"Success…"
Uchiha Fugaku repeated the word silently in his mind, its weight pressing on him more heavily than he expected. Only he knew how complicated his emotions were in this moment.
As the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku understood deeply what this moment signified: a rare political victory.
The Fourth Hokage had been chosen—Minato Namikaze, a rising star not bred from the Senju-aligned power bloc forged by the Second Hokage, yet still firmly embedded within Hiruzen Sarutobi's inner circle. And yet… he was also someone who had shown goodwill toward the Uchiha.
That alone made him exceptional.
The Uchiha had made quiet overtures, gauging Minato's response. Surprisingly, Minato hadn't dismissed them. Instead, he had welcomed the idea of clan cooperation. And now—Minato was Hokage.
If all went as discussed, the Uchiha would support Minato politically and socially, and in return, he would help bring them out of the margins of Konoha's power structure. It was the first real chance in decades.
Taking a deep breath, Fugaku forced himself to calm down. He had so much he wanted to say… yet in the end, all he could manage was:
"Congratulations. We did it."
His fists trembled slightly despite himself.
"Yes, we did," Minato replied warmly, easily noticing the tension beneath Fugaku's controlled tone.
"But Fuyue-san, Kai-kun," Minato continued, turning to the younger Uchiha beside him, "this is only the beginning. There's still much to be done—by all of us."
Fugaku nodded. Of course, he knew. The most difficult part of their plan had succeeded. But stabilizing the clan and managing its factions? That part still rested on his shoulders.
And some among them would not accept cooperation so easily.
Before Minato could fully take office, Fugaku knew he had to deal with dissenters—those hardliners who saw peace as weakness and saw outsiders, even allies, as threats.
"I'll deal with them," Fugaku muttered under his breath, the words more for himself than anyone else. "I won't be the weak link. I know what needs to be done."
"I understand," Minato responded, his expression serious. "I'll prepare contingency plans to assist you and the Uchiha, if necessary."
Uchiha Kai stood silently beside them, calm and unreadable. Of the three, he was the quietest—but not because he was disinterested. No, Kai was deeply satisfied.
His plan was half a success.
Like a butterfly disrupting the course of fate, Kai's interference had shifted much: Kakashi hadn't been the one to earn the full credit in recent missions, and the tides of history had begun to ripple.
But Minato still became Hokage. That, above all, reassured Kai.
And unlike in the original timeline, this time Minato would not rise to power beholden solely to Hiruzen. Kai had made sure of that—he had shown the narrative that Minato's ascension was tied, in part, to Uchiha support. To his support.
In the long run, that subtle difference could mean everything.
Because soon, power struggles would resurface. The Elders would not easily relinquish their grip on village authority, and Kai knew Minato would need more than goodwill—he'd need actual power.
Power Kai intended to help him secure.
"Then I'll take my leave," Minato said after a few more minutes of discussion. "Things will be busy for a while."
He turned back and smiled. "If anything urgent happens, use my kunai. I'll come immediately."
With that, a flash of blue chakra shimmered around him, and he vanished.
Fugaku and Kai stood in silence, staring at the space where Minato had stood. Fugaku looked lost in thought. Kai was regulating his breathing, allowing chakra to flow calmly through his body.
He wasn't preparing for a fight, not seriously. But habits born of war die hard. And Kai knew better than to trust too easily—even allies.
Fugaku noticed the subtle shift in Kai's chakra and let out a soft sigh.
"When did it come to this…" Fugaku thought to himself. He, the clan head, felt more distrust within his own house than ever before. The Uchiha were fractured—split between pragmatists and radicals, loyalists and dissenters.
And now, the one person he relied on most within the clan… was also the one he had to be most cautious of.
The irony was suffocating.
"I don't intend to fight you, Kai-kun," Fugaku said finally. "We need dialogue, not conflict. We're partners."
"It's just instinct, Fugaku-san," Kai replied, finally turning to face him. He didn't activate his Sharingan—but his eyes were sharp nonetheless. "But I need to ask something."
Fugaku nodded. He already had a feeling what this was about.
"What does the clan head think… about the new pair of eyes soon to be born?"
Fugaku's expression hardened. So Kai did know. He had suspected.
This was one of the deep fractures in their alliance: the matter of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Both he and Kai possessed Mangekyō. Both sought to eliminate its curse—blindness. But only one pair of eyes could be claimed for the next evolution.
Fugaku knew Kai's potential had exceeded expectations. Despite his youth, he had vision, he had strength, and worst of all—he had influence.
And it was terrifying.
"I should never have agreed to the experimentation," Fugaku thought bitterly. "Now I want peace… and we're standing on another battlefield."
"What are your thoughts, Kai-kun?" Fugaku asked carefully. "It's better we speak plainly."
Kai didn't hesitate.
"Neither of us wants to miss out on the Eternal Mangekyō," he said flatly. "And I'm not willing to let the balance between us tip in your favor."
"I don't mind your ambition," Fugaku responded calmly, though his heart was troubled. "If the clan prospers through your efforts, that's a good thing. But are you saying… you intend to challenge my leadership?"
"No. I don't want to be clan head," Kai said, exhaling.
"But after all I've done—after how far I've stepped into dangerous territory—I won't just take someone's word as reassurance. I need tangible protection. I need leverage."
"Our plan is halfway complete. Neither of us wants to throw that away, right?"
Fugaku was silent.
He couldn't deny it. Kai's influence on Minato might already outweigh his own. And if Kai turned against him now, the damage he could inflict on the clan—and Konoha—would be disastrous.
He had no choice but to tread carefully.
"…I'll think it over," Fugaku said at last.
And Kai, satisfied for now, nodded once.