"the sealing scrolls used to build your house — those were your handiwork as well?"
"Why assume they're mine?" Rokuro countered with feigned innocence.
"Couldn't they have been my mother's?"
Setsuna shook his head slightly.
"I attended your father Taidachi's wedding. I met your mother back then.
Her talent was decent — she could manage ordinary sealing scrolls.
But that ring on your finger…
That's a high-grade ninja tool.
Something like that couldn't have been crafted by a mid-level sealing specialist."
His words left everyone in shock — Fugaku most of all.
On the way back, he had already been wondering how Rokuro had managed to defeat Kakuzu.
As clan head, his intelligence network wasn't as vast as Danzō's, but it was formidable enough to know that Kakuzu was no easy opponent.
Among the Uchiha, only Shisui might have been able to take him down in single combat.
For Rokuro to do it with just a two-tomoe Sharingan was simply impossible.
But now, the truth was dawning on him — and in that moment, his estimation of Rokuro's strength soared, rising to stand shoulder to shoulder with Uchiha Shisui himself.