On the fifth day after the torrential rain, Fugaku finally emerged to take charge.
He represented the conservative faction and silenced every dissenting voice within the clan.
Chuanhe paid him no heed. He had completely lost faith in Fugaku. The man had never changed.
Setsuna flew into a rage. He had even considered taking direct action, but he lacked the strength to do so.
After this ordeal, Setsuna seemed to fall seriously ill as well, and took to his bed.
Konoha announced the results of its investigation: Shisui had died fighting enemy shinobi who had invaded the village. Like a hero, he had protected all of Konoha.
Shisui Uchiha was posthumously honored as a Konoha hero.
His heroic name would be engraved on the Memorial Stone.
Although the Uchiha were deeply dissatisfied with this outcome,
at least they had been given something that seemed acceptable.
Konoha never revealed which side the so-called enemy shinobi belonged to, leaving the Uchiha with nowhere to direct their anger.
The tense atmosphere in Konoha slowly faded, and the Uchiha temporarily suppressed their hatred.
One thing that changed was the sudden spread of negative rumors about the Uchiha Clan throughout the village.
Like genuine rumors, they lingered on the surface.
Everyone subconsciously ignored the "culprit," Chuanhe.
These rumors slowly deepened the rift between the village and the Uchiha.
But on the surface, everything had returned to calm.
Hui continued using the [Shadow Clone Technique] to get through his classes at school.
Four-dimensional space was far too complicated for someone his age.
Taijutsu and long-range attacks could wait for now.
What Hui needed to do was bring everything he knew together,
and incorporate Chuanhe's necklace—the Ninjutsu Core—into his fighting style.
When he felt he was nearing his limit, Hui stopped training.
He gazed at the distant horizon, seized by an inexplicable thought, then flew toward it.
During his break, the sea breeze carried a salty dampness across his face. He sat down wearily and looked out at the vast ocean.
But just as he caught his breath, the sea began to recede at an alarming speed, as if some invisible force were dragging it away.
Reefs that had been submerged emerged from the water. The wet sand cracked rapidly, and far-off waves retreated before his very eyes.
"The tide's going out?" Hui murmured, frowning.
But it was moving far too fast. Unease stirred within him, as if something were about to happen.
The morning sun filtered through a gap in the curtains and fell into the room. Sakura rubbed her eyes, then sprang out of bed.
She quickly changed into her Ninja Academy uniform.
Lately, Sakura had also begun all kinds of training under her father's guidance.
Sakura wasn't from a civilian family.
By Konoha's definition, her family counted as a small shinobi clan, with a crest of their own.
Though Sakura herself didn't take any of that seriously.
Since beginning formal training under her father's guidance, her routine had grown noticeably busier.
Her father wasn't one of Konoha's top elite jōnin, but as the head of a small shinobi clan, he had a solid foundation of skill and experience.
Some time ago, Sakura had also noticed that something seemed off throughout Konoha.
But the strange situation had come and gone just as quickly, ending in less than a week.
Her classmates' behavior during that time had given her a huge jolt.
Although her father hadn't been eager to have her start training so young, he had still begun teaching her chakra control and taijutsu.
It was the day before the weekend, and Iruka-sensei had announced that there would be a small test that afternoon.
It was meant to assess what they had learned in their first month at the Academy.
Sakura felt confident about that. She had never been afraid of a written test.
"Ino, morning!" Sakura called, waving to her friend in the classroom.
"Morning, Sakura!" Ino came over with a bright smile.
Sakura and Ino chatted happily.
What made Sakura happiest lately was that she and Ino had finally patched things up.
At the start of the school year, their friendship had plummeted because they were competing for Sasuke's attention.
But after all this time, they seemed to have rediscovered the friendship they once shared.
After making up, Sakura began reflecting on how she had acted before and couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
More importantly, the experience had made her reconsider her feelings for Sasuke.
Did she really like Sasuke? The answer was yes!
She liked his strength, his composure, and even that proud, standoffish air of his.
Though people teased her for being a "fangirl," Sakura didn't care.
Her feelings were pure and unwavering. They had never changed.
"But this still isn't enough..." Sakura clenched her fists in secret.
At last, she understood. If she wanted to truly stand by Sasuke's side, she first had to become stronger.
