Encounter with the Anbu

"You don't need to keep hiding. If you have something to say, why not say it to my face? Look, I even came out to greet you personally." After straightening his clothes, Yuyou called out to his surroundings.

The four scattered Anbu heard Yuyou's words. After hesitating for only a moment, they made the same decision. They landed around Yuyou from four different directions, forming an encirclement.

Facing four Anbu ninja, Yuyou did not feel particularly flustered. Although he had yet to experience a real battle, his own strength gave him tremendous confidence.

"Yuyou Uchiha, you may now pose a threat to the village's safety. We would like you to return with us for an investigation. Your laboratory will also be inspected." One of the Anbu spoke to Yuyou, his tone leaving no room for refusal.

Although Yuyou's current behavior completely failed to match the intelligence they had received, that did not mean they feared him. After all, they were Anbu. Every one of them was an elite who had experienced countless battles.

And Yuyou was merely a ten-year-old child, not enough to make them feel threatened. Of course, the Anbu who spoke had never considered geniuses like Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi, because such geniuses were exceedingly rare.

"According to Konoha's regulations, I have not done anything that violates the rules. You cannot summon me for an investigation based solely on your own assumptions," Yuyou said. Though his face was full of smiles, he remained extremely vigilant. At the slightest movement, he would unleash all his power. No matter who the other party was, so long as they made any move that threatened him, he would take the initiative and strike with everything he had.

Yuyou was right. According to Konoha's regulations, he truly had not violated any rules. Everything used in his laboratory had been registered with Konoha; there was nothing illegal inside. Furthermore, Konoha had no authority to inspect a ninja's laboratory within the village unless they had permission from the council of elders or a written order from the Hokage.

For a ninja village to function and develop, it was not only the lower-ranking ninja who had to follow the rules. The higher-ranking ninja also had to abide by restrictions. Otherwise, the village would have long since fallen apart.

Naturally, the four Anbu surrounding Yuyou could not possibly have an order from the council of elders or a written order from the Hokage. In the past, they had never needed such things. With the Anbu's name and their overwhelming strength, no one had dared openly defy them. Anyone who resisted could simply be suppressed by force.

Upon hearing Yuyou's words, the four Anbu knew that today's mission would not be easy, but they could not simply leave in disgrace.

"Yuyou Uchiha, we hope you will cooperate with our operation. Otherwise, we will take the necessary coercive measures," that Anbu continued.

"According to Konoha's regulations, please present an order from the council of elders and a written order from the Hokage. Without those, I will not obey your instructions." Yuyou's smile vanished as he spoke coldly.

The two sides then fell silent. Neither chose to make the first move.

Yuyou did not want to make the matter too big. After all, they were Anbu and belonged to the Hokage's faction. He still felt somewhat grateful toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But he did not want to compromise so casually either. He had always acted according to Konoha's procedures and had never committed any wrongdoing. Reason was on his side, and he now had the strength to stand his ground.

He would not bully others, but neither would he allow others to bully him. That had always been Yuyou's principle in life.

"We're leaving."

Suddenly, the Anbu ninja from the Hyuga Clan spoke. There was no need to fight this battle at all. First, they had no definite orders. Even if they defeated Yuyou, if they found nothing unusual in his laboratory, the matter would become enormous afterward. After all, Yuyou was an Uchiha.

On the other hand, he could not be certain that the four of them could defeat Yuyou. If they lost this battle, they might very well throw away their lives for nothing. It could even cause Yuyou to defect, which would make the situation even worse.

No matter how one looked at it, letting the matter rest was the best choice. If they truly wanted to move against Yuyou, that would be a matter for the Hokage and the council of elders.

One of the Anbu did not want to let Yuyou off so easily, but the leader of their four-man team was the Hyuga Clan ninja, so he could only comply.

No disobedience of orders was permitted during a mission. Otherwise, one would be put on trial, and in the worst case, imprisoned.

The four Anbu ninja leaped away and vanished into the forest beneath the night sky. Through Yuyou's slime surveillance system, he confirmed that the four Anbu had indeed left the area.

"I thought I'd get to show off my abilities. Guess I should go back to sleep instead." Yuyou stretched as he spoke.

After Yuyou returned, the forest regained its usual silence. Other than the five of them, no one else had noticed what had happened.

Of course, the sound Yuyou had made when he failed to brake in time and crashed into a tree had still woken some people. However, no one came out to investigate. After all, the Uchiha compound was now mostly inhabited by ordinary civilians, with very few ninja remaining.

And if something really happened, neither those civilians nor the ninja there could do anything about it. In the end, they could only wait for Konoha to deal with it, so no one came out to investigate.

Early the next morning, Yuyou had originally wanted Sasuke to ask for leave on his behalf. But after thinking it over, he still went to class. Over the past two years, he had no idea how many times he had taken leave. If not for his outstanding academic performance, he would have been held back at the Ninja Academy given his attendance.

Usually, Sasuke and Yuyou went to school together, but today was different. Beside Sasuke walked a large red cat over a meter long. Naturally, it was Red Cat.

Yuyou also carried a cage in his hand, containing the gift he had prepared for Naruto.

Red Cat was deeply curious about everything around it. It had not slept at all last night. After Sasuke went to rest, it had wandered all around the Uchiha clan head's residence.

However, Red Cat had not strayed too far from Sasuke, because Yuyou had told it to stay by Sasuke's side and protect him.

Red Cat would obey a god's command one hundred percent.

Red Cat skipped excitedly along the branches and rooftops lining the road, scratching at this and biting that as it played.

It even caught a small bird that had perched on a branch. Sasuke immediately tried to stop Red Cat and told it to release the bird, but Red Cat swallowed the little bird in a single bite.