Clan Meeting; Forty Years of Uchiha Decline

Night, Naka Shrine.

Fugaku, the clan head, sat at the head.

Four elderly Uchiha elders assisted him, while the Three-Tomoe Sharingan users sat below.

"Fugaku, is there some emergency? Why call a clan meeting so suddenly?"

"Yeah, yeah. The shinobi world is looking great right now, so why hold a clan meeting out of nowhere?"

"Speaking of which, Fugaku, what happened this afternoon? Why did you carry Setsuna to the hospital? I remember Setsuna being in pretty good health?"

The Uchiha Clan elders chimed in one after another, while Uchiha Fugaku stood with his arms folded and an expressionless face, the very picture of a deadpan stoic.

Though the other Three-Tomoe Uchiha did not speak directly, they shared the elders' doubts. Their gazes occasionally drifted toward Uchiha Setsuna—who had just left the hospital and was now brimming with anticipation and excitement.

"Everyone!" Fugaku clapped his hands.

"Elder Setsuna, tell them what happened today."

Uchiha Setsuna nodded. With delight on his face, he swept his gaze over everyone present before slowly speaking. "Everyone, the genius of our Uchiha Clan—Uchiha Makoto—recently awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"What?!"

At Setsuna's words, every Uchiha present erupted into an uproar.

Dozens of Three-Tomoe Sharingan glowing red fixed their eyes on Uchiha Makoto, their faces filled with expectation.

Facing the crowd, Uchiha Makoto quietly swallowed, then activated his Mangekyo Sharingan without changing expression.

"Unbelievable... What immense ocular power!"

"My god, it's actually real!"

"I can't believe it. How old is Makoto?"

At that moment—

Every Uchiha present was stunned.

They all knew Uchiha Makoto. The clan head's brother-in-law, the former Third Elder's grandson, a rich nth-generation heir, a shinobi nth-generation heir, a true-blue old-school Uchiha flying the fan banner, and a young genius who had already touched the threshold of jonin.

The most astonished person was Uchiha Mikoto, standing beside him.

She stared at her little brother with wide eyes, utterly unable to believe it.

This was her little brother? When had he become so incredible?

The Second Elder, Uchiha Hono, a follower of Madara Uchiha, wiped away his tears with a smile. "After so many years, our Uchiha Clan finally has another Mangekyo!"

Setsuna sighed emotionally as well. "Yes! Since Kagami died, our Uchiha Clan has gone nearly ten years without a Mangekyo to stand guard over us!"

During the First Shinobi World War after the First Hokage's death, the Uchiha had endured their most massive internal conflict. Back then, the Uchiha still possessed Mangekyo users.

Uchiha Naka, Uchiha Rai, and Uchiha Juri were all around twenty years younger than Madara. One after another, they had exhausted their ocular power and died of illness near the end of the First Shinobi World War.

The Second Shinobi World War had not only nearly wiped the Senju Clan from existence—apart from Tsunade and a few remaining old and young Senju, there were no longer any shinobi openly bearing the Senju name—it had also cost the Uchiha Clan Uchiha Kagami, a Mangekyo user who was only twenty-five.

It was at that time that Hiruzen Sarutobi firmly seized power, then turned around and began a new era of suppressing the Uchiha alongside his three companions under the banner of the "Will of Fire."

The current Uchiha Clan was united internally, and though its external military strength remained formidable, it was far inferior to what it had once been.

After all, in what era had there ever been so few Three-Tomoe Uchiha as there were now? Only fifty-four—no, fifty-three now?

If not for Uchiha Makoto holding things up, the current Uchiha Clan would have been the weakest in its entire history.

"Furthermore, according to spies in the Land of Wind, the Third Kazekage has most likely gone missing. If he truly has vanished, then everyone, the Third Shinobi World War is coming!"

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku, whose face had remained stern, dropped another bombshell.

"This... Our Uchiha have only just gained one Mangekyo Sharingan. Could we lose it again already?"

"That's right. Lord Kagami and the others all exhausted their ocular power to death during the shinobi wars. Now Lord Makoto..."

For a time, everyone discussed it heatedly, occasionally sneaking a glance at Uchiha Makoto.

"Makoto, your ocular power..." Listening to the discussion, Uchiha Mikoto could not help asking.

Uchiha Makoto smiled, looking thoroughly smug.

"Everyone, although I have never seen another Mangekyo Sharingan, I can tell you with certainty—my Mangekyo Sharingan's ocular power recovers far faster than Lord Kagami's and Lady Juri's!"

He had secretly tried Ōkuninushi-no-Kami a few times when the urge struck him. His recovery ability was incredibly strong. The system had said he resembled his ancestor Indra, except his ocular power was not as powerful.

At his words, the entire group of Uchiha activated their Sharingan in unison.

Wherever Uchiha Makoto looked, the Sharingan of the Uchiha shinobi gleamed with excited red light.

War?

These people were not afraid in the slightest! They were even eager to give it a try!

Did they know what Uchiha meant?

When facing one in a one-on-one fight, flee!

Combined with the Sharingan's copying ability and the ninjutsu passed down within the clan, the Uchiha Clan possessed abundant ninjutsu resources. Thus, most Uchiha genin could gain the ability to advance to chunin in an extremely short time.

The Uchiha Clan did not lack chakra!

"Furthermore, everyone, in preparation for the possible coming shinobi war, I have decided to put the clan's academy students and genin through special training. All expenses will be covered by the clan! Makoto will be fully responsible for this training!"

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku, who had kept a stern face until now, spoke with a smile.

There was an unspoken rule in the shinobi world: civilian shinobi had to report any ninjutsu they learned. For example, if one learned a B-rank ninjutsu, the information had to be reported to the village. Even when teaching ninjutsu to one's own descendants, it had to be reported to the village.

After all, civilian ninjutsu had originally come from the great clans and noble houses. There were no fees and no other requirements, merely a reporting process—yet it very simply gripped civilian shinobi by the throat and controlled their fate.

The Uchiha were usually arrogant, but for those of noble blood—that was, shinobi who had awakened the Sharingan—the clan would offer some instruction. Of course, it was only a suggestion. After all, it was already quite good for an Uchiha to lower their head and teach someone a few things.

As for ordinary shinobi and academy students, instruction was exceedingly rare!

"That's right. When the time comes, I'll teach the children alongside several other seniors."

Uchiha Makoto nodded firmly, then said with a low smile.

"Everyone here is an elite of our Uchiha Clan. Think about it—what do our children actually learn in the Ninja Academy? Aside from basics like the Three Basic Techniques and shurikenjutsu, there is very little they can truly learn there!"

Will of Fire? Leaf Chronicle?

What the hell were those good for?

They were shinobi. All they had to do was cut down any enemy with one person and one blade. Why learn all that useless nonsense?

Wasn't that just a fucking waste of time?

"I agree! Makoto, beat my grandson however you like when the time comes!"

"Yeah, yeah! Same with mine. Just leave him breathing!"

"Hahaha, exactly!"

"Besides, it's vacation right now. It's not like they have anything better to do!"

The Uchiha seated below immediately began discussing it with high spirits.

Uchiha Makoto's lips slowly curled upward. Uchiha brats, are you ready?