After Danzō left, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained in the office, contemplating the newly emerged Uchiha genius.
Should he take the softer approach and try to win Shinya over, as he had done with Shisui?
Or should he follow Danzō’s suggestion and tighten surveillance on the Uchiha clan even further?
For a long while, the only sound in the Hokage’s office was the quiet puffing of Hiruzen’s pipe.
…
Meanwhile, after returning home, Shinya shut every door and window before sitting quietly on the floor.
Then he spoke to the system in his mind.
“System, start the lottery.”
[Initiating Lottery Draw.]
Countless figures immediately flashed across the system interface.
Among them, Shinya caught glimpses of many faces he recognized.
After a few moments, the rapidly shifting images gradually slowed before finally stopping on a figure that had left a particularly deep impression on him.
She was tall and elegant, with fair skin and long dark-purple hair woven into a thick braid.
The ends of her hair faded into a lighter shade of violet, faint arcs of lightning flickering around them.
A distinct beauty mark rested beneath the corner of her right eye.
In her hand was a dark-purple blade wreathed in lightning.
Her expression was calm and detached, carrying the natural majesty and distance of a divine being.
The Almighty Narukami Ogosho—
Raiden Ei.
Shinya hadn’t expected his very first lottery draw to land on someone of this caliber.
The very nature of Teyvat’s world meant that its upper limits were extraordinarily high.
Naturally, Shinya was filled with anticipation.
Everyone knew Raiden Ei might not always be the best at using her head…
But when it came to fighting?
She was the real deal.
[Lottery Complete.]
[Selected Character: One of The Seven — Raiden Ei.]
[Reward Obtained: Divine Weapon — Musou Isshin.]
Shinya immediately felt an odd itch in the center of his chest.
It was as though he could reach inside at any moment and draw out a violet blade.
At the same time, information concerning Musou Isshin appeared within his mind.
Musou Isshin had originally belonged to Raiden Ei’s twin sister, Raiden Makoto.
As a divine weapon, one of the most terrifying feats associated with it was the slash that slew the serpent god Orobashi and carved the fearsome Musoujin Gorge into Yashiori Island.
But no matter how powerful a divine weapon was, its true strength still depended on the person wielding it.
The power Musou Isshin could display in Makoto’s hands and the power it could display in Ei’s hands were on completely different levels.
Shinya was currently capable of using the weapon.
However, if he wanted to unleash Musou Isshin’s full potential, the price would probably be enormous.
As he was now, he was still far below even Raiden Makoto.
Fortunately, Musou Isshin possessed another useful ability.
It could gradually improve its wielder’s talent for cultivating Lightning-natured power.
The stronger Shinya became, the more power Musou Isshin could unleash.
And in turn, Musou Isshin would help him become stronger.
It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
There was an old saying:
Once a man carries a sharp blade, the urge to use it soon follows.
Now that Shinya possessed the legendary booba sword, he suddenly felt as though everyone he looked at had a giant sign over their head saying, Please cut here.
He desperately wanted to find something and test the blade on it.
“Shinya, the elder told me to remind you not to be late for tonight’s clan meet—holy shit!”
Inabi Uchiha had pushed the door open just in time to see lightning crackling around Shinya’s hand, as though he were experimenting with some new ninjutsu.
Seeing Inabi barge in without knocking, a trace of irritation flashed through Shinya’s eyes.
“Could you knock next time?”
Fortunately, he hadn’t been pulling Musou Isshin out of his chest when Inabi entered.
If Inabi had witnessed him casually drawing a sword from his chest, how the hell was Shinya supposed to explain that?
Inabi had been his brother in all but blood since childhood.
Shinya really didn’t want to silence him permanently over something this stupid.
“Sorry, sorry…”
There wasn’t the slightest sincerity in Inabi’s apology.
It was the kind of apology that said:
I know I was wrong this time.
And I’ll absolutely do it again.
Shinya stared at his shameless childhood friend and sighed.
The lightning around his hand dispersed, and he decided not to pursue the matter.
