It's You

Sitting in the most remote corner made it easy to be overlooked, to the point that you might not get any good food.

But Uchiha Yu was different. He was a nobody among the clan's upper ranks, but he was immensely popular with the lower ranks. There was not a single servant in this courtyard responsible for serving guests whom he did not know.

With a simple greeting, the young servants would prioritize bringing him delicious food. He even got to taste some delicacies faster than the clan head and elders did.

After all, a local official was no match for the man directly in charge.

Even while seated in the most inconspicuous spot, Uchiha Yu could still eat the most and best meat.

By nightfall, the banquet finally came to an end.

Uchiha Yu sat in the outermost courtyard, yet he was one of the last chūnin to leave.

Before leaving, Uchiha Yu noticed that the clan head, jōnin, and elders had remained behind to continue drinking tea and talking. Their discussion would probably focus on matters related to the war.

He tucked the soundly sleeping Miwa Masayo into his arms, protected the Tabby Cat with his right arm, and left the clan head's mansion.

As he went out, the clan head's steward, Uchiha Heihachi, handed him a thick paper envelope. Uchiha Yu took it with his left hand, gave it a light squeeze, and immediately broke into a brilliant smile.

It was the clan head's return gift—two hundred thousand ryō in full, more than ten times the gift money he had presented.

Uchiha Yu was delighted. This would let him hold out for at least half a month, giving him much more room to choose his missions.

Still, after eating, drinking, and taking so much today, he felt a little embarrassed. So, in consideration of Lord Uchiha Fugaku being so generous, he decided that if the opportunity arose in the future, he could consider sparing Itachi's life.

Of course, that was only if he could ensure the safety of himself, those close to him, and the clan. Otherwise... Itachi still had to die.

Money was certainly important, but it could never be worth more than the lives of the people he cared about.

With money in hand, Uchiha Yu continued buying large quantities of food, completely tossing the matter of choosing missions to the back of his mind.

Every day, he ran with weights, stood in meditation stances to calm his mind, honed his ninjutsu, taijutsu, swordsmanship, and throwing techniques, then made himself a huge pile of fragrant meat as a reward.

Miwa Masayo continued eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well. When she was in a good mood, she trained alongside her poop-scooper. When she was in a bad mood, she went to the Inuzuka Clan to argue with Kuromaru.

The two ninja beasts even fought each other.

As Miwa Masayo's strength grew rapidly, she and Kuromaru became evenly matched opponents. With their two owners' tacit approval, they fought.

Their fights were half play and half serious, training their reaction speed, combat techniques, and physical strength. It was an extremely effective way to improve a ninja beast's fighting ability.

Ninja with ninja beast partners were already rare. Ninja beasts specialized in combat were even rarer, and evenly matched ninja beasts rarer still. Thus, neither Inuzuka Tsume nor Uchiha Yu stopped them.

They only treated their little darling's wounds after a loss, soothed their emotions, and encouraged them to fight again next time.

This steady routine left Uchiha Yu extremely satisfied. Even the Heart Monkey in his mental world settled down obediently, showing no signs of causing trouble.

Every day of hard training brought results so obvious they could drive people mad. Before long, Uchiha Yu discovered that his strength had doubled, and carrying six hundred and fifty kilograms was no longer a problem at all.

But fate had always been the cruelest thing. It could not tolerate anyone other than the protagonist enjoying a good life.

Uchiha Yu stared at the messenger who had come to assign him a mission and asked in disbelief, "Who? Uchiha Obito?"

The messenger bore the Uchiha clan crest on both his front and back, yet he was an unfamiliar face Uchiha Yu had never seen before. That proved he was a direct descendant of some clan higher-up.

Hearing Uchiha Yu's startled cry, the messenger wore a strange expression as well. "Yes, that fool who is 'the least like an Uchiha'—Uchiha Obito."

"Yesterday, he barged into the clan head's home and demanded to take part in the clan's ninja education. The clan head got so fed up with him pestering him that he had no choice but to arrange for someone to teach him."

Damn! So the cause of this was himself!

But why had this burden landed on his head?

Uchiha Yu had given Uchiha Obito that suggestion because he was certain he would make a move against Obito in the future. Starting now, he needed to put on an act and create the illusion that he and Obito were close.

Since it was an act, Uchiha Yu had naturally considered his suggestion carefully. It would make others feel that he was sincerely helping Obito while minimizing the chance of dragging himself into trouble.

The Uchiha clan held internal special training at the beginning of every summer and winter. Selected jōnin presided over it, the best chūnin handled the instruction, and it lasted around a month.

Uchiha Yu had only just been promoted to chūnin and was not qualified to participate in such an event, so after making the suggestion, he had forgotten all about it.

Who would have thought that several days later, the blame would still fall on him? What rotten luck.

Before he went dark, Uchiha Obito had been useless. He could not learn anything, could not use the ninjutsu he mastered, and when he did manage to use it, it was riddled with mistakes.

He was also stubborn as a mule, the kind who would not listen no matter what you said. Other than lacking protagonist luck, he was basically an oversized Uzumaki Naruto.

Teaching Uchiha Obito to train was one enormous, dark, heavy burden.

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Uchiha Yu could not help asking, "Since when was the clan head so easy to talk to? Obito actually managed to pester him until he gave in, and why did he choose me?"

The messenger sighed and said helplessly, "I did not know before either. Obito's grandfather was Elder Soramoto. He is actually a direct descendant of the clan."

Uchiha Yu looked utterly bewildered. Who was Elder Soramoto?

"Elder Soramoto died a long time ago, but he was Clan Head Fugaku's teacher."

That explained everything. The bond between ninja master and disciple carried immense weight, even surpassing that between father and son.

Obito's grandfather had been Fugaku's teacher. Even though he had died early, and people had moved on, leaving Obito to live such a miserable life, if Obito came to Uchiha Fugaku for help, the clan head absolutely could not refuse. So long as there was even the slightest possibility, he had to do everything in his power to make it happen, or his reputation would be utterly ruined.

"But why me?"

"Because there was only you."

"Huh?"

"The clan is very busy right now. Every jōnin and chūnin has a mission and cannot get away at all."

Uchiha Yu understood. The Uchiha clan was a ninja clan that had endured for a thousand years. It had not only businesses in Konoha, but enterprises spread throughout the entire Land of Fire. The clan's caravans had even taken their business across the whole Ninja World. Now, with the scent of war growing ever stronger, the Uchiha clan naturally had to prepare for turmoil, pulling in businesses from all over, packing up its assets to transport them back, or choosing hidden locations to stash them away.

The Uchiha also had to handle the village's security and whatever work the Hokage assigned from time to time. It was easy to imagine that Uchiha jōnin, chūnin, and even genin were all busy beyond belief.

After Uchiha Fugaku agreed to Obito's request, he searched for a suitable candidate and found that he simply could not find a ninja to teach Obito.

Then, unwilling to give up, he checked the clan registry and discovered that a newly promoted chūnin was at home and, unbelievably, unbelievably had no missions or work at all.

What more was there to say?

It was you.