I'll Have Him Avenge His Own Shame

Kakashi's feelings were a little complicated right now. 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 those rain-like little stones, but because of what he had just seen...

Just how much have these two been hiding?

Kakashi felt awful inside.

Had those earth-shaking explosions really been caused by the two of them?

And Obito... since when could that guy use Great Fireball?!

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

Carrying that strange feeling, Kakashi stepped out of the grass on his own.

By the rules of the trade, no killing after a Body Flicker. Hideki and Obito immediately stopped their barrage.

"Yo! Isn't this the top student? What are you doing here? How strange!" Hideki's sarcastic side came online.

"Damn! It really is Kakashi! You should've said so, Hideki. I should've pelted him with shuriken!" Obito recognized Kakashi's white hair, and his face darkened as usual.

"..."

"Can't I just be passing by?"

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

One seemed like he was missing a screw, while the other looked refined but was actually downright rotten!

Kakashi glanced at the scorched crater before them.

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

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

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

"None of your damn—" Obito had barely begun before Hideki stopped him. "It was just an ordinary combination ninjutsu. I added a little of my own understanding of life to it. Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

Ninjutsu... and a combination at that?

What the hell? That was not ordinary at all!

Kakashi frowned. A boy's curiosity drove him to learn more, but the tsundere blood in his veins 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 waved his hand, wearing a fake... modest smile.

"..."

The air fell silent, becoming rather awkward.

Obito, who had been stopped just as he was about to start cursing, simply said nothing. He crossed his arms and turned his head aside, looking like he was saying, "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 Wakabi, who just got out of the hospital, both defeated by that move of yours?"

"Not worth mentioning, not— Hm? He got out already? That fast?" Hideki no longer cared about keeping up appearances. His expression immediately turned grim.

Based on his experience, and the Uchiha Clan's usual nature...

The past two days had been calm, but as Obito had said, Uchiha Beiying had more than one cousin, and the Uchiha Clan was no soft persimmon to be squeezed.

This matter was definitely not over.

Hideki and Obito exchanged glances and found the same seriousness in each other's eyes.

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

Wait... judging by the two of them, were they planning to kill someone to silence them?

Why had he never noticed they were this wild before?!

Still, despite his speechlessness, Kakashi was a little envious of them.

Children were naturally active at this age and curious about everything.

Kakashi was just tsundere, not withdrawn.

He wanted to play with good friends too.

The two in front of him were a little unreliable, a little punchable, a little arrogant, a little fake, a little...

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

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

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

"Yeah." Obito nodded solemnly. "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 work."

The two immediately prepared to leave.

Kakashi, who had been eavesdropping with his ears pricked, saw them acting as though they were about to do something major.

Watching their retreating backs, Kakashi hesitated.

"I only want to know what that jutsu was... right, that's all."

Kakashi convinced himself. Pretending to leave, he suddenly changed direction and quietly followed the two.

Meanwhile, at the Uchiha Compound.

Uchiha Beiying, his head wrapped in bandages, knelt on the ground. Before him lay his cousin, Uchiha Wakabi, motionless, his entire upper body—including his face—tightly wrapped in bandages.

Behind him stood an elderly man well past fifty. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and he carried an imposing authority without showing anger.

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

The air was terrifyingly still. Everyone deliberately controlled even their breathing, though it was unclear whether they feared disturbing the lying Uchiha Wakabi or angering this imposing elder.

"Clan Head!"

"Clan Head Fugaku!"

At that moment, accompanied by respectful and delighted calls, a middle-aged man walked over.

He wore Konoha's green flak jacket, and the unique insignia of the Konoha Police Force was wrapped around his left arm.

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

"Mm." Uchiha Fugaku nodded repeatedly in greeting to the clan members, then walked straight into the room and stopped behind the elder.

"Elder, I'm here." Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Wakabi lying on the ground, then at the kneeling Uchiha Beiying, whose body seemed to be trembling, and sighed.

"This is all my failure as clan head..."

"This has nothing to do with you, Fugaku." The elder waved a hand and said calmly, "I already understand what happened. These two fools held an absolute advantage and still got beaten into this 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 at those words and was about to say something, but the elder spoke again.

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

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

"Since this is a matter between juniors, let the juniors handle it. You have only recently become clan head, so the clan must not allow outsiders to look down on you."

From the moment Fugaku entered the room and greeted him, he had not had a chance to say another word.

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

"I understand, Elder. There are still matters to handle at the Konoha Police Force, so I will take my leave first." Fugaku bowed slightly and spoke respectfully.

At this moment, it was as though the elder before him was the true clan head.

And Fugaku was merely a clansman assigned to serve in 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 looked eighty percent similar to Uchiha Wakabi.

He was simply two years older and slightly taller.

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

Uchiha Retsu answered, "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 wait until Wakabi recovers and let him avenge his own shame."

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

Uchiha Retsu vanished at once. He had used a Body Flicker to leave.