Clash of Words

Chakra surged through Jiraiya's body, showing signs that he was about to make a move.

"I had only ever heard of the Mangekyō Sharingan's great reputation. I never had the chance to see it for myself..."

Senyo cut Jiraiya off directly. "Don't even think about testing the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"If you dare make a move, the Uchiha Clan will immediately storm in here!"

Jiraiya's expression changed dramatically. "You're planning to rebel against Konoha!?"

Senyo waved a hand, seemingly too lazy to waste words on Jiraiya.

"Don't try to pin that label on me. If you dare attack, the Uchiha will dare to retaliate."

"You can give it a try. See whether you can stop me, a Mangekyō Sharingan user, from even sending out a distress signal."

Jiraiya was immediately put in a bind. He had indeed wanted to test the Mangekyō Sharingan's combat power and probe the Uchiha's strength.

He had not expected Senyo to refuse to take the bait, acting as though he was prepared to drag everyone down with him.

Though Jiraiya felt that Senyo was bluffing, he did not dare gamble on it.

If the Uchiha were serious, it would not be just one or two people dying.

Jiraiya was thoroughly choked up, but he could only grit his teeth and abandon the thought of attacking.

As the pressure around him lessened, Senyo knew Jiraiya had backed down after all.

He had already known Jiraiya would not dare act, and now he gave a disdainful smile.

"Did you think I'd be stupid enough to let you find out where the Mangekyō Sharingan's true strength lies?"

Jiraiya let out an angry snort. "Uchiha Itachi has already defected from the village. You only have two Mangekyō Sharingan left."

Senyo chuckled. This Jiraiya was surprisingly shrewd beneath that rough exterior; he was still trying to take the opportunity to probe for more information.

But Senyo did not mind giving Jiraiya a little intelligence.

"So what if Itachi defected from the village? He didn't betray the clan."

Jiraiya stared at Senyo. "Your Uchiha Clan is taking in someone who defected from the village. Are you preparing to defect as well?"

Senyo was completely immune to Jiraiya's cheap rhetoric.

"Think whatever you want. Uchiha Itachi was forced to defect from the village after being persecuted by your Hokage's Assistant. The entire ninja world knows that by now."

"As for whether the Uchiha Clan will defect from the village, that depends on how Konoha handles Danzo."

"You Uchiha openly placed a bounty on Konoha's higher-ups. What is the meaning of this?"

Jiraiya also knew exactly what kind of turmoil a bounty on Danzo would bring to Konoha, and he was truly furious over it.

Senyo looked intrigued. "Don't tell me you have no evidence proving that the Uchiha Clan placed that bounty."

"Even if you do have proof that we did it, so what?"

"He wanted to wipe out my clan. Was I supposed to keep him around for the holidays?"

"Rather than wasting time arguing with me here, you might as well kill Danzo sooner. You could even take his head to the black market and exchange it for five hundred million."

To be honest, Jiraiya really did want to kill Danzo and claim the five hundred million.

It was not as if he lacked money, but once Danzo died, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha would definitely ease.

But Jiraiya could only think about it. The Third Hokage would not allow it, so there was nothing he could do.

At this point, Jiraiya could no longer act tough and could only stubbornly retort.

"The village's Hokage's Assistant isn't someone you can just deal with whenever you want."

"Besides, Danzo still hasn't woken up. There's no way to investigate anything."

When it came to verbal sparring, Jiraiya was no match for Senyo.

Besides, Senyo had been the one behind all of this. He had long anticipated Konoha's reactions and arguments.

Danzo had been left alive in that state because Senyo had instructed Itachi to spare his life, all so that he could take the blame.

The king of scapegoats naturally had to do his job.

Senyo said indifferently, "Then wait until Danzo wakes up. The Uchiha can just rest for a while anyway."

Jiraiya had no way to deal with him. If the Uchiha had not placed a bounty on Danzo, things would have been manageable.

But once they put a bounty on Danzo, the situation became complicated.

At that moment, the bell signaling the end of class rang. Senyo ignored Jiraiya and left with Sasuke.

Naruto was also among the crowd, so Jiraiya did not dare lower his guard and stayed close to Senyo.

Having gotten no favorable result, Kakashi could only go report to the Third Hokage first.

The break was fairly long, and since the next lesson was outdoors, the students all headed to the training field.

A few unfamiliar adults appearing at the academy was perfectly normal to these ninja academy students.

After all, quite a few Ninja Clans regularly came by to visit their children.

Aside from Senyo, who was obviously wearing Uchiha Clan attire, Jiraiya was the one dressed rather strangely.

Jiraiya had been away from Konoha year-round and did not know much about Naruto's situation.

Seeing Naruto noisily grinning like an idiot, he had assumed Naruto was living well.

"Sasuke, why are you so out of it today?"

"Want to race again?"

The girls in their class were always gathered around Sasuke, which made Naruto incredibly jealous.

He envied Sasuke for being liked without having to do anything.

As for himself, he had to do so many things just to get people to notice him.

Everyone hated him for no reason, calling him a monster. But he had done nothing, and he did not know why any of it was happening.

He did not want to be ignored by everyone, either.

Even being hated was better than being alone.

Although Naruto always called Sasuke a stuck-up brat, Sasuke was actually one of the few people who did not reject him.

But Sasuke was not in the mood today.

Sasuke glanced at Senyo in the distance. "Next time, Naruto."

Naruto froze for a moment. Sasuke had never refused his challenges before.

What was going on today?

Seven-year-old Naruto was not particularly clever, but he had his own methods.

"Oh! Sasuke, did you admit defeat!?"

"You know I'm getting serious today, so you're surrendering, aren't you!?"

Sasuke was only seven himself, and since it was Naruto, just two sentences were enough to provoke him.

"Hmph! You? You've never beaten me!"

Sasuke temporarily cast his brother's matters aside and started bickering with Naruto.

The only reason Naruto had not developed psychological problems by now was because of how thick-skinned he was.

"That was before! If I get serious today, you're definitely going to lose!"

"Just tell me, do you dare or not!"

"What is there to be afraid of!?"

Several other girls in the class gathered nearby and whispered among themselves.

"Look, idiot Naruto wants to challenge Sasuke again."

"Hehe, he really doesn't know his own limits. He loses every time, yet he still has the nerve."

"Who cares? We can just watch Sasuke."

"Sasuke looks so handsome today, too."

"Ahhh! Sasuke is so handsome!"

A group of girls made all sorts of quiet noises nearby.

Leaning against a tree, Senyo heard everything around him with perfect clarity.

After all, Sasuke had the most handsome face in the shinobi world. Even as a child, he was extremely popular.

Though the girls were not speaking loudly, Senyo could hear every word clearly.

He had no interest in Naruto and Sasuke's contest, but as his gaze swept over them, he spotted many familiar faces.

Among the girls, one had pink hair, and another had blonde hair.

There was also a pale-eyed girl secretly watching Naruto from the side.

In the corner nearby were one with a dog, one wearing sunglasses, one with a lazy and impatient expression, and one stuffing his face with chips...

The other three seemed to be in a different grade from them, so he did not see them.