Beat the Young, Here Comes the Old

Half a year ago, Masamune Hyuga challenged Uchiha Houka, only to end up wetting his pants on the spot. Over the past six months, he had been subjected to endless mockery and ridicule, especially from the internal pressure within the Hyuga clan.

When news of Masamune Hyuga awakening his eyes reached the Main House, the elders of the Main House argued fiercely over the matter for half a month. They ultimately decided to carve the Caged Bird curse seal onto his forehead ahead of schedule, under the pretext of preventing the Hyuga clan's superior Byakugan from falling into the hands of enemy ninjas. In reality, however, it was nothing more than a fear that his talent was too high, making him difficult to control in the future.

Masamune Hyuga did not understand all of that; he was convinced that if it weren't for Uchiha Houka, none of this would have happened.

Consequently, his hatred for Uchiha Houka grew with each passing day.

Masamune Hyuga reached up to touch his forehead, which was covered by his bangs, though they could not hide the Caged Bird in his heart.

Over these six months, he had gritted his teeth and endured immense public pressure to train frantically. He had already mastered the Gentle Fist up to the Eight Palms, a feat that even his father, Hyuga Den, found shocking, stating that if he hadn't been born into the Branch House, he would certainly have been groomed as the next head of the Hyuga clan!

"Damn it!" Masamune Hyuga watched Uchiha Houka in the arena, his fists clenched tight. Previously, he had been confident he could defeat Uchiha Houka, but now, that confidence was crumbling.

In the center of the playground, Uchiha Ronai's legs were trembling, his eyes flickering; his fighting spirit was melting away as quickly as snow under the sun.

He didn't even use ninjutsu, yet he forced me to this point. Damn it, damn it!

Uchiha Ronai opened his mouth, only to find it wouldn't obey him. He looked around and saw all the surrounding students watching him. Their gazes were not the admiring looks one gives a victor, but were filled with pity, contempt, mockery, or indifference.

Before, he had wanted the entire school to pay attention to him; now, he only wished for everyone to forget he existed.

"Uchiha Houka, you, you..." He pointed at Uchiha Houka, not knowing what to say to salvage his disadvantageous position.

Uchiha Houka kept his hands in his pockets, head bowed, his tone firm: "If you want to admit defeat, apologize to Uncle Might Duy. Otherwise, I will see this duel through to the end!"

"You, don't go too far!" Uchiha Ronai's face flushed red as he argued loudly, "Admit defeat to you? Don't even dream of it!"

"That is truly a pity!" Uchiha Houka tapped his toes, wasting no more words as his figure turned into a blur, closing the distance rapidly. "Leaf Whirlwind!"

The Whirlwind Kick, carrying a shrill gust of wind, swept fiercely into Uchiha Ronai's waist and abdomen.

Bang!

"Ahhh!"

Uchiha Ronai was kicked away like a broken sandbag. After rolling a dozen times on the ground, he opened his eyes, closed them, and decisively chose to feign unconsciousness.

His lackeys immediately rushed in.

"Uchiha Houka, you are both Uchiha clansmen and classmates, yet you actually struck with such heavy hands!"

"You don't deserve the Uchiha surname at all!"

"Get him, let's beat him up!"

This was truly a case of a mob overwhelming a master.

Uchiha Houka hadn't expected Uchiha Ronai's lackeys to be so shameless, daring to do such a thing during an open duel.

While he was thinking, those little brats were already rushing up with shouts, only to be kicked away by Uchiha Houka at an even faster speed.

"Ah!"

"Oh!"

"Urgh!"

"Eek!"

"Woo!"

"Ugh!"

Whether intentional or not, these six lackeys ended up piled on top of Uchiha Ronai's back like a human pyramid.

The latter's face had turned the color of a pig's liver, his eyelids twitching wildly. He was on the verge of cursing out loud, but if he opened his eyes now, he would inevitably be mocked by Uchiha Houka's group. Thus, he could only continue to feign unconsciousness, even though the rage in his chest was about to explode!

"Enough!"

