"Clan head, Makoto Uchiha is still alive!"
Those words struck Uchiha Fugaku like a bolt from the blue.
How could that be? How could Makoto Uchiha still be alive?
Makoto Uchiha had always been Uchiha Fugaku's proudest student.
Not only had he awakened his Sharingan as a child, he had even been able to defeat the clan's genin while still attending the Ninja Academy.
After losing to Chihane, he had applied for early graduation. Then, after a year of training, he had defeated an Iwa chunin on his first deployment to the battlefield and even escaped alive from a jonin.
Although he had lost to Chihane once, that was hardly a disgrace. On the contrary, it was a point in his favor.
After all, no one in the entire shinobi world had ever beaten Chihane. Whether against Hanzō the Demigod or the Third Raikage, who had likewise spent his life undefeated, Chihane had never lost.
That was why Fugaku had always placed such high hopes in Makoto Uchiha.
Fugaku firmly believed that Makoto Uchiha had the potential to become a top-tier ninja.
To put it more plainly, Fugaku believed that as long as Makoto Uchiha did not die young, he would become an elite jonin at the very least.
Moreover, Makoto Uchiha was not merely a promising younger clansman Fugaku had pinned his hopes on. He was also part of the supporting team Fugaku had prepared for Itachi.
After all, there were quite a few geniuses in Itachi's generation. Leaving aside those outside the clan, Itachi's greatest rival within it, Shisui Uchiha, was already difficult enough to deal with.
Shisui Uchiha was also Kagami Uchiha's son, and that man's loyalties had not lain with the clan. Still, Fugaku would not hinder Shisui's development over that.
After all, the stronger Shisui