The Will Of Fire was a belief instilled into Konohan's mind that everybody in Konoha was a family, and therefore should be treated with love, care and respect.

The Will Of Fire, to shinobi, meant that every action they made should be for the sake of the village, no matter what they had to sacrifice.

The Will Of Fire was meant to protect everybody. But it didn't, because the Will of Fire is a paradox. How could everyone be protected, if few had to be sacrificied?

And that was why, because of the Will Of Fire's oxymoron, the Curse of Hatred was born.

●●

Sarutobi Hiruzen was supposed to be chilling at the bathhouse.

He was just about to soak his flesh in the soothing watersㅡthen that damned messenger clone just had to show up at that exact moment and ruin everything.

Now, rather than relaxing, Hiruzen was stuck in a council meeting with the village elders, and the truth was those were the worst type of meetings. Danzou would always find a reason to disagree with him and Koharu would always find some bogus way to support Danzou. Then Homura, rather than being a mediator, would just reprimand Hiruzen for being so soft. Hiruzen grimanced, just knowing this meeting would be no different and his opinion would be ignored again.

Why did they even bother summoning him? What was so urgent about the meeting?

And if it were so urgent, why was the Fourth Hokage late?

Perhaps it was because he was stuck preparing for the Konoha Founding Festival, which celebrated the events that led up to Konoha's creation and the people who had a hand in it, like the Senju. The streets were packed with decorations and people were burstling around trying to get things ready. The Hokage was supposed to oversee those things, and as simple as it sounds, it was one of the most time consuming things of the job...other than the paperwork.

Hiruzen was brought back to earth when a poof sound was made, and the middle seat was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke. He expected Minato, but the chakra he felt beside him was nothing like the man he chose to succeed him.

Rather, it was his long time friend and arguably the most twisted member of the Konoha elders.

Shimura Danzou.

Both men acknowledged each other with a simple nod of their heads, but Hiruzen's eyes lingered a little longer. Danzou was seated in the middle, leaving the chair next to him empty.

'How strange. Usually, the Hokage's occupies that chair. '

Speaking of Minato, he was taking quite a lot of time.

Hiruzen frowned. "I never pinned Minato to be a man of tardiness."

Utatane Koharu; the only female in the group, shook her head. "He will not be joining us today, Hiruzen."

Hiruzen's wrinkles deepened. "Oh?"

"Apologies for not informing you of this. But this is an elders-only type of meeting..." Homura trailed off, facing forward once again. "He's here."

Once Hiruzen sensed the chakra walking towards them, he resisted the urge to heave a sigh aloud.

'So that's what this is.'

The man dropped to one knee as a sign of respect, then rose. His lips were naturally shaped in a way that made it seem like he was always frowning, so Hiruzen could not decipher his emotions. Or perhaps, people of his clan just did not have any.

The more he thought about the theory, the more sense it made.

When was the last time he saw Fugaku smile?

"Uchiha Fugaku." Koharu simply acknowlegded his presence, not bothering with formalities.

When Fugaku made no effort to reply, Koharu cleared her throat and continued. "You know why you have been summoned, correct?"

Hiruzen frowned. 'Speaking to the Chief Police like he's a child?'

"Yes, I am aware."

"Why don't you tell us? Hm?"

The interaction felt like a disappointed mother about to scold her son, and Hiruzen saw why Minato was not informed of this meeting. To see Fugaku, a grown accomplished shinobi, be spoken to like a baby was not something his age mate was supposed to be audience to.

Fugaku, as per usual, did not reveal what was on his mind. "There are growing issues that involve the Uchiha clan."

Hiruzen almost wanted to roll his eyes. 'Of course.There's always something with the Uchiha.'

It seemed like everyday the village was finding something new to use against the clan, because any time one Uchiha did something that was considered abnormal or wrong, it always reflected on the entirety.

It had been like that since even the Second's reign, and it had gotten worse as time progressed.

Hiruzen did not exactly fault the village for it (though their rumours were outrageous). The Uchiha had always been a dark, mysterious clan with a nefarious aura to them. They earned their frightening reputation long ago, dating all the way back to the Warring States. Everything about their kekkei genkai screamed murder, and some even went far to say that their eyes were as strong as their hatred, and those who were incredibly powerful in the Uchiha clan were pure evil.

