After effortlessly dealing with the Jonin from the Shimura Clan during the Chunin Exams, Uchiha Yu left the examination grounds under countless shocked gazes.
By the time he returned home, however, Fugaku was already waiting for him inside the courtyard.
“Young Clan Head, you’re here this early?” Yu looked somewhat speechless.
He had only just returned to the village, yet one troublesome matter after another kept appearing.
Forget resting peacefully for two days; at this rate, even sleeping properly seemed difficult.
Fugaku remained as expressionless as ever.
“The Hokage’s orders have already arrived.
The clan is to depart for the Land of Rain immediately.
The situation on the front lines is apparently becoming increasingly dangerous.”
Yu curled his lips in disdain.
“Dangerous my foot.
With Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru there, ordinary shinobi shouldn’t even be capable of causing trouble.
Unless Hanzo himself personally appears, no one else should be able to pressure them.”
“Hmm?” Fugaku paused briefly before finally understanding what Yu meant by “Hanzo.”
“Chopped Chili Fish Hanzo?” Even Fugaku’s usually stern face twitched slightly before the corners of his lips faintly rose.
“That title actually suits him surprisingly well.”
Yu casually waved his hand dismissively.
“Forget about that for now.
What about the matter I mentioned yesterday?”
Fugaku nodded calmly.
“It’s already arranged.
Starting tomorrow, Uchiha Mikoto will officially begin assisting within the Police Force’s clerical department.
As for Tsunade’s side…”
“I’ll personally explain it to her later.
That sloppy woman won’t object anyway.”
While the two were still discussing matters, another ANBU operative suddenly arrived outside the courtyard to urge them to depart immediately.
According to the message, the situation at the front lines had worsened again, and reinforcements were urgently needed.
Left with no choice, Yu could only hurriedly say goodbye to Mikoto once more.
The moment Mikoto learned that he was leaving again so soon, the reluctance in her eyes became impossible to hide.
In the end, all she could do was repeatedly remind him to stay careful on the battlefield.
By the time Yu and Fugaku led the Uchiha reinforcements to Konoha’s entrance gate, Nawaki had already been waiting there for quite some time.
Besides him, there were also several members of the Shimura Clan and a group of ANBU shinobi.
The moment Nawaki spotted Yu, he immediately spoke in a sour tone.
“Congratulations, congratulations to a certain someone for officially becoming a Chunin.
By the way, where’s your Chunin vest?”
The surrounding shinobi all quietly looked toward Yu as well.
After all, news had already spread throughout the village that this ten-year-old Uchiha had defeated a Jonin during the Chunin Exams with nothing more than a glance.
That poor Jonin was apparently still lying in the hospital until now.
Yu merely grinned mischievously.
“That guy was too weak.
Even you could probably knock him down in one move.”
The surrounding shinobi immediately burst into laughter.
Only the members of the Shimura Clan darkened their expressions before awkwardly turning their heads away one after another.
At that moment, a white-haired Chunin finally stepped forward and spoke calmly.
“Enough talking.
We’re departing.”
The large group immediately began moving toward the Land of Rain.
Yu quietly observed the white-haired man’s back while a thought surfaced in his mind.
So this was Sakumo Hatake?
The future “White Fang of Konoha.”
And also Kakashi’s father, who would later commit suicide after being crushed beneath Konoha’s public pressure.
Perhaps Yu’s gaze had lingered for too long, because Sakumo eventually noticed and turned around before calmly nodding toward him.
Nawaki walked beside Yu and whispered after noticing this scene.
“You know him?”
Yu shook his head.
“No, but judging from his aura alone, this guy is very strong.”
Nawaki chuckled proudly.
“Of course he’s strong.
He’s currently the Vice Captain of the ANBU.
You don’t reach that position without real skill.”
“Vice Captain?”
Yu became slightly puzzled.
Wasn’t Sakumo supposed to be the ANBU Captain?
Why had he suddenly become Vice Captain instead?
Nawaki carefully glanced around before lowering his voice further.
“Well…
I heard he voluntarily stepped down to make room for someone else.”
“Make room?”
Yu became even more confused.
Nawaki leaned closer and whispered even more quietly.
“That person is from the Sarutobi Clan.
His name is Sarutobi Shinnosuke.”
Hearing this, Yu immediately understood.
So it was simply another case of making room for someone with powerful backing.
Exactly the kind of thing Konoha’s higher-ups loved doing.
Clearly, Hiruzen intended to gradually tighten the Sarutobi Clan’s control over the ANBU as well.
That night, when the group temporarily stopped to rest, Yu completely ignored standard shinobi regulations and directly hunted a deer nearby before beginning to roast it over the fire.
Nawaki enthusiastically volunteered to help prepare the ingredients.
