Planning to Meet Only the Clan Head

Everyone, imagine this:

Your clansmen are around you, opening their mouths to talk about the Uchiha Clan's glory and closing them to talk about the Uchiha Clan's pride, speaking as if heaven came first, the Uchiha Clan second, and Konoha could only rank third.

And every one of them held their heads high, looking down on everyone else. They even subconsciously believed that no matter what, you should devote everything to the clan and drain your last drop of blood dry, all because your surname was Uchiha.

Fine, if their sickness was limited to being this stupid, Yun Yan could put up with it.

But the key was that these clansmen had not only brainwashed themselves—they actually believed it!

They truly thought the Uchiha Clan was Konoha's greatest clan, that they were invincible beneath the heavens, that they ought to rule all of Konoha, and that even the entire ninja world was beneath their notice.

But did the Uchiha Clan truly have that kind of strength?

That was right. At present, the Uchiha Clan was indeed Konoha's greatest clan.

But compared with Konoha as a whole, the Uchiha Clan's scale was still vastly inferior.

It was as if the Uchiha clansmen could not see that gap at all. Who knew where their confidence came from? They felt Konoha was beneath contempt and that the Uchiha Clan ought to lead Konoha.

Even if they did not lead Konoha, they should at least occupy more important positions and wield greater authority, rather than merely controlling the Konoha Military Police Force and being excluded by Konoha's higher-ups.

In recent years, Konoha's higher-ups had been increasingly obvious in their exclusion and alienation of them. In the eyes of the Uchiha clansmen, that conflict was deliberate targeting.

Coupled with the Uchiha Clan's naturally bad tempers, more radical remarks and ideas had inevitably emerged over time. Fighting for power and profit was child's play; they were even planning a coup.

See? Most of the clan was sick in the head internally, while Konoha as a whole excluded and targeted them externally. With both pressures combined, the Uchiha Clan's future looked bleak.

Leaving the future aside for now, there was the matter right in front of Yun Yan.

He was a transmigrator. The original owner of this body had been an insignificant orphan of the Uchiha Clan and had not been deeply influenced by the clan's extreme pride.

Later, when Yun Yan transmigrated and replaced the original owner, he had his own independent values and worldview. Naturally, he found the Uchiha Clan's behavior even harder to stomach.

So, in his view, most Uchiha clansmen were sick in the head—the utterly impossible-to-reason-with kind.

Asking him to report to the clan and deal with that bunch of lunatics was simply torture!

With Yun Yan's unruly personality, the two sides might start throwing hands after just a few words of disagreement, let alone when their values clashed and he found those lunatics unpleasant to look at.

Thus, after a long silence, Yun Yan voiced his concern:

"I can reluctantly agree to go meet the clan head, Izumi. No matter what, the clan head is fairly steady and composed.

But reporting to the clan...

You know what those few people handling the clan's affairs are like. They usually look down their noses at everyone. They treat the core clansmen fairly well, but someone like me, a distant member of the Uchiha Clan... heh.

If their attitude is bad when the time comes, then with my temper, I won't indulge them. I'll slap them right across the face.

Once the conflict erupts and we start fighting, won't things become impossible to contain?"

Hearing Yun Yan's reasoning, Izumi could not help but pause.

She had to admit that Yun Yan knew himself well, and his concerns made sense.

At that moment, as Izumi held her chopsticks and stirred the rice in her bowl, she even lowered her head and began to imagine how it would play out:

Yun Yan went to report to the clan that he had returned from a long-term mission.

The few people usually in charge of clan affairs saw an unfamiliar clansman and immediately became distant.

They coldly questioned Yun Yan about the details. How had the mission gone? When had he returned? And so on...

Yun Yan impatiently answered that the mission had gone as it had gone, and that he had returned three weeks ago.

The other side immediately became unhappy. What? He had returned three weeks ago? Why had he only come to report to the clan now? Did he even have the clan in his eyes? Was he really a member of the Uchiha Clan? Or perhaps he wanted to become a traitor... and other unpleasant remarks like that.

The more Yun Yan listened, the uglier his expression became. Unable to bear it any longer, he slapped them across the face!