The Uchiha did not do anything to refute the rumours. In fact, their attitude and aura only fortified them, and if Hiruzen was not a kind man who knew Uchiha Kagami, he would have believed the rumours as well.

So, there was always something with the Uchiha. However, for the clan head to be summoned like this, it meant that the magnitude of those 'somethings' was becoming too much to bear.

"That is correct. I have numerous reports made by both civilians and shinobi in this scroll asking the authorities to do something about your clan." She pulled out a black scroll from her robe. Hiruzen raised a brow when she pulled out reading glasses as well.

He choked back down a chuckle. 'We really are old, aren't we?'

"I was setting up my shop for the day when an Uchiha came around. It was so early and not many people were around, so I asked him if I could help him. He said, rather rudely, that he did not have anything to do with me, then stormed off to I don't know where.
Report one."

"Around 9 pm, I was walking home after a long day of work, and I took the alley as a shortcut. That's when an Uchiha with a scar across his cheek approached me. I was so scared because his eyes were on my chest the entire time, and when I was about to bypass him he grabbed my arm. I managed to get away, barely." She eyed Fugaku. "Report two."

"I came to pick up my child from the playground and I saw an young Uchiha female slap an older man, then storm away. Report three."

After twelve more reports of villagers who had supposedly been attacked or intimidated by an Uchiha, Hiruzen had come to a conclusion that people just hated them. Although some were actually reasonable complaints, like alleged harrassment and attacks, others were just...how can one be "traumatized" from seeing an Uchiha's sharingan from afar?

"This is a social issue that has been caused by the attitude of your clansmen." Homura began once Koharu had finished. "It has caused a disrupt in the community, and though we have asked you countless of times to fix this problem, nothing has changed."

"My apologies, Mitokado san." Fugaku bowed his head. "Naturally, the clan members are introverted in nature. I have tried to improve this, and make the clan members more expressive and kind, but it proves to be quite the challenge."

"You are anti social as well. I doubt you'd come up with anything worthwhile." Koharu, once again, demeaned Fugaku's efforts. "This has also become a problem for the Uchiha Police Force, Fugaku. I hope you are aware."

Fugaku's head snapped up. "I'm sorry?"

(If they understood how Uchiha emotions worked, then perhaps they would have seen the storm forming beneath his always-stoic gaze.)

"The villagers do not want the Uchiha to be controlling the judiciary system." Danzou told him. "And it has caused quite a disrest. There are even talks of a revolution to kick the Uchiha out of power."

Koharu continued. "What I am suggesting is we remove the 'Uchiha' out of the name of the police force, and you fire some Uchiha and hire other shinobi, or even civilians. Then you order some Uchiha civilians to get jobs elsewhere. This will reduce the segregation."

Hiruzen tapped his fingers on his sides, a nervous habit he developed years ago.

'Fire Uchiha?'

That was a horrible idea. Because truth was, they were the best at police duty, hands down. Their unswayed emotionless nature was good for jailing offenders with manipulative words and their Sharingan was effective for finding and investigating criminal activity. Besides, the Second had created the Uchiha Police Force to do exactly what they said firing Uchiha would.

Hiruzen spoke up. "I disagree. Reducing segregation was why the Uchiha Police Force was made in the first place."

He couldn't tell what was in the glance Homura sent his way. Amusement? Like he knew something he didn't?

"But that did not work, did it? I agree with Koharu. This must be done."

Hiruzen could flip a table.

Of course they wouldn't take his side.

Homura continued like his old friend hadn't even said anything. "Reprimand your clan, fire some Uchiha policemen, tell them to find other jobs, and hire others. The Uchiha Police Force is over. It will be renamed the Konoha Police Force. That is all. You are dismissed."

Hiruzen was at a loss for words. 'So, because of a few petty civilians, they have decided to kick Uchiha out of power, and possibly anger the most powerful clan in Konoha? I admit, I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this is the most idioticㅡ'

Then something that had never happened before, happened.

Rather than Fugaku being a patroitic citizen and adherring to their commands like a sheep, he fired back.

"You think getting another source of income for an Uchiha is easy? Your precious people would not even wish to walk the same street as us, yet alone hire us."

Hiruzen could practically feel the temperature of the room drop, and if he wasn't a highly decorated shinobi who had seen war three times, he would have shivered.

Fugaku glared at the village elders with a fire that Hiruzen had never seen in him before. A fire he had actually never seen in anybody before.

