Creak~
At a certain moment, the sound of a door scraping against the floor was heard.
The door to the reception room was pushed aside, and a figure walked in without hesitation.
Upon seeing the person, the Uchiha servant who had been standing silently like a statue quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Patriarch!"
Indeed, the person who entered was none other than Uchiha Fugaku.
His gaze did not linger on the servant at all, and he raised his hand, signaling for the servant to leave.
Seeing this, the Uchiha servant wisely left the room.
Step, step, step~
Uchiha Fugaku walked a few steps to the front of the reception room and sat in the seat of honor.
He picked up a teacup, poured himself a cup of tea, took a small sip, and then quietly stared at Qingming.
At this moment, Qingming was still deep in his meditation, undisturbed.
This was not because he didn't notice Fugaku's arrival, but because his experiment had reached a critical point. He was just about to break through an important stage and didn't want to miss the opportunity.
So, he simply pretended not to notice Fugaku's presence and continued to focus on controlling the yang release chakra in his body, meticulously strengthening his organs and cells.
Soon, a minute passed, and Qingming finally opened his eyes.
It was at this moment that Uchiha Fugaku spoke.
He said, "How are the results?"
Qingming turned his head toward the seat of honor, acting as if he had just noticed Fugaku's presence. He quickly stood up and said, "Patriarch!"
Seeing him stand up, Fugaku extended his hand in a gesture to stop him, saying, "Sit down."
"Yes, Patriarch!" Qingming responded and sat back down in the chair on the right.
Once Qingming had seated himself again, Fugaku continued, "You seemed very focused just now, so your results must have been good, right?"
"Mm."
Qingming nodded and said, "It's not bad. I've figured out some things."
Qingming was not lying to Fugaku here. Just moments ago, while referencing the knowledge in the book, he had finally figured out how to increase the efficiency of strengthening the body with 'Immortal Techniques' by ten percent.
Although only a ten percent increase, this was just the beginning.
His intuition told him that if he continued along this path, he should be able to double the overall efficiency eventually.
Of course, this wouldn't be achieved in a short time.
But Qingming was confident that he could shorten the time required to strengthen his body for the next stage by about a third.
And this would be a huge improvement.
After all, as his 'Physical' attribute continued to improve, reaching a transformation threshold took several months each time.
A third off was one or two months, which was already quite a significant amount of time!
While Qingming was still summarizing his gains, Uchiha Fugaku spoke again.
However, Fugaku didn't continue discussing the so-called results nor did he try to offer guidance on Qingming's training.
As for the first matter, Fugaku clearly understood that probing into another person's private affairs was a very unpleasant thing.
And regarding the second, Qingming, just like him, was a Jonin, and one of the best among them. Moreover, given Qingming's age, Fugaku had no way of providing guidance to someone as talented as him.
Thus, he did not bring it up, avoiding any embarrassment.
Instead, he shifted the conversation to Qingming's parents, mentioning their contributions to the clan, how tragic their deaths were, and then asking about his life during that period.
It was all just small talk.
Seeing this, Qingming wasn't in a hurry, responding with casual conversation here and there.
While this conversation seemed meaningless, it actually allowed Fugaku to observe a lot—things like Qingming's mentality and attitude toward the clan.
What Fugaku wanted to learn was exactly these things.
He believed that while Qingming's strength was powerful, he was still a young man who had spent the last two or three years on the battlefield, where every day was either a battle or preparation for battle. He hadn't had the chance to engage much with human emotions and affairs.
So, given his introverted nature and passion for training, Fugaku felt he could easily read him through his vast experience.
However, what Fugaku didn't know was that within Qingming's youthful body was the soul of an adult.
In his previous life, although he was just an office worker without any experience in government offices, and his social skills were not the best, he had still lived for over twenty years.
Moreover, with the internet and various movies and TV shows in the modern world, even if he hadn't directly experienced some things, he had certainly seen a lot.
Thus, handling Fugaku's probing was not a problem for him.
Of course, the most important thing was that his absolute strength gave him enough confidence to not fear messing things up.
After all, as he always said, if things went wrong, he could always flip the table.
As a result, after observing him for a while, Fugaku didn't gain much useful information.
In the end, he had to stop his probing and shifted the topic to Danzo.
He first expressed some concerns about Danzo, suspecting that his disappearance might be related to several missing Uchiha ninjas, and clarified his stance on the matter.
Then he asked Qingming whether he had been targeted by Danzo.
Of course, Qingming couldn't tell the truth. He simply shook his head and denied it, claiming he hadn't been targeted.
Seeing Qingming's response, Fugaku got straight to the point and directly asked, "Did you have anything to do with Danzo's death?"
It was clear that Fugaku had already confirmed Danzo's death and had investigated why the Anbu had clashed with Qingming.
That was why he asked this question.
However, upon hearing the question, Qingming pretended to be shocked, "What? Danzo-sama is dead? Who did it?"
"Wait, are you asking if I killed him?"
"That's impossible!"
Qingming shook his head rapidly.
Fugaku watched Qingming's performance with an emotionless face.
