A Rising Star, a Name Known Throughout Konoha

Konoha, Uchiha Clan Grounds, the clan head's residence.

The study's lights remained on until late at night.

Uchiha Fugaku sat behind his desk, a scroll filled with intelligence and tactical notes spread out before him.

Uchiha Jun sat across from him, holding a cup of hot tea, his face wearing just the right amount of fatigue.

"Jun, you rendered a great service this time."

Uchiha Fugaku set down the scroll in his hand and looked up at him, his gaze carrying scrutiny and approval.

"At Qionggu Ridge, you not only saved the entire squad, but also used Lightning Style: Kirin to wipe out most of Iwagakure's elite Explosion Release unit—this was no longer something a Genin could accomplish."

"I believe your Chunin appointment will come through before long."

Uchiha Jun set down his teacup and shook his head. "Captain, you flatter me. It was mainly because of your excellent command that I had the opportunity to use that technique."

"But doesn't a promotion to Chunin require taking the Chunin Exams?"

"No need to be modest. You and I both know that without your Kirin, this squad of ours would likely have suffered terrible losses by now."

"As for the Chunin Exams, those are only held in peacetime. We are at war now, so there is naturally a separate promotion system—just like the special authorization in your hand allowing you to accept A-Rank Missions."

Uchiha Fugaku waved a hand, then changed the subject. "But there is one matter I must make clear to you."

He rose and walked to the window, turning his back to Uchiha Jun. "The intelligence for this mission was leaked in advance."

Uchiha Jun's brows rose slightly. Half of this was probably a struggle between the Hokage faction and the Uchiha Clan.

The one capable of doing something like this was most likely Konoha's king of scapegoats.

But it did not matter, because Uchiha Jun's main body, far away in the Land of Earth, would soon dump another pitch-black pot on Uncle Danzo's head—and this one would come with "irrefutable evidence"!

When the time came, Danzo's best possible outcome would be being forced to defect and becoming Konoha's S-Rank rogue ninja!

"A leak?"

Uchiha Jun feigned surprise. "How could that be? The only people who should have known about this mission were Lord Hokage and the advisers..."

"That is precisely the problem."

Uchiha Fugaku turned around, his gaze sharp. "Aside from our squad, the only people with the authority to access intelligence on a mission of this level are—the senior advisers in the Hokage Building."

Uchiha Fugaku paused, his voice taking on a chill. "Shimura Danzō."

Uchiha Jun fell silent, lowering his head as though digesting the information.

After a long while, Uchiha Jun raised his head, his face bearing an appropriate heaviness. "In other words, someone wanted to use the Iwa-nin to eliminate us? Or rather, target us?"

"That is very likely."

Fugaku returned to his chair. "Since the Battle of the Valley of the End, the Uchiha Clan's standing in Konoha has steadily declined. As the Hokage's black glove, Shimura Danzō has always regarded us as a thorn in his side. This ambush gave him the perfect chance to kill with a borrowed blade."

"Even if we managed to return alive, the deaths of the shinobi clan members on this mission would still be blamed on us by the major clans, gradually undermining the Uchiha Clan's prestige!"

Uchiha Jun lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingers, as though thinking. "Then what does the clan head intend to do?"

"I intend to strike back."

Uchiha Fugaku's voice was resolute. "But our most urgent task is to first take the power held by Uchiha Setsuna and those elders!"

"Uchiha Setsuna and those elders must have had a hand in this incident as well!"

"Right now, the Uchiha Clan's Jonin cannot even present a unified position among Konoha's upper ranks. This has greatly weakened the political influence we can wield!"

With that, Uchiha Fugaku stood and went to the bookshelf. He took three ancient scrolls from a hidden compartment and laid them on the table.

"Jun, this is the highest degree of trust I can grant you as head of the Uchiha Clan."

"These are—the three categories of core secrets in the Uchiha Clan archives, accessible only to the clan head and elders."

Uchiha Fugaku's gaze was solemn and serious. "The first scroll contains the ninjutsu and genjutsu insights passed down through our clan since the Warring States Period, including annotations and improvement concepts for forbidden techniques."

"The second scroll summarizes the combat experience of past clan heads, including unique insights into advanced applications of the Sharingan."

"The third scroll—" He paused, his tone becoming even more grave. "Contains the secrets concerning the true history of the Shinobi World, passed down through our clan for generations."

"Starting today, you have the right to consult them."

Uchiha Jun froze for a moment, then stood and gave Fugaku a solemn bow. "Thank you for your trust, Clan Head."

"No need for formalities. You have earned it."

Fugaku waved a hand. "You already possess the strength of an Elite Jonin and a forbidden technique capable of changing the course of battle. The Uchiha Clan's future cannot rest on my shoulders alone. We need fresh blood—young people like you."

He walked to the window and looked at the lights of the Uchiha Clan Grounds in the distance. "Tomorrow, I will convene a clan assembly to hold people accountable for this intelligence leak. You will come with me."

