The future of the Uchiha Clan

His close friend Minato Namikaze had died, the village's old guard distrusted him, the heads of the other clans watched coldly from the sidelines, and the young people in his own clan were arrogant and shortsighted. Uchiha Fugaku was beset on all sides. Just when he thought he had truly run out of options, Madara Uchiha gave him hope.

If he, as the clan head, could not change the Uchiha Clan's exclusion, then what about his young son?

Uchiha Fugaku looked at Madara Uchiha's young, confident face and smiled with relief.

What a blessing it was to have such a sensible, outstanding son!

"All right, we'll do as you say. But Itachi, from today onward, I'll hold you to stricter standards. Having ambition is a good thing, but you can only realize your wishes when your strength measures up to it."

"Thank you for your guidance, Father. Please start teaching me ninjutsu!"

When it came to ninjutsu, Uchiha Fugaku would not be qualified to teach Madara Uchiha even if he studied for another thirty years. But there was no explaining a child who was not quite seven and had never learned ninjutsu suddenly using advanced techniques. To give his future displays of skill a plausible foundation, Madara Uchiha had no choice but to learn the Uchiha Clan's ninjutsu all over again.

Even before, Madara Uchiha had only needed to see a ninjutsu once to master it. Now, in his third life, every technique Uchiha Fugaku taught him was naturally effortless. As Uchiha Fugaku watched Madara Uchiha learn advanced ninjutsu after a single demonstration—techniques that had once taken him days or even weeks to master—he could not help marveling inwardly.

At this time of peril for the Uchiha Clan, perhaps my child's birth was a gift from the gods. Madara Uchiha was born to save the Uchiha Clan.

With that thought in mind, Uchiha Fugaku naturally devoted even more effort to teaching Madara Uchiha.

"Hey, Itachi, come play with us!"

Although Itachi was not as handsome as Sasuke, his looks utterly outclassed those of everyone else his age, apart from his younger brother.

Despite being aloof and refusing to play with children his age, Madara Uchiha, inhabiting Uchiha Itachi's body, always had young girls from the clan inviting him to join them.

"No, thanks. I still have training to do."

Coldly rejecting the girl, whom he had only met a few times and whose name he had not even remembered, Madara Uchiha headed toward the training ground where he had arranged to meet Shisui. In a few more days, he would be enrolling at the Ninja Academy. He was actually rather curious about what it taught its students. As someone who had lived through the Warring States Period, he had never had the opportunity to attend a school.

"You little brat! Don't get too full of yourself just because you're the clan head's son!"

Several children Madara Uchiha's age were playing with the girl. Seeing how aloof he was, they naturally grew irritated.

"You're members of the Uchiha Clan, aren't you?"

Sensing their anger toward him, Madara Uchiha looked at the carefree children with interest.

When he had been their age, he had already killed more people than he could count. Now the Uchiha Clan faced annihilation, yet these children were still living under an illusion of peace. When Konoha finally raised its scythe against the Uchiha Clan, how many of these children, who had grown up playing in that false peace, would be able to muster enough strength to make the village leadership wary?

"Hmph, of course we're members of the Uchiha Clan! So what? Are you going to throw your weight around as the clan head's son? Don't make us laugh. Our Uchiha Clan isn't like the Hyuga Clan. Even if we aren't from the clan head's line, we're not going to be your dogs!"

Perhaps Madara Uchiha's presence was simply too intimidating. The children who had wanted to teach him a lesson forgot their intention to attack the moment his gaze fell on them. But newborn calves did not fear tigers. Although fear had already stirred in their hearts, they still answered his question with righteous defiance.

"Well said. Every member of the Uchiha Clan should be a warrior who takes pride in themselves. Everyone should have the resolve to attack any enemy. I won't use my position as the clan head's son to push you around. I want to make a bet with you. Not counting the girl, there are four of you. I'll let you fight me four against one. If you win, I'll do whatever you tell me from now on. If I win, the four of you only have to obey me once. Do you dare take that bet?"

"Hmph, you really think we're afraid of you? You're on!"

The four Uchiha children had barely agreed to Madara Uchiha's wager before he was beside them.

Raising his right elbow, Madara Uchiha slammed it into one boy's back, then followed through with a straight punch to another's stomach. Finally, he swept his right leg sideways, knocking the remaining two to the ground together. In a single exchange, Madara Uchiha had defeated all four.

"You're really weak. The four of you can keep each other honest. I want you to throw shuriken a hundred times and run ten laps around the Uchiha Clan's Territory. That's all. Feel free to challenge me again."

Madara Uchiha's breathing had not even changed. He lightly dusted off his hands and left. As for whether these brats would actually do as he had told them, he did not care in the slightest.

To build prestige within the clan, a certain level of strength was essential. Defeating these four was merely the first step in demonstrating how extraordinary he was. Once Madara Uchiha became the strongest of the Uchiha Clan's younger generation under the name Uchiha Itachi, his words would naturally carry the weight they deserved.

"Damn it! That brat ambushed us!"

Rubbing his stomach where the punch had landed, Uchiha Taro struggled to his feet. Between Madara Uchiha's blows and his own sense of shame, his face flushed red as he began making excuses.

"So, do we have to do what he said?"

Nearby, Uchiha Zhixin rubbed his face and got up as well. Looking at his companions' sorry state, he understood the gap between his strength and Madara Uchiha's for the first time. Madara Uchiha might have been arrogant, but he really did have the ability to back it up.

"Obviously! A bet's a bet. As members of the Uchiha Clan, how could we go back on our word?"

Despite his defiant words, Uchiha Taro had begun to admire Madara's strength. Besides, he had his own pride as a member of the Uchiha Clan. Losing four against one and then refusing to honor the bet would be utterly disgraceful.

"I didn't expect you to have the leisure to fight these little kids."

As Taro and the others began running laps around the Uchiha Clan's compound, Madara Uchiha met Shisui Uchiha at the training ground.