Today.
The weather was clear, bright, and sunny.
Although things outside the ninja village seemed chaotic, the village itself remained quite peaceful.
My name was Uchiha Itachi, and I was two years old this year.
Not long ago, the uncle I had never seen since birth suddenly appeared before me, and only then did I learn that I had an uncle.
But ever since then...
It felt as though something had changed.
Father reminded him every day not to spend money recklessly and not to learn from some wastrel. Ninja were the Uchiha's future.
Father, who had originally been rather expressionless, suddenly became somewhat talkative. It took some getting used to for a two-year-old child like me.
Why did Father say those things every day for no reason?
And every few days, an older sister whose eyes differed from mine came to give me money. It was not as much as what that uncle had given me at first, but the thick stack was still more than the pocket money Mother gave me.
It was just that...
Whenever she touched it, the money no longer ended up in his hands.
Of course, he did not care, since he had nowhere to spend money anyway. Giving it to Mother was fine too.
For example, right now...
That older sister had just given him money today. After politely declining Mother's invitation to stay and leaving, Mother came over.
Uchiha Itachi held the money in his hands, lifted his chubby little head, and looked at Mother, who wore a loving smile.
"Itachi! You're still too young to be holding so much money. It's too dangerous! Come, put it with Mother." Uchiha Mikoto looked at Itachi gently and patted his head. "Don't worry, Mother won't spend it carelessly. Mother will save it for you, so you can use it when you grow up and marry a wife!"
"Okay!" Little Itachi agreed readily and handed the money to Mother without hesitation. "It's fine if Mother wants to use it too."
What a filial child!
"Then Mother thanks you, Itachi." Uchiha Mikoto smiled and nodded.
Still... Fuyou really did send money over every time. It truly left her rather helpless.
She glanced at her husband behind her, who had been standing there with his arms folded and a stern face. When he saw the money in her hands, he visibly relaxed.
Mikoto immediately understood.
If Itachi truly ended up like Fuyou and did not become a ninja, Fugaku would surely be heartbroken!
Just then.
"Mother," Itachi suddenly said beside her, "Sister Rinne was stopped by the Second Elder."
"Call her Aunt Rinne." Uchiha Mikoto frowned upon hearing that and looked toward the doorway Itachi pointed at. Sure enough, she saw Rinne being blocked by several Uchiha ninja. "What exactly does that Second Elder want?"
Today.
It was bright and sunny.
The weather was nice.
The Uchiha Clan's Second Elder—Uchiha Sekizawa—was planning to take advantage of the pleasant sunlight to go for a walk, loosen his bones, and clear his mind.
A few days ago, his elder brother...
The Uchiha Clan's Great Elder.
In order to pull the wayward Uchiha Fuyou back onto the right path, had not hesitated to venture into the tiger's den despite his advanced age, investigating the enemy and preparing sufficient arguments to persuade Uchiha Fuyou to return. He wanted Fuyou to understand that ninja were the future of the ninja world and hoped he could return to the proper path.
Unlike now... What had he even spent all that money on?
And he had even given the Uchiha Clan's money away to others for nothing. Was that acceptable?
He was simply an idiot.
Therefore.
His elder brother had truly been exhausted lately.
In order to infiltrate the enemy without arousing suspicion and gather more authentic information, he had to cut off Fuyou's hopes.
Every morning at dawn, he put on those clothes that even ninja found shameful. To blend in with that group of idiots, he even had to put on a cheerful face and pretend to be happy.
It forced Uchiha Sekizawa to watch his elder brother's departing figure with a sorrowful expression every day.
At such an old age, he still had to run about for the sake of the Uchiha Clan's disappointing younger generation. And at night... he returned, dragging his exhausted body behind him.
Though his entire body ached, he still had to keep that reassuring, cheerful smile on his face to put them at ease.
His elder brother was truly working hard for the Uchiha Clan!
Yet.
