The next morning, sunlight spilled over the Uchiha Clan's compound, where a solemn atmosphere prevailed.
Today was supposed to be the assembly for the new clan head. The Uchiha elders and senior members had gathered early at the Naka Shrine, sitting upright with solemn expressions as they waited for their new clan head-Uchiha Shinichi.
Yet as time ticked by, the atmosphere in the shrine's meeting room gradually grew strained.
Everyone exchanged glances, and murmurs rose here and there.
At the head of the table, former clan head Uchiha Raishin's face had darkened completely. A vein twitched at his temple, and his fingers drummed incessantly on the low table as he muttered under his breath:
"That little brat... does becoming clan head mean he's forgotten his place?!"
"Making all the clan's elders and senior members wait here for him-he certainly knows how to put on airs!"
An elder beside him watched Raishin's expression cautiously, not daring to say a word.
The corners of Raishin's mouth twitched with anger. "He vanished as soon as yesterday's ceremony ended, then came home for dinner acting all mysterious. What the hell is he up to?!"
"And now he's left me and all the elders sitting here with nothing to do! What kind of behavior is this?!"
He kept grumbling, his gloomy gaze fixed on the shrine entrance, ready to give Shinichi a thorough dressing-down the moment he appeared.
But the entrance remained stubbornly empty.
"If he dares to keep us waiting another hour, I'll skin that little brat when I get home!"
Raishin ground out the words, his face as black as soot, tugging at his sleeves hard enough to make them rustle.
An oppressive atmosphere hung over the entire Naka Shrine. The clan members barely dared to breathe, inwardly alarmed that the new clan