Early morning.
A thick mist descended over Konoha, making the village—which had barely existed for fifty years—look as though it had aged overnight, drained of all vitality.
"Ha..."
After washing up, Uchiha Asuka stepped out of his house. Looking at the dense fog, he muttered,
"A grilled fish covered in chili powder would really hit the spot right now."
Turning back toward the house, he saw the fat orange cat still fast asleep.
The corner of Asuka's mouth twitched.
He snapped his fingers.
With a flash, two buckets of Honey Mustard Fried Chicken appeared.
He left one on the table, picked up the other, and headed out.
Today was the clan's monthly meeting.
Since he had decided not to defect after all, he might as well attend properly and see what grand "comeback plan" the elders had come up with this time.
Crunch... Crunch...
The streets were nearly empty at this early hour.
The loud sound of Asuka chewing echoed all the way down the road.
---
By the time he arrived at the Naka Shrine, quite a few elders had already gathered.
"Hmph!"
Hearing footsteps approaching, Elder Mato turned his head.
The moment he saw Asuka, he snorted coldly and deliberately looked away.
"Come on, Elder Mato."
"You aren't still upset about yesterday, are you?"
"Shut up."
"I don't want to talk to you."
Asuka casually held out the fried chicken.
"Have something to eat."
"It's not healthy for an old man to skip two catties of meat first thing in the morning."
"Take it away."
"I don't eat greasy food for breakfast."
"Greasy?"
Asuka looked down at the fried chicken in his hands, his expression suddenly becoming unusually serious.
"Elder Mato."
"Who do you think we are?"
"We're the Uchiha."
"Elders from other clans have to eat bland food because their stomachs can't handle anything else."
"Don't compare our clan to theirs."
"I even heard that Lord Madara's grandfather, despite being over seventy years old, still ate five catties of fried meat every morning and lived all the way until Konoha was founded."
Holding up five fingers, Asuka emphasized the number.
Mato's cheek twitched.
Sure...
Some people really did have iron stomachs.
They could smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, drink gallons of alcohol, eat mountains of meat, and still live to old age.
But...
I am not one of those people.
Bang!
Without waiting for a reply, Asuka summoned another pile of fried food and began handing it out to the surrounding elders one bucket at a time.
Mato expected every one of them to refuse.
Instead...
The white-haired elders accepted the food without changing expression and happily started eating.
Damn it!
Yesterday these old geezers were talking about vegetable porridge and pickles for the sake of their health.
Today they're stuffing themselves with fried chicken!
At this rate, none of you will live long enough to see the Uchiha produce the Fifth Hokage!
Taking several deep breaths, a strange competitive spirit suddenly flared inside Mato.
Staring at the dripping chicken wings, he gritted his teeth.
"...Give me two buckets."
---
By the time Fugaku arrived for the meeting, the scent of fried chicken completely filled the shrine.
Looking at the oily mouths of his clansmen, he kindly advised,
"Everyone..."
"The war is over."
"You don't need to eat food like this first thing in the morning anymore."
"Hmph!"
Mato snorted.
Although his stomach already felt queasy, he forcibly maintained a calm expression.
"The Uchiha Clan is Konoha's strongest clan."
"Our stomachs are naturally tougher than everyone else's."
"Back in the day, Lord Madara's grandfather could eat twenty catties of meat in a single meal."
"This little breakfast is barely an appetizer."
"Burp..."
A thunderous burp escaped him.
Smelling the increasingly overpowering scent of fried chicken, Fugaku's eyelid twitched.
"Elder Mato."
"Please don't refer to a traitor as 'Lord' in front of outsiders."
"I know."
Patting his bloated stomach, Mato calmly returned to his seat.
---
Inside the main hall of the Naka Shrine, the seating arrangement had changed.
Instead of the usual two rows, four rows of tables now stretched from east to west.
The southernmost row had dozens of seats.
The northernmost row...
Contained only a single table.
Standing at the entrance, Asuka blinked.
Didn't we only have two rows before?
The older members sat in front, while everyone else sat behind them.
Why are there suddenly four rows?
Oddly enough, everyone else seemed to know exactly where they belonged.
They quickly found their seats, leaving only one empty place at the very edge.
Asuka reluctantly sat down.
Noticing that Fugaku was seated surprisingly close by, he quietly tugged on the sleeve of the elder beside him and whispered,
"Why am I sitting here?"
"Oh."
The elder casually wiped the oil from his mouth.
"You ran away early last time."
"So you missed the part where I beat everyone up."
"After that civil war ended, the Grand Elder reorganized the seating."
"It also conveniently exposed everyone's political faction."
He pointed toward the outermost row.
"That row has the most people."
"They're the Brave and Fierce Faction."
Then he pointed toward the second row.
"That one's the Competitive Faction."
Finally, he gestured toward his own row.
"We're the Still Water Faction."
"And as for you..."
He dipped a finger into his teacup, wrote several words on the tabletop, and turned it toward Asuka.
Divorce Persuasion Faction
"..."
Asuka's face immediately darkened.
Looking toward the absent-minded Grand Elder at the head of the room, he ground his teeth.
"Does that old man have something against me?"
"Hmph."
"You finally noticed?"
"He started disliking you back when you insisted on learning medical ninjutsu."
"Yesterday's proposal about marrying into the Senju only made it worse."
The elder leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"So..."
"The Grand Elder's getting old."
"How about nominating me to replace him?"
---
"Quiet."
