"Welcome to the Chunin Joint Exams, sponsored by Fuyou Milk Tea, the brand led by Fuyou! Drink milk tea, watch the matches, and cheer for the shinobi!"
"Refreshing passion, boundless energy!"
"Let us welcome the lucky contestants advancing to the third round!"
As the host onstage cheered, the spectators in the surrounding stands were all left dumbfounded.
Th-This... this was a completely different Chunin Joint Exam!
The lead shinobi from the other villages in particular were filled with rage when they recalled the unfair treatment their competing shinobi had received in the Forest of Death just days ago!
They were only children!
Why did they have to suffer such treatment?
When they had heard about it, they had immediately trembled with fury, broken out in cold sweats, and gone ice-cold from head to toe. Especially when they saw shinobi from their own villages lying face-down on hospital beds with their butts raised, biting down hard on the sheets as though enduring pain beyond words, their anger had only grown stronger.
Konoha had fallen!
They had heard that even Konoha's Legendary Sannin had nearly laid hands on them back then. Th-This... this was truly hateful!
They were heroes!
Heroes who had sacrificed for their villages!
The scabs on their pants and the filth on their bodies were symbols of their heroism.
The fallen Konoha could no longer bear the future of the number one shinobi village. Their Cloud, Stone, and Mist would surely take its place.
Quite a few shinobi from other villages curled their lips slightly, mockingly watching the ridiculous scene before them. The stench of merchants had already spread throughout all of Konoha.
Was Konoha... still a pure village of shinobi?
They sighed with emotion, looked at the free milk tea in their hands with the words "Fuyou Milk Tea" printed on it, then shook their heads and muttered to themselves, "Konoha! It has fallen!"
With that said,
they took a light sip of milk tea, faint sneers on their lips.
Meanwhile, on Konoha's side,
their faces also twitched at this opening so different from before. Just how had that Uchiha Fuyou pulled this off?
The Hokage had actually agreed to let him do this?
This wasn't the Will of Fire!
However,
what no one knew was that, facing the gazes of all the spectators, Hiruzen Sarutobi's smile was somewhat forced as well.
He had thought Fuyou was merely going to hang a few banners. The Forest of Death was huge, so there was no shortage of places for him to hang them. Yet who would have thought... he had even arranged the host jonin.
His face still carried the calm smile of the leader of the number one shinobi village, but inwardly, he let out a long sigh. I charged too little!
"Brother, why are you looking at me like that? Eat some fries, have some fried chicken! Today is mainly for relaxing, so don't think about anything else."
"..." Uchiha Fugaku stared at that cheerful face in silence for a moment, then asked in his usual deadpan manner, "You... how did you do it?"
"What do you mean, how did I do it?" Fuyou froze, then nodded in sudden realization and looked at Fugaku solemnly. "All the wealth I have now was earned through my own hard work alongside all my partners. I didn't take a single cent from the family!"
"I wasn't asking about that." Fugaku's mouth twitched. He gave him a flat look, pointed expressionlessly at the banners, then at the host shinobi below. After a brief pause, he asked, "How did you do that?"
Putting up advertisements all over this place was one thing, but he had even gotten the host shinobi to advertise for him?
Would the Third Hokage and the others agree to that?
Impossible!
However,
when Uchiha Fuyou saw what Fugaku meant, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. With a calm smile, he said evenly, "Through love!"
"Lord Hokage felt my Will of Fire and was moved by my blazing heart that loved Konoha, so he gave me this opportunity. Thank you, Lord Hokage, and thank you to all the shinobi of Konoha."
"...Heh."
As if I'd believe that.
Fugaku sneered. He did not believe a single word this guy said anymore, yet his gaze at Fuyou seemed to carry a hint of complexity.
That little brother of his back then...
He had clearly been adorable and earnest, always working hard at his studies and training. Why had he become so glib now?
What had he gone through?
After all, the Uchiha Clan had always been upright and straightforward...