What about that troublesome Uchiha Fuyou?
Even when the elders of the Uchiha Clan were working so hard, he could not see it and still refused to repent. Some time ago, he had even left the village outright to avoid them.
What business activities?
That milk tea shop was already on track. What business activities could that fellow possibly still need to conduct?
Outside, ninjutsu flew everywhere and war raged across the land. Running around now... was it really for business activities?
What a joke!
He was surely only trying to avoid elders like them, who loved the clan!
Just like last time...
He had decided on funding worth several hundred million without even informing this group of elders.
And Fugaku was just as bad.
As the clan head, he should put the clan members first in all things. How could he waste money on all sorts of random nonsense like this?
Uchiha Sekizawa let out a long sigh inwardly. Whenever he thought of his elder brother having to join a group of fools and pretend to be a fool himself at his age...
If he had not been concerned about drawing criticism from the village, he would have been prepared to send the Konoha Military Police Force to seize him for interrogation.
He raised his head. When he saw a pair of Byakugan within the Uchiha compound, he froze, then frowned. "Who is this person with?"
"Reporting to the Second Elder, Lord Fuyou arranged for Lady Rinne to come here." The Uchiha ninja lowered his head as he spoke. "Lord Fuyou also arranged for her to handle the clan's funding assistance."
"She handles that ridiculous funding assistance?" Uchiha Sekizawa paused, the wrinkles on his aged face creasing as he stared at the Byakugan girl.
After pondering for a moment, he sighed and shook his head.
"How muddleheaded! Entrusting so much money to an outsider girl is truly laughable."
As he spoke, his expression shifted uncertainly. At last, he snorted coldly. "Bring that girl over!"
"Yes!"
Having completed the arrangements Fuyou had made before leaving, Rinne was also preparing to return and continue with the next stage of work.
The new shop was a barbecue restaurant. Its location had already been chosen, not far from the milk tea shop—only one street away.
She had to go over later to check the progress and see whether it was being built according to their requirements. This barbecue restaurant was a little larger, and Fuyou also attached great importance to it. Once things on the village side stabilized, it would open branches throughout the Land of Fire, just like the milk tea shop.
Although she did not know why Fuyou wanted her to come give his nephew—Itachi—money every so often, and insisted that it had to be personally handed to him, since Fuyou had said so, she would certainly carry it out.
Hyuga Rinne's lips curled slightly as she held the documents in her arms and murmured softly, "Fuyou will return in a month."
The words had barely left her mouth.
"Girl of the Hyuga Clan!" A stern voice called out.
Hyuga Rinne froze. Holding the documents, she turned around and saw the elderly Uchiha man behind her.
That bearing.
He was probably an elder of the Uchiha Clan.
Just like the elders of the Hyuga Clan, so after hesitating briefly, she said, "Sir!"
"The Uchiha Clan's affairs do not need to be managed by an outsider girl, especially one from the Hyuga Clan." Uchiha Sekizawa went straight to the point and said coldly, "I will arrange for someone to come over. Hand over the funds and affairs to the Uchiha!"
"This..." Hyuga Rinne frowned, but she still took a deep breath and said seriously, "I'm sorry. Lord Fuyou arranged for me to do this. Without Lord Fuyou's verbal order, I will not hand it over to anyone else."
As someone who had also come from a great clan, Rinne could roughly guess what was going on.
But no matter what... without Fuyou's word, she absolutely would not let go.
"I will personally speak to Fuyou about that." Uchiha Sekizawa said unhappily. "A mere branch-family woman of the Hyuga Clan thinks she can meddle in the Uchiha Clan's family affairs?"
"I'm sorry!"
"Little girl, do not think that I would not act merely because of that brat Fuyou!"
"I'm sorry."
"Men!" Uchiha Sekizawa's face turned cold as he shouted sharply, "Seize her—"
Before he could finish.
"What's going on? What's going on? Second Brother, what are you doing?"
Before you continue