(If they understood Uchiha emotions, they would have known his barely contained anger was a warning signal.)

Rage that had been bottled up and sealed tightly was beginning to claw at it's walls. It bubbled at the surface, oozing out like freshly cut blood. The bottle shook with ferocious fervour, gearing to burst in any second.

An inevitable fact of life : pressure mixed with tightly sealed openings can make even the toughest things explode.

'This is not good.' Hiruzen tried to think of something that would stop this from getting out of hand. But as per usual, he was too late, for Danzou had opened his dammed mouth.

"That is not our problem. It is your clansmen's fault for being so socially reclusive. Do as you are told, Fugaku." He spoke like a human teasing an angry animal at the zoo. "And if you don't, something bad might happen to your clansmen, and that it wouldn't be nice, would it?"

Hiruzen's mind yelled at him to stop being the pushover that he had always been since childhood for just one moment. His mind begged him to finally step up, use his authority, and do something to actually help. His mind wept, for if he did not do something now, this would just be another Orichimaru case.

His mind screamed and screamed and screamed till his ears felt like they were bleeding.

But still, his mouth stayed shut.

"And you wouldn't know who since everybody blatantly despises your clan." Danzou opened his one eye that wasn't covered in bandages and glared at Fugaku.

(Fugaku's hands began to tremble, and if Danzou understoood Uchiha emotions, he would have known it represented rage and not fear.)

"I want you to understand that what we are doing is merciful. If this were the Second's reign your clan would have been driven away or murdered in cold blood. So you do not have a right to look at us like we did something wrong."

(But even if they didn't understand Uchiha emotions, that didn't matter.)

Koharu, not at all bothered by Danzou threatening an Uchiha, continued for him. "Fugaku, what you are doing is for the sake of the village. Sacrifices are essential. Your Will Of Fire should know that."

No one noticed that Fugaku's nails had driven too far into his other palm, and crismon began to paint it.

Hiruzen had never felt so sorry for Fugaku when the Uchiha took a bow and briskly walked out of the room, eager to get away.

But, as always, Hiruzen did nothing.

"Such an ingrate." Hiruzen wasn't sure who had said that because his mind was occupied. 'Usually, Uchiha meetings were not as bad as this, but it seemed like both parties snapped.'

(They should have understood that Uchiha were just like them .)

A cold war that had begun since Madara attacked the village from within had become so fiery that it was reaching it's boiling point, and there was nothing that could save the Uchiha from the discrimination, other than time.

But Hiruzen feared, that time was running out.

And he was too much of a coward to do a thing.

(They should have understood Uchiha were human too.)

The Curse of Hatred was not an antithesis to the Will Of Fire. Rather, the Curse of Hatred, was the immediate product of The Will Of Fire.

The Curse of Hatred was started by Uchiha Madara, a man forsaken by the same village he formed.

The Curse of Hatred stemmed from discrimination, sacrifice, and fear.

The Curse of Hatred was a belief instilled into every Konohan that was tossed away; that the village only cared about people when they had something to offer; shinobi did not consider them as a part of the family; and the hokage only protected when it was convenient.

And that was why, when the hatred became too much to bear, the Uchiha Ambition was born.

● ●

At seven o'clock sharp, every adult Uchiha in the compound had gathered in the main room, knelt down on soft zabuton arranged in rows. In the very front were the members of the main house as well as the clan elders; Itachi, Mikoto, Elder Nanao, Elder Sachiro and Great Elder Daisuke.

Above the shoji doors were ranma windows with delicate carvings etched onto it. Each design had a different meaning to it, one that can only be understood by an Uchiha with a sharingan. The most important, however, was the one at the back of the room.

Painted with black ink were a swirl of patterns that when was seen with a mangekyou sharingan, morphed into a sinister message of bleeding authorities and Uchiha domination. And right in the middle, was the most powerful sharingan in the world, that would lead them to the path they desired.

There was not an Uchiha in the room that didn't believe Fugaku was the bearer of that sharingan, and he would start the revolution.

Then the shoji slid open, and Fugaku stepped into the room.

Excluding the clan elders, everyone respectfully bowed their heads. The first thing Fugaku did was eye his cousin in the third row, who nodded her head as a wordless reply, assuring him that the whole room was in a genjutsu, so that even if an outsider were to somehow sneak into the compound they wouldn't be able to find their way to the main house.

