The Shimura Clan's Arrogance

Fucheng opened the treasure chest he had obtained from Root.

Looking at the small booklet in his hands, Uchiha Fucheng felt that he needed to re-evaluate the ruthlessness of Shimura Danzō.

In his memories, Uchiha Kagami and Danzō had always gotten along quite well ever since they became comrades in the same squad.

Not to mention the Second Hokage Tobirama, the Third Hokage Hiruzen, or even younger Senju descendants like Tsunade and Nawaki, all of them had nothing but high praise for Uchiha Kagami.

Uchiha Kagami was, after all, a rare "gentleman" and an exceptionally good man.

During the First Shinobi World War, Uchiha Kagami had saved Shimura Danzō's life on multiple critical occasions.

Logically speaking, a bond forged by saving each other's lives should have earned Danzō's gratitude and generous treatment.

Yet, why did Uchiha Kagami's death eventually become a mysterious, unsolved case?

It was a topic so sensitive that everyone remained tight-lipped, not daring to bring it up.

One must remember that Uchiha Kagami's grandson, Uchiha Shisui—a genius whose talent surpassed even Itachi—was also an unlucky soul who had his eye gouged out by Shimura Danzō.

Fucheng deeply suspected that Uchiha Kagami had very likely died at the hands of Danzō.

The eye that the current Shimura Danzō kept covered was, in all probability, Uchiha Kagami's right eye.

"People really shouldn't be too kind!"

Fucheng looked at the Uchiha Kagami's Ninjutsu Notes with a playful expression.

He thought of Shisui, who had also had his eyes gouged out.

The ending for this grandfather and grandson, who were "identical" in their kindness, had turned out to be remarkably similar.

The personal notes of Uchiha Kagami in his hand had come from the mysterious treasure chest that White Zetsu had snatched from Root.

Also discovered at the same time were two Uchiha secret techniques: Izanagi and Izanami.

This was a significant discovery.

Because in the clan's secret archives, these two self-mutilating techniques had been destroyed long ago.

Aside from clan elders like Uchiha Setsuna who might still possess knowledge of these techniques, it was likely that very few of the younger generation of Uchiha ninja had even heard of them.

Both techniques required the permanent loss of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan and were considered sacrificial forbidden arts; Fucheng was unwilling to spread them widely.

After all, these two techniques were products of the Uchiha clan's internal strife.

What he hoped for more was a unified and cohesive Uchiha.

A faint sound of crying drifted over from the courtyard.

Accompanying it were the soft, comforting voices of Jiangyi, Hezi, and the others.

Fucheng walked into the courtyard and saw that the one sobbing quietly was the usually well-behaved Yakushi Nonō.

The little girl was crying, her face streaked with tears.

"What happened?" Uchiha Fucheng asked.

Yakushi Nonō wiped her tears and choked out, "Ever since you announced the care program for war orphans, I've been helping out. Today, I went to buy grain as usual, but they quadrupled the price and were severely short-changing the weight.

For one hundred and fifty catties of grain, they shorted me by over forty catties. When I said I wouldn't buy it, they wouldn't let me leave.

I couldn't win an argument with them, so I tried to run, but they chased me and cursed at me for a long time. Many villagers who didn't know the truth even thought I was the one doing something wrong."

Uchiha Fucheng understood; someone was deliberately hyping up the war situation to hoard grain and supplies, planning to make a huge profit.

But quadrupling the price and resorting to short-changing and forced sales was truly disgusting.

It was clear they were just bullying Yakushi Nonō because she was a little girl.

"Don't cry, watch me get revenge for you." Uchiha Fucheng patted Nonō's little head affectionately and comforted her gently.

Mikoto and the others assumed Fucheng was going to go over and scold the other party, or perhaps assign some Police Force ninja to go and cause them trouble.

To their surprise, Fucheng simply grabbed Nonō and strolled out the door.

Southwest of the Konoha Commercial Street, there was a grain shop with a storefront in the front and a courtyard in the back.

Three men with fierce, fleshy faces were making lewd, unbridled remarks about the Konoha women passing by their shop.

A thin, frail man just wanted to enter the shop to ask about the prices, but he didn't expect to be cursed at viciously by the people inside the moment he stepped in.

