"The Sharingan is strong because of me—
not the other way around."
Uchiha Eiji turned those words over in his mind, his expression thoughtful.
After that, he took his leave. Carrying the unconscious Uchiha Lihuo, he led the group of Uchiha youths away from the clearing with a series of Body Flickers.
"Truth be told, that Uchiha Lihuo wasn't weak,"
Senju Gen said as he and Hatake Seikū walked up to Uchiha Yuan.
He then turned to Yuan, his expression complicated, and added slowly,
"He just made one mistake—he chose the wrong target to provoke."
"A wrong target?"
Yuan raised an eyebrow and laughed.
"Gen, I don't like how that sounds. What do you mean by 'wrong target'? If you put it that way, then the biggest monster the shinobi world ever had was the First Hokage."
Gen chuckled.
"And your clan's Uchiha Madara was an equally terrifying monster. It was the two of them who ended the Warring States Era."
A look of longing appeared on his face.
"I really hope I can awaken my great-uncle's Wood Release one day, and let the Senju name shake the shinobi world again."
Senju Gen and Senju Snow's grandfather had been the youngest brother of Senju Hashirama.
At that moment, Hatake Seikū asked curiously,
"What exactly is Wood Release? I've never even heard of it."
Yuan explained calmly,
"Wood Release was the kekkei genkai possessed by the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. It's an unimaginably powerful ability.
The vast forest outside the village—including the Forest of Death—was created casually when the First Hokage used Wood Release."
Seikū's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Really? The First Hokage's strength is beyond anything I imagined."
"The First Hokage's era was decades ago," Yuan said.
"Many things from that time have become secrets. Only the major clans still have records of them. Ordinary villagers can't access that information at all—otherwise, you wouldn't have known nothing about the Nine-Tails back then."
Gen sighed with emotion.
"Yeah… from what the clan records say, Great-Grandfather and Uchiha Madara were practically gods."
The clearing gradually returned to silence.
Nearby, atop a tree, Itachi watched quietly as Uchiha Yuan and the others walked away.
Shua.
The air beside him shifted slightly as another figure appeared—it was Shisui.
"Uchiha Yuan really is different," Itachi said softly.
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes. There was a hint of caution there—but even more so, excitement.
Itachi had been precocious since childhood. He had long understood the weight of responsibility he carried for the clan's future—especially after revealing his prodigious talent as a ninja and becoming the hope of both his father and the clan.
Yet deep down, he loathed battle and yearned for peace.
Within the entire clan, only Shisui truly understood him.
Itachi was proud, aware of his own strength and clear about his own heart. Toward most of the clan's youths, he felt they were small-minded, narrow in vision—mere fools obsessed with the power of their bloodline.
But Uchiha Yuan…
Itachi couldn't see through him.
Especially after hearing the words Yuan had spoken to Eiji, Itachi was convinced that someone capable of saying such things could never be arrogant or ignorant.
Others had seen only Lihuo's humiliation in that fight.
What Itachi had seen was Yuan's terrifying strength.
Even with his three-tomoe Sharingan, Itachi had been able to track every step of Yuan's movement. Yet when he placed himself in Lihuo's position, he realized that he, too, might not have been able to react in time.
Is this the strength of someone who can clash with the Fourth Raikage?
Uchiha Yuan… what are you thinking?
Shisui gazed at Yuan's retreating figure—laughing and chatting with Senju Gen and Hatake Seikū—and said with a complicated expression,
"Yuan really is different from the rest of the clan. It's just a pity… he's rejected me more than once."
Itachi withdrew his gaze and said indifferently,
"If Uchiha Yuan has rejected you, then he is not our companion."
With that, his figure flickered—and Itachi vanished using Body Flicker.
Uchiha Yuan's home.
Uchiha Rei placed three cups of hot tea on the engawa facing the courtyard, then returned indoors with a warm smile, watching Senju Snow and Izumi sit together admiring jewelry.
Izumi had brought out all of her accessories—especially the exquisitely crafted hairpins personally made by Yuan as birthday gifts. They left Snow full of praise and undisguised fondness.
Outside, the celebration was drawing to a close.
Bang! Bang!
Fireworks bloomed one after another, bursting into brilliant colors across the night sky.
Uchiha Yuan, Senju Gen, and Hatake Seikū sat cross-legged side by side on the engawa, cups of hot tea in hand, gazing up at the fireworks.
All across Konoha, countless people were doing the same—looking up at the radiant display, almost able to feel the pride and flamboyance radiating from the Uchiha clan.
"Hmph. Uchiha… enjoy your arrogance while it lasts."
In a secluded corner of the village, Shimura Danzō stood at the entrance of a deep, shadowy underground chamber. His single eye fixed on the distant fireworks, his expression twisted and vicious as he let out a cold snort.
The Sarutobi clan compound.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood alone in the courtyard, pipe clenched between his teeth, staring at the fireworks rising from the direction of the Uchiha district.
"Uchiha…" he murmured. "Are you truly so impatient?"
Suppressing the Uchiha clan had been an unspoken but very real principle ever since the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, stepped down.
During the Second Shinobi World War, in order to prevent the Uchiha from gaining battlefield merit, Hiruzen had kept most members of the Uchiha Police Force stationed within Konoha.
This decision had angered the Uchiha, who longed to display their clan's might—and it had also bred resentment among the rest of the village.
Why are we bleeding and dying on the frontlines,
while the Uchiha sit safely in the rear?
Now, the Uchiha Police Force had taken charge of the eastern defense line and successfully repelled Kirigakure's invasion.
Once again, the Uchiha name resounded across the shinobi world.
Their prestige within Konoha rose rapidly.
To Hiruzen, the grand celebration held the very day the Police Force returned was nothing less than a show of defiance.
As the final firework faded, the night sky returned to silence.
Uchiha Yuan lowered his gaze, lifted his teacup, and took a gentle sip.
"It looks like the clan prepared for this celebration for a long time."
The fireworks alone had lasted nearly a quarter of an hour, turning night into near-daylight—something that required an enormous stockpile.
Hatake Seikū drained his tea in one gulp and asked,
"Yuan, Gen—do you know how Kagami's been doing lately?"
"I haven't seen Kagami since returning to the village," Yuan replied.
"I've met him once," Gen said.
"He came back later than I did. From what I know, he's now serving as a bodyguard to one of the Hyūga main family elders. He barely has any time to leave the Hyūga compound."
Seikū sighed helplessly.
"I've heard the Hyūga main family's rules are extremely strict. As an elder's guard, Kagami probably isn't allowed to meet outsiders freely. Maybe… we won't get another chance to see him."
Yuan set his cup down and sighed softly.
"If we truly wanted to see Kagami, we could at any time. The Hyūga clan wouldn't be able to stop us."
He paused, then continued calmly,
"But doing that would only bring trouble down on Kagami. We can't put him in that position."
Some people die… but they don't die completely.
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