Next, he greeted his clan elders, who replied with a respectful bow of their heads. Regarding his wife and son, Fugaku discreetly cleared his throat and spoke.

"I was summoned by Konoha's elders today."

The clan elders made noises and faces of disapproval.

"The village citizen's are getting more wary of us. They say we have become unbearable to live with, and there have even been reports of report and assault. Uchiha Sachi, rise."

Sachi; a brown haired Uchiha with a scar on his cheek, did not waste time in getting to his feet, and even though he had seen war, Fugaku's glare still sent shivers down his spine.

"Yes, Fugaku san?" He bowed his head.

"You visually harrassed a young woman by ogling her chest?"

Mikoto; Fugaku' wife, almost choked.

"What?" His head snapped up in an instant.

"That was one of the several embarrassing reports I had to hear today." Fugaku clarified. "A woman claims you followed her into an alleyway, ogled her chest, and when she tried to leave, you grabbed her. Am I correct or am I wrong?"

You could see the gears struggling to turn in Sachi's mind and the exact moment everything clicked. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'Of course, the one time I want to be nice, they see it as some form of aggression.'

"Oh, that was nothing. You see, Fugaku san, there was a giant fucking roach sitting on her chest, and I grabbed her arm to tell her to get it off, but then she screamed and ran away. The roach fell off when she was flailing her arms around like a madwoman, so having done what I needed to do, I left."

"You have no reason to lie to me, so I'll take that explanation. You may take your seat." Fugaku said. "The clan elders have come to a decision to subtly disband the Uchiha Police Force."

If they were surprised, they didn't let on.

Mikoto spoke up. "Pardon me if I'm overstepping my boundariesㅡbut that was our only chance of rising up the political ladders of Konoha. Are we supposed to find a way to start all over again?"

Nanao shook her head. "No no. We have given Konoha many chances to redeem themselves and they have failed over and over. Trying to avoid many deaths as possible has been a cute idea that we have entertained for too long. It's time for the original Uchiha Ambition to take over."

With that declaration, the room suddenly got a few shades darker.

Itachi and Mikoto exchanged looks.

"Madara's Ambition would start a civil war." Mikoto protested. "Actually, Madara's Ambition is a civil war."

"Perhaps a civil war is what this village needs." Nanao shot back. "Mikoto chan, I admire your devotion to peace, but as Madara once said ,there cannot be any peace without war, and Konoha has left us no choice.

"They used us for their battles yet we got no praise, only fear. We were one of the two clans that started Konoha, yet our name is not celebrated in the Konoha Founding Festival. Our kekkei genkai saved them on many occasions, and they still claimed we only used our eyes to destroy. And now? They segregate us, make absurd accusations against us, and they don't honour our sacrifices."

Silence stretched through the entire room as everyone recounted moments in their life when they were wronged by Konoha and all that the clan sacrificed for the god forsaken village, and the thought of war did not seem as sinister as it should have. Quite the contrary, actually.

The thought of war felt satisfying.

And Mikoto too thought of the times she was the centre of gossip by people she called her friends; the times she'd go to the orphanage to help children but get dismissed by the owners; the times she worried for her sons not fitting in or having friends simply because of who they were.

And suddenly, she felt tired.

Tired of having to wear a smile to put non clan members at ease. Tired of pretending to be nice to people who secretly feared her. Tired of hearing the worst of her clan when all they did was their best.

Mikoto took a fleeting glance at her husband, and though others thought he was as strong as ever, she could see right through his hard exterior.

He was just as tired as she was.

In his hands were years of pent up frustration of having to deal with the nonsense of the higher-ups. In his lips was a crushing tiredness of a man who had given up in his village. And in his eyes, was a deep scalding hatred she never wanted him to have to bear.

"Why don't we wait to see if there are other measures?" Even she could tell her tone did not sound convincing at all. "I don't want lives to be lost unneccesarily."

Though she had many friends, all that came to her mind was Sasuke.

Fugaku sighed. He really didn't want to tell them, but it seemed he had no other choice.

"If we wait, then the lives lost might become ours."

Then he paused, and Elder Daisuke had to implore him to speak. "Fugaku san?"

No one would have been able to guess what came out of his mouth next.

"Danzou has threatened to massacre our clan."

