Chapter 467: Uchiha Returns to Glory?
One day after training, Shisui invited Obito to walk back to the Uchiha compound together.
On the way, Shisui asked, "Obito, are you going to the clan meeting at eight tonight?"
Whenever the Uchiha held a clan meeting, the compound always sent out notice in advance. Shisui had received last night's notification, so logically, Obito should have received it too.
There was only one requirement to attend an Uchiha clan meeting: you had to be a shinobi.
Genin, chunin, jonin, anyone could attend as long as they were a ninja. Ordinary civilians and Academy students had no right to be there. That was also why Shisui had not argued back the last time he was surrounded at a clan meeting. He really had broken the clan's rules.
"A clan meeting, huh?" Obito paused, then finally remembered. "Right. Elder Yashiro told me about it yesterday."
He shrugged.
"I don't want to go. It's boring. I'd rather use that time to train more."
Obito had only attended one clan meeting, the one with Shisui. The impression it left was not exactly pleasant. The shinobi there felt like a room full of self important adults who only wanted to hear what they already believed.
Shisui had expected that answer.
That last meeting had left a bad taste in both of their mouths. If not for his desire to change the Uchiha, Shisui probably would not want to deal with clan members who were obsessed with past glory either.
They gave him the feeling that the Uchiha were everything, and anything outside the clan was meaningless.
To Shisui, that kind of thinking was wrong, and far too extreme. The Uchiha compound was part of Konoha too.
"If possible, can you come with me?" Shisui asked. "I want to attend another meeting."
It was not that Shisui was afraid to go alone.
He wanted to use Obito's prestige to increase his own influence.
If Shisui went by himself, he would just be a genius. If Obito went with him, they would be two geniuses together. People would naturally see them as a small group and measure their weight as a unit.
"That's fine," Obito agreed easily. "It's kind of lonely going alone."
He did not think too deeply. A friend invited him, so he would go.
Besides, Obito already had his own way of dealing with things he did not like. Back in the Academy, whenever a class bored him, he would sink into his own fantasies until the lesson ended. When he snapped back to reality, it would be over.
He planned to use that same secret technique of distraction for the clan meeting. If he did not want to listen, he simply would not listen.
"I'll come find you when it's time," Shisui said with a smile.
After they reached the Uchiha compound, they split up. Obito went straight home. Shisui headed to the nearby market to buy groceries.
Shisui lived alone, and he had just returned from the battlefield. There were no ingredients prepared at home, so if he wanted to cook, he had to shop first.
After buying what he needed, Shisui returned to his quiet house.
It was so silent that the only sounds inside were his faint footsteps and the soft clatter of pots and pans.
Knock, knock.
As Shisui was preparing dinner, someone knocked on his door.
"At this time… Obito?" Shisui set down his utensils, untied his apron, and went to answer.
It was dinner time. Almost nobody came looking for him at that hour. Since he had just made plans with Obito to attend the meeting, Shisui instinctively assumed something urgent had happened.
When he opened the door and saw who stood outside, surprise flashed across his face, followed by genuine joy.
"Uncle, you're back," Shisui greeted warmly.
The visitor was Shisui's uncle, Uchiha Nobuhiro.
"Yes. I just returned today, so I came to see you," Nobuhiro replied with a smile.
Shisui had lost both parents when he was very young. Ever since then, Nobuhiro had always worried about whether Shisui could grow up properly. Whenever he had time, he would come check on him.
Recently, Nobuhiro had heard news about Shisui.
When he learned that Shisui had earned the title Shisui of the Body Flicker on the battlefield, he felt both excited and relieved.
At the same age, Shisui's grandfather, Uchiha Kagami, had been far inferior to Shisui. Yet Shisui had already gained fame on the battlefield at only eight years old.
"Have you eaten?" Nobuhiro asked. "If not, I can make something."
Shisui invited him inside and shook his head. "Not yet, but I was just cooking. You don't need to trouble yourself, Uncle."
Nobuhiro had come all this way. Shisui did not want to make him do extra work.
Then Shisui turned the question back. "Uncle, have you eaten? If not, I'll just make a bit more."
"Then I'll taste your cooking today, Shisui," Nobuhiro laughed heartily.
He was happy to accept Shisui's thoughtfulness. After all, Shisui was not a child that needed constant care anymore. He was Shisui of the Body Flicker, a shinobi who could take lives on the battlefield.
During dinner, Shisui proactively talked about some of his experiences on the eastern coast.
In the past, it had always been Nobuhiro sharing mission stories. This time, Shisui wanted to share his own.
"That was truly dangerous," Nobuhiro exclaimed after Shisui finished recounting the skirmish. "To actually run into shinobi on the level of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
The Leaf newspaper had painted it like Konoha shinobi were unstoppable, charging forward and cutting down the Hidden Mist with ease.
But Shisui's account was different.
To him, it had been peril from start to finish. Every teammate had to push to their absolute limit just to barely hold the line.
And in the end, if Lord Mugetsu had not arrived in time, Shisui and his entire squad might have died there.
Nobuhiro had never fought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but he had heard enough about them to know how brutal they were. In his judgment, he could probably defeat at most one of them.
"Shisui, it's truly a good thing you met a teacher like Lord Mugetsu," Nobuhiro said as he ate.
A good teacher could help a student in countless ways, not just with guidance in training, but also with connections and resources.
To Nobuhiro, Shisui resembled Uchiha Kagami in more ways than one.
Both were talented, and both had encountered a teacher who could shape their futures.
Even if Mugetsu was not Hokage, Nobuhiro believed that with what Mugetsu had shown, he would become at least a high ranking figure in Konoha someday. That was not a bad person to be connected to.
"Meeting Teacher Mugetsu really was my good fortune," Shisui agreed.
