Make the Uchiha Great Again!

Uchiha compound, Council Chamber.

The atmosphere was grim, oppressive to the extreme.

The long wooden table was lined with stern-faced clan higher-ups, all sitting upright.

Candlelight flickered, stretching everyone's shadows long and heavy.

At the head of the table, Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku held a teacup, slowly brushing away the foam with his thumb.

His movements were neither hurried nor slow, as though he were tasting tea—or savoring the undercurrents swirling through the room.

First on his left sat the leader of the Hawk faction, the Elder—Uchiha Setsuna. His hands were tucked within his wide sleeves, his eyes half-closed.

A proposal concerning the expansion of the Security Force's funding lay before him. He cleared his throat, preparing to challenge Fugaku.

Bang!

The heavy wooden doors were shoved open.

Uchiha Jonin Nohibi rushed into the chamber without even taking off his shoes, drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently.

A trail of muddy footprints stretched from the doorway to the table.

The Elder's half-closed eyes snapped open. His brows twisted into a knot as his withered palm slammed heavily onto the table.

"Uchiha Nohibi! This is a high-level clan meeting! How dare you barge in so recklessly and without manners?!"

Nohibi had no time to heed the Elder's rebuke.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice cracked with excitement.

"Clan Head! Elder! Something huge has happened!"

"During the Ninja Academy's practical combat class just now, Uchiha Ye, one of our clan's new students, publicly revealed his One-Tomoe Sharingan!"

"And he crushed White Fang's son, Kakashi Hatake, with one hand!"

Clang.

Fugaku's teacup jolted just as it reached his lips.

Scalding tea splashed directly onto the trouser leg embroidered with the Gunbai clan crest.

Yet he did not even spare it a glance. His usually steady eyes had widened round.

The entire chamber erupted instantly.

The Elders, who had been cold as ice moments earlier, stared at one another as sharp intakes of breath rose and fell.

Someone shot to his feet, chair legs scraping across the floor with a piercing screech.

"Six years old? A One-Tomoe?!"

"How is that possible?! The last genius in our clan to awaken his eyes at six was thirty years ago..."

"He beat White Fang's son with one hand? That's Hatake Sakumo's bloodline!"

While the entire room was caught between disbelief and feverish excitement, the Elder remained remarkably calm.

He tucked his hands back into his sleeves and sat with his back straight.

He even gave an exceptionally arrogant snort, slightly raising his chin and assuming the air of a mastermind who had everything under control.

Several radical higher-ups nearby saw the Elder's expression, and fanatical admiration instantly surged in their eyes.

Unmoved even before Mount Tai's collapse! As expected of the Elder!

Could it be... that this peerless genius who had appeared out of nowhere was the secret weapon he had cultivated in secret?!

The Elder thoroughly enjoyed the reverent looks around him. He gave a slight nod, looking perfectly at ease.

Then, the next second.

His body subtly leaned two inches to the right.

Using his wide sleeves as cover, his bony fingers abruptly grabbed the hem of a trusted higher-up's robe beside him.

The Elder lowered his voice and, at a volume only the two of them could hear, asked with incredible speed and even greater guilt.

"Hey... who is this Uchiha Ye?"

The fanaticism on the trusted aide's face froze instantly.

He glanced at the Elder as if looking at an alien, his lips trembling as he stammered out a quiet explanation.

"Elder... Ye is an orphan from a branch family."

"The one whose parents died during a mission..."

"He's the most gifted seedling among our generation of new students!"

"You... you didn't know?"

The Elder's eye twitched violently twice.

His expression stiffened for half a second.

But after holding a position of power for decades, his shamelessness had long surpassed the limits of humanity. He had perfected it to an art.

Half a second later, the Elder shot to his feet and flung his sleeves heavily.

His thunderous voice drowned out every discussion in the room.

"This is precisely the result this old man expected!"

