Naruto: I am Uchiha Fugaku

Deep within a forest stood a shabby wooden cabin, home to a group of rogue ninja.

These drifters wandered across various nations, living as bandits and raiding merchant caravans.

Not long ago, they had attacked a merchant convoy from the Land of Fire.

"We may have caught Konoha's attention. It's best to leave the Land of Fire as soon as possible," said a middle-aged woman dressed as a ninja.

"Konoha won't act so fast. There's still enough time for one last job. After that, we'll leave." A bearded man dressed as a ninja shook his head, clearly disagreeing.

"I think we should do one more job too."

"Exactly. This place is so well hidden, Konoha won't find us easily. Let's hit one more caravan, then we'll go," others chimed in, most siding with the bearded man.

The Land of Fire was the wealthiest among the Five Great Nations. Its merchant convoys carried far more riches than those from other lands.

A single raid on a Fire Country caravan could yield as much profit as two or three convoys from other nations.

With such huge rewards on the line, they were reluctant to leave after just one job.

"Then it's settled. One more hit—then we leave," the bearded man said, licking his lips with a grin.

After speaking, he stood and walked out of the cabin, heading toward the woods nearby.

The others didn't think much of it, assuming he was just going to relieve himself.

And indeed, that was exactly what he was doing.

After making sure no one was around, he relieved himself in the forest, shaking off the chill that followed.

Just as he was about to return, he spotted a man with black hair tinged with brown.

"You—"

He tried to call out and warn his companions, but the moment his eyes met the stranger's, everything changed.

In the man's blood-red eyes spun three black tomoe—the Sharingan.

The moment he looked into them, his will collapsed, and his voice froze.

"When you encounter this person, attack them with everything you've got. Use explosive tags to take them down with you."

The brown-haired man was Uchiha Yakumi.

Using his Sharingan, Yakumi hypnotized the bearded man, implanting an image of a target in his mind.

"Yes," the bearded man replied in a daze and turned back toward the cabin.

By the time he returned, his dull expression had disappeared.

However, anyone with a Sharingan or Byakugan would have been able to see that his mind was still trapped under hypnosis.

Back in the forest, Uchiha Yakumi frowned slightly as his chakra was heavily drained.

Even controlling a weak person required a great deal of ocular power.

Though he possessed the Three Tomoe Sharingan, a single use nearly depleted his energy.

It was hardly worth it, which was why he rarely used it.

But this time, to ensure that the death of a certain member of the Shimura Clan appeared natural, he made an exception.

Yakumi hid at a distance from the cabin, waiting patiently.

Konoha had already dispatched two ninja squads to eliminate the rogue ninja. Among them was a member of the Shimura Clan.

Yakumi needed to confirm that the bearded man carried out his command and died together with the Shimura ninja.

Hours later, six Konoha ninja quietly approached the cabin and launched their assault.

The rogue ninja fought back furiously, but the bearded man went berserk, locking onto a young man in his twenties from the Shimura Clan.

In the end—

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted as countless explosive tags on the bearded man's body detonated.

The Shimura ninja never expected such a suicidal attack and couldn't escape in time. He was torn apart by the blast and killed on the spot.

That night, three Konoha ninja sat around a campfire, discussing tomorrow's mission.

"Strange... So many rogue ninja from Kirigakure have shown up in the Land of Fire this past year."

"What's happening in Kirigakure to cause so many to defect all of a sudden? "

"Who knows? Maybe the higher-ups in Konoha know but haven't told us."

After a while, the woman in the group stood and walked into the darkness beyond the fire.

The two men didn't question her. It was obvious enough what she was doing.

She was a ninja from the Shimura Clan, heading off to relieve herself.

Suddenly, she saw a woman standing nearby—and locked eyes with her blood-red Sharingan, spinning with three tomoe.

Her expression turned blank as she fell into a hypnotic trance.

"During the mission, kill yourself by throwing yourself into the enemy's attack."

The woman issuing the order was Uchiha Onko, who spoke in a low voice.

The Shimura ninja nodded and calmly returned to the fire, appearing perfectly normal.

The next day, the three of them encountered their target—a group of rogue ninja from Kirigakure.

These defectors had seized control of a village in the Land of Fire, enslaving its people and forcing them to mine resources for profit.

Upon hearing of this, Konoha dispatched the trio to eliminate them.

The battle was fierce.

Though outnumbered, the Konoha ninja were clearly stronger, defeating one rogue after another.

In the end, only a single Kirigakure jonin remained.

With no hope of escape, he fought like a cornered beast, using ninjutsu to temporarily hold off two of the Konoha ninja as he engaged the Shimura woman in close combat.

SCHLIK!

When the jonin thrust his kunai forward, the Shimura woman made no attempt to dodge.

The kunai pierced her chest. Blood spurted from her mouth as she staggered and fell.

The rogue jonin was momentarily stunned by how easily he succeeded—only to be killed moments later by the enraged Konoha ninja who had just witnessed their comrade's death.

From afar, Uchiha Onko watched, then turned and quietly left.

"That's him! "

In another mission, three Konoha ninja spied on a fierce-looking man dressed like a samurai.

He was their target—a criminal from the Land of Iron who had committed a string of murders in the Land of Fire.

"Attack!"

The three burst from hiding and surrounded him.

"Wind Style: Divine Wind! "

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet! "

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb! "

Wind, fire, and earth ninjutsu converged upon the samurai.

CLANG!

Seeing the combined assault, the samurai's face changed.

He swiftly drew his sword, dodged the fireball and earth bomb, and channeled blue chakra into his blade to slash apart the incoming gale.

Then, without hesitation, he broke through their formation, charging toward one side.

The three Konoha ninja scrambled to stop him.

One side trying to flee, the other trying to capture—fierce combat broke out.

In the end, the samurai killed one of the Konoha ninja and escaped.

The unlucky victim? Another member of the Shimura Clan.

But as the samurai fled, his appearance shifted, revealing Uchiha Fugaku.

The real samurai had been eliminated long before.

After sneaking out of the village, Uchiha Fugaku and his team repeatedly targeted Shimura Clan members on missions.

Rather than assassinate them directly, they used various tactics to make the deaths appear accidental.

Sometimes, they hypnotized enemy ninja to launch suicidal attacks against the Shimura clan.

Other times, they hypnotized the Shimura ninja themselves, causing them to make fatal mistakes in battle.

And sometimes, Fugaku disguised himself as the mission target, using that identity to kill the Shimura ninja.

Though more complicated and laborious, these methods made the deaths look natural, preventing anyone from suspecting foul play.