Boom!!
The meeting room doors were yanked open with a loud bang.
A figure radiating a chilling aura, his body wrapped in bandages, appeared in the doorway.
Uchiha Itachi!
He had finally escaped Kakuzu and made it back.
However, as soon as he returned to the village, he heard that Shisui had gone missing and that everything had changed within the Uchiha.
And after receiving hints from the village leadership, he had already concluded that Uchiha White Dove was behind Shisui's disappearance.
After all, White Dove was the one who had benefited most from Shisui's disappearance.
"Uchiha White Dove!"
He stared at the figure seated in the place his father used to occupy, his voice as cold as ice.
He had always thought of Shisui as an older brother.
Now Shisui was missing, and the culprit not only remained untouched but had also usurped his father's position as Police Force Captain. How could he not be furious?
White Dove, seated high in his chair, looked at Uchiha Itachi. Instead of getting angry, he almost felt like laughing.
This pretentious guy, who had always looked down on the Uchiha and thought in terms of the "Hokage's perspective," had actually lost his composure like this. It was pretty amusing.
If he had a camera, he would've taken a picture of that expression. Looking at it once a day would've brightened his mood.
"When you're on duty, use my title. I'm not Fugaku, and I won't indulge you!"
White Dove reprimanded him lazily.
"It was you, wasn't it? You made Shisui disappear!"
Uchiha Itachi glared at White Dove, his voice wild but certain.
White Dove retorted with disdain:
"Do you have any evidence? Do you think you can just say I made Shisui disappear and have everyone believe you?"
What Itachi said was the truth, but... there was no evidence!
If White Dove were just an ordinary Uchiha, Itachi could've relied on his strength and his status as the clan leader's son. He wouldn't have needed evidence.
But White Dove was not only the leader of the New Uchiha, he was also the Police Force Captain. His status was no lower than Itachi's father's. Itachi could still try to cause trouble for him, but only if he had evidence—or was stronger than him.
Uchiha Kuman stepped in front of Itachi. His mountain-like build radiated an imposing presence as he barked:
"Itachi, the Military Police Force has no welcome for an Anbu like you. Leave at once!"
As one of the Hawk Faction's mainstays, he had never respected Fugaku, a clan leader who only cared about keeping things balanced. That went double for Fugaku's arrogant, antisocial eldest son, who had joined the Anbu.
Itachi was a genius. No one could deny that.
But no one liked his usual attitude. Whenever he encountered a clan member, he wore a face like he'd just swallowed a fly, as if the Uchiha owed him something.
As the clan leader's son, he enjoyed more resources than anyone else in the clan. That was why he'd grown so strong so quickly. Without those resources, even the best talent would be useless; his body wouldn't be able to keep up.
And Itachi's loyalty to the village was obvious. He didn't even bother pretending otherwise. If Uchiha Fugaku hadn't claimed that his son had joined the Anbu as a spy, the clan would've challenged him long ago.
So there was a reason Uchiha Kuman was being so blunt.
"This has nothing to do with you!"
Uchiha Itachi glanced at Uchiha Kuman, then fixed his gaze on Uchiha White Dove behind him, intent on settling the score.
He couldn't stand seeing the man who had killed Shisui and usurped his father's position as Police Force Captain sitting there.
"Tsk, tsk... So this is that so-called Hokage perspective? He doesn't even see the 'narrow-minded' Uchiha as his own clan!"
White Dove, seated at the head of the table, looked toward the doorway at the "dutiful son" glaring at him and sighed.
Itachi had never considered the "narrow-minded" Uchiha his family. No wonder he'd been so ruthless when killing his clan in the original story. But with White Dove here now, Itachi was in for a world of pain.
"Uchiha Itachi!!"
Uchiha Kuman was furious.
Even if you were the clan leader's son, that didn't give you the right to ignore him.
Whoosh!
He threw a punch.
Did Itachi think he had no temper?
More importantly... this was a perfect chance to make his stance clear.
Itachi was the former clan leader's son, while Kuman was more aligned with Uchiha White Dove, the leader of the "New Uchiha." Though Kuman himself hadn't yet registered as a member of the New Uchiha, his family already had. It was obvious where his loyalties lay.
