"Shh—"
Uchiha Fugaku raised a finger to his lips, then pressed his palm downward.
"Keep it down, keep it down. You can't say something like that casually."
That was what he said.
But the upward curve at the corners of Fugaku's mouth simply refused to disappear.
As the head of the Uchiha clan, of course he had ambitions.
And they weren't small.
It was just that Fugaku also had a very realistic understanding of his clan's strength.
Back in the day, Uchiha Setsuna had led a rebellion, only for Senju Tobirama to suppress it in a mere one hour and twenty-two minutes, turning the whole thing into a temporary laughingstock.
And in the current generation, Konoha was overflowing with monsters.
From the older-generation F4, to the Sannin, then Namikaze Minato, and even Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who commanded ANBU…
every single one of them possessed exceptional abilities.
Compared with those people, even Fugaku himself looked like a fresh recruit.
Whether in strength or seniority, he simply didn't rank highly enough.
The rest of the Uchiha clan was even further behind.
Unless all those people suddenly dropped dead, the Hokage position would never fall to Fugaku.
But now…
things were different.
The Uchiha clan had gained two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan.
Rounded up, that was basically two Kage-level fighters.
Meanwhile, among Konoha's leadership, Sarutobi Hiruzen was already old and had shown signs of wanting to retire.
Orochimaru had just defected.
Danzō had been removed from office and placed under house arrest…
Wasn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Even if Fugaku couldn't become Hokage, getting himself a position as Hokage Advisor or assistant wouldn't be unreasonable, right?
If he could accomplish that, then he, Uchiha Fugaku, would become the Uchiha who had held the highest position in Konoha since the village's founding.
He would finally fulfill a decades-long dream of the clan.
At that point, even if Uchiha Madara came back to life, he'd have to stand up and offer Fugaku a drink.
Just imagining it felt wonderful.
In fact, Fugaku had an even bolder thought—
They had been on the Kirigakure front for less than two months,
and the Uchiha clan had already produced two Mangekyō Sharingan.
If they stayed another half a year and went through a few more battles…
wouldn't the clan practically take off?
If they somehow ended up with eight or ten Mangekyō users,
the entire ninja world would probably have to show the Uchiha some respect…
"Yashiro, go call Shisui over. There are some things I want to discuss with him… Wait, forget it. We'll do that later."
Fugaku stopped Yashiro just as he was about to stand.
Then he threw off the blanket.
"Lady Tsunade and Captain Yuu are at the command post, right?
"I'll go see them first."
…
There wasn't much worth mentioning about Fugaku's meeting with Yuu.
After all, the two had known each other for quite some time.
They had also spent several months fighting Kirigakure together along the southeastern front.
By now, they could genuinely be considered comrades who had fought side by side.
So even though Fugaku's confidence had exploded and he was currently in his "Sunny-Day Fugaku" state, he still wasn't arrogant enough to put on airs in front of Yuu.
Tsunade, however, seemed rather curious about Fugaku's Mangekyō.
During their conversation, she glanced toward his eyes several times.
Eventually, Fugaku started feeling uneasy.
"Lady Tsunade, why do you keep looking at me like that?
"Is there something wrong with my body?"
Anyone would feel nervous being inspected like that by the greatest medical ninja in the world.
Especially Fugaku, who had only recently fallen unconscious after using Amaterasu.
Naturally, his imagination began running wild.
But Tsunade merely waved her hand.
"It's nothing. Keep talking."
"Oh…"
Fugaku remained doubtful.
After saying a few more things, he found an excuse to leave in a hurry, preparing to meet with Shisui.
Only then
did Tsunade turn toward Yuu.
"I heard that Uchiha who awaken the Mangekyō often undergo dramatic personality changes, almost like they become a different person entirely.
"I didn't expect Fugaku to look so normal.
"He seems almost exactly the same as before.
"Looks like Granduncle Tobirama's research wasn't entirely accurate after all."
"Granduncle?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
"Mm."
Tsunade nodded.
She reached into the pocket of her jōnin vest, pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper, and handed it over.
"Here.
"This is an article the Second Hokage left behind.
"I figured I might run into an Uchiha who had recently awakened the Mangekyō during this trip, so I brought it with me.
"If you're interested, you can read it too. It might help you understand how to deal with Uchiha who undergo major personality changes."
Yuu accepted the paper and unfolded it.
"A Study on the Correlation Between Psychopathological Behavior in the Uchiha Clan and the Deepening of Ocular Power [J]. Forbidden Technique Research. Senju Tobirama."
"…"
Good grief.
Yuu could only call it incredible.
What was this, an academic journal article from the Naruto world?
