Not Qualified

In an instant.

Uchiha Fugaku was so excited he nearly cried. Ever since he had discovered that his son had become a double agent, and that the balance in his heart had gradually begun tipping toward Konoha, it had become harder and harder for him to accept each day. Yet there was nothing he could do.

He could only watch helplessly as Itachi and the Uchiha Clan drifted further and further apart.

But now.

Everything had taken a turn for the better, all because of a boy named Uchiha Akira.

Heaven knew how comforted and thrilled he had felt when his son acknowledged him. It was as if his efforts of more than a decade had finally been seen, as if his son had finally returned to the right path!

"A promotion! Promote him immediately!"

Uchiha Fugaku spoke in a low voice, though his fingers trembled faintly as he ordered,

"From this moment onward, Uchiha Akira is a captain of the Uchiha Clan's Police Department!"

If not for Akira,

his son would have been ruined long ago. Never mind a captaincy—if Akira were not still so young, he would even have handed him the position of Police Captain!

Even Itachi, standing nearby, was stunned for a moment.

One had to know that even Shisui, who had rendered outstanding service, was not a Police Captain. Any captain in the Police Department needed absolute strength and prestige!

But in the next instant, he understood why. His eyes grew far more complicated. "Yes, Father."

Just as father and son were sharing this tender moment,

a knock sounded at the door. "Clan Head, Hyuga Liuhuo of the Hyuga Clan requests an audience. He says he has something to report regarding Uchiha Akira."

"Something regarding Akira?"

Uchiha Fugaku's brows furrowed slightly. "Let him in."

The Hyuga Clan prided itself on being noble and pure, and had always rarely communicated with the Uchiha Clan. Even though both were among the three great clans, this remained true, while the Uchiha Clan likewise disliked the Hyuga Clan's pretentious air of purity.

Thus, their relationship had always been strictly formal.

"Greetings, Lord Fugaku."

Hyuga Liuhuo walked in, lifting his chin slightly, pride visible in his eyes.

"What brings you here today, Liuhuo?"

Uchiha Fugaku raised his eyelids slightly. "The Hyuga Clan does not visit the Uchiha Clan often."

The words "not often" were already a tactful way of putting it.

It could be said that the two clans had virtually no dealings at all.

"It is like this, Lord Fugaku. Please discipline Uchiha Akira of your clan. Without the Hyuga Clan's permission, he trespassed into our clan grounds and interfered with our Clan Tournament!"

"During that time, he even injured members of the Hyuga Clan!"

Hyuga Liuhuo had originally intended to suppress his anger.

But the moment he opened his mouth,

he remembered the humiliation he had suffered that day. Before Uchiha Akira, he had been like an ant. Worse still, his path upward had been cut off. He could not accept it!

"As the Uchiha Clan Head, you should know perfectly well what this means. Please punish Uchiha Akira severely, Lord Fugaku, and give the Hyuga Clan a reasonable explanation!"

Hyuga Liuhuo's face was icy.

He did not take a single sip of the tea before him.

"Oh?"

Uchiha Fugaku blinked. "Something like that happened? Then who was injured? Was it serious?"

Whoosh—!

Hyuga Liuhuo's breath caught at once, and his expression turned utterly awful. He could not exactly say that the Clan Head had been injured, could he?!

The Clan Head of the Hyuga Clan had been injured by an ordinary Uchiha clansman.

How humiliating!

"Please do not change the subject, Lord Fugaku. What we are discussing now is Uchiha Akira's reprehensible conduct."

Hyuga Liuhuo changed the subject, but his expression had become somewhat fierce despite his inner weakness, his emotions agitated.

"If something like this happened to the Uchiha Clan, if someone came knocking at your door to attack you, could Lord Fugaku truly remain indifferent?!"

Anger entered his eyes.

He was trying to make the other man understand the severity of the problem caused by Uchiha Akira's actions.

"Of course not."

Uchiha Fugaku answered blandly. Hyuga Liuhuo's expression had only just improved slightly when he continued,

"The Uchiha Clan would simply be utterly disgraced. We would use every means possible to kill the other party first. By the way—"

He spoke each word slowly, curiosity in his voice.

"Why did you not kill Uchiha Akira? Since he committed a wrong, if the Hyuga Clan had made him pay with his life, the Uchiha Clan would have had nothing to say."

In an instant.

Hyuga Liuhuo's face became hideous, as dark as liver. He could no longer maintain that so-called noble composure.

"Or does the Hyuga Clan simply lack the strength?"

Uchiha Fugaku continued, every word piercing Hyuga Liuhuo's heart like a needle!

The latter suddenly understood.

From the very beginning, Uchiha Fugaku had never intended to punish Uchiha Akira!

Hyuga Liuhuo felt as though his blood were flowing backward. His head swelled with rushing blood, and his breathing quickened!

"Lord Fugaku! The Uchiha Clan is also one of Konoha's three great clans. Do you know how much impact such an incident will have on the Uchiha Clan?!"

He spoke angrily, his words carrying a hidden implication.

"You should know that the Uchiha Clan is already in a precarious position!"

Yet in the face of that so-called threat, Uchiha Fugaku remained calm and indifferent. "Then the Hyuga Clan need not concern itself with that. But tell Hyuga Hiashi that although this is no longer the clan era of the Warring States period,"

"even in Konoha, strength is still supreme."

"The Hyuga Clan of today is not qualified to stand before the Uchiha Clan and offer advice from a position of strength!"

His eyes gradually turned cold.

"Nor are you qualified to criticize a captain of the Uchiha Clan's Police Department!"

His scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan appeared, and his powerful aura, like smoke, clamped tightly around Hyuga Liuhuo's throat.

His Adam's apple bobbed soundlessly, and his terrified voice cracked.

"How is that possible?!"

"Aren't the Police Department captains Uchiha Yashiro and Uchiha Xianren? What qualifications does Uchiha Akira have?!"

He could not believe it.

A mere fifteen-year-old boy had actually become a captain of the Police Department.

"Heh. Even the Hyuga Clan Head was defeated. Why should Akira not be qualified to become a Police Captain?"

Uchiha Fugaku only felt that the Hyuga Clan's Main Family had turned all its people brain-dead.

"Itachi, see him out!"

Hyuga Liuhuo's face instantly flushed red. Panic and shame filled his eyes, and he did not even know how he returned to the Hyuga Clan. He only felt that the blood throughout his body had gone cold.

"Yes."

His voice was bitter and complicated as he lowered his head.

"Even the Clan Head lost to Uchiha Akira. What qualifications does the Hyuga Clan have to compare itself with the Uchiha Clan?"

They had lost.

They had lost completely and utterly!

"What did the Uchiha Clan say?"

Only when Hyuga Liuhuo looked up did he realize that he had somehow already arrived at the Hyuga Clan Head's courtyard. Hyuga Hiashi's steady voice rang out. He was pouring tea, yet even that could not diminish his noble bearing.

Especially in his immaculate white robes, he looked as meticulous as a feathered crane.

But that only made Hyuga Liuhuo more anxious!

"Clan Head..."

He stammered,

"Uchiha Fugaku, he... not only refused to punish Uchiha Akira, he even insulted you. He said that since you lost to Uchiha Akira, you were not qualified to speak to the Uchiha Clan from a position of strength!"

He decided to throw caution to the wind.

It was as though he could already see Hyuga Hiashi flying into a rage.

His expression went blank.

He could not believe that all of this had been caused by a fifteen-year-old boy.