I'll Make Him Avenge His Own Shame

Kakashi's feelings were rather complicated at that moment. It was like waiting in line at a bookstore for ages, only to end up buying a pirated book.

Of course, it was not because he had been pelted by a rain of little stones, but because of what he had just witnessed...

Just how much have those two been hiding?

Kakashi felt awful.

Had those earthshaking explosions really been caused by the two of them?

And Obito... when had that guy learned the Great Fireball?

Could it be that, like Hideki, he had been hiding his strength all along?

With those unusual feelings in mind, Kakashi stepped out of the bushes on his own initiative.

By the unspoken rules of the world, you did not attack someone after they showed themselves, so Hideki and Obito immediately stopped their barrage.

"Well, well! Isn't this the top student? What are you doing here? How strange!" Hideki switched into his sarcastic mode.

"Damn! It really is Kakashi! You should've told me, Hideki. I would've pelted him with shuriken instead!" Obito recognized Kakashi's white hair, and his face immediately soured as usual.

"..."

"Can't I just be passing by?"

Kakashi was deeply annoyed. These two were so punchable, and each was punchable in a completely different way!

One seemed to be missing a screw, while the other looked refined and polite but was actually rotten to the core!

Kakashi glanced at the scorched crater in front of them.

With that kind of power, it was no wonder he had mistaken it for an Explosive Tag.

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed it.

"What... jutsu was that?" Kakashi could not help asking.

"None of your damn—" Obito had barely opened his mouth when Hideki stopped him. "It was just an ordinary combination ninjutsu. I added a little of my own understanding of life to it. Nothing worth mentioning, nothing worth mentioning."

A ninjutsu... and a combination one at that?

What the hell? There was nothing ordinary about it!

Kakashi frowned. A boy's curiosity urged him to learn more, but the tsundere nature in his blood left him unsure how to ask.

After holding it in for a long time, all he could say was, "Yeah, it looks pretty powerful."

"Nothing special, nothing special. Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning," Hideki said with a wave of his hand, wearing a falsely... modest smile.

"..."

The air fell silent, becoming somewhat awkward.

Obito, who had been stopped just as he was about to start cursing, simply said nothing either. He crossed his arms, turned his head aside, and wore an expression that said, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

"So..." Kakashi finally could not hold it in any longer and asked, "Were Uchiha Beiying and his cousin Uchiha Ruohuo, who just got out of the hospital, both defeated by that move of yours?"

"Not worth mentioning, not... Hm? He got out of the hospital? That quickly?" Hideki could no longer keep up the pretense. His expression immediately darkened.

Based on his experience, along with the Uchiha Clan's usual ways...

Although the past two days had been peaceful, as Obito had said, Uchiha Beiying had more than one cousin, and the Uchiha Clan was not some soft persimmon anyone could squeeze.

This matter definitely was not over.

Hideki and Obito exchanged looks and found that both of them had turned serious.

The two nodded in tacit understanding, and the sight left Kakashi utterly speechless.

Wait... judging by the two of them, were they planning to silence him for good?

How had he never noticed that these two were this wild before?

Still, despite his speechlessness, Kakashi felt somewhat envious of them.

Children were naturally lively at that age and curious about everything.

Kakashi was merely tsundere, not antisocial.

He wanted to play with some good friends too.

The two people before him were a little unreliable, a little punchable, a little arrogant, a little hypocritical, a little...

But ever since he had noticed their strange behavior...

Kakashi suddenly felt that the bond between them was something he, the White Fang's son and the top student in class, who stood alone at the top, did not have.

"Looks like we need to speed up our plan, Obito," Hideki said solemnly.

"Yeah." Obito nodded seriously. "Then let's get started... There are too many trees here. Let's change locations, so that old man doesn't come looking for trouble again."

"Let's go to 'that place.' There are fewer people there, and we can blow up some fish to eat while we're at it."

The two immediately prepared to leave.

Kakashi, who had been listening closely from the side, saw that they seemed to be about to do something major.

Watching their retreating backs, Kakashi hesitated.

I just want to know what that jutsu was... Yeah, that's all.

Kakashi convinced himself. He pretended to leave, then abruptly changed direction and quietly followed them.

Meanwhile, at the Uchiha Compound.

Uchiha Beiying, his head wrapped in bandages, knelt on the floor. Before him lay his cousin Uchiha Ruohuo, whose upper body, including his face, was tightly swathed in bandages.

Behind him stood an elderly man well past fifty, his eyes slightly narrowed and his authority apparent even without anger.

Many people stood outside the door, men and women ranging from young adults to middle-aged people. Their faces were filled with rage, yet not one of them spoke.

The atmosphere was terrifyingly silent. Everyone even deliberately restrained their breathing, though it was impossible to say whether they feared disturbing the prone Uchiha Ruohuo or angering the imposing old man.

"Clan Head!"

"Clan Head Fugaku!"

Amid a series of respectful and delighted calls, a middle-aged man approached.

He wore Konoha's green flak jacket, and his left arm bore the distinctive insignia of the Konoha Police Force.

He was Uchiha Fugaku, the current head of the Uchiha Clan and commander of the Konoha Police Force.

"Mm." Uchiha Fugaku nodded repeatedly in greeting to his clansmen, then walked straight into the room and stopped behind the old man.

"Elder, I'm here." Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Ruohuo lying on the ground, then at Uchiha Beiying, who seemed to be trembling as he knelt there, and sighed.

"This is all a failure on my part as clan head..."

"It has nothing to do with you, Fugaku." The old man waved his hand indifferently. "I already understand what happened. Those two pieces of trash held an absolute advantage, yet still ended up in such a state."

"As clan head and commander of the Konoha Police Force, you are already busy enough every day. It is these two troublesome fools who have disgraced the Uchiha Clan."

Uchiha Fugaku frowned upon hearing that, but just as he was about to say something, the elder spoke again.

"However... the Uchiha Clan has endured from the age of war to become the Shinobi World's foremost great clan not merely through strength, but through the fear outsiders hold for us."

"This matter cannot end just like this, Fugaku." The elder slowly turned around, his icy gaze fixed directly on Fugaku.

"Since this is a matter between juniors, let the juniors handle it. You have only recently become clan head, after all. The clan cannot let outsiders look down on you."

From the moment Fugaku had entered the room and greeted everyone, he had not had a chance to get another word in.

This elder held an extremely high position within the Uchiha Clan. Even when Fugaku was young, he had received much guidance from the elder.

"I understand, Elder. There are still matters at the Konoha Police Force that need my attention, so I'll take my leave first." Fugaku bowed slightly and spoke respectfully.

At that moment, the elder before him seemed more like the actual clan head.

Meanwhile, Fugaku seemed more like nothing more than a clansman assigned to work at the Konoha Police Force...

After Fugaku left.

"Retsu, come in." The elder called out, and a young man immediately entered.

If Hideki and Obito had been there, they might have noticed that this Uchiha Retsu bore an eighty-percent resemblance to Uchiha Ruohuo.

He was simply two years older and a little taller.

"Do you know who beat your younger brother into this state?" the elder asked.

Uchiha Retsu replied, "A brat from our clan, and a brat without a surname."

"Do you know what to do?" the elder asked again.

"I do." Uchiha Retsu nodded. "I'll give him a warning, then once Ruohuo recovers, I'll let him avenge his own shame."

The answer pleased the elder greatly. He nodded slightly, then waved his hand. "Go."

Uchiha Retsu then vanished from sight, using the Body Flicker Technique to leave.