"Sure enough!"
After receiving the report from Spore Clone No. 1, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but smile when he learned that he had successfully destroyed Uchiha Obito's plan in the Hidden Mist Village.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Uchiha Fugaku came to a house near the Uchiha compound.
This house was where Karin and her mother lived in Konoha.
Seeing Uchiha Fugaku's arrival, a little red-haired girl and a red-haired woman hurriedly called out.
"Hokage-sama."
The little red-haired girl was Karin.
The red-haired woman was Karin's mother, Uzumaki Kaori—a tragic woman.
Because of timely rescue, she avoided the fate shown in the original timeline: being used as a "medical ninja tool" and having her chakra drained until death.
"How is it? Are you getting used to living here?" Uchiha Fugaku asked with a smile.
"This place is much better than where I lived before. I really don't know how to thank Hokage-sama."
Uzumaki Kaori looked grateful. It was Uchiha Fugaku who had pulled her and her daughter out of despair.
As she spoke, she bowed deeply to Uchiha Fugaku.
"No need for that. The Uzumaki clan and Konoha are allies. Since we've met, there's no reason to ignore that bond," Uchiha Fugaku said, smiling and shaking his head.
"I've decided to let Karin study at the Ninja Academy. As for you, I plan to hire you as a teacher there. What do you think?"
"Everything will be arranged by Hokage-sama."
Uzumaki Kaori answered happily.
Karin was still young, and studying at the Ninja Academy was undoubtedly a good choice.
And becoming a teacher at the Academy not only kept Kaori away from danger, but also gave her a steady salary to support their life in Konoha. It was a very suitable position for her.
"Good. If you need anything in the future, come to the Hokage Building and find me."
Uchiha Fugaku nodded.
He valued this mother and daughter.
The Uzumaki clan, like the Senju, descends from the Sage of Six Paths' second son, Asura. It was an ancient and powerful bloodline with great potential.
Uchiha Fugaku didn't stay long before leaving.
"It's time to bring Yukino to Konoha!"
When he saw Karin, he couldn't help but think of Yukino, whom he had taken in earlier.
Now that Konoha was under his control, it was time to bring her back and raise her closely to strengthen their bond.
After all, she had Kage-level potential with her Ice Release kekkei genkai. If nurtured well, she could become a powerful ally.
Leaving a Spore Clone behind, Uchiha Fugaku left Konoha and headed for a secret Uchiha stronghold.
Even though the Third Hokage had been overthrown and the remaining opposition posed little threat, he didn't plan to abandon the stronghold.
While the Uchiha had cleared out most threats in Konoha, it didn't mean they were without enemies elsewhere.
Among them, the most dangerous was the Akatsuki organization.
To be cautious, the stronghold would serve as a fallback.
"Congratulations to the clan head for becoming Hokage! The Uchiha have finally produced a Hokage!"
Upon seeing Uchiha Fugaku arrive, the Uchiha stationed there quickly came forward to greet him with joy.
Leading them was elite jonin Uchiha Hō, who had replaced Uchiha Hoshi as the guard here.
Though he hadn't returned to Konoha in a long time, he already knew Uchiha Fugaku had become Hokage, thanks to regular news updates with the clan.
"Becoming Hokage is the credit of the entire Uchiha clan. You all played your part!" Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile.
They walked into the stronghold and saw the orphans adopted by the Uchiha from across the ninja world training in the courtyard.
Some trained alone, others sparred in pairs.
One fight in particular stood out.
It was between a sharp-tempered boy in black and a much younger girl, maybe seven or eight years old.
Despite the five-year age difference, the match was surprisingly one-sided.
It wasn't the older boy who had the upper hand—it was the young girl.
That girl was Yukino, who hadn't been seen for a while.
"Ice Release: Ice Rain—"
The little girl formed hand seals. Dozens of ice spears appeared in the air and launched toward the boy with a whistle.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall—"
Knowing how powerful her jutsu was, the boy quickly performed Earth Release. A wall of rock rose to protect him.
Puff, puff, puff!
The ice spears pelted the earth wall one after another. Under the continuous strikes, the wall began to crumble.
It was clear the wall couldn't fully withstand her Ice Release ninjutsu.
Fortunately, the number of spears had started to decrease.
The boy drew two kunai and used them to deflect the remaining ice spears.
Clang, clang, clang!
His taijutsu was quite good—he managed to block all the incoming projectiles.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
But then, he suddenly felt a cold sensation on his neck.
Yukino had silently approached him and pressed an ice blade from her right hand to his throat.
In the distance, the spot where she had been earlier, a clone collapsed and disappeared.
"I concede," the boy said, frustrated that he'd lost to someone much younger.
But the girl didn't relax her vigilance and gave him no chance to escape. He had no choice but to admit defeat.
Once he yielded, the ice blade dissipated. Yukino turned and walked toward Uchiha Fugaku and the others.
She came up to him and said respectfully, "Lord Fugaku."
"Very good. Your strength is already equal to that of a standard tokubetsu jonin. Clearly, you haven't slacked off," Uchiha Fugaku said with satisfaction.
While Yukino had good talent, her current strength showed she had also trained diligently.
"Because I want to become strong like Lord Fugaku," Yukino replied seriously.
"I believe that day will come," Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile.
After spending some time at the stronghold, he took Yukino back to Konoha.
Upon their return, he didn't settle her like he did with Uzumaki Kaori and Karin. Instead, he brought her directly into the Uchiha compound and housed her in his own residence.
Yukino was too young to live alone.
And with her potential, she needed to be kept close for guidance and to ensure loyalty.
"Fugaku, who is this little girl?"
Seeing Fugaku arrive with a child, Uchiha Mikoto eyed him suspiciously.
Her look seemed to question whether this was some illegitimate daughter he'd hidden.
"She's an orphan from the Yuki clan. Her name is Yukino..."
Realizing Mikoto's suspicion, Fugaku quickly explained.
After some explanation, Mikoto was convinced that Yukino girl was merely an adopted orphan—and not a secret child, allowing Fugaku to avoid being banned from their bedroom that night.
(End of this chapter)
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