As the original owners of Konoha's land, the Uchiha possessed vast stretches of forest, farmland, and a great number of training grounds within the village.
Among them, the training ground near Naka River Shrine was the largest—
And also the most remote.
Because it sat at the edge of Konoha, several full kilometers away from the Uchiha residential district, no one was willing to run that far just to train. So aside from the annual ancestral rites, the place had long remained completely abandoned.
But today, the shrine training ground was boiling with noise.
More than a hundred Uchiha ninja between the ages of ten and eighteen had gathered there, all of them discussing this assembly in a restless clamor.
"It's probably for war preparations. The clan's jōnin are going to give us intensified training and raise our strength."
"That makes sense. Maybe they'll even teach us a few extra ninjutsu."
"Teaching ninjutsu is a bit much, isn't it? Just look around—there isn't a single main branch kid here. If they teach us some useful taijutsu and battlefield experience, that'll already be pretty good."
"Yeah. The Clan Head and the elders are getting stingier and stingier. If we don't awaken the Sharingan, we basically won't get taught any ninjutsu at all."
The moment that was said, everyone sighed.
"Sharingan… if only I could awaken it."
"The Clan Head and the elders may be stingy with us, but toward ninjas who awaken the Sharingan, they're unbelievably generous. Ninjutsu, houses, money—whatever they want, they get it."
That was right.
Among the hundred-plus ninjas gathered here, every last one of them was an Uchiha genin.
There wasn't a single direct-line child among them.
There wasn't a single famous genius either—
Not even someone like Uchiha Yoru, who had once ranked first in his year.
Most importantly, not one of them had awakened the Sharingan.
In the eyes of the Clan Head and the elders, they were all "trash."
And because of the Uchiha clan's values, they had actually internalized that same assessment.
Even they thought of themselves as "trash."
So their words were tinged with dejection, and their greatest hope was simply to luck into awakening the Sharingan one day.
Blended in among the crowd, Uchiha Yoru couldn't help scratching his head.
"These little brothers and sisters don't have any fighting spirit at all. I really didn't expect that."
"That troublesome, meow?"
"Troublesome. I have to build confidence in them first before I can get them to train along the rhythm I want. But these little brothers and sisters have already withered inside at such a young age. If I want to build their confidence, I'll have to start by rebuilding their worldview from the ground up. What a pain."
"Meow… so it really is a huge pain."
Yoru sighed.
"Since I've already decided to begin, I can't be afraid of trouble. If the Sharingan gets exposed, then it gets exposed."
"I'll first use the Sharingan's intimidation to open cracks in their hearts and plant the seeds of suggestion. Then I'll carefully nurture them over the next few days…"
"Yoru."
"What?"
"Didn't you say hypnosis was unethical, and that suggestion couldn't remain effective for long anyway, meow?"
"I can't help it. Of course I think my own worldview is right, but there are over a hundred Uchihas here. How am I supposed to patiently persuade them one by one?"
"If I had the eloquence of that failed artist, maybe that'd be different. But my speaking skills aren't even on the level of the Third Hokage, so I can only use suggestion to open things up."
"Anyway, the final result will be the same."
"…You've never suggested anything into me, have you, meow?"
"Of course not!"
"You sound a little guilty, meow."
"Impossible. Don't overthink it."
As the time approached nine o'clock, Uchiha Yashiro entered the training ground with Uchiha Taizō and Uchiha Ryōta.
All three of them were elites of the Uchiha clan, and famous figures within the Police Force.
Their faces alone were enough to quickly quiet the entire crowd.
The Uchiha genin were even a little excited.
To think Yashiro-sama would be the one teaching them—
It seemed the Clan Head truly did value them after all.
Their excitement didn't last long.
Because the moment Uchiha Yoru arrived beside Yashiro with Miwa Masayo in tow, he took out the official letter of appointment bearing the authorization of the Clan Head and the six elders, then announced to everyone that the "Ninjutsu and Tactics Study Group" had officially been established—
And that its leader would be the chūnin Uchiha Yoru.
