Uchiha Fugaku

Clearly, Nawaki's meaningful look had been wasted on a dog.

Kawafune's gaze was practically filled with cleavage. What a shallow man. He was really jealous of his future children—they would definitely never go hungry.

He reluctantly withdrew his gaze before finally saying goodbye to Tsunade and leaving.

Thinking back on the banquet, Tsunade really had an amazing figure!

He strolled leisurely toward home. His uncle had probably already visited the Weapon Shop, so going back now would mean nothing more than getting scolded.

Kawafune gave himself a thumbs-up for his cleverness.

With war looming, there were few pedestrians on the village streets. Most of those hurrying by were ninjas with grim expressions.

Kawafune passed a secluded alley where not even sunlight could reach.

Suddenly, his instincts sounded the alarm. Someone was following him.

Since transmigrating here, aside from training and doing business, Kawafune had never provoked any enemies. Why was someone following him?

"Whoever you are, come out."

Kawafune stopped, his voice cold and deep as he stared into the shadows ahead with a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Heh, as expected of a genius from the Hatake Clan."

A ninja who looked like a young man stepped out from the shadows.

He had shoulder-length hair, wore no Forehead Protector, and was dressed in Konoha Jonin attire. On his shoulder was a clan crest shaped like a ping-pong paddle.

The newcomer was from the Uchiha Clan.

"An Uchiha?"

"What do you want with me?"

Kawafune frowned slightly. Could it be that supporting Tsunade had offended the Uchiha Clan?

No wonder they were wiped out with such petty tolerance.

"Is the Hatake Clan planning to side with the Senju?"

The young man's expression was stern, and his tone arrogant—truly worthy of the Uchiha name.

"Do I, Hatake Kawafune, need to report to the Uchiha every person I choose to befriend?"

Kawafune was nearly angered into laughter. The Uchiha really were meddlesome. Their feud with the Senju was not just talk; even after the Senju Clan had integrated into the village, they remained wary of them.

"It would be one thing if you befriended anyone else."

"But since you are associating with the Senju Clan, we cannot help but be suspicious."

The youth advanced step by step, his expression hostile, as though he would attack at the slightest disagreement.

"I, Hatake Kawafune, do not accept threats from anyone."

"If I give the Uchiha face, stay out of my way."

"If I do not, I will bury you all. What can you do about it?"

He knew this matter would likely not end peacefully. This brat had not come to talk things over, and besides, there was truly no one in Konoha he feared right now.

With a flick of his hand, the Eight-Faced Han Sword appeared in his grasp.

The Uchiha's gaze sharpened as his Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared. He had not even seen how that sword had materialized.

"Three Tomoe? You really think highly of me."

Kawafune sneered, sword in hand, standing fearless and unyielding.

"What arrogance."

"Today, I will teach you a lesson. Let you know that not everyone can be befriended as you please."

Kawafune felt as though he had swallowed a fly. You do not dare bother Jiraiya or Orochimaru, so you pick me as the easy target?

The Uchiha youth's face darkened. Never before had anyone dared speak so wildly in front of an Uchiha.

His right hand pulled a Kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and hurled it at Kawafune.

His hands formed seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

Kawafune had no desire to take a Jonin's ninjutsu head-on.

He knocked away the Kunai with his sword and swiftly dodged aside.

But to his surprise, the Kunai turned around and shot toward him again.

Uchiha Kunai techniques really were tricky.

"Lightning Release: Palm Lightning."

Kawafune held one palm outward. A bolt of lightning shot forth and blasted the Kunai apart.

"What a peculiar technique. You do not even need hand seals."

The Uchiha spoke in amazement as he watched Kawafune charge toward him.

"Before these eyes, everything you do is futile."

The confidence in his voice was absolute.

The moment his words fell, the figure in his sight vanished. In the next instant, he was sent flying.

He crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

"How is that possible? That fast?!"

Blood trickled from the Uchiha's lips, his face full of disbelief.

Clutching the abdomen where he had been kicked, he crouched on the ground. He was clearly injured.

Kawafune had already held back. If he had used his sword, the man likely would not have lived to see tomorrow's sun.

"You think you can follow someone with that level of skill?"

"Come find me again after those eyes of yours evolve further."

His words were filled with mockery. Since they had bullied him, Kawafune naturally would not show any mercy.

The Uchiha were nothing much after all. Without the Mangekyo Sharingan, they would never amount to anything great.

At some point, Kawafune had already put away his sword. This sort of trash was not worth drawing it for.

After speaking, he did not spare the Uchiha another glance. If it were not difficult to explain a killing in the village, he would have simply killed him. Why go through all this trouble?

Letting him suffer some injuries could serve as a warning to the Uchiha. I, Hatake Kawafune, am not some soft persimmon you can squeeze whenever you please.

As soon as his words fell, he had already left the alley and vanished from the Uchiha's sight.

As Kawafune departed, the terror had yet to fade from the Uchiha's face. Someone's speed had actually exceeded what even his Sharingan could follow.

"Cough, cough."

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining the ground red.

"Hatake Kawafune, I, Uchiha Fugaku, will remember you."

This man was actually the next clan head of the Uchiha. If Kawafune had heard that, he might have killed him on the spot.

He had never seen a clan head who would permit others to massacre his own clan. What was the point of keeping such a person alive?

Not long after Kawafune left, the Anbu finally arrived and discovered the injured Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku claimed that he had been injured while sparring with a friend and asked the Anbu to take him home.

The Anbu saw through his lie at a glance, but with the Uchiha being so powerful, they could only grit their teeth and escort him back to the Uchiha compound before leaving at once, unwilling to stay even a second longer.

Fugaku, supported by his clansmen, had his internal injuries briefly treated before heading to the council hall.

A middle-aged man sat cross-legged in the center of the hall. He bore some resemblance to Fugaku, and his expression was gloomy.

This man was the current head of the Uchiha Clan and Fugaku's uncle.

"You could not even handle such a small matter?"

"He was merely a Jonin from a minor clan, yet you needed the Anbu to send you back."

Clearly, Uncle was deeply dissatisfied with Fugaku's performance. A Fugaku like this would find it difficult to earn his trust and inherit the position of clan head.

"Clan Head, Hatake Kawafune was too fast. My eyes could not keep up with him. I could not even withstand one move."

Fugaku honestly admitted Kawafune's strength. A loss was a loss.

"What?!"

"Did he use some Forbidden Jutsu?"

The clan head was shocked and rose to his feet at once. He had assumed that, at worst, both sides would be badly injured. He had not expected reality to be so brutal.

He immediately assumed that Kawafune had used some immensely powerful Forbidden Jutsu.

"I do not know either. After defeating me, he told me to find him again once my eyes had evolved further."

Fugaku repeated Kawafune's words exactly.

"Hatake Kawafune, how laughable."

"How could he possibly know the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan? He is nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well."

"Leave him alone for now. War is about to begin. I will make the Shinobi World know the weight of the name Uchiha once again."

The clan head was full of high spirits, but things would not go as he wished. The Second Great Ninja War would not be the Uchiha's stage.

"Then I will take my leave and treat my injuries."

Only then did Fugaku leave nervously. He returned to his room and had someone tend to his wounds again, feeling the Chakra within him churn. That Hatake Kawafune was truly strange.

His speed was astonishing, his Lightning Release required no hand seals, and his taijutsu could even disperse Chakra.

He had to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan before challenging him again.

Meanwhile, Kawafune leisurely returned home, completely unaware that he had become Uchiha Fugaku's motivation for awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.