In stark contrast to Uchiha Mikoto, who had awakened her Three-Tomoe Sharingan at the age of thirteen, were the four Uchiha standing before them.
All of them looked to be around twenty or even older.
Their strength was, at best, that of chunin, and their eyes possessed no more than two tomoe.
And yet they had the nerve to come looking for trouble?
Being weak or lacking talent was not something worth criticizing.
But having no ability to speak of while acting arrogant and looking down on everyone else simply because they belonged to the Uchiha clan?
That was just plain idiotic.
Shiranui Rei had never harbored any absolute hatred toward the Uchiha clan.
Uchiha Mikoto was an Uchiha herself.
She was beautiful, gentle, and resilient, and she never looked down on the weak.
Throughout his years as a shinobi, Shiranui Rei had also fought alongside several Uchiha with upright characters.
Quite a few of them had left him with an excellent impression.
“You brat! Are you looking down on the Uchiha clan!?”
The proud bubble at the most vulnerable part of his heart had been punctured.
Uchiha Ryosuke immediately flew into a rage and reached out to grab Shiranui Rei by the collar.
“No. I’m only looking down on you.”
Shiranui Rei did not indulge him in the slightest.
He easily caught Ryosuke’s outstretched hand.
In his eyes, it was as though an entire glacier had suddenly collapsed.
The killing intent he had forged through years of warfare and missions, through countless dances on the edge of death, erupted without restraint.
At the same time, he exerted force.
His arm appeared slender compared with that of an adult man, yet it exploded with strength that Uchiha Ryosuke could not possibly resist.
Crack!
The crisp sound of a bone breaking suddenly rang out.
Then came a shrill scream.
“Ah!”
Uchiha Ryosuke collapsed onto the floor.
The excruciating pain drained all the color from his face.
The other three Uchiha shinobi finally realized that something was seriously wrong.
A chill climbed into their hearts.
This civilian-born shinobi brat wasn’t nearly as simple as they had imagined!
“We’re all members of the Military Police Force. How dare you do this!?”
One of the Uchiha shinobi shouted coldly, though his stern expression barely concealed his fear.
“You were the ones who provoked me and made the first move.”
Shiranui Rei’s voice was cold.
“The Military Police Force can’t arrest a jonin without proper cause. Who gave you that authority?”
“Besides, you rely on the name of the Uchiha clan and the Military Police Force to throw your weight around. Do you really expect people to respect you for that?”
When they tried to pressure him by invoking their positions, Shiranui Rei merely gave a faint scoff.
His eyes were indifferent.
The Uchiha.
Their reputation had been passed down from the Warring States period to the present day.
How could a handful of blindly arrogant clansmen possibly represent that legacy?
And the Military Police Force was responsible for maintaining order within the village.
Even when arresting someone, they had to follow regulations.
Just now, these people had clearly been the ones to provoke him and make the first move.
Besides, the Military Police Force had originally been established by the Second Hokage as a means of keeping the Uchiha under surveillance.
If they really dared to recklessly arrest a jonin of the village…
They would practically be handing a weapon directly to the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzo.
There was another, even more important point.
Konoha was a military organization.
Its shinobi ranks were clearly divided into jonin, chunin, and genin.
Even if a jonin wasn’t their direct superior, they were still senior officers to chunin and genin.
Shiranui Rei’s gaze turned cold.
His voice deepened.
“You’ve activated your Sharingan and are speaking to a jonin as shinobi.”
“What are you supposed to call me?”
“…”
All four Uchiha wore expressions of humiliation.
But under the overwhelming pressure they could not resist, they eventually called out unwillingly,
“Sir.”
The strange looks from the few customers who had remained in the barbecue restaurant made the four Uchiha wish they could find a hole to crawl into.
Since he had already vented his anger for himself and Mikoto, Shiranui Rei had no intention of continuing to press them.
He simply couldn’t stand the behavior of these Uchiha.
They were practically disgracing normal members of their own clan like Uchiha Mikoto.
A small punishment would serve as a warning.
Breaking one of Uchiha Ryosuke’s hands and forcing the others to lower their heads was enough.
With that, the matter should have ended.
Finally, he said coldly,
“Remember this. Whether you’ve gotten used to throwing your weight around behind the Uchiha clan’s reputation or not, the four of you aren’t qualified to cause trouble for me.”
He had no interest in dealing with these beaten-down dogs any further.
However, it seemed that the matter wasn’t going to end there.
“Then I wonder, do I qualify?”
A deep voice filled with suppressed anger suddenly came from farther away.
Immediately afterward came the noisy but unhurried sound of approaching footsteps.
Hearing that voice, Uchiha Ryosuke and the other three looked as though they had just been granted a reprieve.
They hurriedly backed away and hid behind the approaching group.
At the front stood a young man with short black hair and a square, stern face.
He wore a dark-blue long-sleeved shirt embroidered with the Uchiha clan crest, along with a shinobi vest.
His eyes contained suppressed anger.
His sharp gaze met Shiranui Rei’s equally dark eyes without yielding an inch.
At the same time, he discreetly glanced at Uchiha Mikoto standing behind Shiranui Rei.
A complicated emotion flashed through his eyes.
Behind the young man stood numerous Uchiha clan members, all wearing shinobi vests and staring coldly at Shiranui Rei.
“I’m Uchiha Fugaku, deputy captain of the Konoha Military Police Force. We received a report that someone was causing trouble here.”
The man at the front, Uchiha Fugaku, stared coldly into Shiranui Rei’s equally black eyes.
Several seconds later, he suddenly snorted.
He turned his head toward the four clan members hiding among the Military Police Force personnel, too ashamed to show their faces.
“There is one thing you said that wasn’t wrong. Being weak yet acting arrogant is indeed an embarrassment to the clan.”
“However…”
Uchiha Fugaku turned back toward Shiranui Rei.
His pitch-black eyes instantly turned crimson.
Three tomoe slowly revolved within them.
A cold chakra aura, accompanied by the bone-chilling killing intent forged through countless battles to the death, surged toward Shiranui Rei.
“Even the weakest shinobi of the Uchiha clan aren’t people outsiders can casually judge or discipline!”
“Uchiha Fugaku?”
Shiranui Rei narrowed his eyes slightly.
He met Fugaku’s gaze without flinching.
Facing that killing intent head-on, Shiranui Rei had to admit that this man had probably already reached the level of an elite jonin.
Known as the “Fierce-Eyed Fugaku,” twenty-three-year-old Uchiha Fugaku had already made quite a name for himself in the shinobi world in recent years.
If he hadn’t spent the past year serving as deputy captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, his reputation would probably have been even greater by now.
Moreover, if this world continued according to the events of the anime, then during the Third Shinobi World War that would erupt a few years from now, Uchiha Fugaku would awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
At that point, his strength would even reach the level of a Kage.
But none of that was a reason for Shiranui Rei to back down.
Avoiding danger and pursuing what benefited oneself was certainly sound logic.
But in the brutal shinobi world, sometimes the moment you retreat and allow your fighting spirit to wither, you become nothing more than helpless prey waiting to be slaughtered.