Farce

"You bastard... you will pay the price for your arrogance today."

Seeing the look of disdain on Uchiha Gen's face, veins bulged at the corners of Hyuga Hiashi's eyes as he spoke in a deep voice.

"Arrogant? How could that be? I'm very friendly. After all... who could hold a grudge against entertainment that delivers itself to their doorstep? Are you ready? I'm about to make my move."

Watching the veins bulge on Hyuga Hiashi's forehead, Uchiha Gen knew that he had activated his Byakugan, though no matter how he looked at it, those eyes were nothing special.

Seeing Hyuga Hiashi still wasting time with talk, Uchiha Gen raised his hand and offered a reminder.

"Heh, let me show you what the Eight—so fast!"

Seeing this, Hyuga Hiashi immediately assumed the starting stance of the Gentle Fist. Just as he was about to unfold the Eight Trigrams formation to lock onto Uchiha Gen, he found that Uchiha Gen's figure had vanished from in front of him, reappearing right before him in an instant.

There was no concealment; he had simply charged straight at him. The terrifying speed was such that even with the Byakugan, there was no time to react.

Before Hyuga Hiashi could raise his palm to strike, he felt a sharp, stabbing pain erupt from his abdomen.

In that single moment, Hyuga Hiashi finally understood the words Hizashi Hyuga had spoken.

Pain! It was excruciating!

Even a body tempered since childhood in precious medicinal baths and trained in the Gentle Fist could not withstand the terrifying force transmitted into his gut.

At the same time, Hyuga Hiashi's body was sent flying backward by the force of the punch, slamming heavily into Hizashi Hyuga, who had rushed over to face Uchiha Gen alongside him.

"Tsk."

As he tumbled backward, a soft sound echoed in Hyuga Hiashi's ears.

[D-rank target defeated, obtained D-rank gacha draw: 1]

"Brother?!"

Catching Hyuga Hiashi and seeing his pained expression, Hizashi Hyuga cried out in worried alarm.

As Hizashi Hyuga spoke, five figures instantly appeared around him, surrounding him. One of them, after checking on Hyuga Hiashi's condition, suddenly turned and lunged at Uchiha Gen with a palm strike.

The man wore white robes and a headband identical to Hizashi Hyuga's, covering his forehead. He was incredibly fast, reaching Uchiha Gen in the blink of an eye.

Facing the sudden attack from the Hyuga ninja, Uchiha Gen's expression remained unchanged as he watched calmly.

Swish!

Just a second before the Hyuga ninja's palm could strike Uchiha Gen, a hand suddenly shot out and clamped onto the ninja's wrist, preventing it from moving an inch further.

"What? Can't the trash of the Hyuga handle losing?"

The Hyuga ninja looked up abruptly, only to see a pair of scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan staring fiercely at him.

The next moment, a surge of overwhelming ocular power slammed into his mind, clashing with the power of his own Byakugan.

A piercing pain exploded in his brain, and the Hyuga ninja yanked his arm free from the Uchiha ninja's grip, retreating rapidly. Seeing this, the remaining Hyuga ninjas immediately stepped forward to stand with their comrade.

"Outnumbered? Heh, come on out, everyone. Don't let Young Master Gen think poorly of us."

Facing the encirclement of Hyuga ninjas, the Uchiha ninja's expression remained unchanged, his face still wearing a look of contempt.

The next moment, several more figures appeared on the Ninja Academy grounds, the Uchiha clan crest standing out brightly on their clothing.

"Stop. By order of the Hokage, private fights are prohibited within the village. Let the children resolve their own matters. Furthermore, there will be no repeat of today's events."

Just as the two sides were at each other's throats, a white-haired Anbu ninja wearing a mask appeared between them. As soon as this ninja appeared, the figures of both parties stiffened.

"Stand down. As Uchiha, there is no need to lower ourselves to the level of trash; it only drags down our standards."

Looking at the suddenly appeared Anbu ninja and sensing the extremely sharp, terrifying aura radiating from him, Uchiha Gen narrowed his eyes and spoke softly.

Such sharpness, paired with that white hair... it must be you, right...

"Understood. You heard Young Master Gen, didn't you? Withdraw."

Hearing this, the Uchiha ninja curled his lips, flashed, and vanished from before Uchiha Gen's eyes, with the other Uchiha ninjas following closely behind.

In an instant, only the Hyuga ninjas remained on the field.

Hyuga Hiashi, who had just caught his breath, heard Uchiha Gen's words, and his somewhat pale face turned bright red.

He was about to speak, but he saw the white-haired Anbu ninja staring intently at them.

"Who told you to attack? Stand down!"

After standing straight from Hizashi Hyuga's support, Hyuga Hiashi shouted angrily at the Hyuga ninjas beside him.

The Hyuga ninjas remained silent, using the Body Flicker technique to depart.

"Uchiha Gen, I will remember today."

Clutching his chest and stepping past the white-haired Anbu ninja, Hyuga Hiashi stared fixedly at Uchiha Gen and spoke in a deep voice.

"Idiot."

Facing Hyuga Hiashi's toothless threat, Uchiha Gen simply dropped those two words and turned to leave.

Seeing this, the white-haired Anbu ninja flickered and vanished from the field.

His mission was complete; now he had to report back.

The farce at the Ninja Academy ended here.

However, a new farce was unfolding in another place.

Inside the Hokage Office, the air remained thick with smoke.

Because of the situation in the Land of Whirlpools, Hiruzen Sarutobi had become even more addicted to smoking lately; it brought him a sense of calm, allowing him enough clarity of thought to consider the subsequent arrangements.

"Hiruzen, I told you long ago that the Uchiha clan must be dealt with early! Your decision to release that rogue ninja Setsuna Uchiha back then was truly an extremely foolish one."

"A rogue ninja who once attempted to assassinate his teacher should have been executed on the spot! And the Hyuga—a ninja clan with such a system should not exist either!"

"Do those Hyuga ninja listen to the orders of those weaklings in the Main Branch, or do they listen to you, the Hokage? If they dare to confront each other directly at the Ninja Academy now, they will dare to confront you at the Hokage Building in the future!"

"Hiruzen! Hand them over to me to handle! As long as you give me sufficient manpower, I can wipe out these two unstable factors in a single night."

Beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō spoke in an angry voice.

"Calm down, Danzō. This was merely an incident sparked by a conflict between two children. Remember the teachings of the First Hokage!"

"In Konoha, we must absolutely never strike at our own people. As for the matter of Setsuna Uchiha, the teacher spared him back then naturally because he wanted to give him another chance; there is no need to bring that up again."

"Furthermore, the situation in the Land of Whirlpools is definitely not a good sign. The scent of war... it already feels like it is beginning to permeate the air. At a time like this, Konoha must absolutely not have any internal strife."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi merely glanced up at Shimura Danzō before lowering his head again to smoke. He knew the thoughts of this old friend of his all too well.

But... that was absolutely impossible.