A Fist That Shook the Uchiha

The Uchiha Clan's lanes were exceptionally tidy. Although this was still part of Konoha, Liumu felt that the people here seemed somewhat more united.

Outsiders rarely visited the Uchiha Clan's territory. Partly, this was because the clan's members were indeed rather clannish, and nobody wanted to come here to endure their scornful looks. Another reason might have been the struggles among those at the top.

After walking several hundred meters, Liumu and Rin arrived at the entrance to a courtyard residence.

Before they even entered, the two could hear the rustling sounds of play coming from inside the house.

"There are quite a few people here!" Liumu said with a smile to Rin beside him. "Wasn't Obito always something of a loner? How come so many people came today?"

Rin looked at Liumu with a faint smile and replied, "Ever since you and Kakashi graduated, Obito has seemed like a different person. Whether he's studying theory or practicing ninjutsu, he works very hard, and he's been interacting with our classmates much more often."

In Liumu's memory, Obito had eyes only for Rin. Apart from resenting the few people who were relatively close to her-more precisely, those few boys-he barely socialized at all. But judging by what Rin said now, Obito really had changed quite a bit.

The two strolled inside and saw a group sitting beneath the eaves, munching on watermelon. Every so often, they gestured at one another with their hands, talking and laughing in a lively gathering.

"Rin! Rin! You're here!"

The moment the two entered, Obito spotted Rin. He hurriedly wiped the watermelon juice from his hands and stood up to welcome her.

But no sooner had he spoken than he noticed Liumu following behind Rin, and his advancing steps immediately froze.

"Liumu?"

After a year apart, Obito and their classmates had clearly grown quite a bit. Whether in height or temperament, each showed Liumu some degree of change.

Obito was still dressed the same way, but perhaps because he was at home, he wasn't wearing his goggles today. Somehow, his neatly cropped hair actually looked rather pleasing.

"Wait..."

As though suddenly realizing something, Liumu muttered to himself, "Why do I care so much about other people's hair now?"

Liumu's appearance was something none of them had expected. He was a genius who had graduated from the Ninja Academy at five a year earlier. Over the past year, their classmates had discussed him and Kakashi less and less. Even when they occasionally brought them up, it felt as though those two belonged to a different generation.

"Have a seat."

After addressing Liumu with a cold expression, Obito turned and sidled up to Rin again with a faint smile.

"Here, your birthday present. Happy birthday, Obito."

Rin took a Shuriken tied with colorful ribbons from her bag and handed it to Obito. He accepted it bashfully, then immediately laughed and replied with a red face, "Thank you for the present, Rin."

"Sigh..."

Watching from behind them, Liumu sighed speechlessly. After all, most of them were only six or seven years old, yet at such a young age, Obito already knew to trail after a girl. Was Obito farsighted, or... simply an early bloomer?

Liumu felt somewhat awkward at today's gathering. After all, Kakashi wasn't here, Guy wasn't here, and even Choji Akimichi, who used to get along quite well with him, didn't seem to have come.

Moreover, their long separation left his once-familiar classmates afraid to approach Liumu now. They could only stay off to one side, whispering about something.

An unknown amount of time passed. Just as Liumu, bored out of his mind, was about to bid everyone farewell and head home first, a flurry of disordered footsteps suddenly came from the entrance to Obito's home.

As the footsteps drew nearer, everyone heard a bang, and the gate was shoved open forcefully. The tall, thin man at the front wore a Forehead Protector at his waist and a red police force armband on his left arm.

The tall, thin man entered, and more Uchiha Clan members streamed in behind him.

"En? What are you all..."

Hearing the commotion, Obito, the host, recognized the visitor at a glance. He immediately ran out of the house, came up beside the tall, thin man, and looked up as he asked, "What's going on?"

Uchiha En heard him but did not answer. Instead, he swept his cold gaze over the classmates inside the house before finally fixing it firmly on Liumu, who stood at one side of the courtyard.

"Take him away!"

Uchiha En gave the order to the clan members beside him.

Although Obito disliked Liumu, Liumu was his guest now. Obito couldn't simply turn a blind eye to a guest being taken away from his own home.

So, just as the Uchiha Clan members were about to act on the order, Obito suddenly hurried forward to block their path. With a puzzled expression, he demanded, "What exactly is going on? He's my classmate. Why are you taking him away?"

Seeing this, Uchiha En stepped forward, hooked an arm around Obito's head, and shoved him aside. Then he faced Liumu and said, "You're Liumu, right? Come quietly. I don't want to disrupt Obito's birthday party."

Uchiha En was currently the captain of a squad in the Konoha Military Police Force. The armband on his arm was the symbol of his position.

As a minor officer, Uchiha En was very familiar with Liumu's deeds.

He had led a team here to arrest Liumu this time precisely to vent the Uchiha Clan's resentment.

Now, everyone's eyes were on Liumu. Looking at Obito's surprised yet insistent gaze, Liumu replied to Uchiha En, "Since so many rats have gathered this time, I might as well clean them all up today."

The others didn't know why the Uchiha kept making trouble for Liumu, but Uchiha En and Liumu himself knew perfectly well.

That punch of Liumu's had shattered not just a stone statue, but also the Uchiha's dignity within Konoha.

Even though their superiors had forbidden them from going too far in holding Liumu accountable, today he had actually appeared openly on Uchiha territory. Clearly, he wasn't taking them seriously.

Faced with Liumu's provocation, Uchiha En and all his subordinates activated their Sharingan in unison.

In an instant, Liumu felt as though he had fallen into a social circle of people with pinkeye.

"Captain, let me teach this brat who doesn't know his place a lesson."

The short, chubby man beside Uchiha En immediately hurled a punch straight at Liumu's face, his fist whistling through the air.

As members of the police force, they could no longer concern themselves with the village rule against private fights. At worst, after taking Liumu down today, they would all be confined together.

But what none of them expected was...

With a simple sidestep, Liumu deftly evaded the short, chubby man's attack. Before the fat man hurtling through the air could react, everyone saw Liumu drive his knee upward, slamming it heavily into the man's abdomen.

"Urgh..."

An agonized cry rang out. After hitting the ground, the short, chubby man curled up like a shrimp, unable to get up for a long time.

"Stop testing me one at a time. Just come at me together."