When he finished speaking, Fugaku finally said, "Then why did you refuse to leave with the Anbu?"
"They didn't have the proper paperwork."
Qingming answered seriously.
Hearing this response, Fugaku rubbed his forehead. He had figured out that Qingming was determined to play the fool to the end.
The room fell silent for a while.
Finally, Fugaku sighed and said, "Since you've refused the Third Hokage's summons, just leave this matter alone. I'll handle it with the Third Hokage."
Qingming was a bit surprised when he heard this.
He hadn't expected Fugaku to take the responsibility upon himself, especially after Qingming had been so uncooperative.
It seemed that as the patriarch of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku still had some sense of responsibility.
After all, a person who could earn the trust of most Uchiha ninjas had to have some outstanding qualities. Otherwise, how could he have become the patriarch?
Just as Qingming thought the conversation was over and was about to leave, Fugaku suddenly spoke again, "Have you awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
As he spoke, Fugaku activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.
Immediately, an immense pressure was exerted on Qingming.
The strength of his gaze surpassed any three-tomoe Sharingan user Qingming had ever encountered.
However, compared to the power provided by the Mangekyō Sharingan, it still fell short.
At this moment, Qingming had basically confirmed that Fugaku had not awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Unless, of course, Fugaku awakened it in the coming years or on the night of the Uchiha massacre, then this Schrödinger's box had been opened.
A flurry of thoughts rushed through Qingming's mind as Fugaku's spiritual pressure bore down on him. Qingming instinctively activated his Sharingan as well, revealing his three-tomoe Sharingan.
Moreover, his gaze was slightly stronger, almost surpassing Fugaku's.
The reason for showing this level of power was to hide his own Mangekyō Sharingan while giving Fugaku a glimmer of hope.
As the Uchiha clan's patriarch, Qingming believed Fugaku understood the importance of a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan to the clan.
Thus, by providing that hope, even if the Hokage faction continued to put pressure on Fugaku, he would likely grit his teeth and hold on.
The two stared at each other for three full seconds before simultaneously closing their Sharingan.
Fugaku gave Qingming a deep look before saying, "Alright, it's getting late. You should go and rest."
"Yes, Patriarch!"
Qingming responded respectfully, just as if nothing had happened, and turned to leave.
However, as he turned, he glanced at the wall behind Fugaku with his peripheral vision.
Step, step, step~
With a series of footsteps, Qingming's figure gradually disappeared.
After a moment, Fugaku spoke.
"Come out."
His voice had just fallen when the spot Qingming had glanced at on the wall suddenly opened, and a small figure emerged.
The figure had smooth black hair, about four or five years old. Though his face was still youthful, his demeanor was somewhat precocious.
It was none other than Uchiha Itachi.
He stepped into the reception room, glanced at the direction Qingming had gone, and asked, "Father, was it really him who killed Danzo?"
"Do you think so?"
Fugaku did not directly answer but instead asked in return.
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Itachi thought for a moment before replying, "I believe that even if he didn't kill him, he's still very much involved."
"Correct!"
Fugaku nodded in approval before responding, "He definitely killed him!"
"Why?"
Itachi asked, puzzled.
"You don't understand this person. If you look at his dossier, you'll find that he's someone who highly values individual strength, and he's also very patient."
Fugaku continued, "Someone like him, when faced with trouble, would first rely on his own power."
"Even if his strength is insufficient, he'd quietly wait until he's strong enough to deal with it. He never relies on external help, only trusting in himself."
"And I've recently received intelligence that, over the past two years, Danzo has repeatedly targeted him and another Uchiha ninja."
"Thus, he definitely killed him. He has that strength now!"
Fugaku's analysis of Qingming was indeed accurate. Qingming was someone who only trusted in his own strength. To be more precise, he only trusted in his power.
So, he would never seek help from others.
Just like this time, if he had convinced Uchiha Shisui to join him, he could have resolved the situation without even needing to use his Mangekyō Sharingan.
But, unfortunately, he wouldn't do that.
He would rather risk exposing his Mangekyō Sharingan than cooperate with anyone else. This was his characteristic of only trusting himself.
Uchiha Itachi keenly noticed Fugaku's mention of the other person.
He immediately asked, "Why wouldn't he and Qingming join forces? After all, he too was targeted by Danzo, so he wouldn't be an outsider. Wouldn't that increase their chances?"
"No," Fugaku immediately shook his head. "The other person is completely different from him in personality. He loves this village even more, and he respects rules and order. So, the two of them would never work together."
"Rules and order?"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Itachi's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Father, who is this person?"
Seeing the look in Itachi's eyes, Fugaku understood his intentions.
After a moment of thought, Fugaku didn't hide it and directly told Itachi the name of the other person.
"His name is Uchiha Shisui. He's only a few years older than you. Perhaps you can wait until he's free and try to find him."
The conversation between Fugaku and his son, Itachi, was unknown to Qingming.
At this moment, he was already on his way home.
However, before he reached home, he ran into someone else.
It wasn't Uchiha Shisui, but Uchiha Torihito, whom he had met a few days ago.
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