"Ugh—"
A collective, involuntary sigh spread through the crowd in unison, forming a low, booming wave of disappointment that actually startled even the people making it.
Yashiro, Taizō, and Ryōta all looked displeased.
But Uchiha Yoru smiled instead.
"What? Does it kill your motivation that I'm the one in charge?"
The hundred-plus Uchiha "trash" all knew Yoru, and they started explaining all at once.
"Big Brother Yoru, that's not what we meant…"
"Then what did you mean?"
"Uh, well…"
"Heh. Looking down on me? You stinky little brothers and dumb little sisters are all genin, and you dare look down on a chūnin?"
"Hehehe…"
The genin laughed awkwardly.
"Then…" Uchiha Yoru did not laugh along with them as he usually would. Instead, he put away his smile and asked in an incomparably serious tone, "Would you look down on the Sharingan?"
Without the slightest pause, Uchiha Yoru's pupils turned scarlet.
Three tomoe emerged and began to rotate lightly.
A wave of immensely powerful ocular force swept across the entire training ground.
Every Uchiha there was struck dumb.
Their mouths fell open, and they stood frozen on the spot.
The Uchiha genin who had not awakened the Sharingan had absolutely no power to resist. Their hearts were pried open with enormous cracks, and seeds of suggestion were stuffed inside them effortlessly.
They had no ability to fight back at all.
As for the Uchihas who had already awakened the Sharingan, the moment they were struck by that powerful ocular force, they instinctively activated their own Sharingan to resist.
Taizō and Ryōta revealed two-tomoe Sharingan—
But they still failed to hold out. Like the genin, they also sank into a stunned state, and a large number of suggestion seeds were planted in their hearts.
Uchiha Yashiro, who also had three tomoe, did not fall into a stupor.
But his ocular power was still several times weaker than Uchiha Yoru's. Without even realizing it, cracks were opened in his heart as well, and three tiny suggestion seeds were planted there.
[Damn, my hand slipped. I planted suggestions into those three too without even thinking.]
[If Uchiha Fugaku really has awakened the Mangekyō, he'll be able to see this kind of obvious suggestion. This is bad.]
[No, it's worse than that. I planted the seeds too heavily. Even with Captain Yashiro, I overdid it. You wouldn't even need Mangekyō-level perception—someone with many years of experience using a three-tomoe Sharingan might be able to see it.]
[Got it. I'll scare them a bit. If the suggestion seeds get buried under the emotional shock, they won't stand out.]
[Hm? Why is Captain Yashiro's emotion so startled?]
Uchiha Yoru hurriedly reined in his ocular force.
The people present began returning to normal one after another, naturally with Uchiha Yashiro, the strongest among them, recovering the fastest.
Because his mental defenses had been disturbed, Yashiro's self-control dropped sharply, and the shock in his heart burst straight out of his mouth.
"Yoru, when did you awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan? What did you go through?"
He then immediately realized those were questions he shouldn't ask, and hurriedly waved his hands.
"Ah—no, no need to tell me!"
Instead, he changed his words to praise.
"That's really incredible. Awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan at eighteen—you're much more impressive than I was."
By now, the other two chūnin had also recovered and began praising Uchiha Yoru as well.
Being called a genius brought Uchiha Yoru no pride whatsoever.
On the contrary, he found it rather awkward.
Forget the three-tomoe Sharingan—
The true geniuses of the Uchiha clan had all awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan younger than eighteen: Uchiha Sasuke at sixteen, Uchiha Shisui at around fifteen, and Uchiha Itachi at thirteen.
The most outrageous of all was, naturally, Uchiha Obito.
Though he only awakened the Sharingan at twelve, he opened with two tomoe and then skipped straight over three tomoe into Mangekyō.
As for Sarada, who could awaken the Mangekyō at twelve without anyone even dying, that was from a different age of the Naruto world and outside Uchiha Yoru's frame of reference.
