Who Can't Disgust People?

"Ye Ning?"

Jiraiya frowned, his eyes revealing a look of pure, unadulterated foolishness.

Having just returned from the Land of Rain, Jiraiya was like a primitive man cut off from the world. He knew nothing of the recent events in Konoha, and naturally, he couldn't fathom why the Daimyo's Son would appear here.

"Why are you in Konoha?"

"Why shouldn't I be in Konoha?"

Ye Ning countered with a question of his own, which left Jiraiya stumped.

Right. He was the son of the Land of Fire's Daimyo. With that status, wasn't he free to go wherever he pleased within the Land of Fire?

Realizing he had asked a stupid question, Jiraiya rubbed the spot where Ye Ning had just punched him and winced.

Although he had been beaten since childhood and had long since developed a thick skin, that punch still stung.

On top of being scolded by a brat like this—and losing his chance to peek at the women's bathhouse in the future—Jiraiya lost all interest in continuing the conversation. He pulled a long face and walked away.

Seeing Jiraiya flee without looking back, Uchiha Fugaku felt his heart tighten, and he prepared to gather his squad and retreat as well.

But...

"Captain Fugaku."

Ye Ning called out to Uchiha Fugaku, smiling softly. "I'd like to have a word with you alone."

Uchiha Fugaku's expression shifted, and an inexplicable sense of unease rose in his heart.

In his mind, Ye Ning had already become a "God of Slaughter."

Wherever he went, death followed.

Danzo and Jiraiya had both become souls under his blade.

Was he now pointing his spear at the Uchiha?

Uchiha Fugaku cursed inwardly. He desperately wanted to ignore Ye Ning and leave, but after weighing his options, he chose to follow his heart, turned around, and forced a smile.

Because he was never one for smiling, the expression looked stiff and unnatural.

"Captain Fugaku, it wouldn't be too much to ask you to treat me to a bowl of ramen, would it?"

Passing by the newly opened Ichiraku Ramen, Ye Ning suddenly felt the urge to taste the noodles that would stand in Konoha for decades, growing only more popular with time.

Uchiha Fugaku couldn't fathom Ye Ning's true intentions, so he could only reply:

"Of course, no problem."

As the successor to the clan head and captain of the Police Force, Fugaku certainly had the money to treat someone to ramen.

"Then many thanks. Please, a bowl of miso ramen for me, thank you."

Ye Ning smiled slightly at the very young Teuchi, then gestured for Uchiha Fugaku to sit down with him.

Unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, Uchiha Fugaku finally asked:

"Lord Ye Ning, what is it you wish to discuss with me?"

"The Uchiha clan... their situation in Konoha isn't very good, is it?"

Ye Ning smiled as he broke his chopsticks, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.

But the moment those words left his lips, Uchiha Fugaku's face changed instantly.

In that briefest of moments, Ye Ning could practically see a pie chart forming in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.

There was confusion, resentment, rejection, and a hint of panic.

"I don't know what you mean, Lord Ye Ning."

"No need to rush to show your loyalty; the Third Hokage doesn't have the energy to worry about you right now."

Ye Ning chuckled. "As the young clan head of the Uchiha, you must be able to feel it—the Uchiha clan is not welcome in Konoha. The villagers fear you, the other ninja clans dare not provoke you, and the higher-ups in Konoha are wary of you."

"Could it be that you haven't noticed the Uchiha clan is gradually being pushed away from the center of power in Konoha?"

Uchiha Fugaku fell silent.

Of course, he was well aware of everything Ye Ning had said.

Or rather, most of the elders in the clan could see it clearly.

They were just a bit hot-headed and perhaps a little reckless, but they weren't idiots; how could they not sense the fear of others?

Even so, Uchiha Fugaku stubbornly insisted: "My Uchiha clan is powerful. Whether others fear us or not, what does that have to do with us?"

Ah, that's the spirit!

That was the feeling.

The expression Uchiha Fugaku wore as he said this carried an unconscious arrogance, quite different from the cautiousness he had shown earlier.

This kind of cocky attitude was exactly the Uchiha clan he was familiar with.

Ye Ning said while eating his ramen:

"Those words don't sound like something a clan's young heir should be saying."

Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath, his brow furrowing tightly.

"Clinging forever to that pride in your bones will only make the people in the village fear and loathe you more and more. Aside from the Uchiha clan, are there any other ninja clans that the villagers fear?"

"Do you really think a clan feared by the villagers has truly integrated into Konoha?"

"Furthermore, have you truly not realized that the position of the Police Force is actually a job that offends people?"

Ye Ning was very curious; in such a massive Uchiha clan, could it be that no one realized the Police Force was not a reward for the Uchiha, but a form of subtle ostracization?

The villagers already feared the Uchiha clan in their hearts, and with the Uchiha holding such an offensive job, it only made the villagers fear them more. Meanwhile, the villagers and ninjas who had been arrested by the Police Force would grow to hate the Uchiha, eventually forming a vicious cycle.

Perhaps there were those within the Uchiha clan who could see this issue, or perhaps, given their temperament, they simply didn't care about such things.

But this was exactly how the Uchiha clan was being pushed aside and suppressed, step by step.

Constantly offending people, constantly deepening the inherent impression others had of the Uchiha clan.

Just as Ye Ning had just said.

A clan that is deeply ostracized and feared by others cannot integrate into Konoha.

Uchiha Fugaku's face fell instantly; Ye Ning's words had struck his vital point.

He could see the danger of the Police Force.

But he was powerless to change it.

Because the current Uchiha clan had completely lost its voice among Konoha's high-level officials and possessed no power whatsoever.

The shortsighted elders in the clan only knew how to cling desperately to the Police Force, holding onto this last remaining shred of authority.

The Uchiha had already sunk into a quagmire, yet everyone in the clan was oblivious to it.

This filled Uchiha Fugaku's heart with a sense of helplessness.

But he also realized that Ye Ning saying these things to him today was definitely not without purpose.

Perhaps, could he help the Uchiha?

"Does Your Highness Ye Ning have a solution?"

"A solution? I have one, but I fear you cannot do it."

Ye Ning finished the last strand of ramen at a leisurely pace and let out a satisfied burp:

"Who doesn't know how to do disgusting things? If someone disgusts you, why don't you just disgust them right back?"