Return to Hidden Leaf

Early the next morning.

At the entrance to the Hidden Leaf front-line camp.

Yin Jie was saying goodbye to Uchiha Yasashiro.

The reason was that Uchiha Fugaku, the newly appointed captain of the Hidden Leaf Police Force, had personally made the trip in order to bring Yin Jie, the clan's talented young prodigy, back to the village.

Therefore, with no other matters holding him back, Uchiha Fugaku decided to take Yin Jie back to the Hidden Leaf as soon as possible and settle the matter once and for all.

After all, battle could break out here at any moment. It would be troublesome if they were caught up in it.

Although he did not fear war, in the midst of chaos, he was not confident he could protect Yin Jie from all harm.

"Big Brother Yasashiro! I'll wait for your triumphant return in the Hidden Leaf!"

Yin Jie offered Uchiha Yasashiro his sincere wishes.

Though he did not know exactly what role Yasashiro would play in the Hidden Leaf's upcoming major operation, he knew that with Yasashiro's strength, ordinary Hidden Sand ninja posed no threat to him.

"Mm! I will!"

Upon hearing Yin Jie's blessing, the corners of Uchiha Yasashiro's lips curved into a faint, nearly imperceptible smile.

Then, he discreetly glanced at Uchiha Fugaku, who stood not far behind Yin Jie, raised his voice slightly, and added,

"On the way back to the village, make sure you listen to your Uncle Fugaku..."

"Yasashiro!"

Uchiha Fugaku's face instantly darkened again. He hurriedly cut off Uchiha Yasashiro's "casting," then stepped forward, grabbed Yin Jie, gathered his two guards, and left without looking back.

Only Uchiha Yasashiro's hearty laughter remained, carried by the morning breeze throughout the entire front-line camp.

Two and a half days passed in the blink of an eye.

After traveling through wind and dust all the way, Yin Jie and Fugaku's group finally approached Hidden Leaf Village.

It was noon, but the weather in the Land of Fire was vastly different from that of the Land of Rain.

The sky was blue like a freshly washed pane of glass, utterly cloudless.

Dazzling sunlight poured straight down from the heavens, filtering through the towering branches on either side of the road and casting mottled patches of light across the ground like scattered gold leaf.

Three adults and one child—a total of four figures—slowly appeared at the end of the straight road leading to Hidden Leaf Village.

Before the open green gates, the two chunin on duty, responsible for registration, were briefly stunned, their expressions turning slightly dazed.

Of course, they recognized Uchiha Fugaku, the new captain of the Hidden Leaf Police Force, who had gained considerable renown within the village. They also knew that a few days ago, he had left the village with two guards to carry out a mission.

But what was with this extra child, whose appearance clearly suggested he belonged to the Uchiha Clan?

He had not been there when they left the village!

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through the two chunin's minds.

After all, as chunin of the Hidden Leaf, how could they not know how much bloodline ninja clans valued their own bloodlines?

Especially the Uchiha Clan, which firmly held the top position among all the village's bloodline ninja clans.

Could it be...

Gasp!

The two exchanged a glance and instinctively sucked in a breath. Then, the way they looked at Uchiha Fugaku gradually became strange.

However, they had no intention of prying into private affairs.

Though it was their duty, they were not incapable of reading the situation. After all, this child had been openly brought back by the captain of the Police Force, so there could not possibly be any problem with his identity.

Thus, when Fugaku's group of four approached, both men straightened their expressions and respectfully bowed in unison to Uchiha Fugaku, captain of the Hidden Leaf Police Force.

"Lord Fugaku!!!"

"Welcome back!!!"

Uchiha Fugaku nodded impassively, but his heart was far less calm than he appeared.

The Sharingan's enhancement of his vision allowed him to clearly see the suspicion in the eyes of those two chunin at the Hidden Leaf gates, even without activating it.

However, true to his nature, he did not offer any explanation. Instead, he waved to Uchiha En and Uchiha Chen, signaling for them to stay behind and register their entry into the village, while also explaining Yin Jie's background to the two chunin.

Otherwise, before the next day even arrived, "rumors" about him would likely spread rapidly throughout the village.

Inside Hidden Leaf Village.

The broad bluestone streets were packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.

Yin Jie and Fugaku moved one after the other through the dense crowds, their figures appearing and disappearing amid the throng, as though they had blended into the prosperity around them.

Compared to the Land of Rain, this place felt like an entirely different world.

Children laughed and played, elderly people leisurely basked in the sun, and young people busied themselves with work. Everyone wore smiles of happiness and contentment. There was no sign that the war had affected them at all; everything seemed so harmonious and beautiful.

"Yin Jie, what do you think of the Hidden Leaf?"

Uchiha Fugaku turned to look at Yin Jie, his tone carrying a trace of barely perceptible pride.

After all, the Uchiha Clan was one of the Hidden Leaf's two founding clans. Moreover, after the Senju Clan—the other founding clan—had declined to the point of nearly vanishing from the Hidden Leaf, the Uchiha Clan had rightfully become the village's number one clan.

Thus, for Fugaku, a high-ranking Uchiha who would even become the Uchiha Clan's patriarch in the not-too-distant future, the Hidden Leaf's prosperity, far surpassing that of anywhere else in the ninja world, was a source of shared pride.

"Mm..."

Yin Jie hesitated slightly before replying noncommittally, "It's alright."

He understood what Uchiha Fugaku meant.

But unfortunately.

Although everything in the Hidden Leaf felt novel to him, that was all it was. He truly could not bring himself to offer any insincere praise.

After all, in his previous life, he had seen the true meaning of the word "prosperity."

Towering skyscrapers standing like forests.

Endless streams of people and vehicles flowing like water.

None of it was something a village like the Hidden Leaf—roughly equivalent in scale to a county-level city from his previous life—could compare to.