Break Off Your Friendship!

A childhood betrothal between the Uchiha and Hyuga?

Meitoku exploded on the spot.

He rose to his feet and glared viciously at Chiken. "I've put up with you for a long time. You Uchiha have no shame, but we Hyuga still do!"

That furious roar stunned everyone present.

None of them had expected Meitoku, who usually looked so amiable, to erupt with such force.

"The Uchiha have no shame? You Old Fossil, don't push your luck!"

"What kind of ideas could my innocent, kind-hearted youngest son possibly have about your daughter?" Chiken did not care which side came out worse. He immediately bit back.

"I only suggested this out of consideration for the friendship between our two clans. Are you trying to destroy the harmony we've maintained all this time?"

Meitoku rolled up his sleeves and flew into a rage. "Old Geezer, cut the crap. If you've got the guts, let's settle this outside!"

Never one to back down from trouble, Chiken swiftly rose to meet the challenge. "Bring it on! You think I'm afraid of an Old Fossil like you?"

As the two men cursed more and more fiercely, their attendants also began shouting at each other.

The Third Hokage watched both sides hurling insults at each other with a headache.

He was the only outsider in the room. If he did not do something soon, the conference room might not survive.

He stood and tried to mediate. "Everyone, calm down. You're all clan heads—why are you acting like children who start fighting whenever words fail..."

"Give this old man some face, will you?"

"Hmph!" X2

Chiken and Meitoku snorted at each other, neither willing to concede.

Still, they had to give the Hokage some face.

Otherwise, did they still expect to get by in Konoha?

In my opinion, you two are both children... the Third Hokage grumbled inwardly.

Fortunately, the situation had not worsened. Otherwise, as Konoha's patriarch, he would have had to step in and stop these two childish clan heads.

And then things would have become even uglier.

Outside the Hokage Building.

Both groups were still criticizing each other's countless faults.

"Old Fossil/Old Geezer, just you wait!"

After delivering their threats, the two clan heads led their clans away in opposite directions.

"Those two living Buddhas are finally gone..." The Third Hokage watched them leave before quietly letting out a breath of relief.

What if this happened every day?

The Uchiha and Hyuga clans were probably in for some troubled times.

Once he saw the matter was settled, he hurried back to his office.

He had a mysterious premonition that today's Konoha Daily would be making headlines.

"Pfft..."

When the Third Hokage returned to his office and saw the news in the newspaper, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

Konoha Daily:

"Uchiha and Hyuga Reconcile in a Historic Breakthrough? See How the People of Both Clans Get Along So Harmoniously!"

"On the Key to a Certain Uchiha Boy and a Certain Hyuga Girl Becoming Friends!"

"Which Clan Is Truly Konoha's Strongest?"

Only after flipping through the entire newspaper did the Third Hokage finally find, in an inconspicuous corner, a report on the Ninja Academy fire.

He put down the paper, feeling utterly exhausted.

There was no need to think about it. The Uchiha had definitely stirred this up.

The whole scene was a perfect repeat of what had happened with the Senju.

The Uchiha and Hyuga would probably be locked in an endless feud from now on.

"I'm furious! I knew that old bastard was no good!" Meitoku returned to the Hyuga Clan Grounds still burning with anger.

"What happened, Father? It's rare to see you this angry." The Hyuga brothers trembled beside him.

"It was that old ghost, Uchiha Chiken! He's truly shameless!"

"..."

Neither brother dared respond.

Even Meitoku, who had always been gentle and refined, was beside himself with rage. It was easy to imagine just how formidable that big shot must have been.

"What's that?" Meitoku looked at the newspaper in Hizashi's hands.

Hiashi knew trouble was coming and had just tried to stop him, but Meitoku snatched it away first.

"I have never seen such a brazenly shameless person!" After reading the newspaper, Meitoku grew even angrier.

"..." X2

"Where's Nao?" Seeing that one of the people involved was not in the room, Meitoku questioned the two brothers.

"She went to the clan training ground early this morning."

Still angry, Meitoku hurried toward the training ground.

"Brother Hiashi, do you think something will happen to our sister?" Though Hizashi was usually quiet, he still cared deeply about his sister.

"Don't worry, Hizashi. Father has never had the heart to hit our sister..."

"Still, we should go take a look."

The Hyuga brothers followed after him toward the clan training ground.

Within the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

"That Old Fossil is no good at all. He's nothing but a smiling tiger!" Chiken complained to Shin, who was inspecting the factory assembly line.

"Listen carefully, Shin. You must cut off all contact with that little Hyuga girl!"

At the Hyuga training ground.

Meitoku had just said something similar to Nao.

"Why, Father? Shin is my first friend." Nao felt ice-cold all over.

"Don't look at me like that. Blame that old bastard for wanting a toad to eat swan meat!"

"That Old Fossil even looks down on our Uchiha. My son is a genius who awakened the Sharingan at five!"

"..."

Shin was utterly speechless.

What kind of mess was this?

"I only meant to anger that Old Fossil a little. I didn't expect him to be so shameless!"

"Father... I don't want to." Nao's voice had begun to tremble.

But Meitoku remained unmoved. "So what if he's a genius who awakened the Sharingan at five? I won't agree to you being friends!"

"Old man, calm down first."

"Calm down? Calm down my ass!"

"I don't care. If you still consider me your father, then immediately break off your friendship with that little girl!" Chiken declared decisively.

At that moment, Shin and Nao both felt a profound sense of absurdity.

They had only just become friends, yet they were already about to become enemies?

Perhaps it had not reached that point yet, but it seemed difficult for the two families to coexist peacefully in the future.

Maybe they could ask Hashirama and Madara for some advice?

That night, in an underground space not far from Konoha.

Zetsu was reporting recent intelligence to Madara.

"Oh? That child has already awakened the Sharingan? And it's a two-tomoe one?"

This information caused a slight change in Madara's otherwise impassive expression.

"Yes, Lord Madara. And the Hyuga rejected the Uchiha's marriage proposal. That scene was truly spectacular~"

After hearing Zetsu recount the events, Madara's lips curled into a cold smile. "The Uchiha of today are truly pathetic..."

"She was just a little Hyuga girl. In my era, we would have simply kidnapped her."

"Then why didn't Lord Madara kidnap Hashirama Senju back then?"

Madara's mouth twitched slightly at the question. It was not that he had not wanted to—Hashirama had simply been too strong to kidnap!

Seeing that Madara did not answer, Zetsu continued, "Do you need me to kidnap that little girl?"

"No need. Let nature take its course."

Madara decided to continue observing Shin, this future executor of his plan.

For now, he still had the patience to wait.

"Very well, Lord Madara. I'll take my leave."

After Zetsu withdrew, Madara stared blankly at the pitch-black ceiling of the underground space.

The pupil in his left eye was unfocused, as though he had recalled something from the past.

"Hashirama, this ninja world is still the same as it was in our time. Because of the hostility between clans, even their children cannot be ordinary friends..."

"I will change such a world completely..."

Madara's murmured monologue echoed throughout the underground space.