Uchiha Itachi, the Eldest Young Master of the Uchiha Clan, woke up on time.
After eating breakfast and greeting his parents, he prepared to head out to the Ninja Academy.
Before leaving, he stepped into his younger brother Uchiha Sasuke's small room and glanced at his brother sleeping soundly on the bed.
A warm smile appeared on Uchiha Itachi's face.
Two months ago, his mother gave birth to Uchiha Sasuke.
From then on, he had a younger brother.
It was a wonderful feeling, starting from the first moment Uchiha Itachi saw Uchiha Sasuke.
He had made up his mind to protect this fragile life.
At all costs!
Life truly is the most wonderful thing in this world.
Watching Uchiha Sasuke grow bit by bit, Uchiha Itachi felt himself becoming increasingly mature.
He gently stroked Uchiha Sasuke's soft baby hair; feeling the soft touch against his palm, Uchiha Itachi felt his heart melt.
After stroking him twice gently, afraid of waking his sleeping brother, Uchiha Itachi reluctantly left the small room.
Walking through the Uchiha Clan compound, every clansman who saw Uchiha Itachi would greet him.
Whether it was with a smile, a plain expression, or even a sinister grin.
Well, there were quite a few eccentric people in the Uchiha Clan; many clansmen accustomed to slaughtering on the battlefield no longer even knew how to smile.
Seeing the Clan Head's son, the rumored little genius of the clan, the smiles they managed to squeeze out appeared quite hideous.
But Uchiha Itachi didn't mind.
One must know that before this, the atmosphere within the clan had been in a state of extreme tension for years.
Every clansman's nerves were taut; they had no mood to smile.
It was considered normal if they didn't slash at you twice upon meeting.
But now, the atmosphere within the Uchiha Clan had begun to ease, no longer as tense as before.
All these changes were thanks to the Fourth Hokage-sama.
Since the Fourth Hokage took office, the attitude of the Village's higher-ups toward the Uchiha Clan had shifted.
Although Uchiha Itachi was still young and didn't understand many clan affairs.
But he could still keenly perceive some of the shifts in direction from the higher-ups.
For example, before the Fourth Hokage took office.
When Uchiha Itachi walked through the Village, he would occasionally be watched by eyes full of hatred and anger, only to find they were just ordinary villagers, not even Ninjas.
Uchiha Itachi knew this was all the fault of The Guard Platoon.
Previously, under high pressure, every member of the Uchiha Clan acted as if they had a persecution complex, always feeling the Village was targeting and ostracizing them.
This also led the clansmen in The Guard Platoon to often be unsympathetic, exceptionally extreme, and arrogant when enforcing the law.
They had many frictions with the villagers.
But how could the villagers compete with the Red-eye disease of the Uchiha Clan? So they could only swallow their grievances.
Over time, the villagers' resentment grew; unable to retaliate against The Guard Platoon members, they could only show hateful looks when they saw Uchiha children.
But now, such instances had become rare.
"Oh, Itachi-kun, you're up so early."
"Would you like a bun? They're fresh out of the steamer!"
Uchiha Itachi suddenly heard a voice from the side and turned to see the auntie from the bun shop.
The plump auntie stood by the steaming baskets; seeing Uchiha Itachi, she opened a steamer with a smile, revealing the large, plump buns inside, and called out to him.
"Thank you for your kindness, Auntie, but I've already eaten at home."
Uchiha Itachi bowed politely, thanked the auntie, and then continued toward the school.
This was the change.
The clansmen felt the goodwill from the Fourth Hokage-sama and had restrained their behavior; recently, The Guard Platoon rarely had frictions with the villagers.
The villagers felt this too; relieved, they began to show kindness to the Uchiha children.
This was a virtuous cycle.
Of course, the biggest reason was the fall of Danzo Shimura.
Occasionally, when passing his father Uchiha Fugaku's study, Uchiha Itachi could hear his father talking with the clansmen inside.
He also frequently heard the name Danzo Shimura from their mouths.
A villain who targeted the Uchiha Clan, a high-ranking official of Konoha.
The former Uchiha, under Danzo Shimura's deliberate ostracization and oppression, were like a bloodthirsty beast locked in a cage.
But the beast's nature cannot be erased; the more it is confined, the more frenzied it becomes.
The day it breaks out of the cage is the moment its beastly nature explodes.
Now that Danzo Shimura was gone, Minato Namikaze had released the bloodthirsty beast named Uchiha and sent it into the forest.
Without restraints, the beast's bloodthirsty nature was suppressed by the will to survive, and it showed a cooperative attitude.
"The Fourth Hokage-sama truly is a man full of wisdom."
Uchiha Itachi reviewed the changes of the entire Uchiha Clan in his mind and couldn't help but admire Minato Namikaze's sagacity.
The previous Hokage only knew how to suppress the Uchiha blindly.
But Minato Namikaze knew that suppression alone wasn't enough and chose a more brilliant method.
"What are you thinking about, little Uchiha genius?"
Just as Uchiha Itachi was lost in thought, a familiar voice suddenly came from his side.
"Nothing. Let's go."
Uchiha Itachi knew it was Ye Chen's voice.
Every day on the way to school, Ye Chen would wait for him at this intersection, and the two would go together.
So Uchiha Itachi was already used to it.
"Are you thinking about that cute younger brother of yours?"
"Ha, I didn't expect Itachi-kun to be such a serious Bro-con."
Ye Chen didn't mind Uchiha Itachi's slightly cold attitude because he knew that's just how Uchiha Itachi was.
This guy's tenderness and love would only be given to one person, and that person was called Uchiha Sasuke.
"Boring. Hurry up and let's go."
Uchiha Itachi was indifferent to Ye Chen's teasing and started walking toward the school.
"Ha, don't be so cold."
"Do you remember those Weights I asked you to have made last time?"
Ye Chen quickly caught up and continued asking.
These Weights were something Ye Chen had specifically approached Uchiha Itachi for, asking him to find an expert within the Uchiha Clan to help forge them so he could train his body.
They were probably like the ones Rock Lee wore on his legs in the original series.
"One more week. I'll bring them to you then."
"That's good. Thanks, Itachi."
Ye Chen laughed with relief.
The reason he specifically asked Uchiha Itachi was that, on one hand, he had to save money, and having Uchiha Itachi approach his clansmen would certainly be much cheaper than Ye Chen commissioning them himself.
On the other hand, compared to ordinary blacksmiths in the Village, the master smiths of the Uchiha Clan were naturally superior.
Shaking his head indifferently, Uchiha Itachi glanced at Ye Chen, a hint of complexity flashing across his face.
This little companion, since half a year ago, had suddenly seemed like a different person, with his strength improving rapidly.
Originally, his strength was just average, and he was at the bottom of the class.
But in their last sparring session, Uchiha Itachi was caught off guard and sent flying by a punch from Ye Chen, which shocked him for the entire day.
In subsequent spars, although Uchiha Itachi was twice as careful and gave his all, he was still repeatedly defeated by Ye Chen.
He really didn't know how this guy had suddenly become so powerful.
Full collection Avilable at low subscription patreon (Obito_uchiha)