Using those future four Mangekyō users as comparison points, he truly felt baffled.
An eighteen-year-old awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan—
Did that really count as a genius in the Uchiha clan?
It really did.
At least in this era, before all the future chaos had unfolded, it absolutely counted as genius.
At the very least, within the current Uchiha clan, he was the youngest three-tomoe user.
And the fact that his ocular power was obviously stronger than Yashiro's made for very persuasive evidence as well.
After roll call was complete, Uchiha Yashiro took his subordinates back to the Police Force.
He felt there was no need to leave anyone behind to support Uchiha Yoru.
A bunch of children who hadn't even awakened the Sharingan—how could they possibly resist a three-tomoe user?
As far as Yashiro was concerned, Yoru only needed a glance.
That one look alone would be enough to put all hundred-plus genin on the ground, utterly incapable of resistance.
"No wonder Clan Head-sama entrusted so many juniors to Yoru. You truly are wise."
Yashiro's flattery left Fugaku confused.
He didn't want to show uncertainty in front of his subordinate, so he could only smile and say, "Tell me the details of what happened this morning."
"Yes."
As Yashiro recounted everything, the smile on Uchiha Fugaku's face became more and more genuine.
But in his heart, great waves were crashing like a storm.
Uchiha Yoru had a three-tomoe Sharingan?
His talent was actually that powerful?
Uchiha Nobuhiro was already over eighty years old, and for the past several years he had long since stopped speaking up or involving himself in anything. Yet he had suddenly stepped forward for Uchiha Yoru's sake and fought with all six elders to recommend him.
Last night, Fugaku had been endlessly puzzled by that.
But now he understood why.
So that was it.
Uchiha Yoru belonged to Nobuhiro's side.
And he had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
The old man was paving the road for Uchiha Shisui.
Uchiha Fugaku's mood turned irritable.
Not only did he fail to notice the subtle abnormality in Yashiro's mental state—
He even failed to pay attention to the detail that Yashiro himself had said he'd been intimidated.
After hearing the report, Fugaku forced a slight smile and instructed, "The study group is an important new initiative for the clan. Pay close attention to it. Report to me once every day."
Yashiro answered seriously, "Yes!"
Once Uchiha Yashiro left, the smile on Fugaku's face instantly turned cold.
He had already been Clan Head of the Uchiha for several years, yet he still had not managed to settle the various elders within the clan.
They argued with him over everything.
They couldn't even finalize proper preparations for war.
That was already frustrating enough.
And now, from nowhere, the decrepit Uchiha Nobuhiro had emerged and pushed forward the Uchiha Yoru whom Fugaku himself had overlooked.
What did that mean?
It meant his efforts to win over Shisui had failed.
It meant a seventh elder faction would begin to take shape.
The power that Uchiha Nobuhiro represented—namely the old forces within the clan that had once belonged to Uchiha Kagami—had finally found a suitable interim leader.
With Uchiha Yoru there as a buffer, they would be able to wait for Uchiha Shisui to grow up and then inherit smoothly.
The more Fugaku thought about it, the more irritated he became.
But in the end, he said nothing.
Did nothing.
And placed no restrictions on the study group's funding or manpower.
That was extremely like Uchiha Fugaku.
Forever hesitating.
Forever unwilling to act first.
Yet always ready to accept the results produced by others.
He was an exceptionally good subordinate.
But absolutely not a qualified leader.
…
After sending Uchiha Yashiro away, Uchiha Yoru conducted a second roll call.
"Shigenobu, Ayumi, Momoko, Kazuki, Hiroto, Kazushi, Tadamichi, Rinka—step forward!"
"The eight of you are the oldest genin here. You're the older brothers and older sisters of all the genin present, so I'm appointing you as squad leaders for the study group. Each of you will choose fifteen subordinates."
"Junpei, you're the youngest of everyone here. You'll stay with me."
With the Sharingan, Uchiha Yoru could see at a glance that there were 129 people present.
