บท 194: Genius

As soon as Hiruzen finished speaking, Danzo said, "Then I'll continue."

Clearly, he didn't take the dissatisfaction of the Uchiha Clan seriously at all.

Fugaku frowned as Danzo kept talking.

"With the evacuation of the Konoha Police Headquarters, the Uchiha Clan has also moved, and the surviving houses have been relocated here..."

Seeing that he could no longer deny this arrangement, Fugaku could only sit.

He looked worried, and of course, he was not satisfied with this arrangement.

But what worried him more was the attitude within the clan.

After all, Fugaku was already considered a dove among the Uchiha Clan.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration if other members immediately rose up after hearing such an arrangement.

Fugaku listened to the entire meeting in a daze.

❀❀❀

The next morning after returning to the Uchiha Clan Station, Fugaku held a notification meeting in a room at the Uchiha Shrine.

After all, most of the Uchiha Clan station was currently destroyed, and it was indeed not suitable as a meeting place.

"The reason why the Uchiha Clan was not dispatched during the Kyuubi incident was that they feared the Uchiha Clan would use the Sharingan to control the Kyuubi, right?"

"Not only that, some even say that the person who caused this incident was an Uchiha!"

"The purpose of moving us to the corner of the village is to limit our movements."

"After all, Konoha has gathered us in the corner of the village since the Second Hokage, which is equivalent to being isolated!"

"This time we were pushed even further. This village suspects us."

"Captain, we can't agree to such actions!"

"We must firmly reject it!"

"Captain!"

In the room, everyone was sitting cross-legged on the tatami.

Those present at the meeting were all elite members of the police force.

Fugaku announced the news of the relocation, sitting cross-legged in front of everyone. He opened his eyes when everyone started shouting.

Previously, he announced that Konoha had arranged for the Uchiha Clan to move to the edge of the village along with the Konoha Police Headquarters.

Unsurprisingly, this was unanimously opposed by the police members.

Facing this situation, Fugaku frowned and spoke.

"Your opinions are valid. However, other clans have also accepted relocation from their original locations. The Uchiha Clan is not the only one saying no."

Compared to ordinary Uchiha police members, Fugaku clearly had a higher overall perspective.

"But Captain...!"

There was a young man below who was very excited.

Fugaku showed the majesty of the Uchiha Clan leader and the Konoha Police captain.

"I will negotiate the terms. But moving is something we must accept."

"Inform the others."

"Meeting adjourned."

Faced with Fugaku's firm attitude, everyone had no choice but to give up and leave the shrine with their thoughts.

Fugaku then walked out of the shrine and saw a small child, Itachi, leaning against the torii at the door.

"What do you think? Itachi." Fugaku asked casually.

Unexpectedly, Itachi didn't answer the question directly.

"Let's check out the new training ground." He said and ran down the steps with high spirits.

Fugaku followed.

The two arrived at the new training ground assigned to the Uchiha Clan.

"I like this place."

"Is that so."

There was a small lake at the training ground.

Fugaku and Itachi, father and son, stood on the embankment on the green grass and looked at the beautiful lake under the sunlight.

"Father, teach me ninjutsu, the ninjutsu passed down by the Uchiha Clan."

Itachi ran down the slope of green grass towards the lake.

"Alright." Fugaku agreed immediately.

When they reached the lake, he quickly formed a hand seal.

"[Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu]!"

Fugaku spat out a large fireball, illuminating most of the lake and changing the air with scorching heat.

He turned to Itachi and began teaching. "This is the most basic ninjutsu of the Uchiha Clan, [Gōkakyū no Jutsu]. Listen carefully, the hand seal order is..."

Before he finished speaking, Itachi turned to face the lake, formed his own seals, and then spat out a small fireball.

His cheeks puffed up, and he blew it out quite hard.

The fireball suddenly grew larger, and for a moment it was as big as Fugaku's fireball, then it disappeared.

"I learned it." Itachi said happily.

Fugaku looked at him in disbelief, and after a moment he laughed heartily.

"Hahahaha, unbelievable! You are indeed my child."

Although the fireball only lasted a moment due to the limited chakra, it was enough to demonstrate Itachi's talent.

