“Qiyu, what exactly has changed?”
Fugaku asked in a grave voice.
“Father, everything looks incredibly clear now.
When I focus, I can even see tiny creatures crawling on your face—the kind ordinary people can’t see.
I can also slow down the movement of certain things.”
In other words, the latter ability was much like bullet time from The Matrix in his previous life.
Fugaku’s expression gradually grew solemn.
“Qiyu, have you awakened the Sharingan?”
“No.”
Nestled in his mother’s arms, Qiyu blinked his wide eyes, silently urging Fugaku to look.
His Sharingan had clearly not awakened.
“Could Qiyu’s bloodline be so advanced that even without awakening the Sharingan, he can already display some of its abilities?”
Fugaku stroked his chin in contemplation.
A surge of excitement soon followed.
Both of his sons were exceptionally gifted geniuses.
Perhaps the prosperity of the Uchiha clan truly would begin with his generation.
At that thought, a sharp gleam flashed through Fugaku’s eyes.
He looked at Qiyu in Mikoto’s arms.
“Qiyu, you must never tell anyone outside this family about this.”
Qiyu nodded.
“Don’t worry, Father.
I understand.”
Seeing that her son was unharmed, Mikoto finally felt the tension in her heart ease.
“Qiyu, since nothing is wrong, you should go upstairs and sleep.
You still have to wake up early tomorrow.”
Mikoto spoke gently.
“Father, there’s something else I’d like to discuss with you.”
Qiyu hurriedly spoke before Fugaku could leave.
“What is it?”
A trace of surprise crossed Fugaku’s face.
His eldest son rarely asked him for anything.
“Could you give me one hundred jin of chakra metal?”
Qiyu asked tentatively.
Fugaku’s expression immediately turned serious.
“Can you tell me why you need it?”
Rather than scolding Qiyu for making such an unreasonable request, Fugaku first asked for an explanation.
That was one of the reasons Qiyu acknowledged him as his father.
No matter how badly Qiyu erred, Fugaku would never condemn him without first teaching him where he had gone wrong.
“I want to forge a chakra longsword that belongs to me alone.”
Qiyu gave an awkward smile.
“Qiyu, you should understand that one hundred jin is no small amount.
Even for a major clan like the Uchiha, it would be a considerable burden.”
Fugaku patiently explained the situation to him.
Qiyu’s eyes shifted as an explanation quickly formed in his mind.
“Father, my kekkei genkai actually has another ability.
It allows me to control weapons made from chakra metal.
I don’t mean simple manipulation.
I can command them as naturally as my own limbs.
Any chakra-metal weapon forged in my flames can become linked to my mind.”
“What?”
This time, Fugaku was genuinely stunned.
He could no longer maintain his usual calm expression.
“Qiyu, are you certain that’s true?”
“Father, if you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself after I forge one.”
Qiyu looked completely confident.
Fugaku stared blankly at him for a moment.
Without saying anything more, he rose and walked out of the house.
He had clearly decided to support his eldest son and was now heading out to negotiate with the clan elders.
After all, Qiyu was not asking for ten or a hundred grams, but one hundred jin.
Chakra metal was sold by the gram in the shinobi world.
Even Fugaku could not produce such an enormous quantity on his own.
He would have to draw from the clan’s treasury.
Truthfully, this kind of silent trust sometimes made Qiyu’s nose sting.
A father’s love was often unspoken.
One could not always expect a father to show the same meticulous care as a mother.
“Happy now, little one?
Your father has to run around on your behalf again.
You must show him more respect in the future.
You can’t keep behaving so casually around him.
He only just returned, utterly exhausted.”
As she spoke, Mikoto lightly tapped the bridge of Qiyu’s nose.
Her gaze followed Fugaku’s departing back, filled with concern.
“I understand, Mother.”
Qiyu nodded earnestly.
That night, within the Uchiha clan compound, a grand residence remained brightly lit.
Several members of the Uchiha clan sat formally on their knees around the spacious reception hall.
“Clan Head, may I ask what brings you to my residence at such a late hour?”
The white-haired elder seated at the head of the room asked with a smile.
Despite his advanced age, he remained hale and vigorous.
“Elder Ryūji, forgive me for disturbing you so late.
You oversee the clan’s resources, and I would like to requisition seventy jin of chakra metal.
I will personally pay the full market price.”
Fugaku spoke without the slightest change in expression.
Elder Ryūji’s face darkened slightly.
“Surely you jest, Clan Head.
Seventy jin of chakra metal is no small amount.
The clan is already under pressure from Konoha’s leadership, and our finances are strained.
You are placing this old man in a difficult position.”
“As clan head, I will do everything in my power to fulfill my responsibilities and reverse the clan’s present standing within the village.”
Fugaku met Ryūji’s gaze with unwavering determination.
Ryūji remained silent for a long time before releasing a slow sigh.
“It is not that I refuse to give it to you.
I simply cannot justify the decision to the other elders.
Seventy jin of chakra metal is worth tens of millions of ryō.
Reallocating such a vast amount of resources all at once would be exceedingly difficult to explain.”
“Does Elder Ryūji have a compromise in mind?”
Fugaku’s eyes flickered as he studied the elder.
A sharp gleam appeared in Ryūji’s eyes, though his expression quickly shifted into one of reluctance.
“Clan Head, you are aware that several of the elders’ descendants have yet to receive suitable appointments.
The village’s distrust of the Uchiha grows more severe by the day, and almost no official positions are being allocated to our clan.
We cannot possibly ask the clan’s finest young shinobi to spend their lives carrying out ordinary missions, can we?”
Ryūji ended his words with another helpless sigh.
Fugaku immediately understood his meaning.
Had his son not requested such an enormous amount of chakra metal—far beyond the thirty jin Fugaku could personally obtain—he would never have come to the elder council for assistance.
The clan’s internal struggle for influence was already fierce, its factions tangled and complex.
If Fugaku used his authority to grant the moderate faction positions outside the clan’s original arrangements, the hardline faction would never let the matter rest at tomorrow’s clan meeting.
To outsiders, Fugaku appeared to wield immense power as both clan head and commander of the Konoha Military Police Force.
In truth, he was little more than the man responsible for maintaining the balance between the two factions and dividing authority between them.
Ordinarily, his position as clan head carried far less authority than most imagined.
Otherwise, this matter could have been settled with a single command.
Chakra metal was certainly precious, but for the Uchiha—the foremost clan in Konoha—it represented a burden, not an impossibility.
After contemplating the matter for a while, Fugaku finally spoke.
“I can offer your faction two positions within the Military Police Force.
No more than that.
Anything beyond those two appointments is not mine alone to decide.”
Elder Ryūji’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
“Clan Head, I have heard that three squad-captain positions are currently vacant within the Military Police Force.
Isn’t two a little too few?”
Ryūji tapped his fingers against the tea table before him.
“Elder Ryūji, unless you wish tomorrow’s clan meeting to end with both factions drawing blades against one another, I suggest leaving one squad-captain position for the hardliners.
“Your faction already holds the advantage, does it not?
Negotiations concerning the relocation of the clan compound will soon begin.
At a time like this, maintaining peace within the clan must come first.”
Fugaku said nothing more.
He merely sat in silence, watching Elder Ryūji’s expression shift repeatedly.
“Very well.”
Ryūji released a long sigh.
“Since the Clan Head has put it that way, we shall proceed as you suggest.”
He summoned a young Uchiha and whispered several instructions into his ear.
The young man immediately rose and vanished into the darkness.
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