Chapter 16: A new clan leader

"You're awake."

Shisui felt pain coursing through every fiber of his body.

At the same time, his head throbbed as if it were about to explode.

His vision remained frustratingly blurry, and he feared he might be going blind from overusing his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Did the plan succeed?"

After a moment of silence, Shisui quickly grasped their current situation.

In a hoarse voice, he asked the question that weighed most heavily on his mind.

"According to our final count, eighteen people died… thirteen police force members and five other clan members."

"We held a memorial ceremony yesterday."

Yami spoke in a somewhat subdued tone.

Although the casualty numbers were lower than he had initially feared, losing even these lives left him with a sense of disappointment.

The most frustrating aspect was that Konoha's surveillance had been so suffocating.

Otherwise, it might have been entirely possible to achieve a complete evacuation with zero casualties.

"Well... considering everything we faced, that's actually quite remarkable," Shisui said with a dry cough, forcing himself to smile despite the pain.

Yami nodded.

"Your injuries are severe, and we don't have many skilled medical ninjas within the clan. After all, Konoha always restricted our access to advanced healing techniques, so most of us only know basic [Mystical Palm Technique]."

"Fortunately, Danzo and his people didn't use poison on their weapons this time, so you'll survive. You just need to rest and recover gradually."

"By the way, we replaced your Mangekyō Sharingan while you were unconscious."

Yami then informed him in a matter-of-fact way.

Three days had passed since their dramatic escape from Konoha.

The Uchiha clan's morale remained somewhat low, but since everyone had to focus on essential survival tasks like building shelter, hunting for food, and establishing basic infrastructure, they didn't have much time to dwell on their losses or their uncertain future.

"I was wrong!"

"If I had trusted in our clan from the very beginning, the Uchiha might never have been forced to this desperate point."

Shisui spoke with complete sincerity to Yami.

Although he had ultimately agreed to the evacuation plan, he privately acknowledged that he had still harbored naive illusions about Konoha's leadership until the very end.

But now the harsh reality had become undeniable.

Konoha truly was as corrupt and ruthless as Yami had warned him.

‘How was I so blind?’ he thought bitterly.

What had blinded him to such obvious truths for so long?

"There's no time for you to indulge in self-pity or regret. What the Uchiha need now is your active assistance."

"In three days, I'll be taking a group out to sea. While the Uchiha could survive on this isolated island, such a way of living would be far too limiting."

"I didn't bring our people here merely to survive in the wilderness. I intend to make the Uchiha stronger than ever before, and then we'll return to the ninja world to reclaim what was taken from us!"

Yami had no intention of offering empty comfort or false reassurances.

Instead, he spoke with blunt directness about their immediate challenges and long-term objectives.

According to the system's quest parameters, he had three months total to accomplish his goals, and ten days had already elapsed.

Only eighty days remained.

Within that timeframe, he absolutely had to become a Shichibukai or achieve recognition as a great pirate with a bounty exceeding 500 million berries.

At the same time, the Uchiha clan members could not be expected to live like they were doing right now.

They needed to establish contact with modern civilization, engage in trade relationships, and integrate themselves into this world's complex political and economic systems.

These were the immediate priorities that demanded his attention.

"I understand completely. I'll dedicate everything I have to helping our clan succeed."

Shisui gritted his teeth and spoke with unwavering determination.

"It is our duty to rebuild our clan."

Yami nodded approvingly, then fixed Shisui with an intensely meaningful expression.

Shisui's face shifted with emotion, his lips trembling slightly, but he remained silent and offered no verbal response.

'The Uchiha are still remarkably easy to inspire with the right words,' Yami thought to himself with mild amusement.

Of course, he was careful not to voice such observations aloud.

"By the way, Itachi has also awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan."

"When I brought you back that day, you were unconscious from my punch and covered in blood from your various wounds."

