"The Third actually invited Minamoto to join the Anbu? I've never heard anything about that before!"
"And he actually refused? What a shame! If Minamoto joined the Anbu too, then on the village side, we..."
Uchiha Yashiro, who was extremely blunt, even arrogant, immediately frowned and demanded in a gruff voice.
"Minamoto! Is what Itachi said true?"
Under everyone's gaze.
Uchiha Minamoto rose unhurriedly to his feet.
"That's right, Captain Yashiro. I did receive an invitation from Lord Third Hokage, and I did refuse him."
"Why!?"
Uchiha Yashiro pressed.
"The clan needs to know the village's specific movements. The Anbu is the department with the easiest access to the Hokage. You should understand the need to contribute your strength to the clan!"
His overbearing, elder-knows-best manner made Uchiha Minamoto frown despite himself.
"It has been an Uchiha tradition to join the Konoha Military Police Force since ancient times."
Uchiha Minamoto spoke expressionlessly.
"Captain, was I wrong to turn down the Hokage's olive branch to uphold our clan's tradition?"
"Well..."
Uchiha Yashiro was immediately at a loss for words.
Though he did not understand why Hiruzen Sarutobi had invited Uchiha Minamoto to join the Anbu.
The brat was not even a Chunin, merely a Genin.
But he had to admit one thing.
Contributing to the clan was certainly right.
Upholding the clan's traditions seemed right too.
Uchiha Yashiro had been backed into a corner.
The other clan members might not approve of Uchiha Minamoto's attitude, but there was genuinely nothing to fault in his words.
Even Uchiha Fugaku merely frowned without saying anything more.
Having dealt with the "noise," Uchiha Minamoto turned his gaze back to Uchiha Itachi.
"Itachi."
Uchiha Minamoto tilted his head.
"Do you have a problem with me?"
Just outside Naka Shrine, Uchiha Minamoto had already been met with a cold look from him.
And at the clan meeting, Uchiha Itachi had stopped even pretending!
Uchiha Minamoto thought back carefully.
Aside from attracting Uchiha Itachi's childhood sweetheart, turning down Uchiha Itachi's top boss, and cozying up to Uchiha Itachi's younger brother...
He did not seem to have done anything particularly worth the other man's attention, had he?
Uchiha Minamoto was puzzled.
"No."
Uchiha Itachi said coldly.
"I have no problem with you."
"It seems you really do have a problem with me."
Uchiha Minamoto raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and beckoned to Uchiha Itachi.
"Then let's settle this the way ninja do best!
"Come on. Fight me."
A perfectly normal clan meeting.
Had been forcibly turned into something resembling a sparring ground.
Uchiha Fugaku was immediately displeased.
"Minamoto! Sit down! And Itachi! Apologize to Minamoto!"
Uchiha Fugaku asserted his authority as clan leader, trying to quell the budding conflict.
"Now is not the time for you two to spar."
Uchiha Minamoto said nothing, merely nudging Uchiha En, who sat beside him, with the tip of his foot.
After observing him all afternoon, he had found that En was not only highly talented but also very quick-witted.
Sure enough.
After receiving Uchiha Minamoto's "signal."
Uchiha En immediately raised his voice and shouted.
"Clan leader, surely Itachi doesn't look down on those of us working in the Konoha Military Police Force just because he joined the Anbu?"
What a damning accusation!
Uchiha Itachi parted his lips, about to argue.
But the clan members who had received Uchiha Minamoto's help during that afternoon's Ninjutsu Exchange Meeting also began speaking up.
"Whether it's the Konoha Military Police Force or the Anbu, it's all work. What makes one higher or lower than the other?"
"Itachi went too far! Just because he wants to be the Third Hokage's dog doesn't mean everyone else does!"
"Clan leader, just let the two of them fight! A fight! Hell yeah!"
One was a young genius who had long since made his name.
The other was a ninjutsu genius who had recently risen to prominence.
The Uchiha clan members also wanted to see which of the two was stronger.