Fugaku raised a hand.
The whispers throughout the hall immediately died down.
His gaze swept across the room before stopping on Asuka.
"Uchiha Asuka."
"A message arrived from the Fourth Hokage earlier."
"You've been assigned to temporarily lead a team of three newly graduated Academy students."
"Afterward..."
"You'll officially transfer into the Fourth Hokage's ANBU."
"I hope you can become a bridge between the village and our clan."
"...I'm becoming a teacher?"
Asuka pointed at himself.
His eyes were full of disbelief.
Someone actually wants an Uchiha to teach children?
What exactly is the Hokage thinking?
Fugaku simply nodded.
He then announced the names of two more Uchiha who would also be joining the ANBU before continuing,
"The Fourth Hokage has shown his willingness to improve relations with the Uchiha."
"As clan head, I should respond with equal sincerity."
"In the near future, I will enroll Itachi in the Ninja Academy."
"After graduation..."
"He will become the Fourth Hokage's apprentice."
"Mmm."
Many clan members nodded in approval.
Minato Namikaze's strength was acknowledged throughout the ninja world.
Becoming his disciple was unquestionably an honor.
Besides...
Itachi was the clan head's son.
No one had grounds to object.
More importantly...
If the clan head's son became the Hokage's disciple...
The Uchiha would once again possess a ticket to the Hokage's office.
Thinking of that, quite a few elders looked at Asuka with obvious schadenfreude.
The clan meetings encouraged free speech.
Ridiculous proposals could always be laughed off.
But...
Some things, once said...
Could never be forgotten.
For example—
Convincing the clan head to divorce his wife.
---
"Cough... cough..."
Asuka cleared his throat.
Looking toward the Grand Elder, he spoke calmly.
"Grand Elder."
"I'd like to introduce you to someone."
"She's the grandmother of a Hyūga friend of mine."
"For the sake of the clan's future..."
"I hope you won't refuse."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A sharp chorus of whistling suddenly filled the air.
Countless black kunai shot toward Asuka like a swarm of locusts, descending from every direction.
They formed a giant funnel overhead, sealing off the entire sky above him.
"Old man..."
Asuka looked up.
Facing the rain of kunai, he slowly raised his right arm.
His wide sleeve slid down, revealing a lean yet powerful arm as smooth as jade.
A tiny crimson sphere appeared in his palm.
The next instant—
It erupted into dazzling brilliance.
Blazing heat swept through the hall, instantly boiling every cup of tea into clouds of steam.
At that moment...
Asuka looked like a god holding up a miniature sun.
Fire Release: Scorching Sun!
This was a technique he had created himself.
While researching the Rasengan, he'd felt its destructive power wasn't impressive enough.
Then he remembered Lava Release: Rasenshuriken.
Inspired by it, he fused Fire Release chakra into the Rasengan, creating this technique.
It possessed terrifying destructive power.
Most importantly...
It required no hand seals.
"Gulp..."
The surrounding Uchiha stared at the blazing miniature sun with dry throats.
No matter how many times they witnessed this technique...
It was still breathtaking.
But...
Was he really going this far?
Under the terrifying heat, the rain of kunai melted into streams of molten iron.
The glowing metal splashed onto the ground like fiery rain, burning countless black pits into the stone floor.
"That's enough."
Once the last kunai had melted away, Asuka casually dispersed the blazing sphere.
Using a kunai, he pushed the molten iron dripping toward his table aside.
Then he pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket and calmly wrote,
«February 2nd, Year 51 of Konoha.
Since becoming a ninja, Uchiha Asuka has once again accepted the Grand Elder's challenge.
After a fierce battle born from years of arduous training, Uchiha Asuka defeated the Grand Elder for the twenty-seventh time.
Justice has once again prevailed.»
Closing the notebook, he waved it toward the Grand Elder before casually picking his nose.
"Grand Elder."
"Don't forget."
"You were the one who made the rule."
"One move each."
"If people keep attacking after that, grudges build up."
"And that's bad for clan unity."
"Hmph... Hmph..."
The Grand Elder glared at Asuka.
After taking several deep breaths, he barely managed to suppress the urge to attack again.
His feelings toward this young man had always been complicated.
Half admiration.
Half hatred.
Within a clan...
It could take ten years.
Twenty years.
Even decades...
For a true genius to appear.
Yet the birth of such a genius could reshape the course of history.
Events that should have unfolded over decades could suddenly be compressed into a single day...
A single hour...
Sometimes...
A single minute.
Those moments determined the fate of future generations.
Whether people lived or died.
Whether a clan prospered or fell.
Uchiha Asuka...
Was exactly that kind of genius.
The problem was...
This genius was infuriatingly unmotivated.
Before entering the Ninja Academy, he'd insisted on learning medical ninjutsu.
While attending the Academy, he'd spent his time tinkering with bottles and strange experiments.
After graduating...
He became obsessed with researching the legendary Sage Mode.
Other than mastering medical ninjutsu...
Every bit of his research had amounted to nothing.
And now...
He'd apparently abandoned medical ninjutsu as well.
Years of effort...
Completely wasted.
After staring at Asuka for a long while, the Grand Elder slammed his palm onto the table and turned away.
He hated geniuses.
And he hated geniuses who squandered their talent even more.
A genius's time should be spent growing stronger.
Not researching how to introduce an old man to a wife.
A wife...
From the Hyūga Clan?
Hmph.
Who cares if she's from the Hyūga?