After all, [Gōkakyū no Jutsu] was a C-rank ninjutsu. Itachi learned it at a glance and directly surpassed the beginner stage to reach proficiency.

If Fugaku didn't know his son well, he would wonder if Itachi had learned it before.

He couldn't help but think of Itachi and Shintaro together in his heart. After all, these two were extraordinary talents of the Uchiha Clan in recent years.

Fugaku continued teaching Itachi, and Itachi mastered everything in a very short time.

This left Fugaku with nothing to teach him for the time being.

The two then prepared to leave the training ground.

Passing by the Uchiha Clan residences that hadn't yet moved, Itachi sighed, "We will move soon."

"Yes."

Fugaku's response seemed very dazed.

This caught Itachi's attention, and he looked at his father. "What's wrong?"

Fugaku didn't answer, he turned and looked in several directions. There were several tall buildings overlooking the Uchiha Clan station.

'It feels like I'm surrounded. I hope it's just my imagination.'

He thought earnestly in his heart.

"What?" Itachi was very confused. He didn't yet know the current political situation in Konoha, and he didn't understand his father's intention of looking around.

Actually, it wasn't strange for tall buildings to appear anywhere, but it was strange for them to appear next to the Uchiha Clan station and coincidentally also surround the Uchiha Clan station.

This is why Fugaku looked around to confirm his guess.

"Nothing."

He pulled himself from his thoughts, smiled, and said to Itachi, "By the way, you're growing up, Itachi."

"Almost six years old."

When he thought of this, he couldn't help but lament how time flew.

The first time Fugaku saw Shintaro was when Shimizu brought Shintaro back to the village to enter the ninja academy.

But now more than ten years had passed, and it was his son's turn to attend the ninja academy.

He wondered if Itachi's achievements in the future would match Shintaro's now.

Thinking about his son, Fugaku thought of many things.

Who would have thought his son's talent was so outstanding that he couldn't help but hope his son could succeed.

The Uchiha Clan would soon move to the remote settlement on the edge of the village.

The Konoha Police also moved here.

This was actually a very ridiculous arrangement.

It didn't matter if the Uchiha Clan station was far away. At most, clan members would have to walk more when they went out or when their children went to school.

But it would be outrageous to move the Konoha Police and the Uchiha Clan Station together.

The Konoha Police were not only responsible for Konoha's security but also for handling emergencies and conflicts in Konoha and organizing the village's appearance.

This was equivalent to a department where security guards acted as police officers and also as city management officials.

But such a department was located far from the village.

Konoha had developed to the point where it was no longer a small place.

Even for a ninja, it took ten or twenty minutes to cross the village.

This time usually didn't feel long, but once it came to a critical moment, it would become very troublesome. The journey from the Konoha Police to the village center consumed much energy and time for the police members.

It could be said that this was not good at all for the Uchiha Clan and the village. But this happened to be done by Konoha's top leaders, just to suppress the Uchiha Clan.

Therefore, such a move was certainly not a housewarming celebration.

Most of the Uchiha Clan members were dissatisfied.

On the day Fugaku's family moved to their new home, there was no celebration, inviting Shintaro to their house at night was considered a commemoration of the move.

Shintaro came carrying some baby supplies and a set of ninja tools.

"You're here, what did you bring?"

Mikoto, who was responsible for receiving Shintaro, saw what Shintaro was holding and couldn't help but delay him politely.

Shintaro said with a serious face, "These are not valuable items, Aunt Mikoto, just accept them. These baby products are for Sasuke, and this set of ninja tools is for Itachi."

"By the way, I also want to thank Patriarch Fugaku for helping me choose a pretty good room with a view of the lake."

Fugaku walked out of his new house and said loudly, "I didn't mean to be selfish, but you have made great contributions to the village and the clan, and this power should be your reward."

"As for those things, Mikoto, just accept them. Itachi and Sasuke also happen to need them."

Mikoto then accepted the small gifts brought by Shintaro.

"Itachi, why don't you come and thank Brother Shintaro?"

Mikoto put the items away in the room and called Itachi, who was coaxing Sasuke to sleep.

