Fugaku's Hesitation

"Mom! There's a huge bird flying in the sky!" A child in Konoha who liked watching the stars suddenly shouted, his eyes widening. "There seems to be someone on it too! Mom, I want to fly too!"

"Kiba! What nonsense are you talking about? Who would be flying around Konoha in the middle of the night? Go to sleep already. Tomorrow, we still have to pick out your ninja hound!"

Kiba's nearly three-year-old face showed an eager expression as he tried to prove himself. "Mom! It's true! I really saw a huge bird flying, and there was someone on it!"

"Kiba, don't make Mommy spank your little butt. It's time to sleep!" Kiba's mother walked over helplessly, looking at the unconvinced Kiba Inuzuka before casually glancing out the window at the sky, as if seeing Nothingness.

A huge round moon hung in the sky. Where was there any human figure? In her memory, there were only a handful of ninjas in Konoha who could fly, not to mention those with giant bird summoning beasts.

"Kiba! Children who lie aren't good children!"

"I wasn't lying!" Kiba ran to the window and looked into the sky, his large eyes searching constantly. Yet, to his disappointment, the fiery red giant bird had long since vanished, and a trace of disappointment appeared on his little face.

"Mom, I really didn't lie to you!" Kiba looked aggrieved.

"Enough. Good children should learn to sleep obediently, not become little liars," Kiba's mother said sternly.

"Hmph! Once I find my ninja hound, I'll definitely make it carry me into the sky!" Kiba snorted stubbornly. Under his mother's displeased gaze, he obediently lay down in his little bed, covered himself with the blanket, and had a wonderful dream.

In his dream, he rode atop a very cool giant hound and flew past the enormous round moon.

After returning home, Hane saw Fugaku still sitting at the table the moment he entered.

Fugaku was silent. After listening to his wife's explanation, his heart was filled with complicated emotions.

Although he had heard his eldest son's analysis of the Konoha Elder Council's attitude toward the Uchiha, he still held a trace of hope for Konoha and did not want his son to get too close to the radicals.

"Hane, come sit down," Fugaku said softly.

Hane silently walked over and sat across from Fugaku. "Father, is there a problem?"

"Hane, do you really intend to fight the Hokage's faction to the end?" Fugaku asked gravely.

"Father, I believe I've already made this very clear. It isn't that we want to fight the Hokage's faction to the bitter end. It's that the Elder Council has never given up its intention to destroy the Uchiha. I hope Father won't cling to wishful thinking about this. Otherwise, you won't only harm yourself—you'll harm the entire clan!"

Hane's expression was extremely serious, completely unlike his usual flippant demeanor.

"Hane..." Fugaku wanted to speak but stopped. He wanted to find a reason to persuade Hane not to be so extreme, but after searching through his thoughts, he realized that not only could he find no reason, he himself had nearly been driven to extremes by recent events.

Leaving aside the Hokage faction's Anbu testing his son, the more he thought about the recent relocation of the clan grounds, the more something felt wrong.

"Enough! Father, as the clan head, I hope you can be more resolute instead of hesitating like this. Acting this way only makes you seem like Nothingness!"

"A real man knows what to do and what not to do. Since you understand who the enemy is, you should show the attitude needed to face an enemy instead of swaying left and right. All that will do is divide the clan further. How do you think the moderates and radicals within the clan came about? For the most part, it was your ambiguous attitude that gave those two factions the soil to grow."

Hane no longer wanted to explain too much about whether the Uchiha should be radical or adopt a gentler attitude toward the village.

From the beginning, he had said that the Uchiha had never been tough against the village, but against the Hokage's faction. Yet people in this world always believed that the village was the Hokage, and the Hokage was the village. They could never escape that strange cycle.

Fugaku fell into deathly silence. Looking at Hane's impatient expression, he suddenly felt like a failure. Was this truly the image of him in his eldest son's eyes—indecisive and hesitant?

"Hane, go upstairs and sleep. I'll make a decision," Fugaku answered somewhat dejectedly.

"Father, perhaps I spoke too harshly tonight, but some things cannot be accomplished merely because we wish them to be. You should rest early too. Don't work yourself too hard," Hane said, unable to bear seeing Fugaku so dispirited.

"Hane, you've grown up. Father should give you more trust." Fugaku, who had been incomparably dejected, revealed a relieved smile upon hearing Hane's comfort. This was the first time he had set aside a father's dignity before his son—though his son's childhood did not count.

