You're Back? (Seeking recommendations, collections, powering up for love)

I glanced at Itachi standing nearby; Sasuke, whom he had been holding, had already been returned to Mikoto.

"Let the clan heads meet my newly accepted disciple, Itachi Uchiha, who is also the eldest son of Deputy Chief Fugaku." Masaki Uchiha pulled Itachi Uchiha over to introduce his disciple to the gathered clan heads.

"Itachi Uchiha, greetings to all clan heads." Itachi Uchiha responded with composure.

"To be so calm and collected at such a young age—he is destined for greatness. Congratulations to the President for taking on such a fine student." Seeing Itachi Uchiha act with the maturity of an adult despite his youth, Shikaku Nara figured he would likely become another powerful ninja, much like Masaki Uchiha.

Hiashi Hyuga offered his congratulations with a smile, though he felt a twinge of jealousy. Why was it that the Uchiha Clan always produced such geniuses, while he rarely heard of any notable ones from the Hyuga Clan?

"Hahaha, I am sure all your clans have plenty of geniuses as well. It is just a pity that some of them were taken away under various pretexts by certain people." Masaki Uchiha's words not only reminded the clan heads of the geniuses in their own ranks who had been ruined by Shimura Danzō, but also planted a seed of doubt in Itachi Uchiha's heart—a move that served two purposes at once.

Seeing the clan heads' expressions darken with sorrow and anger as his words struck a chord, Masaki Uchiha couldn't help but smile inwardly.

By stirring up their rage, he had already secured thirty percent of the victory.

Doing this was also a way to ensure they would stand firmly with the Uchiha Clan.

Hmm, in the future, I could form an [Anti-Danzo Alliance] or perhaps an [Anti-Third Hokage Coalition].

I will have Itachi Uchiha go undercover within Sarutobi Hiruzen's circle to feed us information.

With that thought, Masaki Uchiha led Itachi Uchiha, who had been waiting and listening for quite some time, toward the Clan Training Ground, waving a cheerful goodbye to the clan heads before they left.

On the way to the training ground, Masaki Uchiha looked back at Itachi Uchiha following behind him and thought: I have been deliberately cold to him; perhaps it is the influence of the original story. I feel angry toward the man who could slaughter his entire clan, so subconsciously, I dislike him.

But considering that the revival of the Uchiha Clan cannot be achieved by me alone, I still agreed when Fugaku Uchiha asked for Itachi to become my disciple.

Regardless, Itachi Uchiha's talent is beyond doubt, and I will have use for him later.

The most important thing at this stage is to correct his way of thinking.

I will have to teach him a good lesson at the training ground.

I hope he can withstand the blow.

At the training ground.

The two stood apart, one large and one small.

A gust of wind blew, lifting the bangs on Itachi Uchiha's forehead.

"Now, show me what you are capable of." Masaki Uchiha didn't mince words; he went straight to the point, wanting to test his current level.

Itachi Uchiha replied in a low voice, "For now, I have learned [Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique] and [Uchiha Style Shurikenjutsu]."

"Come, use the Great Fireball Technique on me," Masaki Uchiha said calmly.

"Huh?" Itachi Uchiha was stunned for a moment, but remembering that his teacher was the renowned [Undying Body] of the Ninja World, he set aside his concerns and began weaving hand signs.

Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger

[Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique]

A three-meter-high fireball surged toward Masaki Uchiha, who simply grabbed the fireball with one hand and tossed it back toward Itachi Uchiha.

Seeing the massive fireball flying toward him, Itachi Uchiha was frozen in terror.

Does Teacher want to kill me?

Why?

Just as Itachi Uchiha's mind raced, Masaki Uchiha flashed in front of him, caught the fireball with one hand, and squeezed his palm shut, causing the flames to dissipate instantly.

"Hahaha, am I impressive, teacher?" Masaki Uchiha laughed heartily.

He hadn't expected Itachi Uchiha to be so easily frightened.

"Teacher is truly amazing, but could you please stop scaring me? I almost thought I was going to die just now," Itachi Uchiha said, feeling aggrieved.

"I did that to train your reaction time. Again."

"Again?"

In the end, Itachi Uchiha was played until he passed out from exhaustion.

The next morning.

Masaki Uchiha arrived at the Police Force and sent for the brothers, Ichiro and Shun.

"Ichiro, Shun, the work you two have done at the Media Bureau lately is quite good." Masaki Uchiha first praised their performance, then criticized them: "But no matter how hard you work, you cannot neglect your families. Your wives have already come to me with complaints."

"It is only what we should do as subordinates; for the sake of the Uchiha, a little sacrifice is nothing." The two brothers looked indifferent.

"The future revival of the Uchiha and the birth of the next generation are inseparable. You should bring children into the world sooner to set an example for others; that, too, is a contribution to the Uchiha," Masaki Uchiha said, sounding as if he were disappointed by their lack of foresight. "You must balance your time between family and work, do you understand?!"

Masaki Uchiha's lecture left the two brothers with no choice but to nod and agree; if they didn't, heaven knows what other wild things the clan head might say.

Everyone knew the clan head's wife was already pregnant; the clan head was leading by example in the first step toward reviving the Uchiha.

Seeing them nod, Masaki Uchiha stopped dwelling on the issue and said, "The mission I assigned you last time—the one I ordered to be paused—the time is right now. You can continue, but it must be done in two stages."

"Execute the first phase now: arrange for rumors of the Wood Release to circulate within Konoha, and let this wind start blowing." He had originally wanted to crush Shimura Danzō immediately.

But thinking there was a critical step ahead that required Shimura Danzō to 'help' voluntarily, he had paused the subsequent plans. It had been a case of 'beating the grass to startle the snake,' and he had also cooperated with Minato Namikaze to suppress the rumors. Otherwise, news of the Wood Release would have been everywhere back then.

It was worth noting that many villagers had seen the Wood Release at the time, but later, Minato Namikaze had the Police Force help seal their lips, and the matter had faded away.

The two brothers perked up immediately upon hearing this, knowing they were going to continue targeting Shimura Danzō.

Having heard last time that Shimura Danzō had been left looking rather disheveled, they were determined to ruin his reputation completely this time!

"Alright, go and prepare now. By tonight, I want to hear everyone in Konoha talking about this." Masaki Uchiha issued the order directly.

The two brothers exchanged a glance, seeing the delight in each other's eyes. "Shimura Danzō is about to have a bad time."

Root base

After a month of investigation, Shimura Danzō had yet to uncover any suspicious personnel within Root.

Just as Shimura Danzō began to relax, Yamanaka Fu appeared before him in a Shun.

Bad.

That was Shimura Danzō's first reaction.

The words that followed from Yamanaka Fu confirmed Shimura Danzō's inner thoughts.

"Lord Danzō, rumors are spreading like wildfire throughout Konoha that Wood Release has reappeared."

Again?

That was Shimura Danzō's second reaction.