Theory, taijutsu, ninjutsu—she had to catch up in every area!
"Just you wait, Sasuke-kun. I'll make you see how much I've grown!"
Sunlight spilled through the window and onto her. A fierce determination shone in the pink-haired girl's eyes, brighter than ever before.
Hinata Hyuga's life had finally begun to grow a little warmer.
Her father, Hyuga Hiashi, who had once treated her with near-cruel strictness,
had suddenly softened his attitude.
He no longer pushed her to surpass her limits in training as he had before. He even eased up on the pace of her practice.
Sometimes, he would remind her during training, "Hinata, watch your form! Don't get hurt."
Even more surprising, one morning,
Hiashi personally handed her a specially made signal flare and said gravely, "If you're in danger, set it off immediately."
His sudden show of concern left Hinata dazed. She even wondered if she was dreaming.
But what made Hinata happiest was that the brutal sparring had finally stopped.
The sibling rivalry that had once tormented her was finally over.
Their fights now stopped before anyone got hurt; they no longer tried to injure each other. Hinata's Gentle Fist had made remarkable progress lately.
This completely different approach to her growth left Hyuga Hiashi deep in thought.
He began to reconsider how he had raised her, and for the first time, he truly paid attention to his daughter's thoughts and habits.
Eventually, he discovered that his daughter was an absolute glutton...
His wife had it rough.
It was a happy problem, in a way, but it left Hiashi not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
At school, sunlight streamed through the classroom windows.
Miss Hinata still "spied" on Naruto every day, without fail.
"Why does Naruto-kun seem a little unhappy lately? Did something happen to him?"
Hinata tightened her grip on the still-unopened little bottle of medicine.
But this time, perhaps her father's approval had given her confidence, or perhaps she had grown a little braver, she finally took a step forward.
"Nar... Naruto-kun!" Her voice was faint as a mosquito's buzz, but loud enough to make Naruto look up.
"Hm? Hinata?" Naruto blinked, clearly not expecting her to speak to him first.
"Is... is something making you unhappy?" Hinata tried to keep her voice from trembling.
But when Naruto's bright blue eyes met hers, her courage crumbled instantly, and her cheeks flared red.
"N-no, I'm fine! See?" Naruto scratched his head and grinned, but to Hinata, his smile seemed dazzling.
"Ah..." She couldn't take it anymore. Covering her scarlet face with both hands, she turned and ran, leaving only the sound of her hurried footsteps behind.
Naruto stood there, utterly bewildered. "Huh? Did I say something wrong?"
Sasuke gave a derisive laugh beside him. "You idiot, Naruto."
"Huh? Sasuke! What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto immediately bristled.
With those two in class, the atmosphere was always lively.
Ino had been troubled lately.
Her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, seemed to have found out that she liked Uchiha Hui.
That shouldn't have been a big deal.
Ino had liked Sasuke before, and her father had never interfered much.
But this time, Inoichi was unusually serious and even warned her outright:
"Try to stay away from Uchiha Hui from now on."
Ino couldn't understand why.
They were both members of the Uchiha Clan, so why was Sasuke okay, but Hui wasn't?
As she listened to Inoichi, Ino bit her lip, unconsciously twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
She had heard about the recent upheaval in the Uchiha Clan, but that was adult business. What did it have to do with Hui?
She had already worked up the courage to approach Hui properly, and had even secretly practiced what to say several times.
But now, her father's warning had thrown everything into disarray.
"Clan shinobi. The clan's interests come first..." Ino repeated under her breath, but a rebellious feeling welled up inside her.
She pursed her lips and thought petulantly, If he won't let me talk to him, fine. Does he think he can stop me from looking?
"I'll just look..." she muttered, her cheeks warming slightly.
The girl's thoughts seemed a little dangerous.
Just then, Sakura passed by, and the two began their usual chat.
Sakura was her closest friend. Though they had nearly fallen out over Sasuke, all that unpleasantness had long since faded away.
Ino noticed that Sakura seemed to have changed lately, too.
She still liked Sasuke, but there was less of that blind infatuation in her eyes and more resolve and maturity.
"That's great. I need to keep moving forward, too." Ino watched Sakura walk away and quietly made up her mind.
Perhaps she couldn't disobey her father's warning, but could anyone so easily restrain a girl's feelings?
Before you continue