Crack.
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
The entire space fractured, and in the next instant, Itachi finally broke free from the forbidden technique of Izanami.
Standing before him was Yu Feng.
At this moment, Yu Feng had just finished transplanting his eye back—his eyes were still closed.
A trace of guilt rose in Itachi's heart. Because of him, Yu Feng-senpai had lost an eye.
Noticing Itachi's gaze, Yu Feng touched his eye and slowly opened it.
"Heh. Relax—I didn't sacrifice my own eye."
Seeing that Yu Feng's eye was not gray and lifeless, Itachi finally let out a sigh of relief.
But he quickly composed himself.
"Yu Feng-senpai, I still have another ally. He—"
Yu Feng raised a hand, signaling him to stop.
"I know. The one who calls himself Uchiha Madara. Leave him to me."
"You go meet Danzō immediately. Tell him that the Uchiha clan has already made preparations and that internal strife has broken out, and then—"
…
Fugaku's Residence
The Great Elder and Fugaku had been talking for a long time.
When it came to stalling for time, there were countless ways to do it.
Naturally, the Great Elder used entirely legitimate reasons—discussing how a coup could be carried out while minimizing clan casualties.
Fugaku, however, was still dreaming of a bloodless revolution. He never mentioned Itachi acting as a double agent.
He didn't even consider the possibility that if Itachi sided with Konoha, the Uchiha clan might be annihilated.
Fugaku, Itachi— even Sasuke.
All of them shared the same temperament: stubborn, self-righteous, and arrogant.
They charged headlong down a path paved with their own assumptions.
And when reality completely diverged from their expectations, instead of fixing things, they either doubled down on their mistakes—or simply gave up.
From a family perspective, Fugaku waiting passively for death was meant to protect Sasuke.
But from the standpoint of a clan head?
Surrendering without even fighting was ugly, shameful, and utterly irresponsible.
The duty of a clan leader was to lead the clan to strength.
When danger arrived, he should fight to preserve the clan's spark at all costs.
Yet Fugaku, facing annihilation, didn't think about sending more clan members away.
Instead, he only staged a tragic family drama with Mikoto and Itachi.
To the other Uchiha clan members: Wow, thanks so much.
At the start of the discussion, Fugaku had been quite serious.
But as time dragged on, impatience crept in.
Because he firmly believed that Itachi would seize the right moment to control Konoha's higher-ups—
And successfully carry out a bloodless revolution.
In comparison, the Great Elder's plans seemed overly cautious.
Eventually, Fugaku rubbed his temples.
"Great Elder, let's stop here for today. I don't think the timing is right yet."
The Great Elder estimated the time and replied meaningfully,
"True. Things are always changing. We can discuss it again later."
As he spoke, he stood up.
In terms of seniority, the Great Elder was effectively Fugaku's clan uncle. Even as clan head, Fugaku stood up as well and escorted him to the door.
…
Meanwhile—
While Yu Feng was subjecting Itachi to Izanami's forced mental correction,
Obito used Kamui to infiltrate the Police Force headquarters.
Ever since Shisui's death, the Uchiha's actual control over the Police Force had steadily weakened.
The village had reduced personnel again and again, using all kinds of excuses.
At the time, Itachi had even spoken on behalf of the village.
Fugaku believed this was part of Itachi gaining Konoha's trust, and so he kept retreating.
Now, aside from a handful of people in the Police Force building itself, there was no one stationed outside.
The night was utterly silent.
When Obito arrived, the building lights were still on.
I wonder how many Sharingan I'll harvest tonight?
Obito chuckled softly and flashed into the building.
But the moment he entered, he realized—
It was completely empty.
No people.
Not even a ghost.
"Hm? Where did all the Uchiha go?"
Obito frowned. Judging by the clan's preparations, they shouldn't have launched the coup so soon.
He searched the building from top to bottom, confirming that everyone was truly gone.
Instead of relaxing, Obito became more alert.
When Itachi invited him to help annihilate the Uchiha clan, Obito had already considered—
Was this a trap set specifically for him?
After all, Itachi's line of thinking in this matter had always been… abnormal.
In reality, it was Yu Feng who had revealed Obito's abilities to the clan.
After learning about Kamui, Rinjin concluded that in narrow or complex terrain, the clan would be at a severe disadvantage.
So he ordered everyone evacuated from the Police Force building.
Although everyone stationed there was loyal to Fugaku,
In a special situation like this, Rinjin only needed to tell them that an enemy capable of space–time ninjutsu had infiltrated.
No one was foolish enough to gamble their lives unnecessarily.
Obito cautiously made several rounds inside.
Then—suddenly—he clutched his eye.
His Kamui eye throbbed violently, as if it had been damaged.
His vision blurred for a brief moment—
Then returned to normal.
What was that?
Is something wrong with my eye?!
Obito had no idea whether that sudden sensation meant something had gone wrong.
Hesitation crept in.
Two years earlier, he had already used his Mangekyō Sharingan to control Yagura Karatachi.
In Kirigakure, he continued the previous generation's Bloody Mist policy.
Now, anyone with a kekkei genkai there was essentially guilty by birth.
Kirigakure was in utter chaos, held together only because Yagura was a perfect jinchūriki.
But controlling Yagura consumed a tremendous amount of Obito's ocular power.
After the strange sensation just now, Obito quickly checked—
Yagura was still firmly under his control.
Only then did he relax slightly.
However, the moment Obito stepped out onto the plaza outside the Police Force building—
The situation changed.
Whoosh!
Just as he was about to leave and go look for Itachi—
Several signal flares and illumination rounds shot straight into the sky.
Floodlights around the Police Force blazed to life.
Obito—wearing his tiger-striped mask—was illuminated perfectly.
"Fire!"
A dense storm of shuriken erupted toward him…