"Grain prices change every day now. Are you buying or not? If you're not buying, get lost! Stop asking questions every damn day."

The thin man didn't dare to talk back; he just pointed at the rice bags, acting timid and honest.

"I'm buying, I'm buying. I just wanted to ask if the price would be cheaper if I bought a whole bag."

"Cheaper?" A shop clerk with a thick beard sneered.

"Buying one catty is four hundred ryō, and buying a whole cart is still four hundred ryō per catty."

"F-four hundred ryō?" The man buying the grain was so startled he took a step back.

"That expensive?!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the shop owner with the fleshy face became instantly enraged.

"Where is it expensive? Our Shimura Grain and Oil has been at this price for so many years."

The shopkeeper looked impatient. "Sometimes you should look for reasons within yourself, alright? All these years, has your salary gone up? Have you been working hard?"

The poor buyer shuddered from the shouting.

Terrified, he wanted to turn and leave, but before he could, the three men grabbed him and hauled him back.

"You said you wanted to buy, and now you want to run? If you don't buy a bag, do you believe I'll make sure you don't walk out of this street alive?"

Seeing the skinny man about to be forced into a purchase, Uchiha Fucheng happened to arrive at the shop entrance.

The four large characters on the Shimura Grain and Oil sign made Uchiha Fucheng chuckle.

"No wonder they're so arrogant; turns out they have backing."

Fucheng was afraid Yakushi Nonō might be recognized, so he had her watch from a distance.

He walked into the shop himself.

Fucheng: "Hey, buddy, how much is this rice per jin?"

The shopkeeper, currently immersed in the joy of forced sales, glanced at Fucheng as he entered, his tone somewhat cautious.

"Four hundred ryō per jin."

Fucheng asked with a surprised smile: "Holy crap, are these rice grains made of gold? Or is the rice bag made of gold?"

The shopkeeper dropped his smile, his fleshy face turning fierce and menacing: "Look around, where is there any grain these days? This is grain we transported all the way from the Land of Fields. You think it's expensive? Hmph, I think it's expensive too."

Fucheng was delighted to hear the man play along.

For this performance, he gave the boss a hundred points.

"Fine, come on, get me a bag."

At this moment, Mikoto, Hezi, Jiangyi, and Nonō were all mixed into the crowd on the street, watching Fucheng toy with the grain shop owner.

The shopkeeper couldn't figure out what this well-dressed man was up to, so he casually grabbed a bag. "Sure. How about this big bag?"

Fucheng was amused and nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Sure, I'll take this bag. This rice of yours~ is it old, stored stock?"

The shopkeeper squinted one eye and scanned Fucheng up and down. "This is the largest grain shop in Konoha. Do you think I'd sell you old, stored stock?"

Seeing him answer this way, Fucheng was even happier.

Fucheng continued to press: "I'm asking you, is this rice old, stored stock?"

The shopkeeper was immediately displeased.

He had his two subordinates release the struggling skinny man and surround Uchiha Fucheng. "Are you fucking looking for trouble? Just tell me if you're going to buy it or not!"

Fucheng nodded with a chuckle. "If this is good rice, I'll definitely buy it. But if it's old, stored stock? What do you say we do then?"

As he spoke, Fucheng walked over to the chair the shopkeeper had been sitting on and sat down with a heavy, imposing air.

The shopkeeper saw that Fucheng had a strong presence and felt a bit uneasy.

He just wanted this guy to buy the grain and leave quickly.

"If it isn't good rice, I'll eat it raw myself. Satisfied? One hundred and fifty jin, sixty thousand ryō."

Fucheng pointed at the rice bag. "A small bag like that, how could it be one hundred and fifty jin? Your scale is rigged."

The shopkeeper was enraged upon hearing this: "Are you fucking looking for trouble? Are you going to buy it or not?! Are you?!"

Fucheng kicked the grain scale away.

"Your scale has a magnet in it.

Also, as you said, if this rice is old stock, you're going to swallow it raw."

The shopkeeper was now beyond furious. "You fucking kicked my scale, didn't you?"

Watching him fly into a rage, Uchiha Fucheng held his forehead with one hand and tilted his head back, laughing wildly.

The posture was even more authentic than Madara's Edo Tensei laughter.