Suddenly, an angry roar came from the school gate. A moment later, a tall figure appeared in the arena. With a light wave of his hand, the children piled on Uchiha Ronai's back tumbled into a heap, wailing incessantly.

"Uchiha Houka, to treat a fellow clansman so harshly, you are too cold-blooded." The newcomer immediately slapped a heavy label on him, refusing to let Uchiha Houka retort. "The Sharingan of our Uchiha clan is the strongest Kekkei Genkai in the ninja world, yet you abandon the roots to pursue Taijutsu, and even use this Taijutsu against your own kin. Heh, you are insulting the Uchiha surname!!!"

Uchiha Houka squinted at this guy who had suddenly appeared. He was wearing clothes with the Uchiha clan crest, and his protection of Uchiha Ronai was blatant. Heh, Uchiha Houka showed a look of disdain: "The old one comes out after the young one gets beaten? You must be Uchiha Ronai's father, right? Truly, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be too!"

"Insolent!" Uchiha Ye-shing roared. The next instant, his pupils underwent a strange transformation, and a pair of blood-red eyes with two tomoe appeared abruptly, staring fixedly into Uchiha Houka's eyes. "Do you want to die?!"

The surrounding students screamed in terror the moment they saw those eyes and instinctively ran away.

"Double Tomoe Sharingan, is he from the Konoha Police Force?" Asuma Sarutobi's expression turned grim. "This is the Ninja Academy. The Police Force is overstepping their bounds."

Asuma looked around. Aside from his shock and anger, he was also deeply puzzled. The duel had been going on for quite a while, yet strangely, not a single teacher had appeared. Now that this Uchiha clansman from the Police Force had shown up, it was clear the situation was escalating, yet the surroundings remained eerily quiet.

"Could there be some kind of conspiracy?" Asuma frowned.

"Asuma, what should we do now?" Kurenai Yuhi and Rin both looked at him nervously.

Asuma looked toward the arena, where Uchiha Ye-shing looked cold and ruthless, while Uchiha Houka also wore a grave expression.

"This matter has exceeded our capabilities. We must inform teacher Shin Kiyono immediately!" Asuma said decisively.

"I'll go!" Obito and Guy shouted at the same time.

"I practice Taijutsu, I'm faster than you, I'll go!" Guy said, immediately sprinting toward the classroom building.

"That jerk!" Obito snorted in annoyance, then prepared to rush into the arena.

Asuma grabbed him: "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help Houka!" Obito declared righteously.

"Obito, don't just add to the chaos!" Rin shouted from the side.

Obito wore a displeased expression, thinking that with his skills, he could at least block one Great Fireball Technique!

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Ninja Academy building, two middle-aged men were standing there.

"Danzō, is doing this really okay?" The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was wearing his Hokage Cloak, slowly puffing on a pipe.

Beside him stood none other than the leader of Konoha's Root, Shimura Danzō!

"Since the establishment of the Uchiha Police Force, they have become increasingly unscrupulous in their conduct. I can already see their dissatisfaction; plotting a coup is only a matter of time!" Danzō said coldly. "Hiruzen, you need to pay more attention to this matter."

The Third Hokage exhaled a cloud of smoke and said, "The Uchiha problem has always existed, but they hold key positions in the Police Force, and their power and prestige have reached their peak. They are already the number one noble clan in Konoha; why would they go to the trouble of plotting a coup?"

Danzō narrowed his eyes and let out a disdainful snort. There were some things he couldn't tell him, so he could only remain silent.

"What do you plan to do next?" the Third Hokage asked again.

Danzō looked at the two people in the training ground, revealed a smile, and said, "Uchiha Yeshing interfered with a fair duel at the Ninja Academy by abusing his position in the Police Force. Of course, he must be punished to warn the Uchiha clan to restrain their ambitions. At the same time, hehe, I have suddenly become very interested in this Uchiha Houka."

The Third Hokage wore a puzzled expression because he suddenly felt as if he had heard that name before.

Uchiha Houka...

Where was it?

PS: Popularizing preschool pinyin, how many people can still recite it all? (To be continued)