That slap would be the signal for the fight to begin. Both sides would immediately start fighting. With Yun Yan's strength as an elite jonin, there was no way he would suffer a loss. The matter could only grow bigger and bigger until it became impossible to resolve.

By the time she imagined that far, Izumi was already covered in black lines.

Something like that... had a ninety-percent chance of happening.

What were they supposed to do?

For a moment, Izumi fell into worry. She slowly picked at her rice, feeling that even breakfast had lost its flavor.

Seeing Izumi like this from across the table, Yun Yan understood that she got it too. He helplessly shrugged.

Just as Yun Yan was about to continue eating, Izumi suddenly had an idea and actually came up with a barely workable solution:

"Yun Yan, how about this?

Just go meet the clan head and talk with him. Let him know you have returned, and that can count as reporting to the clan.

At worst, you can ask the clan head to pass the word along and let the clan know you are back, then have it recorded.

After all, you are already an elite jonin. Your strength is on the same level as the clan head's. Even the clan head should show some respect when facing a ninja of the same level, right?

After all, there are only a handful of elite jonin in our Uchiha Clan."

When Yun Yan heard that, he felt Izumi's words made sense. She was considering the matter from the fact that his strength had reached the level of an elite jonin.

Yun Yan thought it over as well and felt there should be no problem. As the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku had proper manners and cultivation. He would not make people dislike him the way certain clan members did.

Moreover, Izumi added a few more words at that moment, giving Yun Yan a reason he could not refuse:

"There is also this: after your vacation ends, Yun Yan, you will be taking up a post in the ANBU.

In the entire Uchiha Clan, only Brother Shisui has entered the ANBU. Now there will be one more—you. This is no small matter. The clan head definitely needs to know."

The scales in Yun Yan's heart had already been wavering. After Izumi said that, they immediately tipped to one side.

After taking a bite of rice and some vegetables, Yun Yan could not help nodding in wholehearted agreement.

"Mm, Izumi, you are right.

If I came back this time only to loaf around the clan and wait for death, then fine. What would the clan head and the clan have to do with me?

But my next step is to enter the ANBU, and I will become a squad leader the moment I join. There will probably be even more matters afterward. None of this can be ignored."

Izumi nearly choked on a grain of rice across from him.

"What? You are going to be an ANBU squad leader the moment you join, Yun Yan? Brother Shisui has been in the ANBU for so long, and it seems he is only a squad leader too!"

Yun Yan paused slightly and looked at Izumi.

"Huh? Didn't I tell you?"

Izumi shook her head, sounding a little resentful.

"You never told me at all."

Yun Yan was briefly stunned, then a little embarrassed.

"Haha, sorry, sorry. I must have forgotten to tell you. I really am going to serve as an ANBU squad leader. Old man Sarutobi promised me."

After giving Yun Yan another resentful look, Izumi helplessly shook her head.

"In that case, you need to meet the clan head even more and tell him these things."

Yun Yan had already decided to make the trip. He nodded.

"Alright, alright. I'll go meet the clan head.

Mm, no time like the present. After breakfast, I'll pay him a visit sometime this morning."

"Mm, that works too."

After voicing her agreement, Izumi said nothing else and merely relaxed a little.

To be honest, Izumi was quite happy and touched that her advice had worked and Yun Yan was willing to listen to her suggestion. It showed that Yun Yan held her in his heart, and that her emotional investment had not gone unrewarded.

But after feeling happy and moved, Izumi became a little worried again.

Seeing that the rice in her bowl was nearly finished, Izumi could not help raising her head and looking at Yun Yan with concern.

"Yun Yan, you are going to become an ANBU squad leader the moment you join, and it is even Lord Hokage's decision. Is there something going on here...

I do not know much about it, but an ANBU squad leader should count as someone important, more or less, right? In the village and the clan, from now on, toward you..."

Hearing Izumi's words and sensing her concern, Yun Yan smiled gently.

At that moment, Yun Yan's firm words soothed Izumi's worried heart.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. There definitely won't be any problem."

Izumi nodded. Considering that Yun Yan might be unruly but was also rational and confident, she relaxed slightly.

And so, that morning's breakfast ended as usual, no different from any other day.

After breakfast, they rested a while to digest their food. When morning arrived, Yun Yan judged that the time was about right and that it was time to go meet Uchiha Fugaku.