The streets of the Hidden Leaf Village were bustling with pedestrians. Shops lined both sides of the road, and the calls of vendors filled the air.
Although the shadow of war was drawing closer, the villagers of the Hidden Leaf weren't too worried. The Land of Fire was the greatest nation, and the Hidden Leaf was powerful, too—the big brother among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. No one thought the big brother would lose to its little brothers.
Rin led Obito and Kakashi down the street in high spirits, then turned to ask, "What should we eat?"
"Barbecue."
Obito replied without hesitation, looking a little listless.
Kakashi's mouth twitched. "Absolutely not. We eat barbecue every day!"
"Hmm..."
Rin furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. Then she clapped her hands happily. "How about we go eat ramen at Uncle Teuchi's?"
Kakashi immediately nodded in agreement. "Ichiraku Ramen sounds good."
"What about you, Obito?"
Rin turned to look at Obito.
"Ah!"
Obito yawned and said listlessly, "Anything's fine. I'm just exhausted."
"Obito, what's wrong?"
"Is there a lot to do for the Uchiha Clan?"
As the three headed toward Ichiraku Ramen, Rin looked at the weary Obito with concern.
"There isn't much to do, but there are a lot of idiots."
Thinking of everything he'd been through over the past few days made Obito angry. He'd had such high hopes for the Uchiha Clan, but they were a bunch of fools and morons.
"I've been tied up for the past few days, but I'm free now."
"Lunch is on me today. We're celebrating my becoming the Uchiha Clan Head."
Then Obito remembered that he now had two unlucky helpers, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Fugaku. A gleeful smile tugged at his lips.
Rin nodded happily and smiled. "Come to think of it, I haven't congratulated you yet. You're amazing, Obito—you became the Uchiha Clan Head!"
Kakashi added out of nowhere, "When your teacher's wife comes back, she'll be thrilled, too. She said she'll be able to pinch the Uchiha Clan Head's ears from now on. She said it'd be so impressive!"
Obito's expression turned sour, though he looked somewhat relieved. "Good thing our teacher and his wife went to the front lines together."
"I wonder if they'll be in danger."
Rin looked worried. She'd been anxious enough when Obito disappeared last time. She hoped Minato-sensei and Kushina would both return safely.
Obito patted Rin on the shoulder and comforted her gently. "Don't worry. The war hasn't started yet. They just need powerful fighters stationed at the border, so Minato-sensei and his wife went to relieve Senior Tsunade and Senior Orochimaru."
"But the front lines are so tense. Why would Lord Hokage rotate the people there?"
Rin's little face scrunched up, and her tone carried a hint of displeasure.
Obito turned to look in the direction of the Hidden Leaf Hospital, smiling as he shook his head. There was something inscrutable about his smile.
"Of course, it's so they can do some things they don't want anyone to know about."
At the Hidden Leaf Hospital, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the road-weary Orochimaru and Tsunade and nodded with a smile. "Good, you're back. I'll leave those potions to you."
Tsunade frowned as she examined the potions on the table. "Teacher Sarutobi, you rushed us back here. What are these potions, anyway? My skin got worse from hurrying all the way here."
Orochimaru, meanwhile, picked up one of the Healing Liquids with interest. He gazed at its shimmering green light, stuck out his tongue to taste it, and grinned. "Such a rich essence of life."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and said gravely, "You already know that Obito Uchiha became the Uchiha Clan Head. He made these potions himself. One is a Healing Liquid with exceptional effects. The Strength Potion and Speed Potion can temporarily increase strength and speed, and the Energy Potion can increase chakra during battle."
Tsunade folded her arms and rested her left hand against her chin, deep in thought. "That's impressive. I remember he's Minato's student. I never thought that brat Minato would teach such an outstanding student."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, an enigmatic smile on his lips. "I heard he awakened the Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan and used Susanoo at the clan meeting?"
"Correct."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded solemnly.
"What an interesting person."
The right corner of Orochimaru's mouth curled upward, and his yellow-brown, snake-like eyes gleamed as if he'd spotted prey.
"Study them as soon as possible. These potions could be a great help in the coming war."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke seriously, looking at his two prized students.
Tsunade nodded casually. "Leave it to us. At least this means we don't have to go to the battlefield."
Thinking of the blood phobia Tsunade had developed after the deaths of her younger brother Nawaki and her lover Dan, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help sighing. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked out.
"Get it done quickly. The Uchiha Clan won't be able to hold off for long, either."
Meanwhile, at the Uchiha Clan compound, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui stared blankly at the large group of clansmen in front of them who were trying to brew potions.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Explosions rang out one after another, echoing through the secret room without pause.
Uchiha Fugaku wore a complicated expression. He turned to Uchiha Shisui and asked hoarsely, "Shisui, do you think Obito was right? Does the Uchiha Clan really have a talent for brewing potions?"
"I think practicing Fire Release has fried this bunch of idiots' brains!"
Uchiha Shisui looked confused. "But I thought it was pretty simple."
"Then teach them a few more times."
Uchiha Fugaku shook his head helplessly, then shouted angrily at the clansmen trying to brew potions. "All of you, get over here and learn again! If anyone keeps causing explosions, I'll make him explode on the spot!"
"Yes!"
The Uchiha clansmen trying to brew potions looked dejected, too. They shuffled over to Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui, taking a step at a time.
Uchiha Shisui walked over to the worktable and moved through the process as smoothly as flowing water. First, he extracted the life essence from the Senju Tree. Then, he added the supplementary ingredients step by step, carefully balancing the properties of each medicinal ingredient. After a few incense sticks' worth of time, he successfully brewed a bottle of Healing Liquid.
"Did you understand?"
Uchiha Shisui had always been even-tempered. Though he had no idea how many times he'd demonstrated it, he still asked gently.
The Uchiha clansmen around him nodded, then immediately shook their heads. They exchanged bewildered looks.
"If there's anything you don't understand, ask already!"
Uchiha Fugaku had always had a bad temper when he was Clan Head, and now that he wasn't Clan Head anymore, it was even worse.
Uchiha Kenichi hurried forward from the crowd and called out, "Deputy Clan Head, I think the Clan Head is making things difficult for me, Kenichi! The reactions between these properties are just too complicated. I stared at them until my Sharingan got sore, but it still exploded!"
"Yeah, my head's spinning, too."
"I've got it worse. It exploded while I was extracting the ingredients."
"How can you even make that explode? You're a real genius!"
The Uchiha clansmen had been bottling up their frustrations, and they started talking all at once.
Uchiha Fugaku drew a deep breath and shouted, "Quiet!"
Uchiha Fugaku's authority had been established over a long time, and everyone fell silent without thinking.
He looked over the many Uchiha elites who had awakened the Sharingan, barely suppressing his anger. "Each of you will demonstrate the process in front of Shisui and me again. We'll correct your mistakes one by one."
"Yes!"
The Uchiha clansmen obediently formed a long line and began another round of explosive experiments.
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