Chapter 8 — Uchiha Yujiro: I Donate to the Orphanage, and It's Totally Not Because the Glasses Girl Is Cute
Yujiro and Elder Yakumi parted on sour terms.
The old man stormed off, cursing under his breath: "This clan's done for—Uchiha is finished!"
Yujiro, on the other hand, walked calmly to Konoha's orphanage. There, he dumped most of the ryo he'd earned into the hands of the cheerful glasses-wearing caretaker as a donation. Then, ignoring her warm invitation to share a meal, he headed back to the clan's training grounds to sharpen his skills.
Sure, the glasses girl was nice—but too much of that and his body really couldn't handle it. She might've started off shy and demure, but now? Yujiro sometimes suspected she was the one seducing him, not the other way around.
…
Meanwhile, in another part of the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his telescope technique.
"Not bad at all," he mused. "What you see is what you get—he's a kind child. This Yujiro… he's worth cultivating."
He turned to Minato, who looked like he wanted to speak but hesitated. The young Hokage probably thought spying on people like this was beneath him. How naive.
If you didn't secretly observe, how could you tell whether Yujiro truly loved the village, or if he was just a mole planted by the Uchiha to infiltrate the Hokage faction?
Minato was still too young, too innocent. He needed an experienced comrade like Hiruzen to guide him. That's why Hiruzen felt more justified than ever about remaining as Hokage Advisor—to continue "serving the village."
"Everything's fine, Minato," Hiruzen said with a smile. "Do as you see fit. Showing goodwill to the Uchiha and drawing them closer is good policy. But that goodwill should be invested in the right person. Don't you think Yujiro fits the bill?"
"Yes…" Minato replied slowly.
"And I recall you already have some connection with him? Young people should interact more."
"That's true… because of Kakashi, I've had some dealings with Yujiro, but…"
"Then it's decided."
"Ah… well. Decided, then."
Minato nodded, but unease nagged at him.
Rewarding Yujiro whenever he clashed with the clan might make him more loyal to the Hokage—but wouldn't it also deepen the rift between the Uchiha and the village? Wouldn't it mark Yujiro as a traitor in his family's eyes?
This wasn't the first time Minato doubted Hiruzen's plans—or his intentions.
Driving wedges between clans, stoking distrust, pushing Uchiha further from the village… Was this malice? Or just sheer stupidity?
Minato didn't want to believe Hiruzen was a scoundrel. But he also couldn't believe the man was a fool.
So in the end, he arrived at the same conclusion Yujiro had: Hiruzen might just be senile.
"The old man's experience is valuable," Minato thought, "but a new era demands new methods."
Perhaps it was time he acted differently—even if it displeased Lord Hiruzen.
Because deep down, he wanted to shout the words that burned in his chest:
"Hiruzen… I am the Hokage."
He caught himself picturing Hiruzen's face twisted in rage once he got word, the old man losing control, slamming the office doors, and roaring—
"Minato, you'll regret this!!"
"No, no! I can't think like that—that's too wicked."
But Minato was a model student, a "good boy," a gentle husband under Kushina's thumb. The thought of betraying his kindly teacher gave him an overwhelming sense of guilt.
Even so… he would not back down.
Because he was Hokage.
…
Meanwhile, Yujiro had returned to the Uchiha training grounds. Right on cue, the Dumbass System chimed in with a new mission.
[Permanent Mission · Train Hard]
For the sake of the Senju's tomorrow, strive on, young man!
Objective: Training
Reward: Training efficiency ×2
Yujiro's eyes lit up.
"Ohhh! Double effect?! Now I'm fired up!!"
…
They say if elementary schoolers could see a "progress bar" for their studies, their efficiency would skyrocket.
Yujiro didn't know if a progress bar beat getting smacked with a leather belt, but one thing was certain—his willpower was stronger than a kid's.
At least when he trained, he didn't need to cast a Sharingan·Genjutsu·Sexy Cheering Squad no Jutsu—imagining Tsunade, Hinata, Hanabi, Mei Terumī, Konan, Ino, and Kurenai in cheerleader outfits dancing and chanting "Ganbatte!" just to get motivated.
He was, after all, a man who had seen Konoha at four in the morning.
Rejecting the glasses-girl (orphanage director)'s dinner invite had been the right call. Waste too much energy there, and how could he train seriously?
So he threw himself into practice.
First, shunshin drills. Then kunai throwing, senbon throwing, shuriken throwing. After that, running laps till his legs turned to jelly, sword drills until the tatami mats in the dojo had a thousand imaginary slashes carved through them. He mixed in footwork and more shunshin drills.
Finally, he wrapped up with a Dragon Flame Song or Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame. Another "fulfilling" day of training.
"Wait a sec."
After blasting out a Majestic Destroyer Flame, Yujiro realized—he still had chakra left over. Enough for another high-level fire jutsu. That must've been the system's reward.
Chakra was always good. You could never have too much. In a pinch, even a puny E-rank jutsu could topple a Kage. Just ask old man Hiruzen, who once got KO'd by a Sexy Jutsu.
Feeling smug, Yujiro sprawled flat on the training ground, limbs spread out like the kanji for "tree."
That's when he heard the sound of footsteps. Turning his head, he saw none other than Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku.
"You work hard, Yujiro. I'd heard you were the 'hard-working genius type,' but hearing it and seeing it are two different things."
"Genius? I'm no genius. Shisui or Itachi—those are geniuses." Still lying on the ground, Yujiro replied without much ceremony. "I just use the time others spend sipping coffee to drink plain hot water instead."
Fugaku chuckled. "Ha, witty too. But Yujiro, I heard you had a spat with Elder Yakumi. What exactly happened there?"
"Different visions," Yujiro said flatly. "You've heard my analysis before, haven't you, Clan Head? The Uchiha must change. I see Minato's rise as an opportunity. Yakumi doesn't agree."
"…I suppose it's natural for young men to have their own ideas. Still, Yujiro… about that newspaper you mentioned—what is it really?"
At that, Yujiro sat up, pulled a draft from his ninja pouch, and handed it over.
"You'll see. This is tomorrow's headline for the New Konoha Times."
"…Oh… oh… OH?!"
Fugaku took one look and nearly dropped the paper. His stern expression cracked.
"Yujiro—EXPLAIN THIS TO ME—what the hell is [The Uchiha: A Clan of Love] supposed to mean?!"