"Itachi was stationed at the dimensional portal as part of our rear guard. When he saw your condition, I told him you had died in battle. The shock and grief triggered his Mangekyō awakening, and the emotional surge allowed him to break the seal I had placed on him."

Yami stood up and prepared to leave, but he remembered this important detail he had forgotten to mention.

After finishing his explanation, he pushed open the wooden door of the hastily constructed shelter and departed.

The improvised door slowly swung closed behind him with a creaking sound.

Shisui, meanwhile, remained lying on his simple mattress…

He stared at the ceiling with a completely dumbfounded expression.

****

Three days later, in a training ground that had been cleared on the isolated island, many of the Uchiha clan had gathered for an important announcement.

"Today, I am formally transferring the position of Uchiha clan leader to Yami. From this moment forward, he will guide the Uchiha clan toward a glorious future!"

Fugaku stepped forward to officiate the transfer of leadership authority.

After their recent experiences, he had come to recognize that his own tendency toward excessive caution and hesitation made him far less effective than someone with the decisive nature that younger generations possessed.

Moreover, the courage, strategic thinking, and raw power that Yami had demonstrated were exactly what the clan needed most in their current circumstances.

"It is my duty to rebuild the glory of our clan in this new place."

Yami stood beside Fugaku with a solemn expression, making this sacred promise to all the clan members assembled in neat rows before them.

Standing among the crowd, Shisui felt a strange sense of unease for reasons he couldn't quite identify.

Nevertheless, he was the first to begin applauding in congratulations and support.

Enthusiastic applause soon erupted throughout the gathering.

On the night of their dramatic escape, every clan member had witnessed firsthand the invaluable assistance their new leader had provided to ensure everyone's survival.

"What I'm about to outline represents the first crucial step in the Uchiha clan's return to prominence."

"We must formally integrate ourselves into this world's civilization, establish communication networks, and gather intelligence about: our current environment, our strategic position, and the political landscape we now find ourselves navigating."

Yami raised his hand to signal for the applause to cease, then continued with his strategic briefing.

Simultaneously, several clan members wheeled forward a large blackboard measuring approximately three meters in length and one and a half meters in height.

"The most powerful force in this world is called the World Government, and it directly administers more than one hundred and seventy allied nations."

Yami began his detailed explanation of their new reality.

When the assembled Uchiha heard that the World Government controlled one hundred and seventy different countries, shocked exclamations rippled through the crowd.

Even Fugaku and Shisui were learning this information for the first time, their faces reflecting their amazement.

"Of course, each of these individual nations cannot be as large or powerful as the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Most are comparable in size to smaller territories like the Land of Grass or the Land of Rain, though there are also some nations that rival the scale of the major hidden villages."

"Under the authority of this World Government, there is one primary military force used to manage and control these nations: the Navy. Aside from that, there is also an intelligence organization that’s very secretive."

"The Navy represents by far the strongest military power. They possess more than five individuals whose combat abilities at the very least rival or exceed those of a Hokage. These include three Admirals, one Fleet Admiral, and one person known as the Hero of the Navy, but there are dozens of other high-ranking officers. Within their forces of over thousands of soldiers, they maintain more than a hundred fighters equivalent to elite jōnin, with countless others matching chūnin and jōnin capabilities."

When Yami finished detailing the Navy's overwhelming military strength, the previously excited Uchiha crowd fell into stunned silence.

After all, this level of organized power seemed almost incomprehensibly vast compared to what they had known.

The relatively weak Konoha leadership had already forced them into exile and a desperate flight.

Could the Uchiha clan realistically hope to achieve glory and recognition when facing such monumentally superior forces?

This assessment came even though Yami had deliberately understated the Navy's true capabilities in his presentation.

After all, just the three Admirals possessed combat strength that could compete with Super Kage-level opponents, individuals on par with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, or Madara Uchiha in his prime.

Compared to such legendary figures, ninja like Tsunade or Sarutobi Hiruzen would find themselves completely outmatched in direct confrontation.