Naruto: I am Uchiha Fugaku

Late at night, in Uchiha Fugaku's study, four people were present: Uchiha Fugaku himself and the three Uchiha Elders.

After learning from Uchiha Kyōsuke about Shisui Uchiha's abnormal behavior, and summoning Uchiha Hiro to confirm it, Fugaku immediately had the three Elders called in for an emergency meeting.

Inside the study, Fugaku's expression was grim.

The three Elders, already advanced in age, were somewhat fatigued and could hardly suppress their yawns. However, upon seeing the severity on Fugaku's face, they all sensed the gravity of the situation.

The Grand Elder, Uchiha Setsuna, forced himself to stay alert and asked,

"Clan Head, why have you summoned us so late at night? What's happened?"

"Not long ago, Shisui Uchiha…" Fugaku proceeded to recount the earlier events with a stern expression.

After hearing everything, all three Elders' expressions darkened.

"Can you confirm that Shisui was investigating Danzo Shimura's disappearance?" asked the Second Elder, Uchiha Mamoru, with a serious tone.

"Yes. I questioned Uchiha Hiro personally. Shisui was indeed probing him about the events during the mission to the Land of Fields," Fugaku replied.

"That ungrateful traitor!"

The Grand Elder's drowsiness vanished, and in a fit of rage, he slapped his thigh and cursed,

"That treacherous bastard!"

The Third Elder, Uchiha Shi, also spat with hatred,

"That damned white-eyed wolf!"

"Fortunately, Kyōsuke was watching and managed to intervene before Shisui could dig further," Fugaku said heavily, sweeping his gaze across the three.

"However, although we stopped him from learning more, Kyōsuke's appearance likely made Shisui suspicious."

"I suspect Shisui may already realize that his identity as a mole has been exposed."

"That is very likely…" The three Elders frowned deeply, their expressions turning solemn.

Kyōsuke's sudden appearance would indeed raise red flags for someone as sharp as Shisui. If he suspected the truth, then it meant the mole's identity had truly been compromised.

After a long silence, Fugaku finally asked,

"If Shisui has indeed realized he's been exposed, what do you all think we should do next?"

"If that's the case, then there's no point in hiding it anymore," said Grand Elder Setsuna bitterly.

"We should immediately announce to the clan that Shisui is a traitor, arrest him, and punish him according to clan law."

"Even if it causes unrest, a traitor like Shisui must be removed."

As he finished, bloodshot veins filled the Grand Elder's eyes. The killing intent radiating from him was chilling.

The more he had once favored Shisui, the deeper his hatred now ran.

"Yes. Shisui must be captured and executed according to clan law," Third Elder Shi agreed, also exuding murderous intent.

The reason they hadn't previously exposed Shisui's status as a mole was due to his special identity and his reputation as a prodigy. Revealing the truth would have shaken the clan.

But now that Shisui might already be aware, they could no longer afford to wait.

"This won't work," said Second Elder Mamoru, shaking his head with a frown.

"Shisui will never surrender quietly. With his strength, if he resists, we may not be able to capture him quickly."

"And during that time, the Third Hokage will definitely intervene and rescue him."

"What right does the Third Hokage have to interfere in Uchiha clan matters?" the Grand Elder shouted angrily, veins bulging in his aged fists.

"That's not how things work anymore," Fugaku sighed. "While clan law still exists, it can no longer be enforced openly."

"In the village, only village law can be used to punish a shinobi."

Fugaku's voice was tinged with helplessness.

"According to our clan rules, Shisui should be executed. But since he hasn't violated any village law, the Third Hokage has every excuse to protect him."

"If that happens, not only will we fail to eliminate him, but the scandal will spread throughout the village."

"Then let's act once he leaves the village," Third Elder Shi suggested through gritted teeth. "Just like how you dealt with Uchiha Sen—the traitor—secretly execute Shisui outside the village."

"But ever since Danzo's death, the clan is under tight surveillance from the Hokage. Any move we make will be noticed," said Second Elder Mamoru with furrowed brows.

Given the current scrutiny on the Uchiha, any sudden movement or deployment of manpower would immediately alert the Hokage.

And once that happened, Shisui would be warned and become even more cautious. Worse, it could give the Hokage leverage against the Uchiha—because attacking a village shinobi amounts to attempted assassination.

After a moment of silence, Mamoru turned to Fugaku.

"Clan Head… do you have the confidence to eliminate Shisui alone?"

Without being able to mobilize others, the only option left was for Fugaku—who also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan—to act alone.

But the real issue was: both of them had Mangekyō.

Could Fugaku defeat, or even kill, Shisui?

Fugaku frowned slightly, silent for a long while, then finally spoke:

"I'm confident I can defeat him. But on my own, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to kill him."

He was confident that his current dōjutsu strength could withstand Kotoamatsukami and defeat Shisui in a fight.

But defeating someone and killing them on the spot were two entirely different matters.

Especially when Shisui was a master of the Body Flicker Technique. In terms of speed, there was likely no one in Konoha faster than him.

Even Obito, with his powerful space-time dōjutsu, hadn't been able to kill Shisui—he had managed to escape.

So Fugaku could not guarantee a kill.

"If you don't have absolute certainty, then we can't act rashly," Mamoru said gravely.

If the assassination failed and Shisui escaped, Fugaku would be branded a criminal who attacked a fellow shinobi, possibly even becoming a wanted man.

"So we can't do this, or that… What can we do?" Third Elder Shi asked impatiently, his face anxious.

Everyone fell silent, struggling to think of a viable plan.

After a long silence, Second Elder Mamoru finally said,

"Right now, we can only pretend nothing happened."

"What did you say? Pretend nothing happened?" Grand Elder Setsuna exploded in rage, glaring at Mamoru in disbelief.

Even Third Elder Shi was stunned, staring at Mamoru like he couldn't believe his ears.

But Fugaku's expression changed. Mamoru's words had given him pause.

"Yes. Pretending nothing happened might actually be the best course right now," Mamoru said firmly, then explained:

"The clan is currently under surveillance. Any sudden action will be detected by the Hokage. The timing simply isn't right."

"If we pretend we don't know Shisui is aware of the mole's exposure, then Shisui won't openly admit it either."

"Once this tense period passes and the Hokage's scrutiny eases, we can move against him then."

Setsuna and Shi fell silent, carefully considering Mamoru's words.

"I believe the Second Elder's proposal is sound," Fugaku said in agreement.

"We'll go with that."

The Grand Elder and Third Elder exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

"Then it's decided—we'll act as if we haven't realized Shisui has uncovered the mole."

"Once this period passes and the Hokage eases his watch over us, we'll make our move."

Fugaku declared with finality.