Uchiha Masaki Was Deeply Shocked

Chiyu returned to the underground base, but Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen.

After taking a shower, Chiyu went back to his room and fell asleep.

At first, Chiyu had indeed been quite angry about Uchiha Yuto and Uchiha Kazuma.

Did they really think he was still the pushover he used to be, someone they could bully whenever they pleased?

But later, Chiyu stopped being angry. There was no point getting upset with idiots like them.

He even found the two of them rather amusing.

They could not beat him, so they had dragged out the Uchiha Clan to pressure him.

Orochimaru had his back now. What did he have to fear?

Lying in bed, Chiyu quickly drifted off to sleep.

Uchiha Yuto and Uchiha Kazuma, on the other hand, were not nearly as comfortable. They were currently receiving treatment at the Ninja Hospital.

Not long afterward, the current head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Masaki, arrived at the Ninja Hospital. A child around Chiyu's age accompanied him.

This child was the next head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku.

When Uchiha Masaki saw Uchiha Yuto and Uchiha Kazuma with their right arms wrapped in plaster bandages, he frowned and asked, "What happened?!"

Seeing Uchiha Masaki arrive, Uchiha Kazuma was so nervous that he did not dare speak.

Gritting his teeth, Uchiha Yuto said, "Clan Head, it was that bastard Chiyu!"

Uchiha Masaki's frown deepened. "Didn't I tell you? None of you are to go looking for trouble with him!"

Uchiha Masaki knew that Chiyu had handed over an A-Rank Nintaijutsu, and several members of the Uchiha Clan had learned it.

Anyone with eyes could see from Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude toward Chiyu that he intended to nurture him.

At the same time, not many people knew that Orochimaru had taken Chiyu as his disciple, but as clan head, Uchiha Masaki had ways of learning about it.

The disciple of the Third Hokage, accepted by Orochimaru—one of Konoha's Sannin—Chiyu's status in Konoha had risen sharply. He was clearly part of the Hokage's faction now.

In fact, when Chiyu contributed that A-Rank Nintaijutsu and Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude toward him began to change, Uchiha Masaki had already ordered the Uchiha Clan not to cause trouble for Chiyu.

That was why the Uchiha Clan had not bothered Chiyu during the past few years.

After Chiyu became Orochimaru's disciple, Uchiha Masaki had emphasized once again that they were not to trouble him.

In a low voice, Uchiha Masaki asked, "You were the ones who went looking for trouble with him?"

Uchiha Yuto moved his lips, but ultimately said nothing.

Although Uchiha Yuto and Uchiha Kazuma flaunted their status as members of the Uchiha Clan and threw their weight around in daily life, their sense of belonging to the clan and pride in being Uchiha made them disdain lying.

Uchiha Masaki's expression darkened. "Once you recover and return to the clan, you will be dealt with according to clan rules! I'll say it again: do not go looking for trouble with him!"

Uchiha Masaki truly felt a sense of frustration toward his clansmen. They were hopelessly arrogant and could not read the situation at all.

Uchiha Masaki understood the Uchiha Clan's position in Konoha very clearly.

In his view, the current Uchiha Clan was like a dying old man, having one final burst of vitality before fading away.

The villagers feared and hated them, while the clansmen were arrogant and conceited.

If the ninja world were not so unstable right now, and if Konoha did not still need the Uchiha Clan, Konoha might already have begun purging them.

If there was anyone in Konoha most willing to see war break out, aside from Danzo, that old schemer hiding in the shadows, it was Uchiha Masaki.

In Uchiha Masaki's view, the only way for the Uchiha Clan to regain its vitality was to prove its value.

They needed to tell Hiruzen Sarutobi and the villagers that Konoha could not do without the Uchiha Clan.

And how could they prove their value? Only on the battlefield.

Uchiha Masaki had repeatedly told his clansmen to keep a low profile, but they were accustomed to acting high and mighty. Even when told to lie low, their habits were difficult to change.

Uchiha Masaki was nearly depressed. Being clan head like this was probably shaving years off his life.

Uchiha Masaki glanced at Uchiha Fugaku beside him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

His only consolation was that his son had not gone astray. Unlike the other clansmen, he was not arrogant and dismissive of everyone else.

Uchiha Masaki believed that his son would surely become a qualified clan head in the future.

Uchiha Masaki looked at Uchiha Yuto and Uchiha Kazuma lying in their hospital beds, but in the end said nothing. They had disappointed him too greatly, and anything he said would only go in one ear and out the other. Forget it. There was no point saying anything.

Just as Uchiha Masaki was about to leave, Uchiha Yuto finally spoke after a struggle. "Clan Head, that bastard Chiyu... awakened the Sharingan!"

Uchiha Masaki abruptly stopped and turned around in disbelief. "What did you say?!"

Uchiha Yuto repeated himself. "That bastard Chiyu awakened the Sharingan!"

Uchiha Masaki's expression shifted repeatedly. "How old is he this year? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

Uchiha Fugaku answered, "Father, he is two years below me. He should be twelve."

Uchiha Masaki was utterly shocked. "He awakened the Sharingan at twelve? No, he might not have awakened it at twelve. That boy... is a genius?!"

His son, Uchiha Fugaku, was already recognized as a genius within the clan, yet fourteen-year-old Uchiha Fugaku still had not awakened his eyes.

Even Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha Clan's acknowledged strongest member and former leader, had only awakened the Sharingan at fifteen.

Uchiha Masaki recalled the scene when Konoha's Anbu had once brought Chiyu to the Uchiha Clan.

Because Chiyu carried the bloodline of the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan's sworn enemy, not only the clansmen but Uchiha Masaki himself had looked down on Chiyu.

So he had flatly refused to acknowledge Chiyu's identity as Uchiha.

If he had known Chiyu possessed such incredible talent, he would have kept Chiyu in the Uchiha Clan even if everyone opposed it!

But it was useless to regret it now.

Uchiha Masaki thought of many things, and Uchiha Fugaku did as well.

As the son of the Uchiha Clan's head, everyone in the clan praised him as a genius and said that he would surely become the Uchiha Clan's strongest member in the future.

Uchiha Fugaku had great confidence in himself as well. He believed he would definitely grow powerful and become a pillar of the Uchiha Clan.

Yet Chiyu, who possessed only half the Uchiha Bloodline, had awakened the Sharingan. Uchiha Fugaku was deeply shaken, and at the same time, somewhat unwilling to accept it.

Chiyu might have awakened the Sharingan before he was even twelve, while he, who was called a genius day in and day out, still showed no sign of awakening the Sharingan.