A total of 370 Uchiha Ninja were sent to the front lines this time.
Among them were those of the Moderate Faction who advocated for peaceful coexistence with Konoha, as well as the neutral faction who followed the Clan Chief's lead; only the Radical Faction did not participate on a large scale due to years of suppression by Konoha.
But the cruelty of war exceeded all imagination. Of the 370 who went to battle, fewer than 200 eventually returned to the Family alive—a full 140 Clan Members had fallen forever in the pools of blood on the Kirigakure Battlefield, their remains lost.
What made the entire clan even more distressed was that fifty-seven more Ninja were "missing."
They were mostly Uchiha Senba's former loyal subordinates and were among the few core forces in the clan who still upheld the Family's honor and were devoted to the group.
To the outside world, Uchiha Xia Yin only claimed that they had all died in several surprise attacks and their bodies could not be recovered; he even held a grand funeral for them.
The Clan Members were grief-stricken, but only Shine knew that these fifty-seven people had long since been secretly taken away by him to a hidden base, becoming the first seeds for cultivating his private forces—except for himself, the entire Uchiha, and even all of Konoha, believed these people had already returned to Kitsuchi.
Fugaku did not notice anything unusual at first, merely thinking that the brutality of the war had caused the Family heavy losses.
But when he returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound to gather the remaining Clan Members, count their numbers, and comfort the bereaved families, a truth that struck him like a bolt from the blue suddenly surfaced.
Of the current Ninja of the Uchiha Clan, excluding the 140 who died in battle and the 57 who were "missing," nearly 700 remained.
Fugaku originally wanted to take this opportunity to reorganize the clan's strength, but during the counting process, he discovered that the power structure within the clan had already undergone a world-shaking change without his knowledge.
The remaining fifty-plus Ninja of the Moderate Faction still held onto the philosophy of peaceful coexistence with Konoha, but due to their damaged combat strength and lack of a leader, they were now insignificant within the clan;
Of the neutral faction under his own command, fewer than a hundred survived, and most were severely injured on the battlefield, making it difficult for them to recover their combat strength in the short term; they simply could not provide effective support.
And the remaining five hundred-plus Ninja—occupying nearly seventy percent of the Uchiha's current combat strength—had actually all completely turned to Uchiha Xia Yin!
Whether it was the once-wavering ordinary Clan Members or some middle-tier Ninja who originally belonged to the neutral faction, whenever Shine's name was mentioned now, their eyes were filled with fanatical worship and absolute obedience.
They spoke with great relish of Shine's heroic performance on the battlefield, praising his feat of crushing the Three-Tails Jinchuriki with Susanoo, and hailing him as the "Savior" of the Uchiha; their words no longer held any reverence for Clan Chief Fugaku.
What made Fugaku's skin crawl even more was that even the most senior and stubborn Elder of the Radical Faction, Uchiha Setsuna, had somehow completely submitted to Shine!
That old Elder, who had once publicly contradicted him several times and advocated for reclaiming the clan's power through force, was now extremely respectful when mentioning Shine, addressing him as "Lord Shine" and even stating bluntly that "the future of the Uchiha can only be controlled by Lord Shine."
What pained Fugaku the most was the fifty neutral faction elites that Shine had transferred from his command under the pretext of "manpower shortage at the front."
These people were originally his confidants, important bargaining chips for him to balance the various forces within the clan, but after this period of battlefield experience, they had also completely turned to Shine!
Now when they saw Fugaku, they would still salute, but their eyes were cold and distant, devoid of their former loyalty; they had clearly become Shine's most faithful subordinates.
"This... how is this possible?"
Fugaku stood in the center of the Clan Compound's square, the fanatical praises of Shine by the Clan Members echoing in his ears, while unfamiliar and feverish faces appeared before his eyes. He trembled all over, his hands and feet cold, feeling a surge of blood rush to his head, his chest so tight he could hardly breathe.
He was the Clan Chief of the Uchiha!
The master of the entire clan!
But now, more than seventy percent of the clan's combat strength belonged to Shine, even the Elder of the Radical Faction had become Shine's follower, and the confidants under his command had either died in battle or defected. He, the Clan Chief, had actually become a complete figurehead!
He had been sidelined! He had been completely sidelined!
This realization was like the sharpest blade, ruthlessly piercing his heart.
Fugaku's vision went dark, his body swayed, and he nearly collapsed on the spot.
Several loyal old servants nearby rushed forward to support him, anxiously calling out his name.
"Clan Chief! Are you alright?"
"Clan Chief, please don't be too sad!"
Fugaku leaned on the old servant, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper, his eyes filled with despair and disbelief.
He couldn't understand how the position of Clan Chief he had painstakingly built for years, the Family power he had held onto for a lifetime, had been quietly seized by Uchiha Xia Yin in the span of a single short war!
He looked at Shine, who was being surrounded by Clan Members not far away. The other man seemed to sense his gaze and turned his head, his crimson Mangekyo Sharingan narrowing slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold and mocking arc.
That look, that smile, was like an announcement—the sky of the Uchiha had changed.
Fugaku felt the world spinning, a sweet metallic taste rising in his throat; if he hadn't forced it down, he might have spat out a mouthful of blood.
He knew that from this moment on, he, the Uchiha Clan Chief, had completely become a mere ornament.
And Uchiha Xia Yin, this Genius who rose from the war, had become the true controller of the Uchiha Clan.
On the Clan Compound square, the cheers and praises of the Clan Members for Shine rose and fell, but they were like sharp knives, stabbing ruthlessly into Fugaku's heart.
He looked at this Clan Compound he had guarded his whole life, looked at those Clan Members who had once bowed to him, and only endless sorrow and powerlessness remained in his heart.
Where exactly would the future of the Uchiha lead?
He didn't know. He only knew that his career as Clan Chief had reached its end.
And that man named Uchiha Xia Yin would lead the Uchiha down a path that no one could predict.
The ancient wooden doors of the Naka Shrine slowly closed, cutting off the clamor of the outside world.
Inside the shrine, the candlelight flickered, reflecting off the mottled stone walls and the Uchiha Clan's clan crest; the air was filled with the scent of sandalwood and the suppressed smell of gunpowder.
This Clan Meeting five days later was the first full core meeting of the Uchiha after returning to Konoha.
After the baptism of the Kirigakure Battlefield, the combat strength pattern within the clan had quietly changed—the number of Three-Tomoe Ninja had surged from over seventy before the war to one hundred and seven.
Although the flames of war had taken the lives of Clan Members, they had also tempered a group of new powerhouses...
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808