The village couldn't do without him right now. The Eight-Tails was still half-wild, and without him, the Cloud shinobi had no way to keep it under control.
His son hadn't yet grown strong enough to stand on his own, and he still hadn't found his own b.
Dodai was still young. Without him, the village's pack of hotheads wouldn't listen to Dodai's orders.
He had far too many worries and thoughts weighing on him. This wasn't the time to dwell on them, but his mind kept wandering back to those problems anyway.
A threat of death, even more terrifying than Ōnoki's Dust Release, had appeared!
His fierce green eyes glanced toward his son and the younger generation beyond the flames. A trace of tenderness surfaced in his gaze, along with a resolve that threatened to overflow. Those verdant eyes, bright as spring leaves, had somehow turned the color of flames.
"Are those your son and the younger generation?" Uchiha Yuji asked, seemingly with a hidden meaning.
"That's right! They're the next generation of elites from Kumogakure."
Even without him saying so, with this man's abilities, Dodai and the others wouldn't escape.
"I'm the Third Raikage of Kumogakure. I'll stop you here, even if it costs me my life." His voice was remarkably steady, touched with a hint of regret but firm all the same.
"I'm not so despicable that I'd threaten an enemy with their family. And who said I was going to take your lives?"
"I'm not bloodthirsty. I'm here for revenge, and only to retaliate for what you did when you abducted our comrades from our village."
Uchiha Yuji pointed at the Third Raikage's bent arm. "Using the arm of a village leader as a warning, wiping out the kidnappers who invaded our village, and receiving compensation from you for the damages—that should be enough of a warning."
"Besides, the war's nearly over, isn't it?"
"I don't want to kill Kumogakure's leader at this critical moment and make these people go berserk and retaliate against Konoha. That wouldn't benefit me at all."
After a pause, Uchiha Yuji stroked his chin, feeling that he hadn't made himself clear enough. "Even once those few over there have grown up, they won't be my match. While they're growing stronger, I won't be standing still or getting weaker."
"They won't pose a threat to me. I have no reason to lie to you."
A glower crossed A's face. He wanted nothing more than to rush over and punch Uchiha Yuji, but he had to admit that what Yuji said was probably true. It was reality.
His father had mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Even if A reached the same level, he still wouldn't be able to beat Pops, because Pops had another ability similar to a Kekkei Genkai: Black Lightning.
Why did this Uchiha look younger than me?!
The Third Raikage stared at Uchiha Yuji in disbelief, giving him a few searching looks.
His expression turned complicated. "You're very different from the Uchiha I've met."
What Konoha Uchiha with awakened eyes talked so much about benefits and interests?
And the compensation for their defeat had been reframed as something else. To put it bluntly, was this guy really a pure-blooded Uchiha?
Weren't ordinary Uchiha stubborn and single-minded, always saying things like, "You've defiled the honor of the Uchiha. Die!" and, "Witness the greatness of the Uchiha Clan!" Didn't they always harp on the clan's glory?
"Uchiha is just a surname. I'm me. Uchiha doesn't define me, but in the future, I'll be able to represent Uchiha." Uchiha Yuji lifted his chin slightly and folded his arms across his chest.
Uchiha Yuji spoke his arrogant words as casually as if they were nothing, yet the Third Raikage found them perfectly natural.
The strong had the right to be willful—and the ability to redefine a clan.
The Third Raikage wasn't going to thank Uchiha Yuji, but his feelings toward him were unusually complicated.
To describe it from Zetton's perspective, it was like adding a little sugar to black coffee, finding it too sweet and adding some chili for seasoning, then tasting it again and finding the flavor strange, so adding a bit of cake.
In short, it was weird.
The taste was strange, but the quality was excellent. The Third Raikage seemed like a hotheaded old man, but who would've thought he had such a wide range of emotions?
This play had gone just right!
Though Uchiha Yuji wasn't like a typical Uchiha, the Third Raikage still believed him.
That was the reputation the Uchiha Clan had carried down from the Warring States period.
When A saw from a distance that the battle wasn't going to happen, he hurried over to the Third Raikage in a few long strides and called out anxiously, "Pops!"
He'd never seen his father in such a sorry state, not once in his life. In his eyes, his father had always been that unbreakable giant of a man.
Not the battered man in front of him, covered in wounds and likely missing an arm.
"What's with that look?"
One of his arms was badly broken, so he couldn't hit anyone with it. But the Third Raikage still had another hand, and he gave A a hard punch.
He hit just as hard as ever, making A stagger backward again and again.
"I'm not the strongest. Under my tutelage, you'll become a Raikage stronger than me and avenge me. You can do that, right?" His voice suddenly rose.
The familiar, full-throated bellow restored A's spirit at once. "I can do it! I'll definitely become stronger than you!"
"Clap, clap, clap." Uchiha Yuji applauded his courage.
"Since you've got that kind of fighting spirit, I'll give you a little more reason to keep it."
Uchiha Yuji's figure blurred for an instant. The Third Raikage raised his one good hand to defend himself, only to see his son pinned to the ground with one hand.
There wasn't a trace of killing intent, so the Third Raikage let down his guard.
After the forest fire, the ground was covered in black ash and burning embers. The scorching heat naturally couldn't penetrate A's defenses, but being pinned down with no way to struggle was enough to send him into a frenzy.
His struggles were still useless. Uchiha Yuji kept him firmly pinned, holding him flat against the ground.
His eyes were wide with flames that seemed ready to burst out of them.
"That's it. That's the look!"
"Hate me. Train with rage. Grow stronger with hope."
"Don't need you to remind me!" A was still struggling.
"I'll wait for you to come stand before me. When you do, it'll be a fierce battle. (Meaning, a one-sided beating.)"
Uchiha Yuji chuckled. Sensing the abundance of powerful emotions, he grinned even more brightly.
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