Tekka stared fixedly at Shinji before him, his eyes roiling with resentment and fury.
He had to have a rematch; otherwise, after today, he would become nothing but a complete laughingstock within his own circle.
Gritting his teeth, he growled at Shinji:
"Again!"
"Enough."
Yashiro sharply reprimanded Tekka, "This is a shrine, not a place for you to fight recklessly."
"Elder!" Tekka cried out unwillingly.
Inabi quickly stepped forward to pull Tekka's arm, shaking his head gently at him: "Let it go. If you want a match, settle it privately. Now is not the time."
"I have no issue with it; this match was forced upon me anyway."
Shinji spoke with an indifferent tone, laced with a hint of mockery, "I just didn't expect Tekka to be so fragile."
From start to finish, this entire incident had been provoked by Tekka's loose tongue. Shinji had no intention of showing him any courtesy.
"You!"
Yashiro's expression instantly darkened, clearly displeased.
Is the subordinate I chose so worthless in your eyes?
He had never realized before just how arrogant Shinji could be.
Thus, Yashiro shot Shinji a fierce glare.
"Say no more!"
Shinji shrugged.
At that moment, Fugaku slowly stepped forward. Seeing that Yashiro had already quelled the situation, he said nothing more.
He clapped his hands lightly, smoothing things over and drawing everyone's attention back to himself.
"Everyone is almost here. Let's go inside first."
And so, this minor conflict came to a hasty end.
Shinji followed behind Fugaku as they entered the inner part of the shrine.
The clan meeting was held on the second underground floor.
Clan Head Fugaku and the three elders knelt at the front, with the stone tablet left by the Sage of Six Paths behind them.
The remaining twenty or so clan members knelt respectfully facing them.
Attending his first Uchiha clan meeting, Shinji felt somewhat intrigued. He stayed at the back of the crowd, discreetly observing his surroundings.
But before long, he grew bored and began to let his mind wander.
Although the Uchiha currently had conflicts with the village, they had not yet reached the point of launching a coup.
The atmosphere of this clan meeting was still relatively normal.
Elders Homura, Yuichi, and Yashiro were responsible for clan discipline, intelligence, and Police Force affairs, respectively.
The three took turns reporting on recent matters.
The scene reminded Shinji of the quarterly meetings he had attended in his previous life—dull, tedious, and almost entirely irrelevant to him.
He could only force himself to stay alert, pretending to listen attentively.
"Shinji-senpai! Shinji-senpai!"
Suddenly, a very low call came from Shinji's right rear.
Shinji was slightly startled and turned to see Shisui nodding gently at him.
Without drawing attention, he placed his hands on the ground, quietly shifting backward. Leaning slightly, he moved closer to Shisui and whispered:
"Long time no see, Shisui."
"Long time no see, Shinji-senpai."
Shisui turned his head and said softly, "I saw your fight earlier, senpai."
"I never imagined you had become this strong."
"It was just a coincidence; I'm just good at Genjutsu," Shinji replied modestly.
"Good at Genjutsu?"
A gleam flashed in Shisui's eyes.
Just a few months ago, when he had last seen Shinji-senpai, the other had merely been an ordinary clansman who had just awakened his Sharingan. Yet now, he had suppressed Tekka—who also possessed a Three-Tomoe Sharingan—using only Genjutsu.
There was clearly something unnatural about this.
Shisui asked himself: he too could instantly defeat Tekka with Genjutsu. Perhaps the clansmen present simply thought Shinji had greater talent in illusion techniques.
Such a thing was not impossible—the Uchiha bloodline held limitless potential.
But could a person's strength truly advance so dramatically in such a short time?
That sense of suppression at the level of Ocular Power did not seem like something an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan could achieve.
A thought suddenly rose in Shisui's heart. Only one possibility could explain Shinji-senpai's rapid, soaring strength.
"Could it be that senpai has also awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Shisui raised a hand and gently touched the side of his own eye, silently speculating in his heart.
Once the Mangekyō Sharingan awakened, one's Ocular Power would undergo a qualitative transformation, enough to easily suppress an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
It was precisely because he sensed this that Shisui couldn't help but quietly call Shinji aside, wanting to subtly probe the matter.
"Shinji-senpai, has something happened that greatly increased your Sharingan's Ocular Power?"
Shisui phrased it very tactfully, not mentioning the word "Mangekyō" at all.
"You noticed?" Shinji was slightly surprised but didn't mind.
It didn't matter much if Shisui had seen through it. Moreover, he already knew that Shisui himself possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan and had been keeping it a secret.
So Shinji wasn't worried at all about this information being leaked.
He replied to Shisui calmly:
"You could say there's been a bit of a change. If you're interested, Shisui, we can exchange insights later."
Shisui immediately responded, "Since senpai says so, I'll take you up on that offer later."
In his heart, he was already seventy to eighty percent certain of his speculation.
Shisui couldn't help but glance at Shinji a few more times.
Had he truly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?
The two chatted quietly, their conversation sporadic, while the clan meeting dragged on for nearly an hour with tedious reports.
As it neared its end, Fugaku announced the adjournment.
Shinji was about to leave when someone suddenly called out to him.
"Shinji, stay behind for a moment."
He turned to see that it was Clan Head Fugaku who had stopped him.
The other clansmen merely glanced at him casually before leaving one after another. Shisui also nodded to him but did not stay behind.
Soon, only he, Clan Head Fugaku, and the three elders remained in the vast underground space on the second floor.
At that moment, Elder Yashiro spoke calmly:
"How is your investigation mission regarding Danzo going?"
Investigation mission?
Shinji was taken aback for a moment before remembering that Clan Head Fugaku and Yashiro had indeed assigned him such a task back at the Police Force.
He glanced at Fugaku, who had his eyes closed as if resting, then looked at Yashiro, who was waiting for a reply, and casually brushed it off:
"Danzo keeps to himself most of the time, making it difficult to pinpoint his exact movements. We can only slowly gather intelligence on him through Root or other channels."
The three elders exchanged glances and nodded to each other.
Elder Yashiro's tone softened as he said, "Becoming Tsunade's disciple was a very good move. You've worked hard. We didn't expect you to be willing to make such a great sacrifice to complete the mission."
He walked up to Shinji and gave his shoulder a firm pat.
"We are very pleased that you were able to go this far."
In their eyes, Shinji had clearly approached Tsunade and willingly become her student in order to investigate Danzo's movements. His goal was to use Tsunade's status to secretly approach and probe Danzo's activities, gathering information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.
This was precisely why Clan Leader Fugaku and the three elders had not openly opposed Shinji's decision to become Tsunade's student when they first heard about it.
After all, in their view, such patience and planning for the sake of the Uchiha's interests was a commendable sacrifice.
Shinji's eyes widened instantly, goosebumps rising all over his body, his heart filled with confusion and helplessness.
What on earth are they talking about?
Seeing the elders' satisfied expressions that seemed to say, "I understand everything," Shinji couldn't help but scream internally:
What on earth have you all been imagining in your minds!
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