"Father, I'm only six years old. I'm still far from grown up," Hane replied with a faint smile.

Fugaku's relieved expression stiffened. He pulled a stern face and glared at Hane. "What's wrong with being six? During the Warring States period, clan members were already going to war at eight. You're only two years younger than them."

Seeing Fugaku return to normal, Hane gave a faint yawn. "Alright, Father, that was the Warring States period. Times have changed. I'm going to sleep. I still have school tomorrow. I'm clearly just a baby, yet I have to worry about you adults. My childhood is truly miserable!"

Without waiting for Fugaku's response, Hane jogged upstairs. He still had to check today's gains. After being busy all day, the harvest was the part that made him happiest.

Growing a little stronger every day—this fulfilling and diligent life was what he longed for most.

"That brat, calling his childhood miserable. Is he saying I'm an unqualified father?" Fugaku muttered under his breath for a while, then suddenly felt that he sounded like a resentful wife and had no choice but to stop.

There was no helping it; his son was simply too outstanding. Yet he suddenly felt that Hane possessed the qualities of a Hokage. Whether it was his methods of managing subordinates, his clever mind, or his powerful strength, all of it filled Fugaku with confidence in Hane, with Nothingness standing in the way.

Returning to his familiar little bed, Hane impatiently opened the system panel.

Uchiha Hane

Realm: "Refining Qi into Spirit"

Cultivation Method: "Azure Nether Art: Spirit-Refining Chapter" Yellow Rank +2

Ninjutsu: "Five Elements Ninjutsu"

Fire: "Mastery" Lightning: "Mastery" Wind: "Ordinary" Water: "Ordinary" Earth: "Ordinary"

"Artifact Manipulation Art" Mastery "Basic Fist, Body, and Movement Technique" Mastery "External Incarnation" Ordinary

"Artifact Refinement" Ordinary "Alchemy" Ordinary "Planting Art" Ordinary Formation Art: "Ordinary"

Gratitude Points: 20200

Malice Points: 27000

Looking at the plentiful Gratitude Points and Malice Points once more, Hane could not help but sigh inwardly. Only the Uchiha, a clan so prone to extremes, could provide so many Gratitude Points and Malice Points at once.

Subtracting the 9,000 Gratitude Points and 11,000 Malice Points he originally had, along with all the things he had done around the village that day, he had gained a total of 11,200 Gratitude Points and 16,000 Malice Points in one day.

Of that, Uchiha Lieyang alone had contributed a combined total of 20,000 Gratitude Points and Malice Points.

After working himself to the bone all day, he had not gained as much as a single clan member had provided. He should cultivate more high-quality leeks like this in the future.

With that thought, Hane turned his attention to his skills. His current Gratitude Points could raise his cultivation method twice, bringing it to Profound Rank +1.

As for his skills, reaching perfection from mastery was not something to consider for now. However, he could first raise all of them to mastery, giving himself more trump cards to deal with enemies in the future.

The only thing he had exposed outside was his mastery of Fire Release. Once his enemies had figured him out, he could use Lightning Release, Wind Release, Water Release, and Earth Release. Their expressions would surely be quite entertaining then.

Enduring the pain of another massive flood of knowledge being forced into his mind, Hane looked at his current panel with great satisfaction.

Uchiha Hane

Realm: "Refining Qi into Spirit"

Cultivation Method: "Azure Nether Art: Spirit-Refining Chapter" Profound Rank +1

Ninjutsu: "Five Elements Ninjutsu"

Fire: "Mastery" Lightning: "Mastery" Wind: "Mastery" Water: "Mastery" Earth: "Ordinary"

"Artifact Manipulation Art" Mastery "Basic Fist, Body, and Movement Technique" Mastery "External Incarnation" Ordinary

"Artifact Refinement" Ordinary "Alchemy" Ordinary "Planting Art" Ordinary Formation Art: "Ordinary"

Gratitude Points: 200

Malice Points: 7000

Hane was poor again, but he was not too worried about it. After all, there were plenty of leeks now, and he had gained another person who was wholeheartedly helping him develop subordinates. Once Hane gathered together the people Lieyang had recruited after some time, it would surely be another great harvest.

With that thought, Hane happily sat down to meditate and entered his cultivation state once more.