The First Day Without Shin, I Missed Him

The next morning, the Konoha Daily was published as usual.

"Pfft..."

Nawaki was eating breakfast at home while reading the paper. He had only just seen the headline when he sprayed out a mouthful of milk.

Konoha Daily: "Shocking! The eldest young master of the Senju Clan actually did such a thing!" "The Senju Clan's tyrannical eldest young master bullied the kind and adorable second young master of the Uchiha Clan right at the start of school!" "Why has the Uchiha Clan been targeted time and again? The untold history between the Uchiha and Senju Clans!"

After reading the paper, he was so furious that he trembled, shivered, and cried. This world was full of malice directed at him.

When would he, Senju Nawaki, finally be able to stand tall?

"Ahhh... Uchiha Shin! This hatred is irreconcilable! If I, Senju Nawaki, don't take revenge, I'm not human!"

And so, Nawaki followed in the footsteps of a certain transmigrator and declared that he was no longer human.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building office, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had worked overtime until late into the night.

Having just woken up, he saw this "surprising" piece of news on his desk and could only exclaim in amazement.

After living for so many years, it was his first time seeing news like this.

It made him sigh at how vast the world was, and how full it was of strange things.

He felt that his cultivation over the years had still been lacking.

"Haru, what happened here?" the Third Hokage asked the dark corner.

"It began with a duel between the young masters of two clans. There was probably some misunderstanding that led to the current situation," an emotionless female voice came from the corner.

After thinking for a moment, the Third Hokage said, "So it was just a childish squabble. The Uchiha must have made the first move..."

"Honestly, Chiken really refuses to suffer even the slightest loss."

"Do you need me to keep the situation under control?" the female voice asked again.

"No need. Treat it as the village's 'honeymoon period' with the Uchiha Clan. Chiken Clan Head knows his limits..."

The Third Hokage paused, then instructed the corner, "Have both children rest at home for the time being. They can return to school after a while."

"Yes!"

After Haru returned from her mission outside the village, she had been assigned as the Hokage's guard.

She was also one of the Anbu members trained and led by the Third Hokage.

Meanwhile, at the Uchiha Clan Head's residence.

"The wind is rather noisy today..." Shin sat at the dining table with an expression of enjoyment.

As he drank milk and read the paper, he voiced his feelings.

Still, the headlines in the paper felt strange to him. The flavor was simply too strong.

After thinking all night, he realized that the outcome had actually been fairly good.

Although he had failed to drop out, he had gained some time off because of it. Overall, it was not much of a loss.

He planned to use the break to come up with a permanent solution.

"Father, your efficiency is as high as ever!" Fugaku flattered Chiken with a fawning expression.

Although he had no idea why the family had spread such "despicable" rumors about the Senju Clan, he still felt sincerely relieved that everything had been resolved so perfectly.

"That was your mother's idea. She said it would draw attention..."

Chiken was beaming with pride. "We spent so much money, so we had to maximize the benefits."

How many years had it been? The last time he had been this happy was the day he became clan head.

He could imagine how twisted the expressions on the faces of his old rivals in the Senju Clan must be right now.

"Come and hit me if you can. If you do, you'll confirm the 'rumors.' If you don't, you'll just have to swallow the loss."

Thinking that, he ate another bowl of rice.

There was no better word than comfortable to describe Chiken Clan Head at that moment.

He dearly hoped that the children of the Senju Clan would come around a few more times. Then the revival of the Uchiha Clan would truly be just around the corner!

Aoko watched them with a smile.

She felt that when faced with such a "complicated" situation, the family still had to rely on her.

It was hard to imagine what sort of monsters the Uchiha Clan would have been painted as if she had not come up with the idea first.

Just look at how the Senju Clan was described in the paper. The image of "bullying landlords" had been deeply ingrained in everyone's minds.

"I'm done eating, Father, Mother, Brother Fugaku." Shin, the first to finish breakfast, hurried back to his room.

In Shin's room.

He was worrying over what he needed to do in order to successfully drop out of school.

"Since I can't drop out voluntarily, I can only do it passively..."

He soon came up with a plan for dropping out: passive withdrawal.

This plan would be quite simple to carry out.

Having already made threats yesterday, Shin felt that petty tricks like Naruto's would never work.

If he was going to cause trouble, he had to make it big. He would use this break to plan carefully and strive to succeed in one go.

After a long while, he suddenly slapped his thigh.

Causing trouble required strength too.

With strength, it was called causing trouble. Without strength, it was called overestimating oneself. He did not want others to think he was an idiot.

Shin hurriedly got up and left his room, deciding to find his good older brother, Fugaku, first.

In the study of the Uchiha Clan Head's residence.

With a serious expression, Fugaku told Chiken all of Shin's guesses about Kagami Uchiha from yesterday.

"That was everything Shin said, Father." After speaking, Fugaku lowered his head and waited for his father's response.

"I had been investigating and had already more or less identified the most suspicious person. I never expected Shin to be suspicious as well."

Seeing Fugaku lower his head in silence, Chiken immediately comforted him. "You needn't belittle yourself. I don't think you, who have trained since childhood to become a ninja, are any worse than Shin."

Fugaku looked up and denied it. "I've never been jealous of Shin. Though Heaven took away his health, it left him with wisdom. I never liked thinking about these things to begin with...

"I'm only ashamed that, as his older brother, I haven't been able to help him much. Sometimes, I think that if Shin were healthy, he would definitely lead the Uchiha Clan to glory in the future..."

"For that, I would be willing to give everything I have in exchange."

Chiken felt warmth welling up in his eyes.

To outsiders, the Uchiha appeared cold and heartless, but the only thing that could move them was family affection.

After a long time, Chiken placed a hand on Fugaku's shoulder. "With you two brothers in the Uchiha Clan, I can rest assured and go do some things."

"Father?"

"After what happened with the Senju Clan, our image in the village has clearly improved greatly."

Chiken stopped there and did not reveal too much.

Far down the corridor.

With the Earphone Buff enhancing his hearing, Shin could clearly hear the entire conversation from a great distance away.

Aside from feeling warmth in his heart, he also gained a greater sense of responsibility.

What his old father Chiken wanted to do was nothing more than completely resolve the misunderstandings that had accumulated between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha over the past twenty years.

Perhaps an unconventional Uchiha could speed up that process?

At Nawaki's home in the Senju Clan Grounds, a certain pitiful person was thoroughly exploited by his older sister before being locked in the Confinement Room.

With a twisted expression, he picked up a pen and scribbled crookedly in his diary:

September 2nd, Year 25 of Konoha. Sunny.

The first day without Uchiha Shin. I missed him.

If that bastard appeared in front of me, I would definitely greet him warmly.

Our relationship was great, so great that I wished I could eat his flesh and drink his blood.

And I don't like making friends!

Especially with that bastard Uchiha Shin!