Without blushing or missing a beat, the Elder forcibly raised his voice. Both hands pressed against the table, his burning gaze swept over everyone present.

"Uchiha Ye! He has brought immense honor to our Uchiha Clan!"

"With such shocking talent, the clan must immediately devote its resources to him without reservation! He is the blade of the Uchiha's future!"

The Elder grew more impassioned as he spoke. Leaving his seat, he strode to the end of the long table.

He suddenly raised his knobby right fist high, his voice reverberating violently beneath the chamber's vaulted ceiling.

"As long as Ye continues developing like this, the Uchiha Clan will surely return to its peak!"

"Everyone! Make the Uchiha Clan great again!"

The Elders and numerous Red-Eyed Zealots, completely ignited by those words, kicked away their chairs and rose to their feet.

They raised their right fists alongside the Elder, their eyes crimson as they roared madly.

"Make the Uchiha Clan great again!"

The wave of voices nearly blew off the roof.

Amid that pyramid-scheme-like frenzy, only Fugaku at the head of the table set down his empty teacup.

Watching the Elder, whose face was flushed with excitement and madness, Fugaku took a towel and slowly wiped the tea stains from his trousers, his eyes dark and unreadable.

A branch-family orphan who awakened his eyes at six.

Someone who had crushed White Fang's son with one hand.

More importantly, according to the intelligence report, Ye had proactively befriended civilians outside the clan.

Connected together, that information made Fugaku think of one possibility.

A possibility that both pleased him and made him extremely wary.

At five in the afternoon, the afterglow of the setting sun filled the Ninja Academy's Training Ground.

The dismissal bell had barely stopped ringing when Might Guy rushed straight to Ye's desk.

His eyes brimmed with tears, his hands clenched tightly into fists, and his voice shook violently.

"Best friend! To live up to the bond of youth that let you crush Kakashi in just one day!"

Guy threw back his head and roared, tears pouring from his eyes. "Are we continuing our Taijutsu training tonight?!"

Ye unhurriedly packed his schoolbag, stuffing his notebook inside.

He nodded without hesitation.

"Of course. We'll train ourselves to death."

Tears immediately gushed from Guy's eyes. He was so moved that he nearly did a one-handed handstand on the spot.

The two had just left through the classroom's back door, preparing to walk away side by side.

When two figures blocked their path from both sides.

Obito stood with his hands on his hips, gritting his back teeth as he stared at Ye.

His face was filled with the stubborn refusal to be outdone by that show-off Kakashi.

He craned his neck and shouted in a stubborn, aggressive voice.

"Count me in! I want to train too!"

But his unspoken meaning was written clearly across his face.

You've got to be kidding me!

I awakened my Sharingan last night too!

How can I let you hog the spotlight in front of the entire class by yourself?!

I have to outwork you!

Just then, a timid head peeked out from beside Obito.

With three bandages on his face and legs still somewhat weak, Asuma Sarutobi cautiously moved closer.

He stared at Ye with the fanatical gaze of someone looking at his life mentor, his voice incredibly humble.

"Big bro..." Asuma said with immense respect. "From now on, you're my real big brother... count me in too. I want to join."

Ye stopped and looked at the bizarre group of four before him.

A human-shaped spotlight and hot-blooded idiot.

An Uchiha Pure Love Warrior who had just been kicked into a pigheaded mess.

And the Hokage's son, who had developed severe Stockholm syndrome after being smacked with a brick.

Ye could not suppress his smile at all.

He would not need to painstakingly go around knocking them out one by one.

Three premium leeks capable of continuously producing massive amounts of Guard-Break Points and Recognition Points had actually lined up and delivered themselves to his doorstep.

If he did not squeeze them dry, he would be letting the system's cultivation go to waste.

Ye waved his hand cheerfully and slung an arm around Obito and Asuma's shoulders.

"No problem! Tonight, the four of us will enjoy the ultimate youth together!"

The setting sun stretched the shadows of the four boys long.