Konoha Year 39, noon, inside the Uchiha Council Hall.
Several Elders in high positions were staring curiously at Kyosuke, who stood in the center of the hall, and Hiroji Uchiha, who had awakened and was blushing furiously.
Though they were somewhat displeased by Kyosuke's disrespect, as people of high standing, they were not so petty as to hold it against a five-year-old child.
The reason they were looking at Kyosuke this way was because the child had always had a poor reputation within the clan.
Cowardly, weak, mediocre—any of those words could have been applied to Kyosuke's former self.
So what exactly had happened for such a child to dare barge into the Council Hall?
The Elders, who had been troubled by certain matters, took this rare chance to relax. Filled with curiosity, they waited to see what the child would say.
"Fine, since you're already here, explain yourselves. What could have brought you all the way here? If you can't explain it, then heh heh." An old man with a face full of white whiskers looked at Kyosuke as he spoke.
Although the old man appeared to be past sixty, the faint pressure radiating from him left Kyosuke nearly speechless.
Just as Kyosuke was growing anxious, another, somewhat younger Elder suddenly laughed. "Big Brother, don't scare the younger generation."
The oppressive aura that had made it hard for Kyosuke to breathe vanished abruptly the moment the Elder spoke.
"Heh heh." The white-bearded elder at the head of the group chuckled twice, but he no longer targeted Kyosuke.
"Now then, child, tell us about it." The Elder smiled warmly at him.
Kyosuke knew that the first Elder to speak was the Great Elder, the most powerful and influential figure in the Uchiha clan. The Elder who had called him Big Brother was likely the Second Elder.
As for the Third Elder and Fourth Elder, they sat below the platform in order and had not spoken.
Kyosuke steadied himself. After quietly reproaching himself for acting too rashly, he solemnly bowed before explaining the entire matter.
Naturally, it was an embellished version.
In his account, Hiroji had become a malignant tumor of the Uchiha clan, guilty of countless misdeeds and causing trouble for years. If he was not taught a lesson, he would surely harm the clan's development, and so on.
After hearing him out, the Elders exchanged glances, then shook their heads and laughed.
Just as they were familiar with Kyosuke's past, they also knew exactly what kind of person Hiroji was.
He could not be called kindhearted, but neither was he as vile as Kyosuke had described.
"An interesting child. By the way, Second Brother, these two are juniors from your branch, aren't they?" After laughing for a while, the Great Elder suddenly asked the Second Elder.
The Second Elder gave Kyosuke a strange look, then nodded with a smile.
He understood what his elder brother meant. Since they were both from his branch, this matter was effectively being left to him.
The Second Elder slowly rose from his chair, walked to the center of the hall, and looked down at Kyosuke. "Since you've already taught him a lesson, what more do you want?"
As he spoke, he gave Kyosuke a slight wink.
Kyosuke understood what he meant. He was telling him to stop while he was ahead; after all, the Second Elder was not the only one present.
They were only being this lenient because Kyosuke was a five-year-old child. If it had been anyone else, they would likely have already been seized and dealt with.
The severity of the Uchiha Elders was well known throughout the clan—or rather, throughout the village.
One could see as much from the circumstances of those clansmen who had lost in competition due to poor talent.
After all, those clansmen who had been completely abandoned were forbidden from leaving the clan grounds for the rest of their lives.
This was also Kyosuke's greatest concern at the moment. Even without that mission, he probably would have chosen to act this way.
His goal was to establish his reputation as a genius.
Otherwise, if he waited to grow naturally and stand out through training, who knew how long that would take?
So he could only pretend not to see the Second Elder's hint.
"I want to defeat Hiroji openly and honorably in a fair match, and vent the anger of all those he usually bullies," Kyosuke declared righteously.
"Hmph, in your dreams. If you hadn't ambushed me..." Hiroji glared at Kyosuke resentfully, muttering under his breath.
With the hearing of the Elders present, his muttering was almost perfectly audible. Having fully understood the cause of the matter, they merely shook their heads with amused smiles.
"Oh? Then do you know that Hiroji is three years older than you? If you clash head-on..." The Second Elder no longer looked as kindly as before. They had indulged the two children for long enough; it was time to end this.
"He is no match for me." Kyosuke closed his eyes and spoke firmly.
Just as the Second Elder was about to say something else, Kyosuke's reopened eyes left him nearly speechless.
"How is that possible?!" The Second Elder's cry lodged in his throat for a long while before finally bursting out.
"What is it?" Seeing him lose his composure, the other Elders also rose and came over to Kyosuke.
Like the Second Elder, when they saw Kyosuke's scarlet eyes, they nearly cried out as well.
At that moment, a commotion arose outside the Council Hall.
Some guards had heard the unusual cries coming from within. In their anxiety, they were preparing to come in and see what was happening.
This unexpected development restored the Elders' composure.
After dismissing the guards with a wave of his hand, the Great Elder looked at Kyosuke gravely. "When did you awaken it?"
"A few days ago," Kyosuke answered obediently.
"Good, good, good!" The Great Elder said "good" three times in a row. After exchanging looks with the others, they all burst into hearty laughter.
But what they could not see was the strange smile that appeared on Kyosuke's lowered face as well.
"Are you ready?" The Second Elder asked Kyosuke kindly. Then he glanced at the growing number of clansmen, silently calculating something.
"I'm ready."
"Good, good."
When the other clansmen saw that the Elders were actually serving as judges for a match between two children, they could not help feeling deeply curious.
After all, in their eyes, these Elders had always stood above everyone else. Usually, they could not even be bothered to respond to a greeting, much less involve themselves in something like this.
"Say, is that kind old man really the Second Elder?" A male Uchiha quietly asked the companion beside him.
"Shh, keep it down." The other person raised a finger to signal for silence. Then, looking at the Second Elder, whose smiling face resembled an old chrysanthemum in full bloom, he hesitated slightly before saying, "He... he probably is."
His words were filled with uncertainty.
In truth, it was no wonder the Elders were acting this way. The fact that Kyosuke had awakened the Sharingan at five was simply too shocking.
The average age at which Uchiha clan members awakened their eyes was around eighteen or older.
Madara, the strongest Uchiha in history, had only awakened his Sharingan at fifteen.
Do not assume every Uchiha was like Sasuke, who awakened his eyes at seven, Itachi at eight, or Obito at twelve, just because they did in the original story.
Nearly two-thirds of Uchiha clan members might never awaken this Kekkei Genkai in their entire lives.
Thus, one could imagine just how great the surprise Kyosuke had brought them was.
That was precisely why this scene had come about.
No matter how the matter was handled afterward, Kyosuke's existence alone could greatly boost the clan's morale. That benefit alone was enough to make the Second Elder lower himself to serve as a judge.
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PS: Experience levels and similar content will not be described too often. They will only be mentioned at key moments, so don't worry about them affecting the flow of reading.
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