Add Fuel to the Fire! (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Comrades, you've worked hard!"

Standing on a podium formed from Earth Style jutsu, Uchiha Jin held the championship trophy and a bouquet of flowers, greeting the crowd beneath the ring with a warm smile.

Beside Uchiha Jin, Uchiha Habara and Uchiha Tonan also held trophies and flowers, yet they maintained cold expressions, proudly tilting their heads forty-five degrees to gaze at the sky.

However, from the slight curve at the corners of their mouths, it was not hard to tell that these two Uchiha who had successfully advanced to the 'Kage-level' were actually quite pleased with the cheers and recognition from their clansmen.

Clearly!

Not a single Uchiha felt truly resentful about losing to Uchiha Jin in the final match.

Even if there was any, it was only resentment toward their own lack of talent and insufficient effort.

As for the fact that Uchiha Jin hadn't participated in the preliminary rounds but had forcibly assigned himself a spot in the final four...

While this matter left the present Uchiha speechless, once Uchiha Jin displayed his overwhelming strength, no one cared about such a trivial detail anymore.

After all, the tournament rules had long since clearly stated that the final interpretation of all actions during The World's Number One Ninja Way tournament belonged to the chief judge, Uchiha Jin!

It made perfect sense!

"Make the Uchiha great again!"

"Make the Uchiha great again!"

"Make the Uchiha great again!"

Feeling the thunderous cheers, Uchiha Jin couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. As his plan gradually began to unfold, it was time to prepare to step onto the main stage.

Glancing at Uchiha Fugaku and Setsuna, who were still grinning foolishly on the VIP platform, Uchiha Jin curled his lip in disdain.

It wasn't that Uchiha Jin had such an intense desire for power; it was simply that those two useless CP members were like the legendary Liu Shan—impossible to support. To ensure the smooth implementation of his plan, he had no choice but to step out from behind the scenes.

For the Uchiha Clan, which had always valued the strong, there was naturally no better way to gain recognition than by demonstrating one's own power.

Sure enough!

The Uchiha were all stubborn fools; as long as you could beat them into total submission, everything else became easy to handle!

Back then, Senju Hashirama hadn't hit them hard enough, which allowed Uchiha Madara to develop those messy ideas, giving Black Zetsu the opportunity to sow discord.

The same went for Sarutobi Hiruzen. If only...

Oh!

It seemed this 'Strongest Hokage' couldn't beat the entire Uchiha Clan into submission, so never mind...

Since this 'Strongest Hokage' couldn't do it in the past, he shouldn't even dream of such a thing from this day forward.

After the tempering of this tournament, the top combat power of the Uchiha Clan had seen a significant boost, but barring any accidents, it would be limited to this for the time being.

After all.

What currently constrained the Uchiha Clan was a lack of time to digest and absorb these gains, and an even greater limitation was the sheer number of Uchiha ninjas.

Looking across Konoha Village, while the term 'genin' seemed completely unremarkable—and the Uchiha were the only ones with more chunin than genin—this didn't mean the number of genin was unimportant.

Unless they were facing an outlier like Uchiha Madara, these looked-down-upon genin still had the chance to inflict damage on chunin and even jonin, and if one wasn't careful, even a 'Kage-level' threat wasn't impossible.

After all, they were ninjas...

Most of them couldn't change the professional trait of having high attack power but low defense!

Especially in large-scale warfare, even a genin had the potential to kill a jonin. It was precisely for this reason that newly graduated ninja academy students were sometimes sent to the battlefield.

Having one more genin on the battlefield meant one more human bomb at a critical moment!

But regarding the shortage of genin, even with Uchiha Jin's perspective, which differed from this world, it remained a thorny problem that was extremely difficult to solve.

The Uchiha's reputation had been smeared so badly that there was no way to recruit through mass mobilization, and the fertility rate of bloodline clans was truly hard to describe.

Furthermore, while the profession of a ninja sounded incredibly prestigious, the actual income was quite disheartening. It was estimated that the only ones with the energy and financial resources to have a second child were high-ranking clan members like Uchiha Fugaku.

Huh!

It seemed he had discovered a blind spot!

No wonder the Mangekyo and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan always appeared within the lineage of the clan head and elders. So that was it...

Uchiha Jin silently criticized the injustice of the Ninja World in his heart, then shifted his gaze from the cheering crowd below the ring toward the VIP platform.

After this event, the number of jonin in the Uchiha Clan had increased by a full thirteen. Coupled with the two Kage-level figures beside him, their top-tier combat power was now more than sufficient.

With this level of strength, as long as they weren't facing the combined siege of a super-large ninja village, they were fully capable of suppressing any noble clan within the Ninja World.

Uh...

The Otsutsuki Clan on the moon didn't count, unless they agreed not to use cheats like the large Tenseigan.

Therefore...

Uchiha Jin's gaze slowly swept over the people on the VIP platform, finally resting without a trace on the sorrowful faces of Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.

"After three days of fermentation, some people must be getting very impatient!"

Uchiha Jin sneered in his heart, the killing intent in his eyes beginning to boil, and then he said softly with a hint of emotion.

"It just so happens that I've been waiting quite impatiently myself. Let me add a little more fuel to your finale!"

"What?"

Beside him, Uchiha Habara and Uchiha Tonan keenly sensed that fleeting flash of killing intent, and thus both looked toward Uchiha Jin with a touch of curiosity.

"It's nothing!"

The killing intent on Uchiha Jin's body vanished in an instant, replaced by a warmth as gentle as a spring breeze. After waving slightly at Uchiha Habara and Uchiha Tonan, he turned his gaze back toward the arena.

"Attention, everyone!"

"Yes!"

Following Uchiha Jin's loud shout, the Uchiha, who had grown accustomed to taking orders over the past few days, stood at attention in unison, waiting quietly for their leader's instructions.

"The results of the matches are not important; what matters is what you have learned from them. Now, I announce!"

Uchiha Jin did not bother to demonstrate his mastery of empty rhetoric, but instead continued to roar at the crowd with great decisiveness.

"Genin and Chunin, listen up!"

"Yes!"

"You may disperse, or you may stay here to exchange what you've gained from the matches. Integrate these experiences into your very flesh and blood as much as you can. As long as you can manage that, the rank of Jonin will be within your grasp!"

"Yes!"

The roar of hundreds of people, their eyes filled with pleasant surprise, caused the quiet Uchiha compound to erupt once again, leaving the Root members stationed outside the compound shaken to their cores yet again.

After settling the Genin and Chunin, Uchiha Jin immediately turned his gaze toward the ranks of the Uchiha Jonin.

"Uchiha Jonin, listen up!"

"Yes!"

Although their numbers were significantly fewer than the former group, the momentum erupted by the Uchiha Jonin was even more fierce, and every one of them wore a smile brimming with confidence.

"Let's go, we're going to eat grilled meat!"

"Huh?"

"What?"