Uchiha Shin's Trial

After that night, Uchiha Shin finally witnessed the cruelty of the ninja world.

Uchiha Shin knew that it might not be long before he fully entered the ninja world.

So, after that night, Uchiha Shin trained even harder. Aside from time spent resting and eating, he devoted nearly all his remaining time to training.

As the saying went, sweat more in training and bleed less in battle. No matter how the world changed, that principle remained the same.

While training, Uchiha Shin felt that time passed especially quickly. Before he knew it, half a year had gone by.

During that time, things had been more or less peaceful for the Uchiha Clan. Well, aside from a large-scale localized war with the Hamura Clan, it had been relatively peaceful.

However, the Uchiha Clan had been seriously short on fighting forces during this period.

Uchiha Tajima came home almost every night with a grim expression.

Uchiha Shin understood why. The clan was desperately short on manpower, yet needed people everywhere. Uchiha Tajima was so worried that his hair was nearly turning white.

What could they do about the shortage of fighters in the clan?

They could only urgently select a batch of Genin to tide them over.

Uchiha Tajima knew this wasn't a good idea. Perhaps only a handful of the Genin selected in such a hurry would survive the battlefield.

And for the Uchiha Clan, already critically short on fighters, this approach was little more than a desperate stopgap.

But they needed people to carry out missions for other clans, people to guard and patrol the clan's territory, and even more people to gather intelligence on enemy ninja clans.

There was no other choice. After discussing it with several clan elders, Uchiha Tajima could only decide to hold the clan's annual Genin selection trial six months early.

When word spread through the clan that the annual trial would be held six months ahead of schedule, Uchiha Shin knew he was bound to be among the children taking part.

The news had caught Uchiha Shin somewhat off guard.

But he wasn't especially worried. Even if he didn't face the clan trial now, he would still have to take part six months later.

Uchiha Shin knew that he was already far stronger than an ordinary Genin who only knew the Three Basic Jutsu.

Even if he encountered an ordinary Chunin and couldn't defeat him, he could still get away unharmed with the help of his trump cards.

So as long as he didn't draw the worst possible lot and run into a powerful enemy like a Jonin or an elite Chunin during the trial, he should be fine.

Sure enough, when Uchiha Shin returned from the training ground that evening, he opened the door and saw Uchiha Tajima sitting silently beside the low table.

His mother, Uchiha Aoi, didn't welcome him home as she usually did. Instead, she sat with her back to Uchiha Tajima, quietly wiping away her tears.

"I'm home."

Uchiha Shin greeted Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Aoi with a smile.

"Shin..."

At the sound of Uchiha Shin's voice, Uchiha Aoi turned around. Tears glistened in her eyes, and her face was full of sorrow and worry.

"What happened, Mom?"

Although Uchiha Shin knew what was going on, he pretended to have no idea and asked Uchiha Aoi.

"Honey, since you were able to put Shin's name on the list for the clan trial..."

"Then say something!"

"He's your own son!"

"As the head of the Uchiha Clan, don't you understand what this clan trial really means?"

"Even knowing that, you still put Shin's name on the list..."

After hearing Uchiha Shin's question, tears welled in Uchiha Aoi's eyes. She turned to Uchiha Tajima and started reproaching him.

Watching his parents like this, Uchiha Shin felt incredibly awkward...

It seemed that in every era and every world, women might be gentle by nature, but motherhood made them strong!

Uchiha Tajima looked at his eldest son and forced a rather strained smile.

"Shin, you're my son, Uchiha Tajima's."

"And I, Uchiha Tajima, am the head of the Uchiha Clan..."

"So you naturally have to bear more than the other children your age."

"That's why I put you on the list for this clan trial. Do you understand?"

Uchiha Tajima spoke to Uchiha Shin earnestly.

Uchiha Shin slowly nodded at Uchiha Tajima's words.

Uchiha Shin had always thought that Uchiha Tajima was a thoroughly pragmatic man, someone who would cast aside his wife, sons, love, and family ties for the sake of the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Tajima often wore a stern expression and rarely smiled. He was also ruthless and decisive in how he handled things. In short, he was the kind of hardline ninja who acted without hesitation.

But from what he saw now, this man also had an exceptionally tender side as a father deep down.

Otherwise, he would have simply told Uchiha Shin that taking part in the clan trial was nonnegotiable, instead of trying to explain himself to his son.

"I understand, Father!"

"I'll do an excellent job of completing every part of this clan trial. Don't worry, Father!"

Uchiha Shin assured Uchiha Tajima with complete confidence.

"Mom, in this cruel ninja world..."

"Isn't the best thing parents can do to raise their children to become independent ninja?"

"I was born into the Uchiha Clan, and I'm the son of its head. This is the path I was meant to walk."

"As a ninja, I can't escape it."

"Better sooner than later... I'm ready for this."

A warm smile appeared on Uchiha Shin's face. He walked over and sat beside Uchiha Aoi, then began comforting his worried mother.

Early the next morning, Uchiha Shin received the scroll detailing his clan trial mission from Uchiha Tajima.

Back in his room, Uchiha Shin opened the scroll and carefully read through the information inside.

A quarter of an hour later, Uchiha Shin had committed everything written in the scroll to memory.

The task for Uchiha Shin's clan trial was quite simple. He could say he'd drawn the best possible lot.

The mission in the scroll was to wipe out the bandits occupying a mountain called First Line, near the border between the Hagoromo Clan and the Uzuki Clan.

Wiping out the bandits would be easy. They were ordinary people, and ordinary people were no threat to ninja, even if the ninja was only a Genin.

The difficult part of the mission was crossing the border between the Hagoromo Clan and the Uzuki Clan safely.

After all, both clans sent their own ninja to patrol that border.

If he happened to run right into a patrol from either the Hagoromo Clan or the Uzuki Clan, things would get messy.

Thinking it over, Uchiha Shin decided to gather some intelligence first.

After all, the information in the scroll only described the location of First Line, the number of bandits, and their strength.

It didn't mention the patrol teams from the Hagoromo Clan and the Uzuki Clan that might appear along the border.

As the saying went, preparation was the key to success...

After putting away the mission scroll, Uchiha Shin got up, opened the door, and left his room. Then he headed for the Uchiha Clan's Briefing Room.