I'd rather do nothing than make a mistake!

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Hidden Mist Technique: beginner (15%)

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Uchiha Hui briefly demonstrated his newly acquired Ninjutsu at the training ground behind the courtyard.

Thanks to his rather "mixed" Chakra affinities—he had fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind—he didn't have to worry about being unable to use other types of Ninjutsu.

Honestly.

With the Sharingan, he could easily follow the example of a certain lucky fellow who had acquired one and "copy" Ninjutsu.

But learning through his eyes clearly had certain drawbacks, such as being unable to truly grasp a technique's essence.

Besides, the ability to "copy" belonged to powerful shinobi with Three-Tomoe.

He was just a weakling with One-Tomoe.

All in all, Uchiha Hui was delighted with his newly learned "skill."

Another day of getting stronger!

With that little sigh of satisfaction, he continued familiarizing himself with the abilities he already possessed, including the Shikotsumyaku he had integrated just yesterday.

That evening.

Uchiha Hui finished training and was about to prepare dinner. He still had some beef left over from lunch, so with a few other staples, he would be set for the day.

But a familiar figure arrived unannounced.

"Hui!"

Uchiha Fugaku gave Uchiha Hui a rather strained smile.

Despite being the head of the Uchiha Clan and a well-known figure throughout the Shinobi World, he looked somewhat forlorn, with an air of weariness he couldn't shake.

"Uh... Clan Head!"

Uchiha Hui still couldn't bring himself to call him "big brother." For an adult, such an intimate form of address felt a little embarrassing, especially since he wasn't entirely the original Uchiha Hui, but a new person who had merged with him.

"It's just the two of us here. There's no need to be so formal."

Uchiha Fugaku was clearly a little disappointed. After yesterday, he had longed to hear Uchiha Hui call him "onii-chan" again. Unfortunately, Uchiha Hui hadn't granted his wish.

Still, he wasn't going to insist.

Hearing it would have been ideal, at least—it would mean that the two brothers had truly returned to the closeness of their youth.

"Did you just finish training?"

Uchiha Fugaku asked.

He had spent the day leading some of the clan members to help the other villagers. To his surprise, the moment he returned, he heard that Uchiha Hui had been attacked. He had come over without even changing his clothes.

"Yeah. I had nothing else to do, so I figured I'd practice some ninjutsu. After all, I'm already one of the people in the Uchiha Clan who's spent the longest as a chunin..."

Uchiha Hui answered with a smile.

That wasn't an exaggeration.

He had become a chunin at around sixteen, and eight years had passed since then.

Before that, he hadn't even awakened his Sharingan until he was fifteen. He really had brought shame on the Uchiha.

"It seems you've found a goal for yourself."

Uchiha Fugaku walked over and patted Uchiha Hui on the shoulder, looking him over carefully. "I heard you were attacked by a spy this morning?"

"I suppose you could call it that."

Uchiha Hui wasn't sure whether that morning's incident counted as an attack. After noticing the man tailing him, he had deliberately lured him into a secluded corner. Strictly speaking, it was more like he had set up a sting.

Still, saying he had been "attacked" was clearly more convincing and better at clearing him of any suspicion.

"What happened to that guy?"

"I haven't had time to go to the Security Building yet. Tekka told me the interrogation was finished and they'd confirmed his identity. He was a spy from Kirigakure. He attacked you because he wanted to find out more about what happened that night."

Uchiha Fugaku answered softly as he watched his younger brother.

The fact that Hui had defeated a Kirigakure chunin single-handedly was both within his expectations and surprising.

He had expected it because their spar yesterday had shown him that Uchiha Hui possessed that level of strength. What surprised him was that a real fight to the death wasn't a spar where they stopped short of hurting each other. Uchiha Hui had barely ever been on a battlefield, while every Kirigakure shinobi seemed to have extensive combat experience!

"If he wanted intel, why come after me? None of us Uchiha even left the clan grounds that night!"

Uchiha Hui was baffled.

He had assumed the man thought he was easy prey and wanted to get the most out of targeting a vulnerable Uchiha. He hadn't expected him to be after information on the Night of the Nine-Tails.

Well, sorry, but I wasn't there!

Even if he did know quite a bit about it.

"Rumors have started circulating in the village. Some of them are about us Uchiha..."

Uchiha Fugaku spoke again.

"Oh? Let me guess. Are people talking about how the Uchiha didn't step in?"

Uchiha Hui looked thoughtful, then spoke casually, as though he had already anticipated everything.

"It's even worse than that!"

Uchiha Fugaku's voice sank, his expression grim.

His experiences that day had been deeply unpleasant. If he hadn't been there, the Uchiha shinobi who accompanied him might have simply walked off the job. Some would certainly have attacked the people hurling insults at them.

Uchiha Hui was somewhat surprised.

He had thought rumors accusing the Uchiha of refusing to help were already bad enough.

But judging by Fugaku's expression, had he underestimated things?!

"Some people are saying we were planning to seize the opportunity to launch a coup that night, but we were discovered in time and stopped..."

Uchiha Fugaku raised his head to look at Uchiha Hui. Without keeping him in suspense, he gave him the answer outright.

At those words.

Uchiha Hui was speechless for a long time.

Eventually.

He raised a thumb.

"Fucking brilliant!"

He had heard a few things while buying groceries that day, including claims that they had "indirectly caused the Fourth Hokage's death." He hadn't taken them seriously. Anyone with eyes knew that the Uchiha and the Fourth Hokage were still on good terms. They had no reason to do such a thing.

Rumors like that might gain traction for a while, but anyone who stopped to think—even civilians who knew very little—could see through them.

But if the rumor became "the Uchiha wanted to launch a coup"...

Well, then.

Everyone seemed to know that the Uchiha were restless and had coveted the Hokage position for a long time. If they had dared to do something like that, wouldn't it actually make sense?

"Did you catch whoever was spreading the rumors?"

Uchiha Hui looked at the clan head.

Uchiha Fugaku shook his head.

At that, Uchiha Hui spread his hands with a helpless expression. But he soon turned serious again and asked, "You must have had a chance to catch someone like that, right?"

"There were too many people around, and they were very cunning. We couldn't act against them directly."

Uchiha Fugaku offered an excuse.

He felt that attacking their "comrades" within the village was far too dangerous. If they failed to obtain enough information afterward, he and the Uchiha might end up giving substance to those baseless accusations of a "coup."

That was the last thing he wanted to see.

"That's just like you!"

Uchiha Hui was stunned. If he hadn't understood Uchiha Fugaku's personality all that well before, he now truly understood how the original Hui—and even the clan's militant faction—had felt when dealing with him.

I'd rather do nothing than make a mistake?!

What the actual fuck!

Uchiha Hui felt his fists clench rock-hard.

Fortunately, he soon relaxed again.

What the hell did it have to do with him?

He just wanted a chance to escape Konoha anyway!