Geniuses were like iron and needed repeated tempering. Excessive praise would only make them lose themselves.
"Being in charge of a clan doesn't seem as enjoyable as I imagined."
A trace of weariness appeared on Uchiha Kyu's face. The excessive worrying these past two days had consumed an especially large amount of his energy.
Uchiha Fugaku, who was buried beneath a mountain of clan affairs documents, suddenly looked up at those words. He wanted to say that he was the one who was truly exhausted.
"But being in charge of a clan has at least stabilized the Uchiha's fate."
Uchiha Kyu stretched, then suddenly turned around and asked about one of Fugaku's personal matters.
"When are you and Mikoto planning to have another child?"
"Huh?" Uchiha Fugaku's eyes widened. Why did that question sound so strange?
Uchiha Kyu also realized that his question had been phrased poorly, so he deliberately coughed and explained.
"There are still too few clan members. As the former clan head and the current clan head's assistant, you should lead by example and contribute to the continuation of the family line."
With that explanation, Uchiha Fugaku barely accepted the reason and turned his pen awkwardly.
"Actually, Mikoto and I have been planning to have another child for some time. After all, Itachi is too lonely by himself."
"We're just still trying at the moment."
"Mm, then good luck." Uchiha Kyu thought of something, gave him a perfunctory reply, and left.
According to the original plot, Uchiha Obito would summon the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha while Kushina Uzumaki was giving birth.
Naruto would be born around two months after Sasuke Uchiha, which meant there was roughly one year left.
There were far too many things he could do with this year.
Hyuga Compound.
Although the Hyuga Clan had not been targeted by the Uchiha Clan, it had also become jittery and vigilant, and the entire compound had become even more heavily guarded than before.
Hizashi Hyuga was kneeling on a cushion, both hands placed properly on his knees. His ferocious Byakugan made his already solemn face look even more intimidating.
"Hizashi, have the Third and Fourth still not sent anyone?"
Hizashi Hyuga shook his head, his face grave. "Brother, why don't we send someone to ask what's going on?"
"I suspect the Konoha higher-ups already suspect that we've secretly allied with the Uchiha."
Hizashi Hyuga sighed deeply. "Whatever we do now puts us in a passive position. We're caught between a rock and a hard place."
"Uchiha Kyu is far more calculating than he appears. Who would have thought he was a hidden tiger?"
"The Uchiha truly never run out of geniuses." Thinking about the clan's current situation, Hizashi Hyuga felt powerless.
The Hyuga Clan was often compared with the Uchiha Clan over which was Konoha's foremost clan.
But only Hizashi Hyuga knew that the Hyuga Clan's overall strength was far inferior to the Uchiha Clan's.
Hizashi did not want to continue discussing the subject and trouble his brother, so he quickly changed the topic. "Brother, what do the Council of Elders think?"
"They do nothing but compromise. There's no point talking about them."
Hizashi Hyuga's reply was filled with disappointment toward the elders.
That night, Konoha had descended into chaos. Hizashi Hyuga had originally wanted to lead the clan members to quell the disorder, but the Council of Elders had vehemently opposed it.
They had stubbornly insisted that they could act only with the Hokage's orders, and that acting on their own would have serious consequences.
Yet they had not considered that the Konoha higher-ups had already begun to harbor suspicions about the only clan that had escaped the Uchiha's attack: the Hyuga Clan.
After that night, the Konoha higher-ups seemed to have forgotten that the Hyuga Clan existed, neither asking about it nor paying it any attention.
"Looks like even the Hyuga clan head can't stand this so-called elder system anymore."
A sudden laugh rang out, startling Hizashi Hyuga and Hizashi into activating their Byakugan at the same time.
A clearly visible figure appeared in their vision, crouching outside the window as if squatting in a corner.
"Nothing can escape the Byakugan. What a useful pair of eyes."
Uchiha Kyu had never intended to keep hiding, so he jumped straight through the window.
When Hizashi Hyuga saw Uchiha Kyu, he quickly stopped his younger brother from calling for help and said darkly, "What are you doing here?"
Uchiha Kyu strolled around the room casually, as if he were in his own home.
"Hyuga clan head, don't look at me like I'm an enemy. At the very least, we're both among Konoha's most prominent clan heads."
Even after Uchiha Kyu circled behind him, Hizashi Hyuga did not rise. His all-encompassing Byakugan saw Uchiha Kyu's every movement clearly.
"Whether you're an enemy now is difficult to say."
"I doubt the Uchiha clan head would be bored enough to visit someone else's home just to say a few meaningless things."
Uchiha Kyu did not waste time. He sat cross-legged directly opposite them.
Hizashi stood beside Hizashi Hyuga, his bulging veins and vigilant Byakugan fixed on Uchiha Kyu.
Uchiha Kyu poured himself a cup of hot tea and slowly began to speak.
"The Hyuga clan head is an intelligent man."
"The Hyuga Clan's current situation is dangerous. You should be able to clearly sense that the Konoha higher-ups have begun to distrust the Hyuga."
"Trust is like a mirror. Once trust breaks, it is like a shattered mirror that can never be restored."
"This tea is excellent."
Uchiha Kyu took a sip with an indifferent expression, savoring it carefully as if he were not in the slightest hurry.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Hizashi Hyuga could not hold back the question. The clan's current situation was terrible, and his usual patience had long since run out.
"The only way to change the situation is to cooperate with my Uchiha."
"Cooperate with your Uchiha?" Hizashi Hyuga gave a disdainful laugh. "Your Uchiha are probably struggling to protect yourselves too."
From those words, Uchiha Kyu realized that the Hyuga Clan's situation was even worse than he had imagined.
His confidence in the purpose of this visit grew stronger.
"Looks like you still don't know that Hiruzen Sarutobi has already compromised with my Uchiha."
"There are quite a few shops belonging to your Hyuga Clan in the three streets surrounding the Uchiha Compound."
"And they didn't notify you? Heh."
A bad feeling arose in Hizashi Hyuga's heart, and his expression worsened considerably.
"Y-You mean those three streets now belong to your Uchiha?"
Hizashi Hyuga ground out the words through clenched teeth. The monthly profits from those three streets accounted for a third of the Hyuga Clan's monthly income.
But the most serious issue was not that. It was that Konoha had not even sent anyone to notify him.
That was the most terrifying part.
Hizashi squeezed his legs painfully beneath the table with both hands, completely unaware of it.
This news was fatal to the Hyuga Clan.
Losing the trust of the Konoha higher-ups was just like the Uchiha Clan's current predicament.
But the Hyuga Clan did not possess the Uchiha Clan's resilience or sufficient confidence to withstand the pressure from the Konoha higher-ups head-on.
"That's only your side of the story."
Hizashi Hyuga's rebuttal sounded pale and powerless.
Uchiha Kyu slowly rose and looked down at him. His Mangekyō Sharingan stabbed painfully into Hizashi Hyuga's Byakugan.
"This is the only way out for your Hyuga Clan. I can even help you abolish the Hyuga Clan's elder system."
"You have no choice."
Before you continue