There was silence. A long, painful one that came with group realisation. One that shattered whatever piece of hope anyone had left and added fuel the the fire of their hate. The air felt thick with the suffocating ephipany that they could be crushed by the village at any second.

Everyone had different thoughts, but the overall was the same.

'We really do mean nothing to Konoha.'

Whatever Mikoto wanted to say was lost in the midst of her shock. And all she could think of was why.

'Why do we have to go through all this pain for a village that fears our name?'

That was when she saw a bit of sense in what Elder Nanao was saying. And so she nodded, a silent form of agreement.

Letting the clan lead them to war.

No one knew what to say anymore, as they were still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that a clan elder had threatened their leader with their deaths.

"Madara; the greatest shinobi in history, foresaw these events, it seems." Great Elder, who was called the wisest of the clan, took the baton of speaking. "Heㅡhe warned my fathers that this village would turn against us, and only few actually listened and followed him. That was the reason they attacked the village from withinㅡbut they were hasty, unprepared, and uncoordinated."

The Great Nine Tails Attack was a story mothers told their children to scare them away from their Uchiha peers. A fox thrice as large as a house , with claws sharper than knives and teeth stronger than ten shinobi, appeared in the forests near the village and wreaked havoc on the land. It had nine tails that it used to strike buildings and slice through trees. Shinobi from different clans in Konoha, for the first time, banded together to defeat the beast. But only the First Hokage was able to defeat it, because he understood that it was not the beast he had to fight, but the man behind the beast. Uchiha Madara.

To the Uchiha, Madara died fighting for his clan.

Daisuke continued. "Times are different now, numbers are greater, and we are stronger. This is the best moment to attack the village, before they inevitably attack us."

Many Uchiha's brows furrowed for different reasons.

Fugaku nodded. "I agree. The Konoha festival will be ending in three days, and everyone will be exhausted by then. It is a perfect time to strike."

Fugaku's father believed in justice; his mother believed in realism.

And Fugaku himself believed that a war was the reality that they would have to face to bring justice.

"May I suggest father," heads turned at the new voice that had spoken up. "that we take out the actual threats by assasination before declaring a civil war."

Years ago if someone had said sweet loving Itachi had suggested to wipe out more than a dozen shinobi, Fugaku would have called them batshit crazy. But thanks to ROOT, the young boy's mind had taken quite a twisted turn. He had seen the horrors of Danzou's silent reign first hand. He had seen the lies behind the Will Of Fire. He had understood that there was never a world without murder.

Fugaku wasn't sure whether he should be proud of his son for finally realising the truth, or sad that Itachi had to go through hell at such a young age.

"Hm, that is a good strategy." Fugaku chose to show his pride as a clan leader and hide his regret as a father. "Then let's make a list."

All Uchiha mumbled an agreement. "Rise if you have a suggestion."

Four Uchiha stood tall.

"Saitama," Fugaku adressed the only bald Uchiha in the clan. "speak."

"Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato and jinchuriki Uzumaki Kushina."

At the mention of Kushina, Mikoto frowned.

"Noted." Fugaku concurred. Those two would be an issue. "Zuko, speak."

"Copycat shinobi Hatake Kakashi."

Fugaku had seen him work from time to time, and he knew he was as mentally unstable as his own son, but unlike Itachi Kakashi had not eradicated his emotionsㅡhe had only suppressed them. So if he were to bring those emotions to the surface with a genjutsu, then Kakashi would take down himself.

"Akina."

"Akimichi Choza, Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi."

They were a formidable team Fugaku had seen in action many times, and he knew that once isolated their kekkei genkai wasn't as intimidating as when they worked together.
'A team as strong as their weakest link.'

"Itachi." Fugaku stared into the cold eyes of his once warm son. "Speak."

Itachi closed his eyes.

"Shimura Danzou." His tone was icy and his eyes were red. "And if you let me, then I murder that disgrace of a shinobi myself."

The Uchiha Ambition was simply one fruit of the massive tree of the Curse Of Hatred that had ripened and fallen.

The Uchiha Ambition was a plan made to seek justice in the only way Shinobi knew how to.

The Uchiha Ambition was really just an excuse to wage war and seek revenge, and in the long run would do nothing to solve the true problem

And because of this, a man left his life behind and sought to bring a true revolution.

Thus, the Akatsuki was formed

● ●

Konoha had never been shrouded in darkness like this before.

