Wild Laughter

"How is this possible?" Uchiha Fugaku couldn't believe what he was seeing. His mind was already racing through all kinds of possibilities.

Maybe they hadn't gone to cause trouble, but to surrender.

Maybe Uchiha Yan had descended like a god and taken out the Hokage.

Maybe they'd paid a terrible price, but then come back to life.

And so on.

Uchiha Fugaku's thoughts ran wild, and his guesses grew more and more outrageous.

After all, the scene before him was simply too surreal.

There was no way Uchiha Yan had made such a huge fuss and Sarutobi Hiruzen had just let it slide. Right?

Uchiha Fugaku turned to look at the elders.

Their faces wore much the same expression as his had a moment ago: utter disbelief.

But half-pint Uchiha Itachi had his little mouth hanging open. Every so often, he rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd fallen under a genjutsu.

"Clan Head, I've brought our people back!"

Yan walked up to Uchiha Fugaku, then slapped his forehead and corrected himself.

"I forgot. From now on, you're not the Clan Head anymore."

"Impudent!" the Second Elder barked. "Uchiha Yan, do you have any respect for rank and seniority?"

The Third Elder chimed in. "Exactly. If you want to be Clan Head, you still need our approval."

Faced with their scolding, Yan gave a cold laugh and gestured toward the clan members behind him.

In the same tone and with the same line of reasoning, he mocked them.

"If I don't become Clan Head, you'll have to ask the people behind me whether they agree."

Uchiha Yashiro, standing beside him, immediately caught on. He raised a fist and shouted,

"I'll only accept Yan as Clan Head. No one else is fit. Isn't that right?"

Hearing this, the clan members behind him raised their fists and roared in agreement.

"That's right! We'll only accept Lord Yan."

"And that old dog Fugaku thinks he's fit to be Clan Head?"

"Lord Yan won our clan the right to govern ourselves. I won't accept anyone but him."

"A useless Clan Head and a bunch of crippled elders resting on their laurels. Go eat shit!"

"..."

Their cheers rose one after another, mixed with insults as foul as could be.

Hearing them, the bewilderment on Uchiha Fugaku's face only deepened.

What had I ever done to them?

As Clan Head, I've worked tirelessly, pouring everything into maintaining the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha. My hair's practically turned white.

Even if I haven't earned any credit, surely I deserve some recognition for my effort.

And... what was that I just heard?

The right to govern themselves? What right?

Uchiha Fugaku held back the elders, who were about to start cursing, and urgently asked,

"Yan, what do the clan members mean by the right to govern ourselves?"

In response, Yan simply pulled out the agreement they'd negotiated and flung it at him.

"Read it yourself!"

Uchiha Fugaku didn't even bother to take offense at the disrespect. He hurriedly caught the agreement and began reading.

Seeing this, the elders leaned in as well.

They were all old men, after all. There was no way they could argue with a crowd of over a thousand. They might as well read the document first, then decide what to do.

Uchiha Itachi wanted to see what it said, too, but he wasn't tall enough. He could only crane his neck and keep rising onto his toes, looking anxious.

A long while later.

Uchiha Fugaku and the elders exchanged bewildered looks.

After checking it over again and again,

the agreement seemed to be genuine. It even bore the Hokage's seal, making forgery highly unlikely.

Which meant...

Uchiha Yan really had brought the clan along and wrested a piece of Konoha from the Hokage—and not a small one, either.

This was an Autonomous Region.

The entire region would be under the Uchiha Clan's control.

Unless a major incident occurred, even the Hokage's faction had no right to interfere.

This was far better than the little village-within-a-village the Hyuga Clan's old fossils had managed to set up.

As he read the agreement, even the usually stoic First Elder couldn't stop himself from laughing aloud.

"Yan, I never thought you'd actually pull it off."

Then he bowed to Yan in apology.

"I apologize for my rudeness earlier. I support you becoming Clan Head. You're the only one who can lead the Uchiha Clan to greatness."

Seeing the First Elder's reaction, the Second Elder understood, too.

Uchiha Yan had secured the right to govern part of Konoha.

In the clan's history, no one but Uchiha Madara, one of the village's founders, had achieved anything like this.

Under the circumstances, his opinion no longer mattered. He might as well be sensible about it.

So he, too, bowed slightly and apologized, following the First Elder's example.

The Third Elder, however, couldn't bring himself to do the same. He still wanted to change sides at the last minute.

But under the urgent looks from his two friends, he eventually had no choice but to lower his head reluctantly and apologize.

As for Uchiha Fugaku,

he stood there in a daze, holding the agreement.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand. Uchiha Yan had led so many people in a riot, throwing Konoha into turmoil.

Yet Sarutobi Hiruzen had actually tolerated it.

Was he a turtle or something?

But what was done was done. No matter how unwilling he was, there was nothing he could do.

He could only lower his head and face reality, then hand the agreement back and say,

"Yan, perhaps you're more suited to be Clan Head."

[Side Quest 1: Complete]

[Reward: Mangekyō Sharingan]

[...]

[Side Quest 4: Gain the approval of more than 90% of the residents in the Autonomous Region]

[Reward: Nine-Tails Chakra]

[...]

[Side Quest 5: Improve the economic prosperity of the Autonomous Region]

[Reward: One-Tail Chakra]

[...]

[Side Quest 6: Establish a fully staffed army]

[Reward: Two-Tails Chakra]

[...]

The system's mechanical voice sounded in his ear, but Yan had no time to check it.

All his attention was on Uchiha Fugaku and the elders.

Seeing them willing to support him and follow his orders,

Yan finally couldn't help throwing his head back and laughing.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

His uninhibited laughter rang out above the Uchiha Clan, brimming with exhilaration. Not a single person objected.

They all looked at the young man with feverish eyes.

From the confusion he'd felt when he first arrived in the Ninja World to winning everyone's approval and becoming Clan Head. He'd also temporarily resolved the clan's extermination crisis, giving the Uchiha Clan a real chance to turn the tables.

How long had it taken?

Twenty-three chapters, about half a year.

The system had given him a little help along the way—no more than the tip of a finger.

But that was more than enough to prove I'm a genius!

As a genius, the Uchiha Clan Head, and the Autonomous Region's governor, all at the tender age of eighteen—

What was wrong with laughing a little louder? What was wrong with laughing a little more arrogantly?

His laughter lasted a good half hour.

Even Tekka couldn't help patting Shisui on the shoulder and asking,

"Does Yan usually laugh this long when he laughs?"

Shisui scratched his head, just as puzzled. "I don't know, either. Yan usually only comes to see me when something's up, and I rarely see him laugh when we're discussing serious business."

"Maybe he's just really happy."

"After all, this really is the beginning of a new era of glory for the Uchiha Clan."

"I believe in him!"

Tekka, Yashiro, and the other Uchiha clan members exchanged smiles.

"We all do!"