Hizashi had been secretly watching his little sister.
He noticed that ever since they arrived at the Uchiha Clan Grounds, her gaze had been searching back and forth for something.
It was not until Shin appeared that Nao fixed her eyes on him.
Even now that they had left the Uchiha Clan Grounds, she still seemed distracted.
Hizashi thought, Could my precious little sister have taken a liking to that Uchiha brat?
He decided that from now on, he would keep a close eye on his sister at school.
He could not let the jewel of their family be whisked away by some brat.
Hiashi also seemed very interested in Shin and kept discussing him with Nao.
However, Nao did not know much about him either.
So, they shifted the topic to the move Shin had just used.
"That was definitely Fire Release. I sensed fire-natured Chakra!" Hiashi began the discussion.
"Not necessarily Fire Release. There were indeed traces of flames at the scene, but for such a massive palm print to appear..."
"Given a child's amount of Chakra, it would probably be impossible to use it successfully." Nao immediately refuted him and gave a reasonable explanation.
After pondering for a while, Hiashi asked doubtfully, "Could it have been taijutsu? But with such powerful taijutsu, a five-year-old's body simply couldn't withstand it, could it?"
"Could it have been a show put on by the Uchiha? Everything happened too suddenly today, so we never properly examined it with the Byakugan." Unable to hold back, Hizashi joined their discussion.
"Impossible! What would the Uchiha be putting on a show for? To highlight their Second Young Master's strength? That makes no sense at all."
Hiashi's rational analysis made the other two lower their heads in thought.
"Alright, children. The Uchiha Clan was not putting on a show today." Their father, Meitoku, gave a conclusion to what had happened.
The three siblings all questioned him with puzzled expressions.
Meitoku began to explain, "I know Uchiha Chiken. He isn't the sort of person who fakes things, and when that child appeared from the sky, I had already activated my Byakugan."
Looking at the three Hyuga siblings, he continued his analysis. "How should I put it? What I saw with the Byakugan was that he was wrapped in a layer of Chakra shell..."
"I couldn't see inside. From the outside alone, it was difficult to determine whether it was taijutsu or ninjutsu, but to produce such power, he deserved the title of genius."
The three Hyuga siblings each fell into thought.
And Meitoku had achieved his purpose. His three children had always thought highly of themselves.
The eldest, Hiashi, seemed carefree and cheerful, but he was only like that around those close to him. Toward others, he wore a different face.
Hizashi was like a silent gourd and usually did not interact with others.
Their youngest sister, Nao, always looked icy, and she was especially competitive.
Meitoku sincerely hoped that Shin's case would make the three siblings take outsiders seriously.
After all, the Hyuga were not a ninja clan like the Uchiha, one that had countless enemies.
"I've decided, Father! I will personally defeat that Uchiha genius!" Five-year-old Nao raised her pretty face and declared her goal to Meitoku and the Hyuga brothers.
At the "palm print" site on Uchiha Commercial Street.
Once Chiken saw that the members of the major clans had all left, he reached out and grabbed someone by the collar at the back of his neck.
"Mother, save me!" Shin was so panicked that he had called Aoko Mother.
Aoko could only look up at the sky.
Faced with Chiken, whose rage was clearly overflowing, even she did not dare deal with him lightly.
Holding the troublemaker up with one hand, Chiken immediately snarled, "Tell me, brat. How do you want to die?"
"Father, I don't want to die." Shin gave his answer at once while secretly watching his old man's expression.
"Even the Sage of Six Paths can't save you today. Aoko, don't say a word!" Chiken quickly stopped Aoko, who was about to plead for him.
"Tch, Father, you've already said that three times. If the Sage of Six Paths knew, he'd definitely think you're..."
"Think I'm what?"
Shin met Chiken's fierce glare without the slightest panic.
There had been a saying in his past life: the tough feared the reckless, and the reckless feared those with nothing to lose.
Shin decided to go all in. "He'd think it was embarrassing. Father, you keep using that old man as an example. Isn't that inappropriate?"
Chiken was instantly enraged by those words.
He held Shin up in one hand while covering his heaving chest with the other.
Seeing his old man's movements, Shin immediately regretted it.
I'm not really going to get beaten to death for talking like that, am I?
Though his mouth remained stubborn, he was still worried about his old man's health.
But if he said something heartfelt now, it would go against the persona he was about to establish.
"Brat, take this!"
Chiken slapped Shin on the back of the head, making the latter feel as if the world were spinning.
"Old man, you actually hit me for real!"
Once Shin recovered, he no longer called him Father.
That made Chiken feel that he absolutely had to reclaim his authority as a father today.
The brat had already gotten so full of himself. If he did not teach him a lesson now, was he supposed to wait until New Year's?
"Old man, if you've got the guts, put me down! What kind of man bullies a child?"
Chiken, whose temper had completely exploded, nearly blacked out at those words.
His hand loosened slightly, and the troublemaker slipped free.
Before leaving, Shin even shouted, "This is the first time I, Uchiha Shin, have been beaten! Old man, the green mountains remain, and the rivers run long!"
Chiken watched Shin turn into a white bolt of lightning and vanish before his eyes, so anxious that he began stamping his feet.
He immediately activated Lightning Chakra Mode and chased after him.
Fugaku, who had just finished receiving the various clans and returned to the clan grounds, felt two gusts of wind rush past him one after the other.
He thought the Uchiha Clan Grounds were haunted in broad daylight.
Shin fled cleanly and decisively, but the moment he stepped out of the clan grounds, he immediately doubled back and headed toward the grounds again.
Seeing Fugaku still standing there with a bewildered look on his face, he instantly flashed past him.
"What was that? Did a white shadow just drift past?" Fugaku trembled, his upper and lower teeth clacking together.
"Clever as I am, old man, you never expected me to pull that, did you?" Shin teased Fugaku and accelerated once again.
He planned to find somewhere to hide for three, five, or seven days, then go home after Chiken's anger had subsided.
"Brat! You're pretty clever, knowing to run back!"
When he looked back, he discovered that his old man had activated Lightning Chakra Mode in both legs.
He immediately shouted angrily at him, "Old man, you have no martial honor! Why are you using the move I invented against me?"
Chiken replied with a mocking expression, "Brat, today your old man is going to teach you a proper lesson..."
"In the ninja world, it's survival of the fittest. Any lapse in judgment could become your deadliest weakness!"
"Old man, you're shameless!"
Until night fell.
The Uchiha Clan Grounds still echoed with intermittent shouts and curses.
Something along the lines of, "Old man, slow down!" and "Brat, keep running!"
Inside the Hokage Building office.
"Haru, what do you think of that Uchiha child?" After finishing his official duties, the Third Hokage began chatting with the corner of the room.
"His speed, defense, and power are all good. The Chakra consumption is low enough that even a five-year-old can use it. It would be highly useful for battlefield transport or attacks." A mechanical female voice came from the corner.
The Third Hokage got a headache.
Haru was just that straightforward. What did he mean by what she thought? Naturally, she viewed it from a ninja's perspective.
"I meant his character and temperament."
"That is not something I should evaluate. The first rule of Anbu duty is not to interfere with any of the Hokage's decisions."
The Third Hokage now greatly missed Xiang, who was far away in the Rain Country.
At least he felt that Xiang was not as rigid as Haru.
He felt that facing someone so dull, the coming days would likely be difficult.
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