Before he could finish lamenting inwardly,
"Next, Konoha shinobi—Uchiha Obito—will face a shinobi from Kusagakure..."
"Both shinobi, please come to the stage."
Hearing the host's words, Fugaku's mouth stiffened again. He said nothing more and silently watched the youth below wearing clothing bearing the Uchiha Clan crest. His eyes filled with a little more complexity as he let out a soft sigh. "Sigh~"
He sighed.
"Sigh~" A sigh came from beside him as well.
Uchiha Fuyou looked in surprise at the blond young man wearing a strange sun mask, who had come over with Kushina. After freezing for a moment, he hesitated before asking, "Minato, what's... wrong?"
Had he gotten freckles on his face or something?
"Fuyou, Clan Head Fugaku!" Even with the mask on, Minato's voice remained leisurely, though it seemed to conceal a faint bitterness. "Sorry to disturb you. We'll sit here too."
"Mm." Fugaku nodded in greeting, but his eyes... were also rather strange as he looked at Minato.
There seemed to be
sympathy? Helplessness? Annoyance?
How strange!
"Your subordinate is competing down there. Is it really okay for you to sit here as a spectator when you're their team leader?" Uchiha Fuyou looked at Minato curiously. "Don't you need to go watch over them?"
"It would be better if I didn't appear for a while." Minato's voice carried a hint of awkward laughter. "Don't worry, I've already asked the other team leader jonin to help."
If he appeared now... it might cause chaos.
Did he see those shinobi from the other villages lying butt-up against the railings?
That's right.
Just a few days ago, they had been lying on hospital beds.
"Alright, I can roughly guess what happened." Uchiha Fuyou showed a polite smile and fell briefly silent. "I'm sure... things will get better and better!"
After saying that,
he perked up excitedly again, pulled out the snacks he had told Suzune to prepare, and stuffed them directly into the hands of the two kids beside him... Itachi and Shisui.
Maybe it was because he had not seen him for a while, but Itachi seemed to have gotten quite a bit thinner!
"Brother, have you been starving the child at home?" Fuyou rubbed Itachi's head in dissatisfaction. "Look! Look how skinny you've made him! Here, eat more! If you want anything to eat later, come find your uncle!"
"..."
Starving him, my ass!
Wasn't Itachi's face all chubby?
But Fugaku said nothing. He merely kept his arms folded and watched below with a deadpan expression.
As for Itachi... after hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and said softly, "Uncle, Itachi has already eaten. I shouldn't eat these."
"It's fine, snacks go into a separate stomach. Don't mind your dad. Kids should eat more. It's only cute when they grow up fair and plump!"
As his uncle, how could he possibly harm him?
Fuyou smiled benevolently and rubbed Itachi's head. "What a sensible child! How could Fugaku not even let him eat snacks?"
Look at how adorable he was now. How had he turned into that idiot later on?
"I..." Itachi froze.
"It's fine! Eat! If you don't, you're disrespecting your uncle!"
"..." Itachi stared blankly at Fuyou, then looked at Father, who said nothing. He nodded happily. "Thank you, Uncle!"
He actually quite liked eating them!
Shisui, meanwhile... gently declined. He shook his head and smiled warmly. "I'll pass, Lord Fuyou. I'm training right now, so I need to control my diet."
"You should eat more when you're training!" He had even brought Will of Fire theory with him to watch a match?
Kid!
What were you trying to do?
Uchiha Fuyou's mouth twitched, but he continued benevolently, "Eat more! That's how you grow. Here, don't be polite. My family runs this business."
"I..."
"Stop with the 'I.' Eat! Oh, right." Uchiha Fuyou seemed to recall something. He pulled out a book titled The Tale of the Resolute Shinobi, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said with a smile, "Shisui likes reading so much, huh? I have a book here too. It was personally written by the great literary master of the shinobi world, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, and inheritor of the Will of Fire—Lord Jiraiya. It is filled with Lord Jiraiya's own views on the Will of Fire. I'm sure you'll like it."
A struggling author humbly begs for votes online! Sigh~
Before you continue