Trident: Are You Being Polite?

Clan Head Fugaku raised a hand and pressed it down.

The endlessly arguing meeting room fell silent at once.

Qingfeng silently gave Fugaku a thumbs-up. The Clan Head truly carried considerable authority. Even when they were internally vying for the position of Hokage, the candidate they put forward was still Fugaku.

"The war has only just ended. Within Leaf Village, our Uchiha clan is the strongest, so it is only natural for the Hokage to be wary of us. As long as we fulfill our duties, the Uchiha will rise again someday."

Qingfeng quietly mocked him in his heart. For something like holding meetings in a basement, the Hokage was already remarkably tolerant for not taking direct action.

Fugaku could still keep the situation under control. No one objected to his analysis or to the stance the Uchiha should take going forward.

"This meeting is over. Everyone, return home."

Elder Uchiha Setsuna did not say anything else this time and began gathering the items on the table.

Uchiha Qingfeng had only come to make up the numbers. But during the earlier argument, Qingfeng had carefully observed every clansman who voiced objections.

At present, those who were dissatisfied made up less than a fifth of the clan. Most clansmen had grown accustomed to peaceful days. The village protected their families, and everyone protected the village together.

But a spark could start a prairie fire. As things continued to ferment, more people would join the dissatisfied crowd.

Desire was bottomless. Once ambition had been stirred, it was impossible to suppress it again with a few words.

After all the clansmen had left, Fugaku stood before the stone tablet and paced for a while.

Compared to such legendary things, he now had Mikoto, Itachi, and Sasuke. This was already the best kind of peace.

Fugaku ultimately left. Those illusory sages were better left in legends.

Qingfeng and Itachi walked back together.

"Itachi, did you notice those clansmen who were particularly agitated earlier? They can't remain in the Guard Division. It would be better to send them out of the village on missions."

Itachi understood what Qingfeng meant. Such resentment could easily influence the surrounding clansmen, and remaining in the Guard Division would make clashes with the Anbu more likely, worsening the hostility between both sides.

"Only Father can decide something like that, but I'll do my best to persuade him."

In the Ninja World, staying alive was difficult enough. Yet some people still wanted to stir up trouble. They really were tired of living.

When they reached the entrance of the Clan Head's home, Qingfeng could not help adding, "Itachi, don't forget your agreement with Shisui. Don't neglect your training."

These past few days, Itachi had been looking after Little Sasuke at home every day and had not trained with Qingfeng for a long time.

"Don't worry, Qingfeng. I haven't slackened off even at home."

Qingfeng recalled the large pond at Itachi's house, as well as the small training ground.

As expected of the Uchiha clan's eldest young master.

"We can spar sometime."

Qingfeng waved and left. Rather than worrying about Itachi, he should worry about himself.

The mission "Survive the Nine-Tails' Rampage" was still hanging in his mission log. He had never felt secure about it.

Even when passing by his home in Uchiha territory, he absolutely would not go inside to take a look. At this time, some "Tobi" might have already infiltrated Konoha to gather intelligence.

Wouldn't it be awkward if he ran into him? Should he pretend not to know him? Or pretend not to know him?

Going back to the Pharmacy was safer.

The Trident Four Brothers, who had been waiting bitterly within the clan for Qingfeng to return home, finally encountered him. They watched as Qingfeng walked straight past his front door as though he did not know them at all.

"Uchiha Qingfeng, do you know how we've spent these past few months?"

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and he finally noticed the Trident Four Brothers, whom he had not seen in a long time.

"Mm... you could play, touch, sleep—spend your time however you liked. You didn't need to ask me."

Trident did not take Qingfeng's terrible attitude to heart at all. As long as you were strong, you could say whatever you wanted.

Poor Qingfeng could only show off in front of people his own age.

"Qingfeng, we've already refined Chakra. How do we awaken our Sharingan next?"

Qingfeng sensed them for a moment and discovered that the four of them had indeed refined Chakra. They were not complete trash after all. Their amount of Chakra was about the same as Shisui's Crow.

"Mm, you do have Chakra. But you're still far from awakening your eyes at this level. Keep working hard!"

"Didn't you say last time that we could awaken our eyes once we had Chakra?"

Qingfeng thought back. It seemed he really had said that.

"Oh, I was lying to you last time."

Trident: ...

"Qingfeng, do you think you're being polite?"

"Hm? You want to talk to me about manners? Shouldn't you go home and ask your grandfathers that question? Is it polite for you to ask me? I'm not your grandfather either."

The Trident Four Brothers were nearly in tears. Back then, they had only intended to scare Qingfeng a little. They had never expected him to become someone they could not defeat, nor could they win against him in an argument.

They were even being humiliated and had no idea how to retort.

The four brothers were provoked. Their captain, Uchiha Ishi, who called himself the "Jiba" of Trident, left behind one sentence. "I'm going back to tell my grandfather..."

Upon hearing that, Qingfeng finally remembered. This guy's grandfather might be Elder Uchiha Eagle.

"Your grandfather is Elder Eagle?"

The Trident captain, who had been about to leave, honestly nodded after hearing Qingfeng's question.

Elder Eagle had treated Qingfeng fairly well. If his grandson went back to complain, it would not have any serious consequences, but some unpleasant rumors would still spread.

"To awaken the Sharingan, you need powerful Chakra. You have too little Chakra right now, so it's simply impossible. Only by training harder in the future will you have a chance."

"And you—if you dare go back and complain, I'll beat you up every time I see you. Remember that."

Seeing Qingfeng's serious expression, Trident hurriedly nodded.

They had only been saying a few harsh words. They did not truly intend to complain. The Trident Four Brothers had run rampant through the Uchiha for so many years and had never done something as shameful as complaining after losing a fight. That was something only the weak would do.

Qingfeng was somewhat worried that the four of them loved hanging around outside his house whenever they had nothing to do. If they truly ran into someone they should not have, and it caused some kind of consequence, Qingfeng did not want to see it happen.

"I won't be coming back here for a long time. I'm temporarily staying at the Pharmacy on Commercial Street. If you want to find me later, you can go there."

Qingfeng still told the four brothers where he was currently staying. They should not wander around this place when they had nothing to do. Danger might come at any time.

"Looks like Qingfeng plans to guide us seriously from now on."

"The captain truly is wise. That move of showing weakness was amazing!"

"Um, we weren't showing weakness. We're actually weak right now."

"Once we all awaken our Sharingan, even Qingfeng won't be able to fight four of us by himself, right?"

It was one thing to lose to One-Against-Seven. After all, he was the Clan Head's eldest son...

Qingfeng ignored their whispers and had already walked out through the Uchiha gates.

Surely news of the Uchiha's "secretly convened" clan meeting today had already reached the Hokage. The problem was, this really had not been secretly convened...

Wait, the Hokage and the others could not possibly be unaware of the Uchiha tradition...