With his clansmen egging them on, Uchiha Fugaku reluctantly agreed.
"Itachi!"
Uchiha Fugaku glared irritably at his eldest son, blaming him for stirring up trouble for no reason and turning a perfectly good clan meeting into this.
"Finish it quickly! Don't hurt anyone!"
It was not hard to discern Uchiha Fugaku's true preference from his words.
Uchiha Itachi did not reply, merely nodding silently.
He raised his eyes, a red glow emerging in them as three black tomoe spun ceaselessly.
The information on Uchiha Minamoto kept flashing through his mind.
Skilled in Fire Release, carries a ninja blade, very fast...
He's the same type of ninja as Shisui Uchiha!
"Senior..."
Uchiha Itachi looked at Uchiha Minamoto, his gaze abruptly sharpening.
"My apologies!"
The instant his words fell.
Uchiha Itachi's ocular power raced along his line of sight toward Uchiha Minamoto, too fast for anyone to react.
[Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique]!
Uchiha Minamoto was meeting Uchiha Itachi's gaze when the scene before him suddenly spun.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack-
Huge iron spikes flew in from every direction, their origins unknown, pinning Uchiha Minamoto's body in place.
"How far can those Sharingan of yours still see?"
Within the illusion, Uchiha Itachi stared straight at Uchiha Minamoto's single tomoe with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"The gap between our ocular powers is something you cannot possibly overcome!
"You've lost, senior!"
"Really? I don't believe you."
A mocking smile tugged at Uchiha Minamoto's lips, and he suddenly closed his eyes.
"Let me offer you a word of earnest advice, Itachi.
"Don't make reckless boasts. All they do is expose the weakness within you."
The moment Uchiha Minamoto closed his eyes.
An intense sense of unease surged within Uchiha Itachi.
The Uchiha Clan's genjutsu was indeed powerful.
Enhanced by the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi's genjutsu could even take down a Jonin in an instant.
However.
The vast majority of the Uchiha Clan's genjutsu was transmitted through "sight"!
In other words.
Once an opponent closed their eyes or avoided eye contact with an Uchiha, the vast majority of Uchiha genjutsu methods would immediately become useless.
Uchiha Minamoto had invested little effort in genjutsu.
But he knew perfectly well how to break it!
Bzzzt-bzzzt-
Brilliant, dazzling lightning erupted from Uchiha Minamoto's body, seemingly forming a complete suit of lightning armor over him, the powerful current stimulating his muscles and causing intense numbness and pain.
Pain was precisely one of the ways to break genjutsu!
The illusion created by [Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique] collapsed on the spot.
Uchiha Itachi suffered the backlash from his genjutsu and instinctively narrowed his eyes.
At that very instant.
Uchiha Minamoto vanished from where he stood.
[Yang Extremity Breathing Technique]!
[Lightning Body Flicker Technique]!
Enhanced by two Lightning Release Nintaijutsu techniques, Uchiha Minamoto moved too fast for the vast majority of the Uchiha present to react.
Only the few Uchiha Jonin who had activated their Three-Tomoe Sharingan could barely follow Uchiha Minamoto's movements.
Whoosh-
As though he had teleported, Uchiha Minamoto appeared out of thin air before Uchiha Itachi.
He raised his right hand, clenched his fingers into a fist, and drove it mercilessly toward Uchiha Itachi's abdomen.
Bam!!!
The solid punch slammed straight into Uchiha Itachi's body with a dull, teeth-grating thud.
Uchiha Itachi immediately doubled over like a shrimp, blood gushing from his mouth as he flew backward until he crashed into the wall of Naka Shrine, smashing a hole in it.
By the time Uchiha Itachi slid down from the hole in the wall, he had already lost consciousness and could no longer fight.
"By the time the words 'you've lost' crossed my mind."
The lightning over Uchiha Minamoto's body gradually faded as he looked down haughtily at Uchiha Itachi, who could no longer rise, his tone flat.
"Our fight was already over!"
Before you continue