Shrine Recognition

A commotion broke out among the crowd below. Several clansmen stood up and pointed at Uchiha Toru, shouting, "What right does this half-breed have to receive our recognition!"

"Sit down!"

Fugaku, usually known for his mild temper, was uncharacteristically furious.

Fugaku was only in his twenties, but his strength was formidable. Combined with the stern, aged appearance bestowed upon him by his tear troughs, his presence was immensely intimidating.

The few clansmen shut their mouths and sat back down.

Fugaku continued, "I do not wish to hear the word 'half-breed' again. Can any of you guarantee that your own ancestors lacked the bloodline of an outsider?"

"Toru's father was indeed expelled from the Uchiha, but Toru was not. Therefore, he remains a clansman of the Uchiha."

"Admittedly, Toru's appearance is unique—white hair and blue eyes—but the Uchiha bloodline is not defined by such things. Yashiro, your hair is not black, it is brown. Does that mean you are no longer one of us?"

A brown-haired Uchiha ninja below replied, "The clan head is right."

Seeing this, Fugaku pressed on, "Furthermore, Toru is a rare genius in our Uchiha. Today, he defeated the son of the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo, bringing glory to our clan."

"Are you really going to drive this genius away?!"

Fugaku's reasoned argument, capped by that final rhetorical question, left the Uchiha clansmen in silence.

Fugaku's tone then shifted, "Very well, this matter ends here. Before the ancestors of the Uchiha, I officially accept Uchiha Toru as a clansman of the Uchiha."

As he spoke, Fugaku displayed the coat in his hands, the back of which bore the Uchiha family crest: the Gunbai.

He then draped the coat over Toru.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Toru remained perfectly calm.

Fugaku's move to hold this recognition at the shrine was truly masterful.

First, by officially welcoming Toru, a genius, into the clan in front of everyone, he established his own authority as clan head while securing a future powerhouse for the Uchiha.

Second, he created the impression that he had brought Toru into the fold through his own personal efforts, effectively positioning himself as Toru's benefactor.

If Toru were an ordinary child, no matter how much of a genius he was, he would have been won over by Fugaku.

Unfortunately, Toru was no ordinary child. Although his memories of his past life had not yet returned, his adult mindset remained intact.

Toru would be grateful to Fugaku, but he would not develop any unnecessary emotional attachment because of it. This was merely mutual benefit.

Toru put on the coat; the size was a perfect fit.

"Thank you, clan head."

Fugaku smiled and patted Toru's shoulder, "From now on, you are a member of the Uchiha. You must revitalize the glory of the Uchiha."

Toru feigned excitement and replied, "Yes!"

Fugaku looked up at the clansmen ahead with satisfaction and asked, "Does anyone have any objections now?"

"No objections." "None."...

"Very good. Dohka, bring your companions up here and apologize to Toru." Fugaku gestured for Dohka, Tekka, and the others to come forward.

The bruised and swollen Dohka glared at Toru with resentment, but under Fugaku's stern gaze, he silently withdrew his eyes, lowered his head, and bowed in apology, "I'm sorry. It was our fault."

Toru walked up and helped them stand, saying sincerely, "It's fine. I have already forgiven you. Besides, I am partly to blame for hitting you as well. Let us put our grievances behind us with a smile; we are all family now."

This magnanimous and proper attitude won the approval of most of the clansmen.

"That boy is actually quite decent."

"Indeed. To defeat the son of the White Fang shows great talent, and he is so humble and sensible."

"We were too harsh in our attitude before."

Even the group of rowdy children changed their opinion of Toru.

This guy even saved us some face; he's not so bad after all, Dohka thought to himself.

Tekka had only been dragged along by his brother, and feeling relieved to be forgiven, his attitude toward Toru softened significantly.

The other children felt much the same, essentially won over by Toru's display.

Seeing this scene of brotherly harmony, Fugaku was satisfied, "Very good. This is the future of our Uchiha."

"In the future, you must live in peace and stop resorting to violence."

Toru, Dohka, and the others obediently bowed their heads in compliance.

Fugaku signaled for them to step down, then addressed all the clansmen, "I hope that the Uchiha can live in harmony. Only then can we make the Uchiha great again!"

"Uchiha!" "Long live the Uchiha!" "Long live the Uchiha!"...

A few hot-blooded youths started the chant, followed by the rest of the group, until everyone was shouting the name of the Uchiha.

The scene resembled a cult gathering. The fanatical atmosphere forced Toru to pretend to join the crowd in shouting, "Long live the Uchiha!"

Fugaku finally calmed everyone down, announced the end of the meeting, and specifically kept Toru behind.

"It was my fault before for not noticing that you were being ostracized by the clansmen, but rest assured, such things will not happen again." Fugaku's tone was calm, like a patient teacher.

Toru put on an expression of extreme gratitude and said with a slight choke in his voice, "Thank you for your help, clan head..."

Seeing this, Fugaku added, "If you have any needs in the future, just tell me. I will provide whatever I can."

Toru hesitated for a moment and said, "When I fought Kakashi, I realized I didn't know any ninjutsu..."

"You want ninjutsu? No problem. But there is no rush. Once you refine your chakra, test your affinity first. I will provide you with ninjutsu for every element you possess." Fugaku promised, patting his chest.

Toru returned home feeling satisfied and immediately pulled out the book on chakra refinement to continue his practice.

Toru had been exposed to chakra for two days, and today was the third. He hoped to successfully refine it today.

Compared to the energy generated purely from negative emotions like cursed energy, the combination of physical and mental energy required for chakra was clearly more difficult to refine.

Of course, that was only for Toru; after all, not everyone had the aptitude to awaken cursed energy.

Toru closed his eyes, settling his mind completely, and focused on sensing the fusion of his physical and mental energy. After a long while, he opened his eyes.

"Success."

Toru felt the energy within his body, which was completely different from cursed energy.

Chakra and cursed energy were easy to distinguish.

Chakra was a purely neutral energy, while cursed energy was the energy of "curses" extracted from negative emotions.

Toru took out the chakra test paper and injected a wisp of the energy into it. The paper changed almost immediately.

The paper was divided into five areas: one caught fire, one was sliced, one wrinkled, one became damp, and one crumbled.

These five areas marked the five chakra affinities.

Toru was pleasantly surprised. Now that he was no longer ignorant of ninja knowledge, he knew that the more chakra affinities a ninja possessed, the more ninjutsu they could use.

The next morning, Toru went to find Fugaku and informed him of his five-element affinity.

Fugaku was astonished. At first, he thought Toru had made a mistake, but after having him test again, he accepted the fact.

"Your father was considered a genius for being born with two affinities, fire and water. I never expected you to surpass him. Don't worry, I will provide you with ninjutsu for all five elements."

With that promise from Fugaku, Toru left the Uchiha compound feeling satisfied and headed to the ninja academy.

Watching Toru's retreating figure, Fugaku couldn't help but sigh, "What terrifying talent."