Judging from the citation format, Senju Tobirama had apparently maintained his own personal research column back in the day?
It seemed Yuu still knew far too little about the Second Hokage.
He would need to read more of Tobirama's works in the future and see whether he could extract anything useful from them—
for example, skin fragments for the various ninjutsu in his "harem."
With that, the discussion concerning the Uchiha temporarily came to an end.
The battle had begun around midnight.
By the time everything finally settled, dawn had already arrived, and the eastern sky was beginning to brighten.
Yuu dumped the remaining work onto Tsunade and returned to his room to catch up on sleep.
He slept for most of the day.
It wasn't until the afternoon
that Kurenai woke him.
"Yuu, you're awake?"
Kurenai sat beside the bed with her chin resting on both hands, staring at him without blinking.
The moment his eyes opened, delight appeared on her face.
"Are you thirsty? I'll get you some water.
"And there's this bowl of vegetable and lean-meat soup. The cooking team just sent it over, so it's still warm.
"I'll feed you…"
"Cough, cough… I can do it myself."
Yuu coughed lightly and politely refused Kurenai's attempt to feed him.
After all, that would be far too embarrassing.
Yuu had only slept late because he had exhausted too much chakra.
It wasn't as though both his arms were broken and he needed someone to spoon-feed him.
Kurenai genuinely seemed to want to feed Yuu.
After being rejected, she looked somewhat disappointed.
So she sat beside him holding a handkerchief, taking every opportunity to wipe the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this,
Yuu had no choice but to carefully finish the soup before asking,
"By the way, has anything changed outside?
"Where's Teacher Tsunade now?"
"Things are alright.
"It's mainly repairs to the stronghold and intelligence gathering. Kakashi and the others are handling those.
"As for Lady Tsunade, I think she went to help treat the wounded."
"?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
That woman…
didn't she suffer from hemophobia?
She could still examine wounded ninja?
Mm…
If she was only reviewing medical records and designing treatment plans without personally standing beside the beds and looking directly at wounds, that was certainly possible.
After all, that was essentially what Tsunade did at Konoha Hospital.
Aside from people like Sarutobi Biwako who knew the truth, no one had ever noticed anything unusual.
After finishing the warm soup,
Yuu felt considerably better.
He stretched, hopped out of bed, and rolled his neck and arms several times, preparing to go back to work.
Judging purely from the numbers, Konoha had achieved an overwhelming victory in this battle against Kirigakure.
The scale of Kirigakure's offensive had been even greater than the one previously organized by Fuguki Suikazan.
They had practically committed everything.
Yet despite Konoha's reduced manpower, they had still defeated the assault and nearly wiped out Kirigakure's prominent commanders and elites.
The results were nothing short of brilliant.
Uchiha Fugaku and Shisui had contributed greatly.
Yuu had already discussed the matter with Tsunade.
They intended to report the achievements truthfully and, in Tsunade's name, nominate Shisui for promotion to provisional jōnin.
It would serve as a small gesture of goodwill toward the Uchiha clan and allow them to see whether the clan would reciprocate.
Kakashi, Gekkō Shigure, Honekawa Koo…
even Obito and the others had all experienced their own moments of brilliance.
Their contributions also needed to be reported to Konoha.
As for Yuu himself…
he no longer cared much about such empty fame.
After all, throughout the recent battles, Yuu had already stolen more than enough spotlight.
Aside from Namikaze Minato, who was currently shining brightly on the Kumogakure front, there was probably no one else in Konoha who could rival Yuu in terms of military achievements.
Therefore,
unless Yuu intended to compete with Minato for the position of Fourth Hokage, gaining another achievement or two wouldn't significantly change his standing or reputation within Konoha.
The only real benefit would be exchanging merit for more ninjutsu.
And even then, the number of worthwhile options was becoming limited.
What Yuu cared about far more right now
was the condition of his "harem."
Especially the Water Formation Wall.
Its affection had already reached the critical point of ninety-nine long ago.
It had only been blocked by a special event and couldn't gain the final point.
Now, after the battle with Kirigakure,
it had finally crossed that last threshold—
[Water Formation Wall current affection: 100/100 — Hearts in Perfect Accord.]
[Stage Rewards obtained ×4: Constitution +4.]
[Trait — Water-Heaven Barrier: Your Water Formation Wall possesses extremely strong autonomous management instincts. It can continuously absorb moisture from the air and surrounding bodies of water in preparation for possible combat.]
[Casting speed +100%. Defensive strength +100%.]
[Additionally, by consuming more chakra, you may create a wide-area "Water-Heaven Barrier." Within this barrier, all Water Release techniques used by hostile units may be controlled by you.]
