Establishment of the Royal Academy! Refined Plans!
"I will coordinate the assignment of tutors. Of course, tuition fees are required to enter the Royal Academy, which goes without saying."
He paused, then tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest.
"However, there are always exceptions. If you come across someone with truly exceptional talent who just isn't qualified to study at the Origin Island Clan Academy —don't waste their potential."
They were allowed to sign indentures, with the option of either serving as instructors at the Royal Academy for ten years or serving in the Earthly Chief Guard for five years after graduation.
Two paths, let them choose for themselves.
Upon hearing this, Tekka clasped his hands in a fist and replied, "Yes! Your subordinate understands!"
His voice was booming and clear.
Looking around, Uchiha Natsu slowly stood up.
He didn't slam his fist on the table or raise his voice, but everyone in the side hall unconsciously sat up straight.
There was no smile on that young face at that moment, only a coldness that had been suppressed at the bottom of Iceburg for more than fifty years.
Gentlemen.
From the moment the Uchiha and Senju Clan joined forces to establish Konoha, Madara Uchiha left, internal strife broke out within the clan, Tobirama Senju suppressed them, and the Konoha leadership, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, targeted them at Konoha higher-ups —in just fifty years, the Uchiha went from being the most powerful clan in the Ninja World to the brink of extermination.
Two years ago, I brought everyone to this ocean to start from scratch.
Two years have passed, and we have established ourselves here, increasing our strength many times over.
But the more firmly we stand, the more we must not forget those fifty years of humiliation.
His voice was not loud, but every word was clear, as if it were ground out from between his teeth, landing on the stone floor of the side hall with a dull echo.
As the ancients said, "One must know shame before one can be courageous."
Forgetting history is tantamount to betrayal.
Konoha once viewed the Uchiha as a monstrous flood, saw us as a source of chaos, and regarded us as a pack of ambitious wolves.
Today I want to tell you all this: My Uchiha Clan are wolves.
We are courageous and ambitious, and we will repay kindness and avenge wrongs.
My uncle once asked me if we would ever have a day to take revenge. I replied that even a hatred that lasts for a hundred generations can be avenged.
That statement still holds true today.
His clenched right fist pressed against the table, his knuckles grinding against the cold stone, turning slightly white.
"We will remember our past humiliations and fight for a brighter tomorrow—for the Uchiha!"
"For the Uchiha! Long live Natsu! Long live the Uchiha!"
Fugaku was the first to stand up, followed by Setsuna, Kei, Yaoyu, Yakumi, Taoho, Tekka, and Yashiro —eight people in the side hall stood up at the same time. The eight voices merged into a roar that crashed against the ancient wooden beams and pillars of the shrine, making the copper bells under the eaves hum.
Outside the palace gates, the guards on duty clenched their fists and roared in unison almost simultaneously.
The sound emanated from the main hall of Naka Shrine, passing over the Training Ground, over the walls of the Clan Academy, and over the clansmen working in the fields and the students sweating profusely on the training ground.
The Shuriken the Training Ground were still trembling slightly. Several children who had just finished class at the Clan Academy stopped and stared wide-eyed in the direction of the shrine. They didn't quite understand the full meaning hidden in that roar, but their bodies acted faster than their minds—clenching their fists and shouting along.
Two years.
From the walled territory of Konoha to this boundless sea;
From over 13,000 anxious survivors to the colossal creature it is today, with its entire race enduring hardship, six pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan, and tens of thousands of elite soldiers guarding it.
All of this was brought about by Natsu.
The Uchiha will surely stand at the pinnacle of all races, under the leadership of Uchiha Natsu.
This is not just a slogan; it is a consensus etched into the bones of every Uchiha clan member.
The beginning and end of the Summit War, like a slowly spreading shockwave, radiated from the ruins of Marineford to the entire sea along the routes of the News Coo, the masts of merchant ships, and the encrypted telegrams of the navy.
The Sabaody Archipelago was the first to erupt in excitement, with reporters clutching combat briefings leaked from within the Navy and forming long queues outside the newspaper offices.
Morgans himself penned the most outrageous headline of his life. "Marine Headquarters Destroyed, Mystery of the World's Strongest Revealed, Fifth Emperor Transforms into Godslayer."
Newspapers were snapped up, printing plants worked overtime, and the ink was stuffed into the leg tubes of News Coo before it was even fully dry, and they flew to Four Blues.
New World, Onigashima.
Kaido crumpled the newspaper into a ball, threw it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then spat it out, the smell of alcohol mixed with the pulp spraying onto King's face.
"Hehehe! That old bastard Steel Bone Kong got killed! Marineford got cleaved in two with a single blow! The Fifth Emperor? Hahaha--this brat is even more interesting than that crazy old Linlin!"
Jin silently pushed another piece of intelligence in front of Kaido, which recorded the exact time and range of Saint Imu's appearance.
Kaido's laughter stopped abruptly, and he stared at the line of text for a long time.
In the Sweet City of Whole Cake Island, the Big Mom placed a newspaper on the table, unusually not throwing a tantrum because there weren't enough sweets.
She stared at the blurry battlefield photograph—the dark golden war god was reduced to a tiny dot of light.
"Marineford. Sora is dead. Imu himself intervened, leaving no trace of that brat." Charlotte Linlin looked up at Katakuri, who remained silent beside her.
"Go investigate. Dig up all the information on the Uchiha Clan. I need to know where they came from."
The Red-Haired Pirates ' Red Voss is sailing in a certain area of Grand Line, not far from Marineford.
Shanks stood at the bow of the ship, clutching a newspaper with his one arm, reading it over and over again.
He knew better than anyone who possessed that Conqueror's Haki, and he knew the name Uchiha Natsu before anyone else.
He sighed, folded the newspaper, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Beckman, turn around, we're not going to Marineford." Ben Beckman, with a cigar between his fingers, didn't speak, but simply nodded.
On an unnamed island somewhere Grand Line, the Revolutionary Army's temporary base.
Monkey D. Dragon put down the newspaper, his fingertip lightly tracing the words "Uchiha Natsu clashes head-on with Saint Imu" on the page.
His expression was more silent than usual, and a complex light churned within his perpetually calm eyes.
"Saint Imu ..." he murmured the name, then closed the newspaper and said to Sabo beside him, "We need to send someone to the West Blue. As soon as possible."
Meanwhile, in a bar in the Foosha Village in the East Blue, Makino was wiping glasses that never seemed to be finished, listening to several regulars excitedly discussing the news that "Marineford was cleaved in two."
She smiled without interrupting, gazing out the window at the calm sea. Her gaze swept across countless islands and shipping lanes, as if she could see a boy in Straw Hat, rushing towards a more distant place amidst the storm sweeping the world.
Every corner of this vast ocean, every nameable force, is doing the same thing—repeatedly verifying the authenticity of that battle report, and then reassessing where the Uchiha Clan stands in the food chain.
The answer, however, was far more outrageous than their wildest imagination.
At the G2 Branch's expansion site, the sounds of ramming earth and sawing wood echoed from dawn till dusk.
This medium-sized fortress, which was originally just New World outpost, is now being forcibly expanded to resemble Marine Headquarters.
Inside the makeshift command center, another unspoken debate had been raging for three days.
The core of the argument boils down to just one thing—the bounty.