Departure

"Leading the Uchiha back to prominence has always been one of my goals," Fugaku said. "As I see it, a stronger Uchiha means a stronger Konoha. The two go hand in hand."

There was one thing Fugaku left unsaid: a stronger Konoha did not necessarily mean a stronger Uchiha.

"The Uchiha clan has a long road ahead," Ueno said. "Konoha was founded by the Senju and Uchiha together, but Madara Uchiha's actions drove our clan straight out of its center of power.

"The Senju declined too, yet they also rose in another way. They inherited the First Hokage's Will of Fire. Some died in the war, while others became part of Konoha itself, influencing generations of villagers. Senju is no longer just a surname. It's a spirit."

Fugaku looked at Ueno, surprised to hear him say all that. As expected of a Jonin, he was no ordinary man in either perspective or insight.

"You have remarkable insight, Ueno."

Fugaku reassessed Ueno. His aptitude as a ninja might be poor, but he had other strengths. Sending him to fight at a place like Forward Camp seemed a waste of talent.

After parting with Ueno, Fugaku did not seek out any more clansmen. He returned to his tent, his mind racing as he thought everything over.

Their conversation had given him plenty to consider, though Ueno's views were somewhat idealistic.

In the Shinobi World, strength ultimately ruled. The Senju faction had always held power in Konoha. Support from the villagers played a part, but so did sheer strength.

Ueno was caught up in the present and could not see what lay ahead. Fugaku, however, knew what would happen. Konoha's current leaders could all be counted as part of the Senju faction, but that was all they were: a faction.

They had not inherited the Senju's ability to embrace others. Their prosperity was an illusion. The stronger Konoha looked now, the weaker its leaders' struggles for power would make it later. When Konoha truly ran short of capable successors, the Uchiha would have their chance to enter its center of power.

Before he knew it, the night had passed. Fugaku left his tent and headed for Tent 42, where the last Uchiha clansman still at the base was staying.

Every conversation with a clansman gave him something to think about and a better sense of what some of them believed.

Maeda and Ueno belonged to much the same sort. Both loved the clan and would give their lives for its honor, though Maeda was more hot-blooded and Ueno more levelheaded.

The clansman in Tent 42 was Uchiha Tenza. His Sharingan had reached Two-Tomoe, and he had already risen to Jonin.

Many Uchiha had little aptitude for the Sharingan but still became Jonin through their own efforts. For many of them, the Sharingan was not their only path.

"Fugaku." Tenza looked up as Fugaku lifted the tent flap. "I've heard plenty about you. Everyone at Forward Camp knows your name."

The two went outside. The rain was light.

"People are talking about me?" Fugaku asked in surprise. "I haven't done anything earth-shattering."

"You led an eight-person squad and destroyed the supplies at a Sunagakure Outpost. That's more than enough," Tenza said.

"It was only one outpost," Fugaku said. "And we couldn't have done it without everyone working together. I certainly couldn't have done it alone."

"You're too modest," Tenza said. "With your Three-Tomoe Sharingan, completing missions wouldn't be difficult no matter who was on your team. Mine has only reached Two-Tomoe, but even I can sense the power it holds."

Fugaku frowned slightly. Dismissing his teammates' abilities and placing too much faith in the Sharingan was not a good sign. At least at its current one-, two-, and three-tomoe stages, it did not give an Uchiha that great an advantage over other ninja.

Only upon awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan did it undergo a leap in power, giving its wielder the means to face the strongest fighters of the Villages.

There were probably quite a few clansmen who thought like Tenza. That blind arrogance would need to be addressed someday.

"Tenza," Fugaku said, "four nations are fighting in the Land of Rain. The battles are fierce. Don't let your guard down."

"Fugaku," Tenza said, "you think I'm blindly confident? I've never had much aptitude for the Sharingan, and mine is still at Two-Tomoe. I'm a Jonin. Of course I know how much power it gives me.

"But I can feel that my Sharingan is on the verge of advancing. It could reach Three-Tomoe at any time. Once it does, I'll be strong enough to handle the fighting here."

Fugaku looked at the proud Tenza. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan was powerful, but it was only an increase in degree. Against a truly top-tier fighter, it still fell short.

"Tenza, take it from someone who has the Three-Tomoe Sharingan: it isn't as strong as you think."

As a fellow clansman, Fugaku felt he had to warn him before that confidence cost him dearly in battle. Whether Tenza listened was up to him.

After parting with Tenza, Fugaku's thoughts wandered. Blind arrogance was common in the clan. Far too many put too much faith in the Sharingan's power.

No one's thinking could be changed overnight. He would have to work on it gradually.

The camp had given the squad two days to learn to work together, and that time was up. That morning, Fugaku collected their next assignment from Hatake Sakumo's tent.

He looked over the squad standing neatly in formation and nodded, reasonably satisfied.

"This mission won't be easy," Fugaku said after considering his words, "but it isn't especially difficult either. There's no set number of enemies to kill. How much we accomplish is up to us.

"Our mission is to operate in the northwest of the Land of Rain and kill ninja from the other three nations. We have three months."

Fugaku knew the four-way war was about to settle into years of stalemate. During that time, it would come down to brutal clashes between small squads, a true test of each Ninja Village's strength and resources.

This mission was a test of the squad and of Fugaku as its captain.

They had not been given a target number of kills because the captain was expected to judge the situation and devise a plan suited to his squad.

But battles between ninja were unpredictable. With months ahead of them, Fugaku had already prepared himself for the possibility of losing squad members at any time.

"Fighting between ninja is always brutal," Fugaku said. "At first, don't focus on killing the enemy. I want you to use real combat to learn to work together. Move out."

Fugaku's squad became a streak of blurs as they sped out of the camp.