Uchiha Fugaku, who had been absorbed in reading the Qi Refining Technique, finally noticed something was wrong and came back to his senses.
When he saw the silent Uchiha Itachi, he closed the Qi Refining Technique and asked,
"Have you finished eating?"
Uchiha Itachi nodded lightly to show that he had.
Uchiha Fugaku stood up, picked up the dishes, and left.
"Get a good rest. We'll continue training tomorrow, so get up on time. Don't even think about slacking off."
At the words "continue training," all the goodwill Uchiha Itachi had just started to feel toward Uchiha Fugaku vanished.
Give me back that touching moment!
The next day
After getting up early and seeing Sasuke Uchiha off, Uchiha Itachi returned to the clan grounds and resumed training.
Uchiha Fugaku did the same that morning. After briefly looking over the documents Izumi Uchiha had handled, he went with her to the training ground to train as well.
While training that day, Uchiha Itachi found that, for some reason, it felt much easier than usual.
????
Could I actually be a Taijutsu prodigy?
But when he saw his dad training at an unbelievably fast pace right in front of him, the confidence that had just begun to rise in him vanished.
With a dad who outclassed him in every way, Uchiha Itachi couldn't help feeling helpless.
Uchiha Fugaku, meanwhile, trained with great effort. He had noticed that after his Taijutsu training, his body had improved considerably even without Body Nourishing Powder. He wondered if the Senju Bloodline had been stimulated.
And he wasn't nearly as exhausted after last night's battle as he had been after the first night. That was another reason he was so fired up for Taijutsu training today.
If I add Body Nourishing Powder today, next time I'll definitely make Uchiha Mikoto beg for mercy on her knees.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Fugaku unconsciously picked up his training pace.
Seeing Uchiha Fugaku take the lead in training also made the other Uchiha clan members training with him work harder.
After all, their strongest clan leader was diligently training in Taijutsu. That showed just how important it was, so how could they not take their training seriously?
In the afternoon, Uchiha Fugaku once again left Uchiha Itachi in charge of overseeing the other clan members.
Then he headed back a little early to soak in a medicinal bath before visiting Oda Uchiha, Kojima Uchiha, and Tanaka Uchiha to see how their cooking was coming along.
After Uchiha Fugaku left, the Uchiha clan members who stayed behind to train were surprisingly quiet.
Even Akame Uchiha, who had been the most stubborn yesterday, didn't stir up trouble. He simply focused on calmly practicing Taijutsu.
Watching this from the sidelines, Uchiha Itachi was quite satisfied with yesterday's results.
It was just a little hard on his eyes.
Uchiha Itachi unconsciously touched his left eye, whose vision had weakened a little.
He resolved not to use it lightly again.
After soaking in the medicinal bath, Uchiha Fugaku arrived at Oda Uchiha's kitchen.
All three of them stood waiting at the door, each with dark circles under their eyes.
Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help feeling startled at the sight. Had the three of them stayed up all night?
Was I too harsh yesterday?
But this wasn't the time to worry about that. He'd better see what they had accomplished first.
With that thought, Uchiha Fugaku followed them inside.
The table was covered with an assortment of Chinese dishes.
Their aromas filled the room.
Oda Uchiha, dark circles under his eyes, stepped forward first and said,
"Clan Leader, this is the result of our hard work. Please try it."
Uchiha Fugaku nodded in approval and said,
"Good. Very good. You did well."
Then he sat down.
But Uchiha Fugaku didn't immediately pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he asked the three of them,
"How long have you been practicing these?"
At Uchiha Fugaku's question, Oda Uchiha replied somewhat sheepishly,
"Clan Leader, we haven't stopped since you left."
Uchiha Fugaku paused at that, but quickly composed himself and said,
"What I said yesterday was just to remind you not to slack off."
"You still need to rest when you should."
"Sit down and try the dishes you made yourselves."
Hearing Uchiha Fugaku's words, Oda Uchiha, Kojima Uchiha, and Tanaka Uchiha all replied with embarrassed expressions,
"No need, Clan Leader. We tried them as soon as they were done. Besides, we're not hungry since we hardly stopped."
"Of course, Clan Leader, we gave the extra dishes to the neighbors nearby."
"But these are the best ones we've made so far."
Hearing this, Uchiha Fugaku gained a new appreciation for the three of them and praised them,
"You've done very well."
At Uchiha Fugaku's praise, Oda Uchiha, Kojima Uchiha, and Tanaka Uchiha couldn't help smiling.
After carefully tasting the dishes, Uchiha Fugaku got a good sense of their cooking skills.
With their previous experience as a foundation, they were already making dishes that looked and tasted the part.
All they needed now was to practice a little more and fully master that cookbook.
Uchiha Fugaku then pointed out the problems with their dishes and sent them off to rest.
The three of them had all stayed up through the night, so they needed to get some rest.
After returning from Oda Uchiha and the others, Uchiha Fugaku went to check on Izumi Uchiha, who had left early to handle the documents.
Then he headed straight to the Great Elder's residence, intending to see how his suggestion from the day before had worked out.
When Uchiha Fugaku reached the vicinity of the Great Elder's residence,
he quietly approached and began to peek inside.
But one of the Uchiha clan members guarding the entrance spotted him. Uchiha Fugaku, however, used his status as clan leader to gesture for him to stay quiet.
The Uchiha clan member, intimidated by Uchiha Fugaku's authority as clan leader, chose not to report him.
Unfortunately, although Uchiha Setsuna, the Great Elder, was still excited today, things weren't as they had been the day before.
He simply sat there, seemingly lost in thought, repeatedly drinking from an empty teacup.
A little disappointed, Uchiha Fugaku appeared and teased him,
"What pleasant thoughts are you lost in, Great Elder?"
????
Uchiha Setsuna had been immersed in his beautiful fantasies, but he couldn't help freezing in surprise.
He was just about to lose his temper when he realized it was Uchiha Fugaku.
He immediately changed his demeanor, stood up, and said,
"Clan Leader Fugaku, what brings you here today?"
Before you continue