"Brother, was the person who just spoke with you that genius, Shisui?"
At a street stall, Izumi held two hair ornaments in her hands, comparing them as she asked curiously.
"Mm."
Uchiha Yuan replied casually. He reached out, took the butterfly-shaped ornament from her left hand, and gently pinned it into a lock of her hair.
"Let's go with this one."
Izumi put down the floral ornament in her other hand, eyes widening slightly.
"I didn't expect that genius Shisui would actually come looking for you, Brother."
Then, a proud smile bloomed on her face.
"As expected—my brother is amazing. Even Shisui came to see you."
Yuan paid the vendor, then continued walking as he spoke.
"Of course. Your brother here is the strongest, after all."
Izumi smiled, though inwardly she felt a little helpless.
When did Brother become this shameless…
Still, as his little sister, she naturally had to support him unconditionally.
With a sweet smile, she quickened her steps to catch up to him.
"Mm! Brother is the best."
The heart of the celebration lay in a large plaza deep within the Uchiha compound.
At this moment, the plaza was packed shoulder to shoulder. Stalls selling food, games, and trinkets were overflowing with people.
A group of young Uchiha men strode into the square, chests lifted, faces brimming with pride as they surveyed their surroundings.
"Hahaha! I took down twenty-one Mist genin by myself. In front of my Sharingan, they were nothing but rabbits."
"Killing genin is nothing. Takumi, Yuta, and I wiped out three full chūnin squads."
"Tch. Brother Eiji personally fought a Mist jōnin and killed him."
It was Uchiha Kotarō who spoke.
"Eiji already awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan. A mere Mist jōnin was no match for him."
"But the most impressive one is still Brother Shisui. I was lucky enough to carry out a mission with him."
"That time, we ran into an elite Mist unit—all of them were jōnin."
"But in front of Brother Shisui, they were utterly helpless. 'Shisui of the Body Flicker' truly lives up to his name."
"Their movements were as slow and clumsy as genin before his speed. In just a few seconds, they were all dead."
"I heard my elder brother say that Shisui might already be the strongest in the clan."
"And the clan head's eldest son, Itachi, also performed outstandingly. That kid easily killed five Mist jōnin who tried to ambush him."
Amid the chatter, Uchiha Eiji suddenly let out a surprised exclamation.
"Eh? Those three over there—they aren't from our clan."
Hearing this, Uchiha Hayate followed his gaze and saw Senju Gen's group standing in front of a mask stall.
"That man and woman—their clan crests…"
"They're Senju!"
As members of a dōjutsu clan, every Uchiha possessed keen eyesight.
With a single glance, they identified the Senju crest on Senju Gen and Senju Yuki.
"This is unbelievable. What are Senju doing in our clan compound?"
"Let's go take a look."
Uchiha Eiji stepped forward first, heading toward the trio.
At the stall, Senju Gen and Hatake Haruka were trying on two ferocious-looking demon masks.
Senju Yuki noticed the group of Uchiha approaching and immediately tensed.
"Gen, someone's coming."
Gen and Haruka both put down the masks and looked toward Eiji and the others.
"Senju Gen, what are you doing here?"
Uchiha Eiji recognized him. After all, Senju Gen had been a top-ranked student in their year at the Ninja Academy.
Gen replied casually,
"I came to attend your Uchiha clan's celebration."
A short-haired youth beside Eiji swept a hostile gaze over the three of them and said coldly,
"This is Uchiha clan territory. We don't welcome Senju here. Leave immediately."
Whoosh—whoosh!
Two figures suddenly appeared via Body Flicker, positioning themselves in front of Senju Gen.
Uchiha Kawa and Uchiha Jinren.
Kawa looked at Eiji and said,
"Eiji, these three are Brother Yuan's guests. Don't harass them."
"Yuan?"
Eiji frowned slightly.
At that moment, the short-haired youth beside him sneered.
"Guests of Uchiha Yuan? Heh. And so what if they are?"
"He's just a side-branch outsider. What does someone like him even count as here?"
The moment those words fell, both Kawa and Jinren's expressions darkened.
Their eyes burned with fury as they stared at the speaker.
He had insulted their leader.
Their auras sharpened instantly—two fierce killing intents locked onto the short-haired youth.
"Uchiha Lihuo!"
"You dare disrespect Brother Yuan. If you don't apologize, we won't go easy on you."
Kawa said coldly.
Faced with their pressure, Uchiha Lihuo was startled for a brief moment—then flew into a rage.
In his eyes, Kawa and Jinren were nothing but trash excluded from the ranks of the clan's elite.
In the past, such trash would always show him respect when they saw him.
And now?
They dared threaten him.
"Are you courting death?!"
Lihuo snarled, murderous intent spilling from him like an icy wind, pressing down on Kawa and Jinren.
"Lihuo, step back."
Uchiha Eiji spoke up at last.
Then he turned to Kawa and Jinren and asked,
"So you've chosen to follow Yuan?"
"Yes," the two answered without hesitation.
"Hahaha!"
Lihuo burst into mocking laughter.
"Trash will always follow bigger trash."
"Shut up, Lihuo!"
Eiji snapped angrily, glaring at him.
Whether it was past sparring matches—where Eiji had lost every single time—or the warnings he'd received from his father and elder brother after returning home, he knew better.
They had explicitly told him to befriend Uchiha Yuan.
From their words, Eiji had clearly sensed their respect and admiration for Yuan.
Lihuo scowled and shot Eiji an annoyed look.
"What's wrong with you, Eiji? You seem awfully afraid of Uchiha Yuan."
Eiji replied bluntly,
"Lihuo, Yuan is very strong. If you don't want to get beaten senseless, you'd better shut your mouth."
Lihuo sneered.
"Hmph. Then let Uchiha Yuan come and try laying a hand on me."
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