The next day.
As soon as Hatake Harukaze entered the classroom, he smiled and greeted Uchiha Yuan. "Good morning, Yuan."
"Good morning, Harukaze."
Their interaction immediately drew the attention of the other students in the classroom.
The two of them had always kept to themselves. The difference was that Uchiha Yuan was quietly shunned by the others, and no one wanted to get close to him, while Hatake Harukaze seemed naturally aloof and never approached anyone.
Now they seemed remarkably close, which couldn't help but make the others curious.
However, for the rest of the day, Hatake Harukaze and Uchiha Yuan sat alone in their usual corners of the classroom, without interacting at all.
After school let out for lunch, the students took out the lunches they had brought.
Uchiha Yuan's lunch consisted of several adorably shaped rice balls his younger sister, Izumi, had prepared.
Just as he finished eating, he suddenly turned toward the classroom door.
Almost at the same moment, Uchiha Shisui appeared in the doorway. He beckoned to Uchiha Yuan, indicating that he should come outside.
"Shisui, what did you want to see me about?"
Uchiha Yuan followed Uchiha Shisui to a small grove behind the school building.
Uchiha Shisui looked at Uchiha Yuan and sighed softly. "Yuan, I heard you got into a fight with Shimura Ken, Sarutobi Akagi, and the others from the sixth grade."
Uchiha Yuan couldn't help asking in surprise, "How did you know?"
Uchiha Shisui replied, "Everyone at school's heard about the fight. Shimura Ken and the others are furious and have vowed to get revenge."
Then he added with a troubled expression, "They're all saying that we Uchiha are bullying people again."
Uchiha Yuan sneered. "Shisui, why bother paying attention to them? They're just a bunch of defeated dogs, barking impotently."
Uchiha Shisui reached out and patted Uchiha Yuan on the shoulder. "Yuan, I've always wanted to change how the people in the village see the Uchiha Clan, so I hope you won't get into any more fights."
"Shisui, do you know why I got into a fight with Shimura Ken and the others?"
"Sorry, I don't really know."
Uchiha Yuan met Uchiha Shisui's gaze. After a moment of silence, he continued, "Shisui, you're too weak and too naïve. Constantly giving in and backing down won't change how the people in the village see the Uchiha."
Uchiha Shisui frowned slightly at that.
In his view, Uchiha Yuan could have handled things more gently. But Uchiha Yuan thought just like the other clan members, relying only on force to intimidate others.
Just then, the rapid patter of many footsteps approached from outside the grove.
A group of boys appeared and surrounded the two of them.
There were nearly twenty of them, students from several different grades at the Ninja Academy.
"Shimura Nozomu, Sarutobi Aoki, what are you trying to do?"
Uchiha Shisui recognized the two boys leading the group and asked with a frown.
Shimura Nozomu was a tall, muscular boy, idly playing with a shuriken in his hand.
By comparison, Sarutobi Aoki, standing beside him, looked very thin and frail.
Shimura Nozomu hooked a finger through the shuriken and spun it rapidly. His eyes swept over Uchiha Shisui, then settled on Uchiha Yuan, filled with the vicious glint of a snake.
"So you're Uchiha Yuan, the one who injured my younger brother."
Uchiha Shisui quietly said to Uchiha Yuan, "His younger brother is Shimura Ken. The Sarutobi Aoki standing beside him is Sarutobi Akagi's second older brother, and one of the people you injured yesterday.
"They're probably here to cause trouble for you."
Sarutobi Aoki glared angrily at Uchiha Yuan. "That's right. We're here for Uchiha Yuan."
Shimura Nozomu's expression was vicious. "Uchiha Yuan, you injured my younger brother. Whatever injuries he suffered, I'll pay you back double today!"
As he spoke, he abruptly flicked his hand. The shuriken spinning at high speed shot toward Uchiha Yuan.
A sharp metallic clang rang out. Uchiha Shisui had made his move.
A shuriken had appeared in his hand, and he used it to knock away the one Shimura Nozomu had thrown.
"Shimura Nozomu, how dare you use a shuriken!"
Uchiha Shisui shouted sternly.
At the Ninja Academy, students were expected to use only their fists and Taijutsu when fighting. To prevent injuries, they weren't allowed to use ninja tools like shuriken or offensive ninjutsu.
"Uchiha Shisui, this has nothing to do with you. It's between us and Uchiha Yuan."
Shimura Nozomu sneered.
Uchiha Shisui's expression suddenly changed. Sarutobi Aoki, who had been standing beside Shimura Nozomu, was gone.
The next moment, Uchiha Shisui felt a gust of wind behind him. Then Sarutobi Aoki flashed into view, grabbed Uchiha Yuan by the shoulder, and leaped away with him.
Wham!
With a heavy collision, Sarutobi Aoki landed beside Shimura Nozomu.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Uchiha Shisui had carried Uchiha Yuan away and landed with him.
In that split second, Uchiha Shisui had caught up to Sarutobi Aoki at even greater speed and snatched Uchiha Yuan from his grasp.
"Shisui, thanks," Uchiha Yuan said. He was rarely shocked, but the speed Shisui had just shown had astonished him.
"Uchiha Shisui, this is between us and that kid. If you interfere, we'll beat you up too!" Shimura Nozomu said coldly.
Just then, a boy hurried over from outside the grove and called to Shimura Nozomu, "Shimura-dono, Uchiha Minami is on his way with a group of Uchiha!"
Shimura Nozomu's expression immediately darkened.
The other boys around him looked uneasy too. They had no confidence that they could take on a group of Uchiha.
Shimura Nozomu gave Uchiha Yuan a long look. "You got away this time, kid, but you won't be so lucky next time."
With that, he leaped away. In the blink of an eye, the entire group had left the grove.
Uchiha Shisui furrowed his brows. "Yuan, I'll talk to Shimura Nozomu. But you'll have to be careful from now on. Don't provoke them again."
Uchiha Yuan replied helplessly, "Shisui, sometimes you don't go looking for trouble. Trouble comes looking for you."
Then he told Shisui about Shimura Ken and the others bullying Hatake Harukaze.
"Shisui, Shimura Ken and the others were bullying a classmate of mine. Did you expect me to just stand by and do nothing?"
Shisui was silent for a while, then could only sigh helplessly.
He turned to Uchiha Yuan. "You did the right thing. I was too hasty."
"Shisui, our clan members may be arrogant, but most of them aren't unreasonable."
As the two were talking, a group of Uchiha boys rushed into the grove.
Among them, Uchiha Yuan spotted Uchiha Shinsuke and Uchiha Eiji.
At their head was a boy of about thirteen, with long hair that fell past his shoulders.
He glanced at Uchiha Yuan, then turned to Shisui. "Where are Shimura Nozomu and the others?"
Shisui replied, "They heard you were bringing the clan members over, so they left in a hurry."
"A bunch of cowards," Uchiha Minami snorted with disdain.
Then he turned to Uchiha Yuan. "Don't worry. As long as we're here, no one will be able to bully any member of the Uchiha Clan."
"Thank you, Minami-senpai," Uchiha Yuan said.
Before you continue