Smack!!!!
Back and forth, his hands swung from left and right.
Uchiha Itachi took four full slaps across the face, leaving it swollen like a pig's head.
He was completely stunned by the beating.
"Though you're an Anbu member and I'm a member of the Konoha Military Police Force, we're both Ninjas."
Uchiha Minamoto caught his breath and straightened up.
"Now, tell me, what matters most to a Ninja?"
"Endurance!"
"With a voice that quiet, you dared spout off at the clan meeting?"
"Endurance!!!"
"Good! That's the spirit!"
Uchiha Minamoto answered loudly, finally letting the weasel off after beating him beyond recognition.
The Great Love Panel popped up again.
[At the Uchiha clan meeting, you severely punished Uchiha Itachi, further improving his vile nature.] [You gained 1,000 great love points!] [You obtained [B-rank: Summoning Technique: Lightning Blade Creation]!]
But I could still get a thousand great love points out of this?
And a B-rank Summoning Technique, too!
Uchiha Itachi might have come out a little ahead.
But I definitely didn't lose out!
Without hesitation, Uchiha Minamoto put the ten thousand points he had earned earlier straight into his clan bloodline.
His [One-Tomoe Sharingan] evolved on the spot!
--
[Two-Tomoe Sharingan] [Rank: B] [Abilities: 1. Copy Eye: Dynamic vision is further enhanced, allowing the user to instantly see through and imitate an opponent's hand seals and movements, effectively copying most Ninjutsu and Taijutsu; 2. Mental energy enhancement: The strength of the user's mental energy receives a B-rank boost.] [Evaluation: Against me, who has copied over a thousand Ninjutsu, you have no chance of winning!]
--
Uchiha Minamoto turned around, his scarlet [Two-Tomoe Sharingan] looking toward the other clan members at the meeting.
Now, it's showtime!
"Konoha Shinobi Village has fought countless battles throughout its history, including three large-scale Shinobi World Wars, with twists and turns too complicated to recount.
"But precisely because of this, Konoha has witnessed countless shinobi clans rise and fall, one flourishing as another declined."
Uchiha Minamoto paused, his [Two-Tomoe Sharingan] sweeping across the gathering.
"I don't understand.
"Why is everyone talking about how our clan is trapped in a remote corner of the village?
"As though this strongest hidden village in the Shinobi World were destined to bring us Uchiha more harm than good.
"Fifty-eight years ago.
"Our forebear, Madara Uchiha, joined forces with the Senju Clan to establish Konoha.
"From that point onward, the Uchiha Clan controlled the Konoha Military Police Force.
"Wherever the Red-and-White Gunbai went, the people welcomed it wholeheartedly. Truly, we had every advantage of timing, terrain, and popular support.
"That scene of everything thriving, brimming with vitality, remains before our eyes.
"In a mere sixty years, has Konoha truly transformed into the Uchiha's burial ground?"
Uchiha Minamoto paused again, giving everyone plenty of time to react.
Throughout the gathering, pairs of scarlet Sharingan activated.
The Uchiha all watched this super genius who had just stepped over the clan head's genius eldest son and truly made his name in a single battle, awaiting his words.
Under everyone's gaze.
Uchiha Minamoto spoke solemnly.
"No matter what!"
"The Senju are weakened now. The advantage is ours!"
Chapter 21: The Tiger-Skin Masked Man Makes His Grand Entrance! (Please keep reading! Please vote with your monthly tickets!)
The clan meeting came to an end.
The Uchiha Ninjas left Naka Shrine in an orderly fashion.
As they departed, quite a few Uchiha Ninjas still kept their attention on Uchiha Minamoto.
After a single clan meeting.
To say it had "established Uchiha Minamoto's leadership among the clan's younger generation" would have been going a little far.
But probably no one would dispute that "Uchiha Minamoto was a bona fide super genius."
Especially when compared with Clan Head Fugaku's useless eldest son, the contrast was simply brutal!
The impression that "Uchiha Minamoto was a super genius" would not affect the bigger picture just yet.
But one thing was almost certain: attendance at the next "Ninjutsu Exchange Meeting" would skyrocket!
Inside Naka Shrine.
The figures gradually thinned out, until only Uchiha Fugaku and several other senior clan members remained.
"Itachi..."
Uchiha Fugaku glared at his eldest son, whose head was "as big as a bushel," in exasperation at his failure to live up to expectations.
Today's clan meeting should have been the perfect stage for Uchiha Itachi to shine.
Instead, the stage had been built, and the actor had stepped onto it.
Rather than showing off, he had made a complete mess of it!
One on one, in front of almost every Ninja in the clan, he had lost so decisively.
Couldn't he at least have fought a few more exchanges?
Couldn't he at least have lasted a few seconds longer?
Simply useless!
Worse than useless!
Uchiha Fugaku was already considering whether to start grooming his second son instead.
But Uchiha Sasuke's talent was ultimately no match for his elder brother's, and he was still so young...
Tch!
Uchiha Fugaku felt as though his own head was about to swell, too.
"You're dismissed, Itachi!"
The clan head shook his head and gave the order outright.
"Go to Konoha Hospital for treatment yourself. Don't come home tonight!"
Uchiha Fugaku was also an experienced Ninja.
He knew the wounds on Uchiha Itachi's face were, at most, superficial.
They looked frightening but would not actually have much of an impact.
But Uchiha Minamoto's earlier "gut-punching fist" had made Uchiha Itachi cough up blood.
Uchiha Itachi's internal organs had probably sustained some degree of injury.
Injuries in that area still needed prompt treatment to prevent further hidden damage.
Though disappointed, Uchiha Fugaku did still care about his eldest son.
"...Yes."
Like a weasel with its spine broken, Uchiha Itachi staggered out of Naka Shrine.
Once he left.
The atmosphere inside Naka Shrine changed as well.
"I really never expected it, Fugaku..."
Sitting cross-legged to one side, Uchiha Setsuna had intended to tease him a little, but seeing the clan head's expression, as black as the bottom of a pot, he changed the subject.
"To think another super genius has appeared in the clan."
Yes!
There's no need to criticize Uchiha Itachi.
But we can sing Uchiha Minamoto's praises!
Compared with Uchiha Itachi, whose loyalties wavered and who even seemed to lean more toward the village.
Uchiha Minamoto was clearly a "clan loyalist"!
Uchiha Setsuna liked good children like him best.
A brief introduction was in order.
Uchiha Setsuna, one of the clan elders, had immense seniority and great prestige.
If the clan were to be divided into factions.
Uchiha Setsuna could be considered a representative of its radical faction.
"Let's leave Minamoto aside..."
Uchiha Fugaku shook his head, trying to change the subject.
"When will that lord be coming?"
"Why leave Minamoto aside? I thought what he said was very good!"
A smile creased Uchiha Setsuna's face, aged like tree bark.
"In this coup.
"Our strongest fighter, Lord Madara, will face Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"The advantage is ours!"
As far back as the reign of the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, Uchiha Setsuna had been secretly plotting to wrest sovereignty over Konoha from the Senju Clan.
And that plotting had gone on for decades...
The Third took office, the Fourth Hokage took office, the Fourth Hokage left office, and the Third took office again...
Through all that back and forth.
Far from drawing closer to Konoha's center of power, the Uchiha Clan had only grown further away.
Uchiha Setsuna had nearly lost all hope.
Before you continue