The battle between father and son raged on, each blow striking with the force of years of unspoken conflict. First the battle was between punches and kicks, with both sporting bruised faces. Then it escalated with weapons as Itachi and Fugaku showed their specialty in Uchiha Shuriken jutsu.
Then Kenjutsu. In Fugaku's era he was the strongest Uchiha when it came to swordsmanship as he had a chakra blade that was specially made in the land of Iron. In battle he'd light it with fire jutsu. One swipe and you'd be as good as dead. With him ranking right under Lord Orochimaru in the art of Kenjutsu.
But today it felt like he's met an opponent of equal skill. As a boy no older than 15 is keeping ground with him.
The earth shook beneath them, the collision of jutsu filling the air with an electric intensity. The Uchiha clan stood at a distance, watching in stunned silence, unsure of how to interpret the brutal spectacle. Whispers spread like wildfire—some murmured in confusion, others exchanged anxious glances, but none dared to speak openly. A few shook their heads in sorrow, while others stood motionless, unable to decide whether to intervene or remain passive bystanders in a war that felt like it had already been lost.
Fugaku was the first to strike, hurling kunai at Itachi with precision, his Sharingan tracking every movement. But Itachi, cool-headed and calculating, danced around the projectiles, leaping high into the air as his own kunai whistled through the wind with deadly aim. 2 no 4 then 8 as soon the number went up to 20, then exceed that as they two threw what looked like hundreds of kunai and shuriken at each other. Every once and a while the kunai would grace there skill and leave a shallow mark.
They moved like shadows, their weapons flashing and their strikes creating a symphony of chaos, the sound of their combat reverberating through the battlefield.
The clan members, still frozen in their spots, were caught between the weight of their loyalty to the Uchiha bloodline and the growing discomfort of watching these two powerful figures clash. Their hearts ached at the sight of the father and son locked in mortal combat. The unity of the Uchiha seemed like a distant memory now, and the loyalty they once had to the clan was being tested. Each watcher, from the young to the old, struggled to reconcile what they were witnessing. Was this truly the path the clan was meant to take?
Fugaku's chest heaved with emotion as he blocked Itachi's strikes, remembering a time when his son was but a child in his arms. "Itachi... I remember when you first picked up a kunai," he muttered, evading a shuriken that flew at his face. He blinked back the memories of Itachi's small hands fumbling with the weapon, his innocent laughter ringing in his ears. "You were just a boy then... what happened to that boy?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed, his expression hard as he tossed a series of shuriken toward his father. What the hell is this old guy talking about? He's really trying to go down memory lane of this. Fine I'll bite but your not going to like it. Itachi paused in thought then spoke. "The boy you knew died the day you forced me into the ANBU," he retorted, his voice cold. Nice start now to really throw my cool points up a notch.
"The boy was nothing but a mask you put on me to serve your own ambitions, your own ideals."
Fugaku's face twisted in a mixture of regret and frustration, the weight of his son's words hitting him harder than any jutsu could. He thought back to the years they spent training together, of the quiet moments when they shared meals and laughter. "Do you remember when we trained at the compound?" Fugaku's voice faltered slightly. "I told you that one day you would take my place, that we fought for the honor of the clan, for the future..."
Itachi's gaze grew even colder, the red light of his Sharingan intensifying as he summoned a new jutsu. "And you sent me into darkness," he spat, bitterness in his voice. "And what exactly am I doing right now old man. I'm taking what was always meant to be mine. All you wanted was just blind loyalty don't kid yourself."
The weight of those words struck Fugaku with the force of a physical blow. His grip on his kunai tightened, but there was nothing left in him but sorrow. "I never wanted this," he whispered, the grief in his voice palpable. "I wanted you to grow into a leader. I wanted you to understand the strength of our clan, our will of fire... the will of fire."
"The Will of Fire?" Itachi's tone was sharp, slicing through Fugaku's words. "A lie. You know nothing about the will of fire. Deep down you hated it because you could never understand what it meant. Right now you want to use it as a tool to control. You silently hope for peace, but all I see in these walls is division."