Itachi obediently walked out carrying Sasuke and gave a slight bow to Shintaro in greeting.

Shintaro responded with a smile.

"A pair of sons from the patriarch's family is truly enviable. They share such a deep brotherly love."

He raised his head and praised Fugaku and Mikoto.

Fugaku smiled proudly, while Mikoto gazed at her two sons tenderly, her eyes filled with maternal affection.

After eating, Itachi carried Sasuke and went out for a stroll around the new Uchiha Clan residence. Mikoto cleaned up the dishes and went to the kitchen.

Fugaku and Shintaro remained to enter the study, sitting across from each other, drinking tea and chatting.

"Is there any sugar? It should taste good if added to tea."

Shintaro took a sip of his tea, dissatisfied with the bland taste.

Fugaku shook his head and said, "There's no saying about adding sugar to tea. Be careful, you'll get sick if you eat too much sugar."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Shintaro set down his teacup disinterestedly.

Seeing he had some free time, Fugaku asked, "What do you think about the Uchiha Clan's relocation?"

"I think the scenery here is quite nice. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, it's a geomantic treasure." Shintaro said, looking out the window.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." Fugaku frowned slightly, feeling a bit dissatisfied with Shintaro's somewhat unmanageable attitude.

"Danzo is going too far! He's using the pretext of rebuilding the village to suppress the Uchiha Clan. Can we accept that?"

Shintaro's face immediately became serious, his eyes sharp and piercing. "What else? The patriarch should see the future resistance by now, right?"

Fugaku closed his eyes in pain at hearing this. "A coup by the Uchiha Clan, both the village and Konoha suffering losses. You defeat the Third Hokage and take the Hokage position, but the ninjas are dissatisfied. Internal strife in Konoha continues, and outside villages join forces to attack, leaving the original good people of Konoha suffering devastating calamities."

"I really can't bear to see this ending."

"That's right, so since we can't refuse, let's enjoy it. After all, the scenery at the training grounds given to us by the Third Hokage as compensation isn't bad." Shintaro stretched his arms and looked relaxed.

"But... Is the Uchiha Clan destined to always be excluded by Konoha? In a place as big as Konoha, will there be a place for the Uchiha Clan in the future?"

Fugaku took the tea on the table and drank it all at once. He was so busy he might not have tasted the tea.

"That's not the issue." Shintaro said soothingly upon seeing this.

"Do you... have a way?" Fugaku pinned all his hopes on Shintaro.

Only a major event involving the survival of a clan was enough to make someone like Fugaku lose his patience like this.

"The method is actually very simple but also difficult." Shintaro said.

"Just as Captain Fugaku leads the Konoha Police Force to help rebuild the village, you will lead the clan members to do more in the future."

"For fame?" Fugaku immediately grasped the key point.

"Yes, the Uchiha Clan now has two main reputations. One is as an elite ninja family, and the other is as an ambitious and arrogant group."

"What we need to do is emphasize the first reputation and erase the second impression among the villagers."

"It's not enough for the Uchiha Clan to have just you and me. We at least need to wait until geniuses like Shisui and Itachi grow up to rival Konoha's power."

"At the same time, being strong alone isn't enough; we also need the support of the people."

"It's not that you'll be recognized by everyone if you become Hokage, but you can become Hokage if recognized by everyone."

Fugaku listened in silence, unconsciously opening his Mangekyo Sharingan.

This time he saw a different future.

The Uchiha Clan would be full of talent in the future. His two sons, Itachi and Sasuke, both awakened Mangekyo Sharingan. Together with Shisui, Shintaro, and Fugaku himself, five pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan swept through Konoha and even the entire ninja world.

The village's attitude towards the Uchiha Clan also changed by 180 degrees. All villagers believed that the Uchiha Clan was Konoha's orthodoxy.

For Fugaku, this vision of the future was like the moon in the mirror, but also like a reachable memory scene.

"How about it? Is the future the same as I said?"

"Indeed..." Fugaku closed his sore eyes and looked at him with an indescribable expression.

Shintaro smiled faintly, revealing his Mangekyo Sharingan and said, "My eyes can also see the future."