Dividing them into eight squads left one extra person, so he simply decided to keep the youngest little brother by his own side, which would also make it easier to look after him.
Under the combined effects of Yoru's intimidation and suggestion, the Uchiha children's obedience rose sharply.
In barely over ten minutes, the eight squads were fully assigned.
At Uchiha Yoru's command, each squad lined up under its captain in a single-file vertical formation.
Faced with eight crooked, uneven lines, he did not get angry.
He simply ordered the eight captains to dress the lines properly.
The captains and genin immediately began complaining, saying that formations were useless on the battlefield.
Uchiha Yoru directly suppressed them with the Sharingan and forced them to carry out his orders.
He made no attempt to explain.
Because they were right.
Ninjutsu was widely accessible and overwhelmingly powerful, while a ninja's physical defenses were fragile.
On a battlefield like that, a neat formation not only failed to create greater combat strength, it drastically increased casualties.
Formation fighting had long since been eliminated from the battlefield.
But on battlefields swept by explosives, the strongest infantry on earth—renowned for its absolute flexibility and absolute will—still used formation drills as its most basic training item.
That alone proved such drills possessed irreplaceable value.
Formation drilling was the single best method for cultivating discipline, obedience, and group spirit in a military force.
There was no second.
Uchiha Yoru completely abandoned the friendly attitude all the genin were familiar with.
He used sheer force to press them down, little by little arranging the lines into straight formation, then made them remain at attention—
From morning to noon.
Then from noon to afternoon.
Long periods of standing still could not make genin who were already well trained feel much physical exhaustion.
But the mental exhaustion brought on by empty, mindless stillness was something they found hard to endure.
Their resentment and dissatisfaction toward Uchiha Yoru gradually got replaced by dullness and fatigue.
As the spiritual exhaustion accumulated, everything was worn away into numbness.
At last, their mental condition began feeding back into the body.
The genin universally began swaying, their thighs trembling.
They were starting to approach their limits.
Uchiha Yoru did not mock them for weakness.
He knew everyone had reached the edge—
In both body and emotion.
They couldn't be pressed down any further.
And besides, it was time to give them a little sweetness.
The first reward he chose was stance practice.
Uchiha Yoru did not explain the technique of stance practice.
From the very beginning, he had stood in front of everyone and set the example himself, standing motionless for hours.
Now, however, his posture changed slightly, turning his pure attention stance into a variant of Hunyuan Stance.
It still looked like ordinary standing at attention.
And yet, his posture conveyed to everyone a strange sense of uprightness and ease existing together at the same time.
When spiritual fatigue reached its peak, people instead became especially sensitive.
Very soon, some of the genin noticed Uchiha Yoru's subtle changes.
And from there, they began noticing the detailed coordination between his movements, posture, and breathing.
The more gifted ones quickly understood the principles of stance practice from what they observed.
At the point of extreme mental and physical exhaustion, they naturally entered the stance state, slipped into a condition of spiritual clarity, rapidly dissolved the agitation caused by boredom, and found their posture becoming upright yet comfortable.
But not everyone could grasp the technique so quickly.
By the time the sun was about to set, the 129 genin had clearly split into two groups.
One third stood spirited and alert, their postures upright and strong.
The other two thirds were collapsed on the ground, their limbs trembling uncontrollably.
Fortunately, all eight squad leaders Uchiha Yoru had chosen were among that stronger one third.
So he did not need to replace any squad leaders on the very first day.
After a full eight hours, Uchiha Yoru finally gave a command.
"All personnel, attention—training is over!"
His voice was not loud.
But it carried the power of genjutsu, like a trembling shock passing through every genin's soul.
Those who had collapsed to the ground in numbness suddenly discovered that the trembling in their bodies had vanished, and they climbed back to their feet one after another.
As for those who had entered stance practice for the first time and had unconsciously sunk into that lucid emptiness, they too were awakened, opening their eyes as if from a dream and slowly recalling who they were and what they were doing as they looked around.
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