The Water-Heaven Barrier could basically be considered the ultimate enhancement of Water of Assimilation.
Not only had its strength doubled,
it had also gained the ability to control other people's Water Release.
Yuu was quite satisfied with that.
This meant he now possessed two Water Release techniques at maximum affection—
Wild Water Wave and Water Formation Wall.
If he could raise either the Hydrification Technique or the Water Mirror Technique to maximum affection as well…
then Water Release would probably unlock some kind of bond effect similar to Heavenly Fire Judgment.
Meanwhile,
the affection of both Super Strength and Transparent Escape had also surpassed eighty.
And then…
there was Hatake Swordsmanship.
During the recent battle, Yuu had personally killed three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
But only Kushimaru Kuriarare had met the requirements of The World's Greatest Swordsmanship.
The other two had been completely expelled from the registry of "swordsmanship" by Hatake Swordsmanship itself.
The wielder of the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei had never appeared.
So in the end,
the battle had only advanced the event by one-eighth.
However…
after waking up this time,
Yuu discovered that his shadow clone had brought him an unexpected surprise.
[Ding! Host has successfully defeated "Shinkage-ryū Swordsmanship." Special Event — "The World's Greatest Swordsmanship" progress: 8/8. Completed.]
[Hatake Swordsmanship affection +1. Current affection: 100/100 — Hearts in Perfect Accord.]
That was right.
While Konoha and Kirigakure had been scheming against one another and slaughtering each other,
the shadow clone Yuu had previously sent to the Land of Iron had finally succeeded in defeating a practitioner of Shinkage-ryū Swordsmanship.
It completed the final piece of The World's Greatest Swordsmanship and unlocked a new trait for Hatake Swordsmanship—
[Mushin: One Heart — Your understanding of the principles of Hatake Swordsmanship has reached the pinnacle. While holding a blade, your mind becomes free of all distracting thoughts and the sword moves according to your will.]
[You may condense your lifelong conviction and chakra into the blade and unleash a strike that surpasses your limits.]
[This strike ignores all conventional physical defenses and directly cuts the target's "Line of Life."]
"Whoa!"
Yuu's eyes immediately lit up.
Although he hadn't tested it yet, judging from the description…
Mushin: One Heart was clearly a conceptual ability!
As long as something was "alive,"
he could deal true damage to it!
With this…
even against Uchiha Madara,
Yuu might genuinely possess the power to fight!
[Hatake Swordsmanship: Hmph. I told you long ago that my sword principles are invincible. What "Ninja Swordsmen"? What "Uchiha"? They're nothing but frauds stealing undeserved fame. How could they compare to me? Even so-called immortals and gods will fall beneath my blade!]
"Yes, yes. Little Hatake is the best! Love you~"
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: What about me? What about me?! Little Mikami, didn't you say you liked me the most before?!]
"Mhm, mhm. Love you too, Little Phoenix."
While showering them with praise, Yuu secretly wondered where he could test the effect of Mushin: One Heart.
If Shisui didn't mind…
having him activate Susanoo and letting Yuu slash it would be ideal.
It could serve as a warm-up before rescuing Rin.
"Right. Later I should ask Shisui whether I can sign a summoning contract with the Uchiha crows.
"They're pretty useful as reconnaissance units.
"And it might raise Summoning Technique's affection by a few points too…"
"Also, I should go through those old scrolls Tsunade gave me and pull out anything involving sealing techniques or summoning arts to gift…"
Sharpening the blade didn't delay the chopping of firewood.
Although raising Summoning Technique's affection to ninety and unlocking Flying Thunder God before rescuing Rin would probably be difficult,
raising the affection of these techniques as much as possible would still give Yuu a few extra trump cards.
Thinking this,
Yuu picked up the White Fang short blade and walked out of the tent.
…
Time quickly passed to the afternoon of the following day.
Konoha's main reinforcement force finally arrived at Shakuka Town, covered in dust from their long journey.
There were a little over three hundred reinforcements.
The person leading them was none other than Yūhi Shinku.
The moment Kurenai saw her father, her eyes reddened slightly and she immediately ran over to greet him.
Shinku pulled his daughter into his arms and patted her back.
His face contained both joy and emotion.
In an era of constant war,
being able to see a loved one safe and unharmed on the battlefield was genuinely a blessing.
"Kurenai, you've lost weight.
"You haven't been eating properly lately, have you?"
"That's not true. Yuu and the others have been taking really good care of me."
Hearing his daughter's answer,
Yūhi Shinku looked past her toward Yuu.
His expression became somewhat complicated.
He suddenly had the distinct feeling of a single father watching some delinquent kid on a loud motorcycle drop his daughter off at home.