"And... do not do anything extreme for the sake of power..."

Uchiha Jun nodded without asking further questions.

The next morning, at the underground secret meeting hall beneath Naka Shrine, the ancestral temple passed down through generations of the Uchiha Clan.

Ordinarily, only the clan head and a few elders were qualified to enter this place, but today, the hall was packed—besides the clan head and elders, there were also the leaders of each branch family and a handful of Jonin holding important posts in the village.

Every Jonin of the Uchiha Clan had gathered here!

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Some clan members had already begun quietly discussing the topic of this assembly.

"Tekka, what do you think the clan head intends to announce by convening this assembly?"

Among the crowd, Uchiha Yashiro, who had just been promoted to Jonin, looked at Uchiha Tekka and Uchiha Tetsu-ya beside him as Uchiha Inabi spoke softly.

"I guess he intends to reduce the authority held by Elder Setsuna and his people... I heard that the S-Rank Mission the clan head carried out this time was surrounded by Iwa-nin on the way! There was a problem with the intelligence!"

The more senior and well-informed Uchiha Tetsu-ya glanced around and spoke in a low voice.

"What?! Then..."

Uchiha Tekka and the others were startled. Their eyes discreetly turned toward the elders' group in the corner, led by Uchiha Setsuna.

"Then how did the clan head break out of the encirclement? I did not hear of any Jonin dying on the Land of Earth battlefield."

"I heard from an Aburame Clan Jonin who carried out the mission with them that Uchiha Jun unleashed some kind of large-scale S-Rank forbidden technique and forcibly blasted through the encirclement!"

"Hiss! Who is this Uchiha Jun? Could he be one of our clan's elders?!"

Uchiha Inabi and the others were shocked. An S-Rank forbidden technique was no trivial matter; those who could master one were generally possessed of Kage Level combat strength!

Even if they did not have Kage Level strength under normal circumstances, at the very least, their destructive power was enough to make Kage Level experts wary!

Who exactly was this formidable Uchiha Jun?

Why had they never heard his name before?

Was he even an Uchiha?

"Uchiha Jun?... No way! Could he be that Genin who was in the same class as Obito?!"

"A Genin? Tekka, you cannot possibly be joking at a time like this."

"No, Tekka, he..."

"The clan head is here!... Huh? Who is that young man?"

Uchiha Fugaku entered the meeting hall, followed by Uchiha Jun's Shadow Clone.

It held several intelligence scrolls Uchiha Jun had gathered through his intelligence network during this period—containing evidence of actions by the radical Uchiha faction led by Setsuna that were harmful to the Uchiha Clan.

"Everyone, the squad I led encountered an ambush at Qionggu Ridge during this mission."

Fugaku's voice was low and powerful. "After investigating, I discovered that the intelligence for this mission had been leaked to Iwagakure before our departure!"

!!

A slight commotion arose in the hall.

Some said it was a conspiracy by the Hokage Building, while others shook their heads and said there was insufficient evidence.

At that moment, a white-haired elder spoke coldly.

"Fugaku, you claim the intelligence was leaked. Do you have conclusive evidence?"

Uchiha Setsuna—the core figure of the Uchiha Clan's radicals and once one of Madara Uchiha's confidants.

He raised his head and fixed Fugaku with eyes that were somewhat clouded by age but still sharp. "If you have no conclusive evidence, then are you convening such a grand clan assembly merely to provoke a direct conflict with the Hokage Building?"

"Elder Setsuna is right. Without evidence, we cannot rashly accuse anyone."

"But likewise, if someone truly betrayed us, we cannot remain silent simply because we are afraid of making trouble."

The other elders and Jonin spoke one after another, dividing into two camps. One supported Fugaku, while the other stood with Setsuna.

Fugaku did not answer Setsuna's question directly. Instead, he turned to Uchiha Jun. "Jun, as the squad's vice-captain, do you have anything to add?"

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Uchiha Jun.

This was Uchiha Jun's first public appearance at a clan assembly.

A middle-aged Jonin from Uchiha Setsuna's faction snorted disdainfully. "A brat still wet behind the ears thinks he is qualified to speak in an occasion like this? Fugaku, are you not placing too much importance on him?"

Uchiha Jun did not get angry.

He merely raised his head, met Elder Setsuna's gaze, and slowly opened his eyes.

The next moment, his originally black pupils suddenly turned scarlet!

Three pitch-black tomoe spun rapidly within those eyes, giving off a pure and powerful fluctuation of ocular power!

The air in the entire meeting hall seemed to freeze solid.

"Th-three tomoe...?! My God, he is younger than Shisui, is he not?!"

Someone cried out softly.

Within the Uchiha Clan, every ninja who reached the three-tomoe level was among the clan's top combatants.

And Uchiha Jun—this boy who had still been the Ninja Academy's dead last just a few months ago—had already reached such a realm?!