After apologizing, Inabi remembered the lightning he had seen when entering and asked curiously,
“What were you doing just now?
If you’re practicing ninjutsu, why aren’t you at the training grounds?”
Practicing ninjutsu inside the house?
Wasn’t he worried about blowing the place apart?
Shinya casually made up an excuse.
“I suddenly had an idea, so I was testing out a new technique.”
Inabi didn’t think much of it.
The two then headed deeper into the Uchiha clan district—
to the Naka Shrine.
Quite a few people had already gathered there.
Looking around the shrine, Shinya saw nothing but spiky hair and red eyes.
Any Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan was allowed to attend clan meetings.
However, generally speaking, only those who possessed the three-tomoe Sharingan or strength at the jōnin level had the right to speak during them.
Of course, not every member of the Uchiha clan was a shinobi.
There were still plenty of children, elderly people, and ordinary civilians.
Even so, five or six hundred people had gathered tonight, all of them at least chūnin-level shinobi who had awakened the Sharingan.
And that was after the Uchiha had suffered significant casualties during the Third Shinobi World War.
At the clan’s peak, the Uchiha had probably possessed more than a thousand shinobi.
Shinya quietly listened to the conversations around him.
Almost everyone sounded irritated.
Some complained about the village’s unfair treatment of the Uchiha.
Others talked about being met with hostility from Konoha civilians while simply carrying out routine patrols.
Each incident was like another piece of straw thrown onto an ever-growing pile.
Little by little, resentment within the Uchiha was being intensified, pushing the relationship between the clan and Konoha closer and closer to the abyss.
By now, news that Shinya had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan and successfully become a jōnin had already spread throughout the clan.
More importantly, he had defeated the controversial Copy Ninja Kakashi head-on.
At the moment, Shinya had unquestionably brought considerable prestige to the Uchiha.
Seated a few places away from him was Shisui Uchiha.
Shisui was a mild-mannered Uchiha who almost never came into conflict with anyone.
Unfortunately, possessing something valuable without the strength or ruthlessness to protect it was a crime in itself.
Combined with Shisui’s excessive naïveté, it eventually led to his tragic suicide in the original story after falling victim to Danzō’s schemes.
Even after his death, he had been branded a traitor.
It was an utterly worthless way to die.
Perhaps sensing Shinya’s gaze, Shisui turned toward him and offered a gentle smile and a small nod.
Shinya looked away.
He did feel some sympathy for Shisui.
At the very least, Shisui hadn’t acted like Itachi—serving as Hiruzen’s spy within the Uchiha and eventually helping wipe out his own clan with his own hands.
Shisui’s methods might have been naïve, but he had genuinely wanted to repair the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha.
As for whether Shinya should lend him a hand…
He was still considering it.
Shisui didn’t have many serious flaws.
He was simply far too naïve and suffered from an excessive savior complex.
More importantly, those Mangekyō Sharingan of his were simply too dangerous.
Shisui had even considered using them to alter Fugaku’s mind.
And everyone knew one universal truth:
Having a saintly idealist on the opposing side was one thing.
Having one on your own side?
That could drive you insane.
Before long, the clan meeting officially began.
The current clan head and the three elders sat at the front as one topic after another was raised.
Shinya offered no opinion on most of them.
He simply sat quietly in one of the seats near the front.
He had attended several clan meetings before.
They were almost always the same.
People complained endlessly about Konoha treating the Uchiha differently from everyone else, followed by stories of discrimination and hostility they had encountered throughout the village.
Even the elders gradually joined in.
Things that should be said, things that probably shouldn’t be said—
everything came pouring out at once.
Before long, the entire clan meeting sounded more like a crowded marketplace than a gathering of elite shinobi.
Throughout the whole Naka Shrine, only three people remained consistently silent.
Fugaku Uchiha, seated at the head of the gathering.
Shisui Uchiha.
And Shinya.
“Pfft.”
Shinya suddenly failed to hold back a quiet laugh.