He could not imagine what his life would look like if he had never met Teacher Mugetsu.
Would he have escaped the Uchiha clan's extreme teachings?
Would he have reached this level of strength?
Would he be as happy as he was now?
Shisui tried to picture it, but he could not. Just thinking about it made the story feel dark. His heart resisted going any deeper.
After Shisui spoke, Nobuhiro also shared his recent mission experiences. They only stopped when it was almost time for the clan meeting to begin.
"Uncle, are you attending tonight's meeting?" Shisui asked after checking the time.
Nobuhiro had just returned, so Shisui was not sure whether he planned to go.
"Yes," Nobuhiro nodded. "Are you going too, Shisui?"
Whenever he was in Konoha, Nobuhiro usually attended. He needed to keep an eye on the clan's atmosphere, to prevent a repeat of the Uchiha Setsuna incident.
"Yes," Shisui said. "But I need to call a friend first. We already agreed to go together."
"Then let's go now," Nobuhiro suggested. "We can stop by your friend's house on the way. It's almost time."
So the two of them went to Obito's home and met up with him.
"This is my uncle, Uchiha Nobuhiro," Shisui introduced briefly.
"Hello, Uncle Nobuhiro," Obito greeted with a chuckle.
Before Shisui could say more, Nobuhiro smiled and spoke first.
"Hello, Obito. I know you. Our Uchiha clan's great genius."
"Hehe, it's fine. Just an average genius," Obito said, scratching the back of his head with a grin.
He liked straightforward people like Nobuhiro.
The three walked and chatted on the way to Naka Shrine, getting to know each other better.
As they neared the shrine, Obito even spotted Uchiha Inabi, someone he could barely count as an acquaintance.
Once they entered Naka Shrine, they found a few floor cushions and sat down together.
There were no strict rules about seating at the meeting. Only the clan head needed to sit at the very front, facing everyone.
"Elder, please begin," Fugaku said, looking toward a serious middle aged shinobi seated in the first row.
There were two types of Uchiha clan meetings.
One was a routine meeting, held at a fixed time each month.
The other could be called by the clan head or an elder, and if enough clan members strongly demanded it, it could also be convened.
This meeting was the second type. An elder named Uchiha Shin had requested it proactively.
Shin gave a small nod, stood, walked to Fugaku's side, then turned and faced the gathered Uchiha shinobi.
"Today, first and foremost, I want to commend two clan members," Shin said with a smile. "They are both the pride of our Uchiha clan."
The shinobi present exchanged looks, curious which two members were worthy of an elder's special praise at a clan meeting.
"It won't be Inabi, will it? I heard he's been working hard lately."
"It shouldn't be. Hard work alone isn't something they praise like this at a meeting."
Quiet discussion spread through the room.
Some Uchiha who followed battlefield news more closely shifted their eyes toward Shisui and Obito.
It sounded absurd, but it was true.
Recently, the two most famous Uchiha were Shisui and Obito, their names appearing in the Leaf newspaper.
Most of the Uchiha shinobi worked in the police force, so very few were participating in the war. Even fewer of those were powerful enough to become famous.
That was why the spotlight had fallen on the two of them.
"These two are Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Obito," Shin said with conviction. "They displayed the might of our Uchiha clan on the Hidden Mist battlefield. In the recent war, Obito killed Suikazan Fuguki, one of the notorious Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
Some Uchiha who had not paid attention to recent war news stared at Obito and Shisui in shock.
Genin might not understand the weight of that name, but experienced chunin and jonin did. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were elites among jonin, each one difficult to handle, and together they were terrifying.
"Obito actually killed Suikazan Fuguki…" Inabi's eyes widened, stunned beyond belief.
He had been buried in work and training lately, barely paying attention to outside news. He had no idea Obito had reached that level.
"Uh, I didn't kill him alone," Obito said quickly. "Kakashi and I killed him together."
The shocked looks felt good, but Obito did not want to take all the credit. Back then, he and Kakashi had fought with everything they had just to barely bring Fuguki down.
Obito liked praise, but not enough to steal credit from his teammate's desperate effort, even if that teammate was Kakashi.
"Hm." Shin expression did not change. "I believe it was through your efforts, Obito, that you and Kakashi Hatake were able to kill Suikazan Fuguki."
Obito wanted to say their contributions were about equal, and if anything, Kakashi had been the one leading the fight.
But he thought about it, then decided it was not worth arguing over here, so he stayed quiet.
Shisui's brows tightened slightly.
He remembered the report clearly. It had stated that Kakashi personally killed Fuguki.
So why was Shin insisting on stressing Obito's role, trying to separate the two?
After finishing with Obito, Shin turned to Shisui.
"Now they have both become jonin of Konoha," he said. "And Shisui has even broken the record for the youngest jonin in Konoha's history, becoming Konoha's first ever eight year old jonin."
Then Shin's voice rose with excitement. He stood, fists clenched.
"This is what it means to be Uchiha!" Shin declared. "It proves our clan has never lacked geniuses. We only lack a stage. We only lack opportunity!"
Applause broke out across the shrine.
"Our Uchiha clan has always been the strongest clan. This proves it."
"If the chance comes, the Uchiha will definitely return to the glory of the Warring States era."
More voices joined in, the excitement spreading like fire.
Shisui frowned deeper.
He subconsciously looked toward Nobuhiro and felt a small wave of relief when he saw his uncle frowning too. At least his uncle was still a normal Uchiha, not someone swallowed by this kind of thinking.
Obito's expression also turned unpleasant.
A moment ago, when Shin praised him, Obito had thought the elder seemed alright.
Now Obito realized Shin was not alright at all.
Detestable, even.
This was clearly the result of his and Shisui's hard work. So how did it become proof that the Uchiha clan had never lacked geniuses?
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