Fugaku flinched, but his pride flared once more. He formed hand seals with an almost practiced speed and summoned a massive fireball, launching it toward his son with a roar. "Let's see if your ideals are worth dying for, Itachi!"
Itachi did not hesitate to counter. As Do I father. Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
The two fire techniques collided in a massive explosion, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. The smoke and flame clouded the air, but from the chaos emerged Itachi, his eyes still spinning with precision as he closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He struck with a swift, graceful arc, his blade meeting Fugaku's kunai in a loud clash of metal.
The Uchiha clan was left speechless, caught in the tension between pride and sorrow. Some still whispered among themselves, unsure whether Itachi had become a villain, or if Fugaku's leadership was truly to blame. The younger Uchiha were visibly shaken, their wide eyes reflecting their disbelief at the carnage unfolding before them. This wasn't just a fight for power—it was the beginning of a divide, a split that threatened the very foundation of the Uchiha clan.
One such clansmen who wanted to be like Lady Mikoto and throw herself in the middle was the young Uchiha Izumi. She had long grown use to being treated like an outsider to the village as she was already an outsider inside the clan. As her mother made the unorthodox decision to marry outside the clan. Being one of the rare few. And because of that her and her family lived separately from the Uchiha clan for the first few years of Izumi's life. During the nine tailed fox attack her father died while trying to protect the village, she got separated from her mother and Itachi.
Her heart flutters every time she remembers what he did, rubble from a destroyed building was about to crush her but then Itachi, he saved her. Ever since then she'd try and get closer to him and joined the ninja academy.
And she succeeded if just a little as the two spent time with each other outside the clan. When her father died her and her mother Hazuki moved backed inside the clans wall. She could still remember what those arrogant clans men said, how they were happy her father died as if her mother came to her senses and rejoined the clan. As if they left, as if they were already tainted. Ever since then she trained hard to fit back in the clan and to let her mother find peace here.
Her mother saw how close she was to Itachi and encouraged her to pursue him as she knew this would make their standing in the clan better. She listened but never once thought her mother did anything wrong because her mother knew the truth. That she loved Itachi, above all else her mother wanted her to find true love, and she already chose Itachi.
So to watch this ugly side to her beloved Itachi made her heartache, as she never seen the calm Itachi act so cold, so bloodthirsty.
Fugaku's breath came in ragged gasps, struggling to keep up with his son's relentless assault. Each strike carried the weight of broken promises, of all the years lost in pursuit of honor that no longer seemed worth fighting for. Itachi wasn't just fighting his father; he was fighting for his freedom, for his soul. His every move was a rejection of the life that had been forced upon him.
Fugaku's hand trembled as he blocked another blow, blood trickling from a cut along his cheek. "Itachi... Was all of this meant to end like this?" he asked, his voice barely audible over the sounds of their battle. His heart ached with the memory of better days, of a son who had once held so much hope.
Itachi's gaze softened for a brief moment, the cold mask cracking. "I never wanted it to end like this," he muttered, his voice carrying a trace of pain. "But you left me no choice, Father. You made your decision the moment you chose your son over your own clan."
These words confused the clan as they didn't understand why he worded it like this.
Doesn't he mean the other the way around? That he chose the clan over his son. One of the clansmen watching whispered.
I don't know maybe he just misspoke because of the moment. Another whispered back to him.
They don't understand this because the didn't see how this man rather die by his sons blade. Which I understand and would support. If such a decision didn't cost the lives of thousands and the innocent. The man in that moment didn't act like a clan head and it costed the lives of a clan bathed in a 1000 years of history.
Fugaku staggered back, the weight of Itachi's words crushing him. It was the final blow—the confirmation of his greatest failure. Itachi had become something beyond his reach, something he had never prepared for.
Yet Fugaku wasn't ready to surrender. "I am the clan head," he spat, his voice filled with a fierce, painful determination. "And I will not let you destroy everything we've built."