The disdainful expressions on that Uchiha Jonin's face and Uchiha Setsuna's face instantly froze.

Uchiha Setsuna's pupils contracted slightly. He wanted to say something, but it felt as though something had clogged his throat, and not a single word came out.

But Uchiha Jun did not stop.

He raised his right hand, palm facing upward—

"Crackle—"

Dazzling blue lightning gathered in his palm, producing a piercing noise like a thousand birds crying in unison!

The lightning illuminated his young yet calm face, as well as everyone's expressions—shock, jealousy, awe, fervor, all kinds of emotions intertwined together.

"Elder."

Uchiha Jun's voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached every person's ears:

"Does a Three-Tomoe Sharingan plus an S-Rank forbidden technique qualify me to speak?"

The hall fell into dead silence.

No one dared respond.

The elders of Uchiha Setsuna's faction turned red in the face, their fingers trembling slightly.

He instinctively wanted to retort, but the almost tangible pressure emanating from Uchiha Jun made the rest of his words lodge firmly in his throat.

Among the descendants of Otsutsuki Indra, the strong would always earn the greatest respect.

What Uchiha Jun had displayed at this moment was a genuine Three-Tomoe Sharingan—already a top-tier talent within the clan!

Together with this highly aggressive, immensely condensed and powerful Lightning Style.

Such power, at such an age, was enough to make every Uchiha clansman take him seriously, even fear him!

Even though he was only barely in his teens!

"Jun... has a point."

At last, a neutral Uchiha Jonin broke the silence, his voice somewhat dry.

"The intelligence leak is indeed suspicious. At the very least, we should find out who has been pulling strings behind the scenes!"

"I second that."

"I agree as well."

More and more voices began supporting Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku's side now had an immensely promising rising talent who wielded an S-Rank forbidden technique.

Looking back at Uchiha Setsuna, only a few old diehards remained to support him. How many more years could they hold on?

Whether to charge ahead with Uchiha Setsuna's broken old ship from a bygone era or board Uchiha Fugaku's new vessel and ride the wind and waves was obvious at a glance!

"This mission was certainly not as simple as a one-sided move by the Hokage's side. Clearly, someone within the clan leaked the clan head's information!"

Seeing that the moment was right, Uchiha Jun withdrew his Chidori and Sharingan, then stepped back to stand one position behind Uchiha Fugaku.

With his head slightly lowered, he appeared humble and reserved, as though he had not been the one who had just cowed the entire clan.

But no one present would forget what they had just witnessed.

From the main seat, Uchiha Fugaku observed the changes in everyone's expressions and secretly nodded, extremely satisfied with Uchiha Jun's performance.

"Since that is the case, I hereby announce—"

He rose to his feet, his voice solemn and imposing. "Starting today, Uchiha Jun will enter the core of the Uchiha Clan Guard and serve as my deputy, responsible for training the clan's younger combat forces."

"At the same time, in light of his outstanding performance in the Battle of Qionggu Ridge, I will recommend to Lord Hokage that he be promoted to Chunin and join the Anbu."

"Those who object may raise their objections now."

"Additionally, the number of seats held by the elders' council, as well as its seats within the Uchiha Clan Guard, will be reduced."

"Who agrees? Who objects?"

No one spoke.

Elder Setsuna opened his mouth, but amid that unanimous silence, he ultimately closed his eyes and chose to acquiesce.

"Then it is decided." Fugaku clapped his hands. "The meeting is adjourned."

The news seemed to grow wings and swiftly reached the desks of Konoha's major shinobi clans.

The Hyuga Clan head frowned slightly. "The Uchiha Clan has produced another genius? Is that Lightning Style: Kirin really as formidable as they claim?"

Inside the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the report in his hand, smoking his pipe as he pondered.

"Uchiha Jun... twelve years old, self-created S-Rank Lightning Style, Three-Tomoe Sharingan... This new sapling of the Uchiha Clan is growing remarkably fast."

"...It is time to bring him close and cultivate him."

He exhaled a plume of smoke, and a complicated emotion flashed through his eyes.

"Only... the Uchiha Clan's shadow seems to be growing long again."

Konoha, Root base.

Inside Root's secret chamber, Danzo looked at the intelligence delivered by a messenger, his expression dark as water.

His exposed left eye gleamed with a cold, sinister light.

"Uchiha Jun... Uchiha again... Hmph!"

With one sweep of his hand, he knocked the scrolls from the table to the floor and rose to his feet.

"Looks like the previous plan wasn't thorough enough. We need to intensify the 'pruning of branches and leaves.'"

Under the moonlight, Konoha appeared calm on the surface, but beneath the water, hidden currents had already begun to surge.

Uchiha Jun stood atop the roof of the newly assigned house in the clan compound, gazing at the three enormous faces on Hokage Rock in the distance. A faint curve touched his lips.

"Konoha..."

He murmured softly, "This stage has only just begun."