In the blink of an eye, Aozora's two-week sick leave had come to an end.
He casually put on a clan robe and strapped on his soft armor. With dark circles beneath his eyes, Aozora stepped out of his home.
After leaving the Clan Compound, Aozora noticed quite a few people on the road pointing at him and whispering.
When he saw several men glance at him before murmuring among themselves, Aozora realized something was wrong.
He usually drew plenty of attention, but he did not believe he was attractive enough to catch the eyes of a bunch of grown men.
Aozora quickened his pace and soon left their sight. Then he transformed into an unremarkable middle-aged man and doubled back to gather information.
With Aozora gone, the people began discussing him without restraint, their eyes filled with jealousy, hatred, and disgust.
"He became a ninja at such a young age. I bet he hasn't done much evil yet..."
"I heard their clan are reincarnated demons. They gain power as long as they commit evil deeds..."
"Yeah, those eyes of theirs are proof enough. What kind of normal person has eyes like that? They're practically demon eyes..."
"Last year's Nine-Tails Attack seemed to have been caused by their clan..."
"Forget that. I heard the Hokage had a huge argument with his youngest son..."
"Really? Tell us all about it..."
"..."
Listening to those absurd rumors, Aozora fell silent.
The higher-ups had moved quickly. The protests had barely passed, and people were already secretly spreading malicious slander about the Uchiha.
Absurd as it was, this sort of claim did indeed find a receptive audience among civilians.
Ordinary ninja were powerful, but they looked no different from regular people. The Uchiha's Sharingan, meanwhile, truly did look rather sinister. Coupled with the Uchiha's