Picking a fight with Uchiha Itachi now would show that, despite the Hawk Faction's stated neutrality, they leaned toward the New Uchiha.
Smack!
Itachi had excellent combat instincts. He blocked the blow at the last moment, but the force sent him stumbling back several steps.
"You?"
He looked at Uchiha Kuman, unable to understand why the man had attacked him. He'd only come to settle things with Uchiha White Dove.
Just as the others in the meeting room were about to act, they saw Uchiha White Dove raise his right hand and gesture for them to stop. They immediately understood and sat back down to watch.
When Uchiha Kuman heard no order to stop and saw no one coming to help Itachi, he quickly understood what White Dove meant.
He was being given a chance to teach this "former Police Force Captain's son" a lesson and show what he could do.
Once he understood, he attacked with even greater spirit.
With so little room, both men naturally chose to fight with Taijutsu.
The Uchiha outside had noticed the fight, but when they saw White Dove sitting calmly and the captains keeping out of it, they tacitly backed away and cleared space for the battle.
A fight between two Uchiha was bound to be spectacular.
They moved so fast that they almost seemed to leave afterimages.
This was what a battle between elite jōnin looked like!
Neither ninjutsu, Taijutsu, nor genjutsu held them back. Even their weaker areas were at the jōnin level—not something a Genin could hope to match.
Of course, the protagonist was an exception. He'd conquered the world as a Genin and even saved it.
After a few exchanges, Uchiha Itachi's eyes suddenly turned blood-red, and three tomoe appeared in them.
The Sharingan!
If they were only fighting with Taijutsu, how could he possibly beat someone like Uchiha Kuman, who specialized in it?
Once he activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, even without considering anything else, the enhanced perception alone raised his Taijutsu ability by more than a single level.
With three tomoe, one could even deflect bullets with ease—as long as one's body could withstand the strain.
With such powerful perception, it was no wonder there was a world of difference between a three-tomoe Uchiha and an ordinary Uchiha.
Once Itachi activated his Sharingan, he immediately gained the upper hand and fought with ease.
Uchiha Kuman naturally didn't dare be careless. His opponent was a genius of the Uchiha Clan, and in the Shinobi World, anyone called a genius was no ordinary person. So he activated his Sharingan too.
Even with both of them using the Sharingan, Uchiha Kuman was still at a disadvantage.
"No wonder he's a genius who can rival Shisui among the Uchiha!"
White Dove murmured in admiration.
It wasn't until he saw Itachi up close that he understood the young man had good reason for his arrogance.
Though he had graduated only a year ago, his ocular power was far greater than Uchiha Kuman's, even though Kuman was in the prime of his ninja career.
The title of genius was well deserved.
"No way..."
Tekka, standing behind White Dove, sounded surprised.
Uchiha Kuman was a Hawk Faction core member, an elite jōnin among the Uchiha and one of the strongest ten in the entire clan. Could he really lose to a kid who had graduated just a year ago?
But White Dove's judgment was spot-on. After a few exchanges, Itachi locked eyes with Uchiha Kuman, and the two began a contest of ocular power.
If they were fighting with Taijutsu, that was naturally Itachi's weak point. Even after several more years of training, he might not be able to beat Uchiha Kuman.
But when it came to the Sharingan... genius was simply unreasonable.
He'd awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan only a few years ago, yet his ocular power already surpassed the other man's after more than a decade.
That wasn't necessarily a good thing, though.
After all, ocular power equaled Yin Release at its most extreme!
And Yin Release represented spiritual energy. The stronger one's Yin Release, the stronger one's obsession or will.
Case closed!
The reason both Shisui and Itachi had such strong ocular power was that they were both crazy enough.
The crazier the Uchiha, the stronger they became... no wonder the Second Hokage said the Uchiha were born evil and kept them under such close watch. It wasn't as if he was wrong.
After defeating Uchiha Kuman with a genjutsu, Uchiha Itachi turned his gaze toward White Dove.
His meaning was clear: he intended to capture White Dove and force him to talk about Shisui.
But before he could say a word, he heard a sound by his ear that should've been impossible.
Coo!
Then Itachi suddenly felt a chill in his abdomen, followed by a stabbing pain.
The Uchiha around them also looked shocked.
Before you continue