"Now, I hereby announce that the Uchiha's first 'World's Number One Ninja Tournament' has officially come to a perfect close!"
Uchiha Tombo stood at the very center of the arena and called out to the Uchiha, who had all gathered there!
"Make the Uchiha great again!"
As Uchiha Tombo's words rang out, thunderous cheers erupted. Every Uchiha's face was alight with undisguised adoration.
"Make the Uchiha great again!"
At that moment, even the elders on the viewing platform couldn't hold back their tears. They roared along with equal fervor, their broken voices sounding as if they were about to be laid in their graves.
Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Fugaku had tears in their eyes, too. They were filled with the same youthful vigor they'd had in their prime. After exchanging a smile, they joined in the chant in low voices.
"Make the Uchiha great again!"
The only ones who seemed out of place were Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, standing at the edge of the viewing platform.
"How could this happen..."
A trace of distress showed in Uchiha Shisui's eyes. He simply couldn't believe that the Uchiha Clan had undergone such a tremendous transformation in just three short days.
The Uchiha Clan had originally boasted nearly a thousand ninja. Although their numbers hadn't grown much, their quality was now on an entirely different level.
After three days of intense, high-quality matches, every Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan had made tremendous strides. Even some envious clansmen had angrily awakened their Sharingan under the stimulation of the feverish atmosphere.
If not for the limitations of each Uchiha's talent and age, the thousand people gathered here wouldn't have been ordinary ninja. They would have been a thousand elite Jonin—enough to scare Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō out of their wits.
Though Shisui was still deeply shocked, after watching for three days, it all seemed perfectly reasonable.
Over a hundred high-quality ninja duels had showcased everything from ninjutsu techniques and varied combat strategies to split-second timing and fine control. Every last detail had been perfectly suited to the Sharingan's strengths.
And that wasn't all. Once the tournament reached the round of thirty-two, Uchiha Jin had even brought the elders onto the viewing platform to act as commentators and sum up each match.
That masterstroke had greatly improved the participants' engagement and their understanding of the craft.
With elite Jonin demonstrating their skills without reservation, and Kage-level experts analyzing and summarizing what they saw, anyone who couldn't learn something from that kind of hands-on instruction might as well go home and give up being a ninja.
After that succession of combined blows, it wasn't just the Uchiha Chunin and Jonin below the arena who benefited. Even Shisui, who had possessed Kage-level strength since the Third Shinobi World War, was shocked to discover that he, too, had gained quite a lot.
Hiss...
At that moment, neither Shisui, Fugaku, and Setsuna nor Uchiha Jin himself had expected this.
In a world where offense was powerful, defense was weak, and everyone lived under the shadow of war, every ninja who reached Jonin level possessed a trump card that could make people sit up and take notice.
Originally...
Those cards were meant to be lethal surprises for enemies. But here, before their clansmen's eyes, and driven by their longing for glory and strength,
every Uchiha had demonstrated them without reservation in the arena. This had given Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Jin an even clearer understanding of the Uchiha Clan's terrifying potential for war.
Of course,
Shisui felt mostly horror, while Uchiha Jin felt mostly excitement.
The Uchiha Clan now had an exceptionally solid foundation, but what mattered more to Uchiha Jin were the bonds the clansmen had forged through the tournament.
He'd been in this world for some time now, but he still struggled to understand this somewhat masochistic trait.
Yet for the Uchiha Clan, that was simply the truth. Nothing brought people closer together more readily than fists and blades.
Through the hundred or so battles in the tournament, Uchiha Jin could clearly sense that opponents who had nearly killed one another in the arena moments earlier looked at each other with mutual respect as soon as the match ended.
It wasn't hard to imagine!
If he led the Uchiha into a fight to the death against Konoha now, they might even awaken a few Mangekyo Sharingan amid the blood and flames.
The thought made Jin's heart surge with excitement. At last, the unease he'd felt ever since arriving in this world had given way to a trace of comforting warmth.
And then,
what surprised Uchiha Jin even more was that, in addition to the increase in Uchiha Jonin he'd expected, two Uchiha elite Jonin had broken through the threshold of Kage-level strength.
They were Uchiha Habara and Uchiha Tonan, standing beside Uchiha Jin. Neither had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, but both had finally overcome a bottleneck in their mastery of Fire Release and Lightning Release.
Kage-level strength didn't make someone Hokage!
Becoming Hokage required Kage-level strength, but having Kage-level strength didn't necessarily mean someone could become the shadow of a village.
In fact, what people called Kage-level strength should properly be called an S-rank ninja!
Generally speaking, the heads of major ninja clans such as the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, the Sarutobi Clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, and the Aburame Clan would all possess the strength of an S-rank ninja.
The great clans of the Ninja World, especially the Uchiha and Hyuga, usually had at least two publicly recognized Kage-level powerhouses in any given generation.
The Uchiha's public faces in this generation were Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Fugaku. Uchiha Shisui's record was the issue, and he hadn't revealed his Mangekyo, so no one classified him as Kage-level.
Given that,
Uchiha Jin was only a little surprised that two more Kage-level fighters had appeared. Fugaku and Setsuna on the viewing platform, however, were grinning from ear to ear.
Three young Kage-level newcomers! They'd only just started down the path, but even so, they could take on those so-called clan leaders one-on-one by overwhelming them with sheer numbers!
And that wasn't even mentioning the Mangekyo wielder...
The two now gazed at each other without the slightest trace of discord, standing so close that their affectionate air practically reeked. Shisui's already sinking spirits fell all the way to the bottom.
"What should I do!"
Seeing how completely the Uchiha Clan had been transformed, and how its clansmen were going further and further down the path of the Radical Faction, Uchiha Shisui was filled with despair.
Even Kotoamatsukami couldn't change the minds of so many people!
Shisui's heart sank. But when he felt Uchiha Itachi clutching his right hand, trying to help him pull himself together, his despondency eased a little.
Shisui looked up.
He glanced at Uchiha Jin!
No... There was no saving that guy. He couldn't be persuaded.
Shisui glanced again at the clan head and the great elder not far away, then at Uchiha Itachi beside him. As though he'd found a lifeline, he spoke to Uchiha Itachi in a soft, pleading voice, choking back tears.
"Itachi, the clan head still needs you to reassure him. You're his son, after all. Maybe you're the only one who can talk some sense into him now!"
At that, Uchiha Itachi lifted his head slightly and glanced at that familiar figure in the distance. A hint of coldness gradually crept into his complicated gaze.
"Don't worry, Shisui. Leave it to me!"
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