Bang!
Less than five minutes after Shisui left, someone suddenly shoved open the door to the Hokage's office.
An old man entered, wearing a black-and-gray kimono and wrapped in bandages from head to toe. He spoke in a forceful tone.
"Hiruzen, Uchiha Yan is definitely no ordinary person. Hand him over to me. I'll turn him into Konoha's loyal dog."
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't answer directly. He lifted his pipe to his lips and took one puff after another.
Only when Shimura Danzō grew impatient did Hiruzen finally speak.
"Let Shisui test him first!"
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
"Danzō, I'm the Hokage!"
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
After lunch, Yan headed to the Uchiha Clan's Training Ground to practice his ninjutsu.
There was no need to hurry over to Uchiha Fugaku's place to get the money. He'd arranged to meet some people at the Training Ground, all of whom had said yesterday that they were willing to follow him.
People mattered more than money, after all!
When he arrived at the Training Ground, more than twenty people were already standing there.
Shisui was among them.
Looking at everyone who had been waiting for a while, Yan scratched his head and apologized.
"Sorry I'm late. Lunch took a little longer than expected!"
"Not late at all!" A short-haired ninja in a dark blue robe, with a black dot on his forehead, shook his head. "We just got here too."
His name was Uchiha Tekka. He had Three Tomoe and was a member of the Radical Faction. Supposedly, he was also a subordinate of that old Uchiha geezer... Uchiha Setsuna. For some reason, he'd come over to Yan's side.
Another Three Tomoe jōnin was Uchiha Yashiro. He was older, and his circumstances were much the same.
The rest were special jōnin and chunin.
There were five special jōnin and fifteen chunin, from the Conservative Faction, the Radical Faction, and the Neutral Faction.
Some of the people here had been contacted by Yan himself and had been close to his predecessor. Others had been brought over by Shisui, Tekka, and the rest.
But there was still one Two Tomoe jōnin position left unfilled.
He'd have to figure something out later.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Yan clapped his hands. Once everyone turned to look at him, he spoke.
"Since you've all come here today, I assume you know what you'll be doing from now on."
"We do!" Uchiha Tekka straightened up and raised his hand. "From now on, we'll be your subordinates."
Yan patted Uchiha Tekka on the shoulder and replied amiably, "We're all clan members. There's no need to be so formal. Relax."
Then he glanced around and continued.
"We must remember that although opening a casino seems simple, our true goal is to improve the strength of our clan members."
"Don't lose sight of what really matters!"
"..."
"Understood!"*N
Everyone shouted in unison, their voices like a peal of thunder. The air around them seemed to freeze beneath the force of their enthusiasm.
"Good!"
Yan looked at the clan members before him with satisfaction.
Some of them might have their own ulterior motives, but they were all members of the same clan, after all.
Especially with the Uchiha Clan in an increasingly precarious position, Yan was willing to trust them this once.
To truly win them over, though,
he either had to show them hope for the Uchiha Clan's future or possess overwhelming strength.
As everyone knew, the Uchiha Clan valued strength above all.
As long as you were strong enough, people would defend you no matter what you did.
Just look at what happened in the original story around the time of Shisui's death.
Uchiha Tekka and the others, despite being members of the Radical Faction, confronted Uchiha Itachi, the clan leader's son, based on nothing more than suspicion after Shisui died.
They even threatened him repeatedly!
That was proof enough that even though their beliefs differed, they still saw each other as clan members!
Hurting a fellow clan member was absolutely unacceptable!
With that thought, Yan reined in his emotions and turned to look at Shisui, who had been standing motionless. An idea came to him.
Although he'd inherited all of his predecessor's memories, including those related to combat, he'd been in the Ninja World for quite a while now and still hadn't actually fought anyone.
He'd thought he was no weaker than any elite jōnin, but that was just a feeling.
You had to live with confidence, right?
How could you go through life without believing in yourself?
"Shisui, how about we spar? Let me see what the famous Body Flicker Shisui can do."
"Huh?" Shisui came back to his senses and pointed at himself in disbelief. "Me?"
"Who else?"
Shisui smiled faintly.
So Yan wanted to use him to establish his authority.
Was Yan really that confident?
"Then let's do it!"
Shisui slowly stepped out of the crowd.
Uchiha Tekka, Uchiha Yashiro, and the others quickly scattered to the sides, looking excited.
"Come to think of it, I've barely ever seen Shisui fight."
"Can Yan really handle this? He's only just been promoted. Should we get a Medical Ninja over here?"
"It's fine. I trust Shisui to know when to hold back."
"..."
Their voices were just loud enough for Shisui and Yan in the center of the training ground to hear.
"Yan, it seems the clan members don't have much faith in you," Shisui teased.
Yan smiled faintly. "That's why I'm going to prove them wrong. I'll show them that I'm the future of the Uchiha Clan."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan swiftly pulled three shuriken from his ninja pouch and hurled them.
The shuriken sliced through the air at tricky angles, like cunning venomous snakes striking through gaps no one would expect.
Shisui's eyes narrowed. He was still thinking about what Yan had just said.
Have you really not given up on those ridiculous ideas?
Shisui rapidly formed Hand Seals.
Then his figure blurred, and he dodged the incoming shuriken at a dazzling speed.
The shuriken buried themselves in the ground, kicking up a little dust.
Then I'll knock some sense into you!
Shisui opened his Sharingan and instantly used the Body Flicker Technique.
More than a dozen phantoms appeared like specters, scattering in every direction and closing in around Yan.
Seeing the danger, Yan quickly formed Hand Seals.
Just then, Shisui suddenly appeared behind him and brought down the Kodachi in his hand.
Its keen edge went straight for Yan's head.
Bang!
A brief cloud of smoke rose.
A log fell to the ground with a dull thud.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A huge fireball appeared above Shisui, its scorching flames lighting up the surrounding training ground.
Shisui remained calm and rapidly formed Hand Seals as well.
"Phantom Body Flicker Technique!"
More than a dozen phantoms appeared again, scattering and easily dodging the oncoming fireball.
"Boom!"
The fireball slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, blasting a huge crater into the Training Ground.
Then Shisui's dozen or so phantoms suddenly dashed in one direction.
They held shuriken, their sharp edges gleaming coldly in the firelight.
Yan's gaze sharpened. The three Tomoe in his eyes slowly spun as he quickly pinpointed Shisui's real position.
He pushed off hard with his feet and leaped into the air, avoiding the phantoms as they closed in.
At the same time, Yan formed Hand Seals again.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A powerful gust burst from his mouth and swept toward Shisui's phantoms.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The phantoms scattered across the area were blown away one after another by the gale.
Before you continue