After returning to the clan compound, other matters were set aside. The first order of business was Uchiha Tajima's funeral.
In the Uchiha clan grounds, which were large enough to be a small county, white banners hung from every household.
Inside the mourning hall, the only two immediate family members, Uchiha Madara and Izuna, knelt before the coffin in mourning clothes. Other clansmen, with white ribbons tied around their heads, approached one by one to offer incense and pay their respects.
As they passed the two brothers after offering incense, they would murmur words of comfort like "my condolences," "please stay strong," and "you are the hope of the Uchiha."
Izuna kept his head down the entire time to hide the fact that there was little sadness on his face. Madara, however, frowned deeply, his eyes fixed on the coffin.
According to the customs of the Warring States period, children mourned their deceased parents for three days before the burial. It wasn't as troublesome as the ancient customs from Izuna's past life, where children had to mourn for three years. In this era, you couldn't even be sure you'd be alive in three years.
After the final burial ceremony was completed, they still wore the white ribbons on their heads but no longer had to keep vigil by the coffin.
A few days later, Izuna passed by Madara's residence and asked a maid at the door, "Is my brother here?"
The servants, maids, and cooks in the clan were mostly commoners who couldn't survive in these chaotic times and had sought refuge with a ninja clan. Some were also descendants of smaller clans that had been wiped out.
"Young Lord Izuna," the maid replied, "Young Lord Madara has been leaving early in the morning and only returning in the evening."
Izuna's eyes darted thoughtfully. He nodded. "I see. Thank you for your hard work."
With that, he turned and left without a second glance.
"Lord Izuna is so kind," one of the maids whispered, watching his retreating back.
"He is. It's not that Lord Madara is unkind, but he feels... unapproachable."
"I heard that it was thanks to Lord Izuna that the battle was ended."
"Yes, my husband, who transports supplies, said that if it weren't for Lord Izuna, they would have died on Taihang Mountain Road."
***
After leaving Madara's residence, Izuna didn't go looking for him. Instead, he went to find Uchiha Kai.
Uchiha Kai was a generation older than Uchiha Tajima. In this chaotic era where the average lifespan was less than thirty, he had miraculously lived to be sixty. He was currently the Third Elder of the Uchiha clan, in charge of the development of the new generation of ninja.
The council of elders in the Warring States period was not what one might imagine—a group of civil officials sitting behind desks, pointing fingers, and stamping documents. Due to their age, they no longer went to the battlefield, but they still had to use their remaining strength to serve the clan.
Uchiha Kai was essentially the principal of a later-era ninja academy. He was a teacher. Many Uchiha ninja had received his guidance in their youth, and he held great prestige within the clan. It was on this basis that he had once served as clan head.
The concept of a "school" didn't exist yet; it was simply "learning." Children under ten would spend ten hours a day in a designated area in the northwest of the clan compound for study and ninjutsu training.
After Uchiha Tajima's death, aside from the white ribbons tied around their heads like Izuna's, they continued their studies as usual. Or rather, they studied even more diligently than before.
In this one battle, the Uchiha had lost a total of thirty jonin, elite jonin, and peak jonin! This didn't even count the chunin and genin. It was undoubtedly the most devastating blow the Uchiha had suffered in decades. And this was *after* Izuna had thwarted Senju Tobirama's sneak attack.
In the original story, the Uchiha likely failed to stop him, causing the already disadvantaged Uchiha to fall even further behind the Senju. This meant that the Uchiha Madara of the original story had inherited a truly difficult situation.
Arriving at the "school," Izuna saw about two hundred Uchiha children gathered on the training grounds, listening to a speech by a group of instructors led by Uchiha Kai. These instructors were all elderly or had sustained career-ending injuries that prevented them from going to the battlefield.
"I'll be blunt. The sacrifices our Uchiha clan made in this battle are unimaginable. Among them, I'm sure, were your parents, your older brothers, your friends. You carry the future of the Uchiha on your shoulders..."
Uchiha Kai's speech continued. Compared to the Third Hokage's "Will of Fire" speeches of the future, it was less like a sales pitch. Though his words were veiled, the meaning was direct: "revenge."
After Uchiha Kai finished, a round of applause came from behind him.
The instructors and the two hundred children turned to look.
"Young Lord Izuna?"
"Lord Izuna?"
Adults and children alike were startled. Izuna walked up to Uchiha Kai's side, faced the children, and smiled. "The Third Elder is right. You carry the future of the Uchiha on your shoulders."
"Lord Izuna, thank you for saving my father!" a six-year-old boy with spiky hair stood up and gave Izuna a deep, 90-degree bow.
Then, a girl of about eight also stood up, bowed, and shouted, "Thank you for saving my uncle."
One after another, children rose from the ground to bow and express their gratitude. Izuna's capture of Tobirama, which ended the war, was a monumental achievement. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had saved the lives of all their clansmen.
Unlike Madara, who usually wore a stern expression, Izuna smiled and waved his hand, telling the bowing children to sit back down. "If you really want to thank me, then grow up quickly, so you can protect me when I'm old and gray."
His lighthearted joke made many of the children laugh.
Uchiha Kai asked from the side, "Izuna, you came here today to..." His seniority was two generations above Izuna's, so he didn't need to use honorifics.
"Third Elder, I've developed two new ninjutsu. I've already written them down and hope they can be added to the clan's ninjutsu library. I'd also like to teach them to these children," Izuna said, pulling two scrolls from the ninja tool pouch at his waist and handing them to Uchiha Kai.
"New ninjutsu?" Uchiha Kai and the other Uchiha ninja nearby were all stunned. To be able to create one's own ninjutsu was, without a doubt, an achievement worthy of being recorded in the glorious history of the Uchiha clan.
"May I ask, Izuna, what are the ranks of these jutsu?" Uchiha Kai asked, taking the scrolls.
"A B-rank and an A-rank."
Another wave of shock went through the crowd. At Izuna's age, he was not young for a ninja. But as a creator of ninjutsu, he was incredibly young. They had thought they would be C-rank at best, but an A-rank jutsu was unheard of.
As the students stared, dumbfounded, Izuna turned and smiled. "You've all had your chakra natures tested, right? Raise your hand if you have a lightning-nature chakra."
Lightning-nature chakra was, after fire, the most common affinity among Uchiha ninja. Sure enough, as soon as Izuna spoke, about seventy or eighty of the two hundred-plus children raised their hands.
Izuna nodded. "You're in luck. I'll demonstrate these two jutsu for you. Those of you without lightning nature, don't be sad. I'll work hard to develop new jutsu for you in the future."
"Whoa!"
"Yay! Yay!"
"Long live Lord Izuna!"