A New Mission

The result of this clan meeting was, naturally, an unhappy departure.

Uchiha Setsuna refused to compromise, while Uchiha Fugaku had his own calculations in mind.

The most interesting part was that the doves, without exception, stood on the side of Uchiha Fugaku.

This gave Uchiha Fugaku the confidence to push this matter through, and one could easily imagine how ugly Uchiha Setsuna's expression must have been.

However, regarding the choice made by the doves, Haori was not truly surprised.

In truth, they were just like the hawks; they were all thinking of ways to secure a future for the clan in their own way.

It was just that their logic did not involve violent means, but rather peaceful, negotiation-based methods to move things forward.

When necessary, they could make certain trade-offs to accelerate this process, such as the case of Kakashi's Sharingan.

Although they were unwilling to let their power leak out, if this eye could serve as a bargaining chip to earn the Uchiha a good reputation—

And ultimately provide a boost to Uchiha Fugaku becoming Hokage, then it wasn't necessarily a bad thing!

To be honest, their thinking wasn't wrong, but how could Uchiha Fugaku possibly have a chance?

The current political system of Konoha could basically be seen as a massive clique of the Second Hokage's system; the four giants of Konoha were all his disciples!

Although they didn't dare to directly appoint the next Hokage like the Second Hokage did, did they lack the ability to provide candidates?

After all, if everyone in line for the position was one of their own, what difference did it make who was appointed?

"Besides, the doves only think about non-violent methods, but how can one achieve true peace without struggle?"

Haori couldn't help but shake his head inwardly, yet he became even more determined to clear out the entire upper echelon of the clan.

Whether hawks or doves, they all believed they were the best, and today, Haori had truly seen it.

"But this clan meeting was quite a harvest. Now that everyone has entered the arena, this play can finally be performed."

A good play needs time to brew, especially since it wasn't the right time yet, and Haori himself wasn't ready to take the stage.

After all, his strength wasn't quite eye-catching enough yet, but fortunately, Uchiha Fugaku always seemed to provide assists to everyone at critical moments.

Perhaps he simply couldn't stand the current environment within the clan, or perhaps he wanted to earn some merit, but this guy took his precious son and went straight to the Land of Grass!

The war in the Land of Grass had ended, and both sides had begun to slowly enter into consultations, but that didn't mean the conflicts would stop.

Or rather, neither side was stupid; everyone knew that to get more at the negotiating table, one had to demonstrate their own strength.

But for the time being, this didn't have much to do with Haori. After the clan meeting ended, his days were quite comfortable since he had nothing to do.

Every day, he either eased Uchiha Hikari's mood, tried to take her out for a walk, or sparred with Might Guy and Kakashi.

Might Guy and Kakashi were relatively free now, and since they had a very good relationship, they would come to find Haori whenever they were bored.

As for Hikari, she liked to watch them spar, though she always stayed hidden.

On one hand, she didn't want to expose herself, and on the other, she didn't want to interact with others.

Boom, boom, boom—

In a mountain forest not far from the Uchiha clan, two figures rapidly crossed paths and collided.

But the next moment, one figure moved a fraction too slowly and was kicked hard, immediately collapsing to the ground.

"I lost."

Kakashi rubbed his stomach, looking at Haori who had stopped in front of him, and couldn't help but say helplessly.

He was indeed quite helpless now; he hadn't won a single time since he started sparring with Haori during this period!

Although he already knew how exaggerated Haori was back in the Land of Grass.

That taijutsu, which was like a dance, was something he simply couldn't learn, though he couldn't say for sure just how powerful that taijutsu really was.

During this time, he had finally experienced it, and the feeling was truly despairing.

No matter how hard you tried or how much you struggled, you couldn't hit the person, yet the opponent could instantly seize your weakness and deliver a fatal blow.

In such a situation, anyone would be stunned.

"Are you okay, Kakashi?"

Haori walked over with a smile, reached out a hand toward Kakashi, and laughed.

"I'm fine."

Kakashi used Haori's hand to stand back up, but he soon sighed.

"You really are amazing. It feels like in front of you, all my movements are seen through.

And while I can see some things, it's not clear at all. This feeling is truly terrible."

You call that terrible? I get disciplined even harder by Uchiha Hikari.

Hearing Kakashi's words, Haori couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Haori knew that Hikari's eyes were the Mangekyo Sharingan, so he was naturally very curious about what the power of the Mangekyo was actually like.

Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to ask what someone else's eye ability was.

Not to mention that this was someone else's secret, the 'Dojutsu Transplantation' he had obtained last time made him wonder if this girl had been forcibly transplanted with a dojutsu.

Furthermore, according to the "inhuman torture" she once mentioned, it likely wasn't a pleasant memory, so Haori naturally wouldn't go about picking at someone else's scars.

Moreover, the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan was not merely a manifestation of ocular jutsu; as far as he knew, these eyes were superior to the Sharingan in every aspect.

Haori was naturally curious about its strength, so he specifically dragged Hikari into a sparring match, and the results went without saying.

"You're just not used to this eye yet; things will get better once you adapt to it."

Although he was complaining internally, he still comforted Kakashi on the surface.

"I'm indeed not quite used to it yet, especially since the chakra consumption of this eye is truly massive."

Kakashi sighed helplessly; the drain of the Sharingan had truly exceeded his expectations.

His chakra reserves were actually not small, but after obtaining this eye, he discovered that his chakra simply couldn't keep up.

"After all, you are from an outside clan, so this isn't strange."

Haori rubbed his chin, and suddenly, as he thought of something, he couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Speaking of which, I remember you used to use a blade; why don't I see it now?"

"A blade, huh."

Kakashi was taken aback by Haori's question, then shrugged his shoulders.

"It's being repaired and will take a few more days, but I think it will be ready in time for the mission."

Hearing Kakashi's words, it was Haori's turn to be stunned.

He had expected Kakashi to say something about not planning to use a blade anymore, as in the original story, Kakashi's combat style was truly very Uchiha-like.

Perhaps in Kakashi's mind, Obito died because of him, and he was now carrying Obito's eye.

Therefore, he yearned to bring out the greatest value of Obito's eye to comfort Obito's spirit.

As a result, his combat style had turned into using ninjutsu to test the enemy first, then finishing them off with the insight of the Sharingan combined with the Chidori.

But now, he seemed to be taking the initiative to use a blade again; this change made Haori feel particularly intrigued.

He just wondered what Obito would think if he knew about this?

"Wait, you mentioned a mission just now?"

Suddenly, Haori reacted and looked at Kakashi with a curious expression.

"Yeah, we're heading to the Land of Grass in a few days; it's said that some people from Kirigakure are wandering around and might disrupt the negotiations."

Kakashi nodded, then looked at Haori with some surprise.

"You didn't know? Your name is on the list for this mission too."

"Is that so?"

Haori frowned; he really didn't know about this, as no one had notified him yet.

However, listening to Kakashi's account, he knew that Madara's grand play was about to unfold!

It was also at this moment that the system in his mind suddenly stirred.

[New side quest acquired]

[1. Personally kill Kakashi and Rin to help Obito awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan]

[2. Save Rin and let Obito fall into endless agony]

[Quest rewards unknown]

Thanks to the big bosses Fantuan is Seaweed Flavored and Zhi Liunian for the tips, thank you, thank you!

This newbie is begging on his knees for follow-up reads; current follow-up reads determine everything for a book, and letting a book sit in your library too long is an easy way to kill it.

Thank you to all the big bosses, Onz.