I'll Quietly Build My Reputation First

Uchiha Tajima also appeared quite pleased. He had always been proud of his son, Madara. With a wave of his hand, he stood up and said, "Good. We shall discuss the specific tactics later. Since the strategy is decided, we must completely eliminate any possibility of the Hyuga Clan breaking through."

His gaze turned cold as he said in a deep voice, "Prepare to invoke the Uchiha Seal Order!"

"Uchiha Seal Order?"

Shin asked with a hint of confusion; it was his first time hearing of such a thing.

"Tell all the clans in the ninja world: whoever sees a Hyuga Clan ninja active outside, kill a Hyuga genin and you may come to our Uchiha Clan to claim a reward of 1,000; kill a chunin, the reward is 5,000; a special jonin, the reward is 10,000."

Uchiha Tajima paused slightly, a sudden aura of murderous intent radiating from him: "And furthermore, for every Hyuga jonin killed, the reward is 100,000; for an elite jonin, 500,000; for a peak jonin..." He stopped here, gritted his teeth, and continued, "The reward is 1,000,000. As for Hyuga Tenin and Hyuga Shinshu, hmm... let's forget about those two."

Is the Uchiha Clan really that wealthy? Listening to Uchiha Tajima's price list, Shin clicked his tongue in secret. One would have to be incredibly rich to offer such bounties.

In reality, he knew that the ones who could actually be killed by those other ninja clans would be, at most, at the jonin level, and even then, not many. Once someone reached the elite jonin level, most ninjas in the Warring States period could only look up to them in awe. As for peak jonin, Uchiha Tajima was likely just throwing out a number without expecting anyone to actually come to collect. Of course, if someone really did bring the head of a peak jonin from the Hyuga Clan, he would be more than happy to pay.

After discussing a few more detailed issues, Uchiha Tajima announced the end of the meeting.

Shin stood up and left like most of the others, while Madara was called aside by Uchiha Tajima to go to the back hall with several of the strongest peak jonin, presumably to discuss the specific tactics against the Hyuga in detail.

After exiting the hall, Shin touched the long sword at his waist, pondered for a moment, and headed toward the right side of the clan grounds. That was where the Uchiha Clan's training grounds were located; most of the Uchiha children spent their time there practicing ninjutsu or sparring with one another. Shin and Madara used to spar there often, but he hadn't been there in over two months.

Ever since he answered the question about the origin of his ninjutsu today, he knew that he and the core of the Uchiha were drifting further and further apart. Uchiha Tajima would never trust him. As long as Uchiha Tajima remained in power, it would be impossible for him to become part of the Uchiha's upper echelon. Take today's plan, for instance; a large part of the reason he let Madara present it was that he knew what the outcome would be if he did it himself.

Perhaps Uchiha Tajima and the others would adopt the plan, but they would never let him stay to discuss the subsequent details. This had nothing to do with strength or intelligence; it was purely about human nature.

Therefore, a vague plan began to form in Shin's mind. It was still just a thought for now, but he firmly believed he would eventually realize it. It didn't matter that Uchiha Tajima didn't trust him; his relationship with Uchiha Madara was good, and given Madara's personality, he wouldn't care about trivial matters like the origin of ninjutsu. If Madara became the clan head, it would be a win for everyone.

Shin had originally thought he was a person of great tolerance, but yesterday's events made him angrier the more he thought about it. He realized that his tolerance was actually quite small. Thus, whether it was the Hyuga or Uchiha Tajima, he quietly kept them in his heart. The days ahead were long, and there would be plenty of time; sooner or later, he would activate his Susanoo and blow them all away.

I am just that petty, Uchiha Shin thought to himself.

Arriving at the training grounds, he walked straight in. Many Uchiha children were sparring, while others were practicing shuriken or Fire Style techniques.

Shin patted his face, forcing a warm, spring-breeze smile onto his features, and walked over to a child who was practicing Fire Style.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The child spat out a large fireball that surged forward. A moment later, the flames died out, and the child clutched his upper lip, crying out in pain: "I burned myself again. What exactly am I doing wrong?"

Shin said with a smile: "When you were forming the Monkey seal just now, your left index finger curled. This causes the chakra flames of the Fireball Jutsu to tilt upward, making it very easy to burn yourself."

The child was startled, only then noticing someone beside him. He turned his head to see Shin looking at him with a smile, and he became instantly excited: "Lord... Lord Shin."

Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Madara were the two most prestigious figures of the new generation of the Uchiha. Especially after the night they worked together to kill a Hyuga jonin and save everyone, their reputation had reached its peak, and they were worshipped by the younger generation. However, Shin and Madara had rarely come to the training grounds lately.

Shin smiled gently: "Don't call me 'Lord.' We are of the same generation; just call me Shin or Brother Shin. I'll demonstrate the seals for the Fireball Jutsu for you. Watch closely."

As he spoke, Shin extended his hands and completed the six seals in order: Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger. To ensure the other could see clearly, he deliberately performed the seals slowly, taking a full five seconds to finish.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A fireball, significantly larger than the one the child had just produced, roared out and landed in the lake in the distance. Because the Uchiha Clan focused on Fire Style, they had naturally dug an artificial lake in the training grounds specifically for the clan's children to use while practicing.

"So... so amazing!" The child looked at Shin with eyes full of admiration.

"It's Lord Shin! Lord Shin is at the training grounds!" A little girl with sharp eyes spotted the situation, and suddenly, all the Uchiha children in the training grounds stopped their practice and quickly gathered around.

"Lord Shin, my name is Uchiha Rin. Please teach me." The little girl's cheeks flushed slightly as she said excitedly.

"Don't call me 'Lord.' We are all of the same generation, so please teach me as well," Shin replied with a smile, making her even more excited. She felt that Lord Shin was truly approachable, a completely different personality from Master Madara.

"Lord Shin, I have parts of the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique I don't understand. How can I control their trajectory?"

"That requires training your chakra control first; there are no shortcuts."

"Lord Shin, I can never hit the bullseye when throwing kunai and shuriken. Are there any techniques for that?"

"Uh, your posture when exerting force is a bit off. Let me help you correct it."

"Lord Shin..."

To every question, Shin showed no sign of impatience, explaining things in detail to them.

Shin had his reasons for doing this. Uchiha Tajima was too strong, and his prestige among the upper echelons was too great. As long as he didn't relent, it would be difficult for Shin to enter the core circle of power even if he became an elite jonin.

But none of that mattered. The next generation was actually the future backbone of the clan. He only needed to establish prestige among these children and grant them some favors, and they would remember his kindness.

Through this subtle influence, he would sooner or later reach the peak of prestige among them. In the Warring States period, these children would soon become the backbone of the clan. By the time they realized it, he would already be the most influential figure in the Uchiha Clan, someone even Uchiha Madara couldn't compare to.

Shin pushing Uchiha Madara forward was also for this reason—to let him attract attention at the front, so that he could quietly turn the next generation of clansmen into his own support. The Uchiha Clan of the future would inevitably be under his, Uchiha Shin's, command.

Shin smiled, continuing to explain the difficulties of various ninjutsu to them.