Sasuke found it even harder to accept.
Seigen awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan had certainly shocked him.
Still, Seigen had grown up alongside his brother.
They had trained together since childhood, so although it was surprising, it wasn’t completely impossible to believe.
But…
His father awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan?
That was another matter entirely.
Ever since Sasuke could remember, his father had always been strict with both him and Itachi.
Aside from that…
At home, Fugaku had always seemed almost useless.
He wore the same stern expression every day, yet all he ever did was drink tea or tend to his birds.
He didn’t seem like the head of one of Konoha’s greatest clans at all.
Itachi had once told him that their father hadn’t always been like that.
Only after the Nine-Tails Incident, when Konoha began suppressing the Uchiha, had Fugaku changed into the man Sasuke knew today.
Sasuke had always assumed Itachi was simply making excuses for him.
Perhaps his father was an excellent father…
But as the clan leader?
Sasuke had never believed he was suited for the role.
What he never could have imagined…
…was that a Mangekyo Sharingan user had been living right beside him all along.
The way Dad acts every day…
how does he look anything like someone who’s awakened the Mangekyo?
Still wearing an expression of utter disbelief, Sasuke looked back at Itachi, searching his brother’s eyes for any sign that this was all some elaborate joke.
Itachi could only smile helplessly.
He knew exactly what that look meant.
He also understood that Sasuke had always held certain prejudices toward their father.
There was nothing strange about it.
By the time Sasuke had been born, Konoha had already begun pushing the Uchiha to the outskirts of the village.
The clan had been excluded from the village leadership.
Their only remaining responsibility was serving as the Military Police Force—a token position meant to keep them occupied.
Those constant humiliations had gradually crushed Fugaku’s spirit.
But before all of that…
His father had once devoted himself wholeheartedly to the village.
He had even aspired to become the next Hokage.
Everything changed after the Nine-Tails Incident.
From that day onward, Fugaku gradually stopped involving himself in clan affairs.
He spent his days drinking tea and raising birds, appearing like a man who had completely given up.
Part of that was because Konoha had utterly disappointed him.
The other part…
Was exactly what the village’s higher-ups had wanted to see.
And because of that…
Calls for a coup within the Uchiha only grew louder with each passing year.
It wasn’t until the night of the massacre, when Itachi finally admitted his mistakes and spoke honestly with his father, that he learned the truth.
Fugaku had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan long ago.
His apparent despair had been nothing more than a disguise.
Hidden beneath that weary exterior…
Was overwhelming strength.
Even Itachi had been shocked the moment he saw his father’s Mangekyo Sharingan.
“Father isn’t the man you think he is.”
Itachi gently ruffled Sasuke’s hair.
“He was actually the very first person to awaken the Mangekyo.”
His thoughts drifted back to the first time his father had taken him onto the battlefield.
The next day…
After the ceremony officially appointing Itachi as the new Clan Head concluded, Seigen gathered every member of the clan.
The very first assembly of the Hidden Flame Village officially began in the Land of Rice Fields.
“My fellow clansmen!”
“Thank you for placing your trust in me, and for the confidence shown by the Clan Head.”
“I, Uchiha Seigen, swear that I will never betray your expectations!”
“I spent all of last night thinking.”
“From this day forward…”
“Every major decision will be made through a voting system.”
“Everything we do…”
“…will be for the sake of our village!”
“Heaven bless the Uchiha!”
“For the Uchiha!”
“For the Uchiha!”
“Heaven bless the Uchiha!”
“Heaven bless the Uchiha!”
…
Afterward, Seigen officially announced the structure of the new village’s government.
Fugaku, the three elders, and several respected members of the older generation would form the Council of Elders.
The younger generation, led by Uchiha Itachi, would become the Enforcement Corps.
As for Seigen himself…
He would personally command the military forces composed of the clan’s strongest young shinobi.
As the Flame Shadow, Seigen possessed the authority to issue policies and declare war.
However…
Major decisions still required approval through a vote of the Council of Elders.
The Council also held authority over official appointments, the election of future Clan Heads, and even the power to remove a Clan Head from office.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Corps would supervise the Council, carry out laws enacted by the leadership, and maintain public order throughout the village.
Of course…
Oversight of the Enforcement Corps itself remained in Seigen’s hands.
Together, the three branches formed a balanced system of mutual oversight.
No one objected to the new Flame Shadow’s reforms.
In fact, Fugaku and the elders were pleasantly surprised.
None of them had expected Seigen to devise such an effective governing structure.
By balancing power among three separate branches, no single individual would ever again control everything.
It would prevent the kind of corruption that had consumed Konoha.
If a future Flame Shadow became incompetent or tyrannical…
The Council of Elders would have the authority to remove them from office.
After that, Seigen formally presented his plans for reclaiming farmland, raising livestock, prospecting for mineral deposits, and opening mines.
The Council unanimously approved every proposal.
Implementation began immediately.
The Daimyo’s supplies had already arrived that morning.
With food secured for the time being, everyone could immediately begin cultivating farmland.
Meanwhile, several teams were dispatched to search for mineral deposits.
Others set out for the Land of Artisans to recruit skilled craftsmen.
Before long…
Every member of the Uchiha rolled up their sleeves and began working the fields under the open sky.
At that moment, everyone was filled with hope for the future.
After all…
Their old “company,” Konoha, had worked them to the bone while constantly suppressing and manipulating them.
Now they had left to build something of their own.
Every drop of sweat they shed was for their own future.
How could they not throw themselves into it with everything they had?