Soon, the aroma of roasted meat slowly spread throughout the campsite.
The surrounding shinobi, who had been forced to chew dry military ration pills all day, immediately began swallowing saliva uncontrollably.
Finally, a Shimura Clan Jonin could no longer tolerate it and directly walked toward Sakumo with an indignant expression.
“Captain, aren’t you going to do something about this?”
Sakumo looked toward the roasted meat for a moment before calmly speaking.
“Actually…
having some proper meat occasionally isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
The Shimura Jonin instantly became speechless.
Although one deer divided among dozens of people was clearly not enough, everyone still managed to receive at least a small portion.
Yu and Nawaki directly ate large mouthfuls of roasted meat without caring about appearances, while Fugaku beside them maintained his usual refined demeanor and ate elegantly enough to resemble a noblewoman.
After finishing his share, Nawaki even licked his fingers unwillingly.
“Your cooking really keeps getting better and better.
At this rate, you’ll probably catch up to the Akimichi Clan someday.”
Just as Yu was preparing to respond, a Jonin suddenly walked over.
“Um…
may we talk for a moment?”
Since the future Nine-Tails incident had not yet happened, Konoha’s exclusion of the Uchiha Clan had not reached its later extreme level.
Although many Uchiha members tended to be arrogant, normal interaction between them and ordinary shinobi still existed.
Yu casually nodded.
“Sit.”
Naturally, he had no reason to reject a Jonin showing goodwill.
The newcomer sat down before taking out a cigarette pack from his pocket.
However, after glancing at Yu’s youthful appearance, he silently gave up the idea of offering one and instead lit one for himself.
“My name is Yuhi Shinku.
I’m not from any major clan.”
The moment he heard the name, Yu immediately understood who this man was.
Yuhi Shinku.
The future father of Kurenai Yuhi.
Although Kurenai herself had clearly not been born yet, it probably would not take many more years.
Yu looked at him curiously.
“So, what do you need from me?”
Shinku scratched his head awkwardly before finally speaking somewhat embarrassedly.
“I heard your Genjutsu abilities are extremely powerful, so I wanted to ask for some pointers.”
The moment those words were spoken, the surrounding Uchiha clan members immediately looked over sharply.
What did this guy mean?
Did he seriously intend to learn Uchiha Genjutsu techniques?
Did he not understand that Genjutsu was one of the Uchiha Clan’s core strengths?
Was he not afraid of being beaten to death by angry Uchiha members?
Realizing the atmosphere had suddenly become strange, Shinku hurriedly waved his hands.
“Sorry, sorry.
I spoke too presumptuously.”
Just as he prepared to leave awkwardly, Yu suddenly spoke.
“Actually, my understanding of Genjutsu isn’t particularly deep.”
The corners of everyone’s mouths immediately twitched simultaneously.
Not deep?
A Genjutsu powerful enough to instantly incapacitate a Jonin wasn’t considered deep?
What exactly was this monster aiming for next?
Defeating a Kage-level shinobi with a single glance?
Ignoring the strange expressions around him, Yu calmly continued.
“To be honest, your actual understanding of Genjutsu theory might already surpass mine.
However, I do have a habit of constantly experimenting with different ideas.”
Shinku immediately became interested.
“What kind of ideas?”
Yu casually explained while eating roasted meat.
“For example, layering multiple Genjutsu techniques together.
Simply put, once the opponent breaks through one illusion, another immediately follows before they can recover.”
This time, not only Shinku, but even the surrounding Uchiha and the secretly eavesdropping shinobi all twitched violently.
Genjutsu-type shinobi were already considered extremely troublesome opponents on the battlefield.
Once encountered, the safest option was usually to kill them immediately.
Otherwise, the one dying later would probably become yourself.
Of course, mastering Genjutsu was also notoriously difficult.
Except for freaks like the Uchiha Clan.
As for Yu’s method of stacking multiple illusions continuously…
Everyone finally understood why that Shimura Jonin had ended up so miserable during the Chunin Exams.
This kid simply wasn’t normal.
Nearby, Nawaki suddenly swallowed nervously before speaking carefully.
“Um…
can I also learn Genjutsu from you?”
Yu looked at him strangely.
“Your Senju Clan specializes in monstrous strength and medical ninjutsu.
Why would you suddenly want to learn Genjutsu?”
Nawaki immediately grinned mischievously.
“If I learn Genjutsu properly, then whenever someone annoys me in the future, I can secretly cast illusions on them and force them to do embarrassing things in public.
Wouldn’t they die from shame afterward?”
The entire campsite instantly fell silent.
Everyone stared toward Nawaki with strange expressions.
Was this really Princess Tsunade’s younger brother?
Why did his personality feel so twisted?
This definitely did not resemble the Senju Clan’s style at all.
Could this guy actually be fake?