A few days later, Shiyu Uchiha faced off once again with Sarutobi Shin'nosuke. This time, although Shiyu still let Sarutobi give his full strength performance, he pretended to have intensely practiced the Trio-body Jutsu during these days.
His signature Transformation Jutsu was no worse than his opponent's, and combined with Hand-to-hand Combat and the other two forms of the Trio-body Jutsu, he barely managed to block all the attacks, exhausting Sarutobi's Chakra before finally achieving victory.
Shin'nosuke, who had just tasted success recently, tried his best to control himself, but his face still looked very unpleasant. He didn't even listen to the teacher's comments. Losing his composure, he now felt resentful toward his teacher.
He believed that if it hadn't been for the teacher's earlier advice to Shiyu Uchiha, Shiyu wouldn't have improved so much or found a method perfectly suited to counter him—ultimately defeating him.
Instead, he felt the homeroom teacher didn't value him enough as the son of the Hokage and had never given any useful advice. At this moment, he really wanted to get rid of this teacher, though he only dared to think about it.
Yet he never reflected upon himself for never having seriously listened to the teacher's suggestions.
However, thinking there was a more important matter at hand—how to persuade Shiyu Uchiha to allow him to win during the next exam—he focused his thoughts accordingly.
As expected by Shiyu Uchiha, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke indeed took the bait. He longed too much for that feeling of public praise. With no one else to talk to, he had to figure it out on his own—but after racking his brains for quite a while, he still couldn't think of any good ideas.
Eventually, he decided to secretly meet Shiyu Uchiha for a private talk, hoping to convince him to hand over the chance of victory in their next match.
After making up his mind, Sarutobi seized an opportunity to send Shiyu a message. Upon receiving Shiyu's reply, the tension in his chest finally eased. Thus, after school, the two sneaked behind the campus into the woods, starting their secret meeting.
At first, Sarutobi chattered on endlessly without bringing up money at all. This left Shiyu completely at a loss. After all, not mentioning money here was just hurting feelings—and they weren't even emotionally close! Most importantly, you should at least give me a reason why I should help you!
With no other choice, Shiyu decided to drop a subtle hint: "Shin, it's not that I don't want to help you—I also desire that victory. With it, my mother will reward me lots of money, which I can use to buy things for Shun Mizutani and Taki Tachibana, maybe even treat them to some barbecue. They said last time the food was amazing and wanted to go back, but right now, I'm broke."
Upon hearing this, Sarutobi immediately understood and generously replied, "Shiyu, my friend! How much does your mother plan to give you? I'll double it! Please, I really need this victory!"
After hearing that, Shiyu felt inner joy, knowing well that this deal would work out. He then tested the waters by raising one finger, planning to say, "How about ten thousand taels?"
But before Shiyu could finish, Sarutobi furrowed his brow and cut in, "Ten thousand taels?"
"Then he gritted his teeth and continued, 'No problem, but I don't have any money on me today. I'll bring you two hundred thousand taels tomorrow.'"
Although Shiyu Uchiha bit his lip, he didn't seem to blame the other party at all. In fact, for the sake of money, for a brief moment, he even felt Sarutobi Shin'nosuke wasn't that annoying.
However, that feeling didn't last long. Then he spoke, "Shin'nosuke, you're truly generous. I'll definitely consider you my friend. Since that's the case, I won't say much more. Let's settle it like this—we'll seal our agreement with a handshake, how about that?"
"Good." After that, the two slapped hands three times, officially sealing the deal.
In the following match, as expected, it ended with Sarutobi Shin'nosuke barely winning. Of course, Shin'nosuke only paid for one time. Shiyu Uchiha certainly wouldn't allow the fight to continue further. So in the next match, he lost again.
Later, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke met privately with Shiyu Uchiha one more time. After some discussion, in order to ensure sustainable development, Shiyu reached a further agreement with Sarutobi Shin'nosuke. From then on, every victory in their fights would come with payment. Normally, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke would receive commission equivalent to a C-rank mission for each win.
During regular school exams, the payment would be upgraded one level to a B-rank; during promotion exams, it would be considered A-rank. Of course, all payments would be based on the lowest standard for each mission rank.
Finally, Shiyu Uchiha still reserved the right for Sarutobi Shin'nosuke to challenge him anytime. If he managed to defeat Shiyu, then the agreement would be nullified.
The reason Shiyu designed things this way was not solely about making a little money—though that was indeed part of his motivation. After all, the allowance from Uchiha Shizhi wasn't particularly generous, and unlike Mikoto, he didn't feel comfortable constantly asking for more. Besides, his recent expenses had been quite heavy, so he wanted to be self-reliant and find a way to generate income.
Yet this wasn't his primary purpose. His main goal was to let everyone understand a fabricated version of himself through this arrangement. He was very confident that, as the son of Uchiha Shizhi, his information would inevitably have appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk on the very first day of his enrollment.
However, the Hokage's faction was currently evaluating his potential and had not yet interfered with him, thanks to the protection provided by his powerful mother.
But once the Hokage's faction discovered his real potential, they certainly wouldn't remain passive. Regardless, both his mother's and his sister's performances had been far too dazzling.
Uchiha Shizhi was currently the strongest expert in the Uchiha Clan, even a top-three figure in the entire Konoha Village, potentially rivalling even Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Mikoto Uchiha had awakened her eyes at age eight—unique among the Uchiha in this era—and was now the most gifted within the clan. In a clan filled with prodigies, earning such a title meant real merit. Fortunately, her other abilities weren't too alarming, which relieved many people's concerns.
For his own safety, Shiyu Uchiha felt he couldn't afford to stand out too much. Yet he could still show himself as an ordinary genius. In those people's eyes, for someone born into the Uchiha clan, being just an ordinary genius equated to mediocrity.
Thus, Shiyu Uchiha aligned his cover identity with Sarutobi Shin'nosuke. His talent appeared quite impressive, and he added a flaw of being lustful.
This persona wouldn't attract the wrong kind of attention either, since his performance ranked slightly below Kagami Uchiha's, Itachi Uchiha's, or even Shisui Uchiha's. It wasn't enough to spark fear in others, considering the risks involved in targeting Shiyu Uchiha were somewhat high because Uchiha Shizhi was outrageously powerful—just a bit too much to handle.
Even if someone saw through the first layer of disguise, he still had the second layer up his sleeve: slightly more talented than Sarutobi Shin'nosuke, plus greedy and lustful traits that could lead people to think him narrow-minded. Despite decent abilities, he would still appear incapable of achieving greatness.
Moreover, this identity's credibility was strengthened by the fact its prover was the son of the Hokage, making this information almost one hundred percent reliable.
Even further, if someone tried to recruit him, they would surely cater to his preferences. At that point, Shiyu felt he'd have plenty of room to play things his way.
Shiyu firmly believed that with these two layers of camouflage, combined with the protection provided by Uchiha Shizhi, he should be safe until adulthood when he would finally possess enough strength to defend himself on his own. If not, then he wouldn't be worth anyone else's wariness anyway.
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