Teaching Fugaku a Lesson

Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Shin walked briskly.

"Oh, if it isn't little Shin. Done with school?"

An old woman around seventy, with glasses, white hair, and a kind face, asked as he strolled over.

Shin looked at the elder before him and broke into a bright smile. "Yes, Granny Chiyuki."

"Then you'd better keep working hard, Shin."

"Got it, Granny Chiyuki."

At this moment, Shin's obedient expression made it hard to believe that he'd just declared he'd become the school's top boss to get himself expelled.

"Oh, right, Granny Chiyuki. I used that Body Freezing Technique you taught me last time on someone. Pretty good power."

Shin showed off like a child to Granny Chiyuki.

Her face filled with concern, she placed both hands on his small arm. "Oh? Who did you use Genjutsu on, little Shin? Did you get hurt?"

Feeling her worry, Shin's heart warmed. "A kid from the Senju Clan..."

"After he got hit with my Body Freezing Technique, he just kept sleeping. He didn't even touch me once."

Granny Chiyuki looked stunned. "The Senju Clan... it's fine, your father will handle it. Looks like Shin has quite the talent for Genjutsu."

As she spoke, she smiled and reached out to ruffle his little head.

"Granny Chiyuki, if you keep patting me, I won't grow up."

"Hahaha... little Shin's grown up, won't let Grandma pat his head anymore~"

"..."

Shin felt utterly helpless toward Granny Chiyuki, who was laughing heartily before him.

Uchiha Chiyuki was a contemporary of Uchiha Madara.

Though her ninjutsu was mediocre, her Genjutsu was nothing short of masterful.

For reasons unknown, she had worn glasses for many years.

When Shin first met Chiyuki, he was deeply suspicious of those glasses.

Driven by curiosity, he put them on once and confirmed they weren't reading glasses.

An ordinary Sharingan had no limit on dojutsu power.

There was only one explanation that made any sense.

"So the Uchiha of the Warring States Period really did have more than two pairs..."

The one who discovered how to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan was Senju Tobirama, known as the God of Shinobi and the Second Hokage of Konoha.

If the original two pairs had already been combined into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, how could that forbidden technique fanatic have studied them further?

The only explanation was that the Uchiha of that era had more than just two pairs of Mangekyo!

Evidence of this was Granny Chiyuki, who had retired early and rarely involved herself in clan affairs. Yet the unruly Uchiha—all of them—held her in particular respect.

A woman who rarely used her Sharingan, whose husband and son both died on the battlefield—what gave her that standing?

It wasn't that Shin had some ulterior motive in buttering up Granny Chiyuki.

If she truly possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, then someone who dwelled in darkness yet still turned toward the light was hard not to want to get close to.

"Granny Chiyuki, I'm heading home now." Shin bid her farewell politely.

Granny Chiyuki watched him walk away with a full smile.

At the Uchiha Clan Head's house, Shin pushed open the front door and stepped inside.

Once home, he first greeted his mother, who was making lunch, then headed to the backyard.

"Shin, why are you so late? Father will be back soon."

Fugaku, sitting in the small pavilion in the backyard, put down the documents in his hand.

"I was chatting with Granny Chiyuki on the way..."

After explaining, Shin walked up to him and pointed at the papers on the table. "Fugaku, what are these?"

"They're records from the clan's Military Police Force. Father plans to have me start training there next month." Fugaku answered with pride.

In the hearts of the Uchiha Clan, being entrusted with the Military Police Force was a sign of Konoha's trust.

But the Uchiha were a clan that disdained explaining themselves.

They often carried out their duties stubbornly, which led to many misunderstandings with the villagers.

The Uchiha chose to ignore those misunderstandings.

That only deepened the village's misconceptions about them.

Still, the situation now wasn't as dire as what was seen in the original timeline.

Shin curled his lip. "The Military Police Force... that's no good place to be..."

He thought the work of the Military Police Force was just about making enemies.

Even the village's various facilities, the police force had to inspect them all.

Wasn't this just the city management from his past life!

Don't be fooled by people smiling at the city management; who knows what curses and insults they're muttering in their hearts.

Fugaku ignored Shin's assessment. He'd heard him spout this kind of thing about the police force, one way or another, more than once.

"Fugaku-nii, maybe you just shouldn't go to the police force..."

"I'll give you an idea. That Uchiha Commercial Street I mentioned last time has potential. It'll definitely make big money." Shin tempted Fugaku.

"..."

Seeing the other man remain unmoved for so long, he immediately gave up on trying to persuade him.

Shin sat down beside Fugaku, draped an arm over his shoulder, and said with a playful expression, "No fun. When I grow up, I'll just do it myself..."

"Then I'll hire the police force as security guards, and you, Fugaku-nii, can be the captain."

Fugaku's face instantly darkened.

He wondered if he'd been too kind to his younger brother, for him to dare joke around like this.

"That was Father's order. Besides, the police force is the Uchiha's glory. How could it be hired out as some kind of security!"

To this, Shin only wanted to give this "foolish" brother a proper lesson.

"What glory? That was just the Second Hokage's method for driving a wedge between the village and the Uchiha."

"You... how do you know that?" Fugaku stared at Shin in surprise.

Although this younger brother had been clever since childhood, hearing him hit the nail on the head about the Uchiha's predicament still startled him.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"The police force's work seems important, but it actually has no real power. It just takes criminals to prison, while the village itself never steps in to punish them..."

Shin began to speak freely. "The clan just takes people away according to the rules. It's basically the village playing the good guys, and us playing the bad guys."

Fugaku fell into deep thought after hearing this.

"The First Hokage placed the Uchiha Clan Grounds right next to the Senju Clan Grounds. At first, it might have been for the friendship between the two clans..."

"But the Second Hokage used that very condition to keep the Uchiha under surveillance, even handing us the seemingly 'glorious' police force..."

"But has there ever been a case where an entire clan held the same post?"

"Look at us Uchiha. Besides Senior Kagami, has anyone else ever held a high position in the village?"

Shin stood up, leaned close to Fugaku, and whispered in his ear, "And I suspect there's something suspicious about Senior Kagami's death. The clan has always said..."

"Isn't it very possible that after the Second Hokage died, he obtained those eyes?"

Uchiha Kagami, like Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, was a personal disciple of the Second Hokage.

But he died young after one mission.

"..."

Fugaku broke out in a cold sweat. Though Shin's words leaned toward conspiracy theory, thinking it over carefully, they weren't without reason.

"Fugaku-nii, suppose Senior Kagami was ambushed. Someone capable of sneaking up on a Mangekyo Sharingan user couldn't possibly be a nobody. So..."

Fugaku suddenly stood up in agitation, his lips trembling as he voiced his guess to Shin. "So the killer was someone Senior Kagami knew..."

"Someone familiar enough to know his weaknesses."