Three days of festive activities and blinding lights had worn out the large village, exhausting it's electricity supply and causing a massive shutdown at the darkest time of the night. Streetlights went off, causing shadows of buildings to clear from the ground and inviting the creatures of the night into the open. The sky's myriad of stars became unseen due to the dark shapeless grey clouds hovering over the village, letting only the simple crescent decorate the dull sky and illuminate as much as it could.

Of course, no one would notice the massive power shutdown. Not when it was the time when the sands of sleep were thickest, floating over the consciousness of every resident. When dawn broke, light would be back once again, and it would be like nothing had ever happened.

Konoha would never know of the night before it all started.

And on the barren street that led to the Konoha entrance, they would not know of the man who would be behind it all.

The long grey cloak fell below his sandals, billowing as a humid breeze swept through Konoha once again, making promises of harsh rain through the night. His body was completely shielded from the cold winds, yet he still felt a shiver run up his spine as he took in the sight of an entrance he was certain he wouldn't come across in a long time.

Each step he took was languid and casual, as if he had never been missing and declared dead years ago.

An amused chuckle rumbled from within him, because as he strolled through and took in the familiar houses and shops, he felt nostalgic. It was funny and somewhat sureal; he hadn't felt such emotion in such a long time.

He ran his gloved hand over the white cloth that draped over the weapons shop, with "CLOSED" written boldy on it. He reminsced on the long gone days of simple missions and training with the group of people he oddly considered as comrades.

It was odd, to form friendships he knew would not last. But truly, it couldn't be helped. Not when teamwork was inevitable for genin squads; not when time was spent learning about each other's quirks and ticks; not when blood was sacrificed for the the sake of one's comrade.

They promised to have each other's backs to the end.

It was a lie on one man's part.

Though he had betrayed them, he did not feel an ounce of regret for any of his actions. Guiltㅡperhaps. But he had to do what he did, it was the only way he could set his plan into action.

He was not meant to die. Not then.

He was thrown back to the present when his chakra rippled, sensing a disturbance to the rare peaceful night in the village. A figure took form, standing out between closed shops and fences in the empty town. The figure grew larger as it neared, walking just as casually as the other had done when he had stepped foot into Konoha moments ago.

He did not look away from the front of the shop, needing not to see the figure's face to know who it was.

"What brings you out of hiding, Uchiha?"

He could tell that the man addressing him hadn't even expected his arrival. He wore a dark blue silk robe over baggy shorts (from what could be seen in the outline poking through) and black sandals. His hair was a mess from the side, indicating that he just rolled out of bed.

Uchiha Fugaku would have looked like a normal civilian, if it were not for those sharp stone cold eyes that never indicated tiredness or fatigue, even if it were past midnight.

"In actuality, I came to visit you." He spoke like the situation was nothing out of the ordinary, and they were just two clansmen having a chitchat. "To relay classified information."

Fugaku raised a brow at his words, understanding the message between the lines, but wondering why he did not wish to be found.
It was no concern of the Uchiha clan, that Fugaku was sure of. If this man came looking for him to tell secrets, then it meant that he still allied with them.

And that was all Fugaku needed from him.

"You see, Fugaku san, I have chosen another path."

The wind whistled loudly, breezing it's way through the village and past both men.

Fugaku's neck arched, cocking his head to one side and slightly pursing his lips. 'Speaking in riddles now, are we?'*

"And what lies in the path you have chosen?"

There was a pause, as if he was nitpicking what information to tell Fugaku. It made the clan head suspicious of what he had chosen to leave out.

"What lies, you ask. Hm." He paused once again. "Many destinations. Many goals. What I wish to accomplish is a far wider road than what you ask of me."

It was insulting for his own clansmen to tell him that their ambition was not enough, but Fugaku hid the offense he took from the Uchiha's statement by covering it with his curiousity.

"Wider? What else do you want?" 'And what is wrong with following the path of the Uchiha?'

He smiled, and as if he had read Fugaku's thoughts, he replied, "You see, the path is narrow, the options are limited, and the endgame is only a fraction of what we could really achieve"

Fugaku's eyed raised

"What do you wish to achieve?"

Tomoe swirled dangerously.

Fugaku's eyes widened. For the first time since the conversation had begun, he was actually surprised.

Tomoe changed to mangekyou.

"To destroy the mess the Shinobi world has made"