"Do you know how to play shogi?"
Uchiha Fugaku first gave Uchiha Kiyoshi a slight nod of thanks, then turned to Uchiha Hui. "Let's play a game. I remember you liked watching people play when you were little."
With that,
Fugaku set out the shogi pieces he had already prepared.
He did not wait for Uchiha Hui to answer.
Uchiha Hui could not help rolling his eyes, but he said nothing more. Shogi was essentially "Japanese chess." He understood the basic rules from his merged memories, so playing a game would not be much of a problem.
It was not as though anything was at stake.
He could also take the opportunity to find out what his older brother was really up to.
The two began their "battle."
Uchiha Kiyoshi remained silent beside them, watching attentively with curiosity in his eyes.
Before long,
Uchiha Fugaku had utterly crushed Uchiha Hui.
And Uchiha Kiyoshi had confirmed one thing.
Aside from knowing a few rules, Uchiha Hui clearly had absolutely no talent for shogi. In fact, his play could only be described as atrocious.
While watching,
Kiyoshi had spotted quite a few opportunities to recover some ground.
But Uchiha Hui seemed completely unconcerned. He focused entirely on attacking, unwilling to make even the slightest detour.
"Playing shogi and being a shinobi follow the same principles..."
Uchiha Fugaku captured Uchiha Hui's last piece, claiming a "clean sweep," then began to speak.
His tone was grave, with a hint of instruction.
At that,
Uchiha Hui shoved the board away with one hand and leaned back, cutting him off outright. "Don't lecture me! I'm not Itachi or Sasuke!"
"Just tell me why you wanted to see me. Don't tell me you missed me because we haven't seen each other for a few days. We're brothers, not husband and wife. There's no need to get that sappy..."
He could tell that Uchiha Fugaku had a lot on his mind.
So he was willing to talk things over with him.
Whatever else might be said,
Uchiha Hui believed his grasp of the "big picture" surpassed that of most people currently in Konoha.
After all,
He knew how the shinobi world would develop over the next decade and more.
Even that great toad on Mount Myōboku had no right to call himself a "prophet" in front of him.
"You really don't give your older brother any sense of accomplishment."
Uchiha Fugaku shook his head helplessly. As he spoke, he glanced at Uchiha Kiyoshi beside them and noticed that something seemed a little off about him. He was slightly surprised, but continued, "I've finished the work on hand for now. The village is about to begin reconstruction..."
"What does that have to do with me?"
Uchiha Hui could not help asking.
"As far as I remember, we Uchiha didn't suffer much damage. My place is even farther out of the way. Apart from the woods behind it taking a bit of a beating that night, not even a single window broke."
Uchiha Hui vaguely recalled what had happened to the Uchiha Clan after the Nine-Tails' Rampage.
This should be roughly when Konoha redrew the districts for its major clans, and a certain old man wrapped in bandages had the Uchiha moved straight to the village's outermost edge.
And just how far out was that edge?
Simply put,
From the Uchiha Clan's future compound, climbing over the wall to leave the village would be far quicker than going through the main gate. Step outside, and there would be the wall and the village barrier...
"Kiyoshi, go home and get some rest. You look a little tired, and I don't have anything else for you here."
Uchiha Fugaku spoke gently to Uchiha Kiyoshi beside him.
He was a young shinobi Fugaku valued highly, and he would become one of the Uchiha's mainstays in the future.
But there were some matters
Fugaku felt it would be better not to tell him about just yet.
Uchiha Kiyoshi did not hesitate. He rose, bowed slightly to Uchiha Fugaku, then opened the door and left.
His position was essentially that of the Uchiha Clan Head's "bodyguard."
So he often stayed at Uchiha Fugaku's side.
But if Fugaku needed privacy,
He would naturally leave of his own accord rather than stay and get in the way.
Uchiha Hui glanced at the departing Uchiha Kiyoshi, then gave Uchiha Fugaku a derisive snort.
"Did you two have a clash earlier?"
Uchiha Fugaku asked.
The two had arrived one after the other, and Uchiha Kiyoshi, who came later, had still looked somewhat pale.
As a veteran jonin,
Fugaku could naturally pick up on a few clues.
"You should know I've been looking around the clan for people to spar with lately, so I couldn't resist just now."
Before this, Uchiha Hui had not even remembered Uchiha Kiyoshi's name, but he did not hide what had happened. He had also been measured in his approach. Knowing Kiyoshi was one of Uchiha Fugaku's men, he had merely tested the power of the Gakō Technique and gone no further.
"Oh?"
Curiosity appeared on Uchiha Fugaku's face as he looked at his younger brother. "So you won?"
"What else?"
Uchiha Hui answered listlessly.
That was just how Uchiha Fugaku was. To be honest, Hui had not interacted with him much—only a few times so far—but he could still sense how conflicted and complicated the man was.
Take this moment, for instance.
He had clearly seemed ready to discuss something "confidential."
Yet a sparring match that would have been insignificant to anyone else had diverted his attention.
As though that mattered more.
Of course,
Uchiha Hui also knew this was because Uchiha Fugaku cared about him.
But as clan head,
How could he put his focus on an individual?
The big picture!
Think of the big picture!
"Last time, I said I would explain how to use the Two-Tomoe Sharingan for genjutsu, but afterward, I was so pressed for time that I forgot. These are the notes I've made over the years, along with the experiences of our Uchiha predecessors. Take them home later and use them as a reference."
Uchiha Fugaku paid no mind to Uchiha Hui's impatience. Smiling, he took several scrolls from a nearby shelf and placed them in front of him.
"Doesn't this count as abusing your authority for personal gain?"
Uchiha Hui weighed the scrolls in his hand, opened a few that looked particularly old to skim their contents, then waggled his eyebrows at Uchiha Fugaku.
These were all valuable resources.
Although he did not yet know how much they would benefit him, Fugaku's intentions were good, at least.
Scrolls like these could be considered the clan's "secret collection."
Even ordinary chunin had to meet certain requirements to borrow them. They could not even take them away, only read them on the premises.
"I'm the clan head."
Uchiha Fugaku answered proudly.
The emotion in his voice briefly caught Uchiha Hui off guard. He had not expected someone who seemed so rigid to show such a lively side.
"Then I'll take them. I'll bring them back once I'm done reading."
Uchiha Hui smiled and set the scrolls aside.
Then,
He stared at Uchiha Fugaku and asked:
"Where is the village planning to move our Uchiha Clan's compound?"
"!"
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes widened.
He had not expected his younger brother to guess the gist of it before he had even spoken.
It was unbelievable!
"Who told you?"
Uchiha Fugaku could not help asking.
Including himself, no more than three people in the Uchiha Clan knew about this.
He could not understand how Uchiha Hui had found out.
Could he really have figured it out just by thinking?
That would be absurd.
Before you continue