Ji's Older Brother

"One day," Minato Namikaze said.

"What about Master Jiraiya and Kiba Inuzuka? Are they alright?" Uchiha Matsuri asked.

"Don't worry, Master Jiraiya and Kiba are in another room. The Six Rogue Ninjas were driven off by Master Jiraiya long ago," Minato Namikaze responded with a smile.

Before long, Jiraiya and Kiba Inuzuka entered the guest room. Seeing Uchiha Matsuri wake up, Jiraiya asked with concern, "How are you feeling? Is anything uncomfortable?"

"Nothing major, just a bit weak," Uchiha Matsuri replied with a smile.

"As long as you're fine," Jiraiya chuckled.

"Matsuri, did you get cold feet?" Kiba Inuzuka suddenly blurted out, asking in his slightly "dim-witted" way, "When Master Jiraiya found you, you were already unconscious more than a hundred meters away from us."

"Kiba makes a good point. What did you encounter back then?" Jiraiya asked with equal curiosity.

"At that time..."

Uchiha Matsuri recounted the encounter in detail, from his battle with Yoru Mizuzuki to the desperate fight against Mu Liuye and Showa Yoko.

Nearby, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Kiba Inuzuka listened intently, nodding from time to time.

When Uchiha Matsuri mentioned the names "Showa Yoko" and "Mu Liuye," Jiraiya's gaze flickered for a moment.

"What is it, Master Jiraiya?" Minato Namikaze was the first to notice the change in Jiraiya's expression and asked in confusion.

"I know these two people, Showa Yoko and Mu Liuye," Jiraiya said with a calm expression.

"What?"

The three of them exclaimed in unison.

"Master Jiraiya, what is their background?" Uchiha Matsuri asked, puzzled.

Glancing at Uchiha Matsuri, Jiraiya said slowly, "These two were originally ninjas of our Konoha. However, for certain reasons, they defected from the village and then disappeared without a trace."

So that's how it is, Uchiha Matsuri thought to himself.

During the battle, Uchiha Matsuri had caught a glimpse of the headbands worn by Showa Yoko and Mu Liuye, and he was surprised to find that they seemed to bear the Konoha symbol.

"Furthermore, Matsuri, you might not be very familiar with them, but your brother knows them inside and out," Jiraiya added suddenly.

"Matsuri's brother?" Minato Namikaze and Kiba Inuzuka asked in astonishment.

All this time, in the minds of Minato Namikaze and Kiba Inuzuka, Uchiha Matsuri had been nothing more than an orphan staying at Jiraiya's home. The sudden appearance of a brother caught them both off guard.

If he had a brother, how could Uchiha Matsuri be an orphan?

Seeing the disbelief on the faces of Minato Namikaze and Kiba Inuzuka, Jiraiya smiled and explained, "That's right, Matsuri does have a biological brother."

"Matsuri's brother is named Fugaku Uchiha, who is also an orphan. Like Matsuri, after his parents died in battle, the nine-year-old Fugaku Uchiha was adopted by the head of the Uchiha Clan. Now, Matsuri's brother holds the position of Deputy Captain of the Konoha Military Police Force."

Hearing Jiraiya speak of his brother, Uchiha Matsuri couldn't help but recall certain things.

In this life, Uchiha Matsuri did indeed have a brother, and this brother happened to be Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha Clan from the original Naruto series—the father of Sasuke Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha.

So that makes me the uncle of Sasuke and Itachi, Uchiha Matsuri mused to himself.

Unlike the brothers Itachi and Sasuke, the relationship between Fugaku Uchiha and Uchiha Matsuri was not particularly close. As his older brother, Fugaku Uchiha had only visited Uchiha Matsuri twice in ten years.

Therefore, Uchiha Matsuri didn't have much affection for his brother, Fugaku Uchiha.

"Deputy Captain of the Konoha Military Police Force? It seems Matsuri's brother is quite impressive," Minato Namikaze couldn't help but praise.

"Indeed. Since the head of the Uchiha Clan had no heirs, he has been grooming Fugaku Uchiha to be the next clan leader," Jiraiya nodded.

"Uh, Master Jiraiya, what is the Konoha Military Police Force?" Listening to the conversation between Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya, Kiba Inuzuka looked completely bewildered.

"..."

After Kiba Inuzuka finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room turned icy. Realizing he might have said something wrong, Kiba Inuzuka said sheepishly, "I was just asking."

"As for the Konoha Military Police Force, let Minato explain it to you slowly later," Jiraiya said.

"Back to the main point," Jiraiya looked at the attentive Uchiha Matsuri. "Of the two people you encountered that day, Showa Yoko was once a teammate of Fugaku Uchiha, while Mu Liuye was Fugaku Uchiha's teacher at the Ninja Academy."

"Then, Master Jiraiya, how strong are these two?" Kiba Inuzuka asked impatiently.

At this moment, Kiba Inuzuka still harbored a strong sense of rivalry toward Uchiha Matsuri. He took a keen interest in collecting any battle reports involving him.

"As for these two, if you take them individually, they only have the strength of average Chunin," Jiraiya said.

"Tch~ just Chunin," Kiba Inuzuka scoffed, glancing at Uchiha Matsuri with disdain.

Although Uchiha Matsuri had been fighting Yoru Mizuzuki for a long time before facing the two, he had activated his Yin Seal at the time, possessed medical ninjutsu, and had the Sharingan as a backup. Logically, dealing with two very ordinary Chunin should have been simple.

Yet, according to Uchiha Matsuri's description, he had only managed to severely injure them in the end.

Thinking of this, Kiba Inuzuka secretly mocked Uchiha Matsuri.

"However..." Jiraiya paused for dramatic effect before speaking again.

"However what?"

"However, if the two of them join forces, they can reach at least the strength of a Jonin," Jiraiya shrugged and smiled.

"What?" Kiba Inuzuka felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.

If Uchiha Matsuri was able to severely wound two people with the combined strength of a Jonin, it implicitly meant that Uchiha Matsuri's strength wasn't that bad either—at the very least, he was no worse than an average Chunin.

Doused with a bucket of cold water, Kiba Inuzuka still wouldn't give up and asked Jiraiya, "Master Jiraiya, what about the strength of the person I faced yesterday?"

"That guy!" Jiraiya said nonchalantly. "That person is the weakest of the 'Six Rogue Ninjas.' At best, he's just at the level of an average Chunin."

In an instant, Kiba Inuzuka's last shred of hope was shattered.

He had to realize that Kiba Inuzuka had been suppressed and beaten by that guy the entire time yesterday! In the end, that guy was just an average Chunin. Kiba Inuzuka suddenly felt he had lost all face.