Naruto: Zanka No Tachi

Chapter 8: NZNT: Chapter 8

Hearing Fugaku mention the clan’s current difficulties, Yusuke nodded and said, ”Yes, I’m aware of all this.”

”Danzō has always been at odds with our Uchiha clan. In past internal disputes, the elders have always favored Danzō. It seems the Third Hokage also wants to have us, the Uchiha clan, and Danzō balance each other out,” Fugaku sighed.

”Since I became clan leader, I’ve been carefully maintaining relationships with all parties. But my abilities are truly limited. Even with all my efforts, I haven’t been able to secure the rightful voice for the clan. Instead, the conflicts between the clan and the village have only increased.”

Itachi looked up at his father with a worried expression. His father had never told him this before. This was the first time he had heard about the clan’s situation.

Although Itachi was only six years old, his mind was far more mature than other children. From his father’s words, he could sense the clan’s crisis and the burden on his father’s shoulders.

Seeing Fugaku speak about these things, which he couldn’t mention outside, in front of him, Yusuke knew that Fugaku was truly overwhelmed by the clan’s problems.

He wouldn’t have revealed these thoughts to a junior like him unless he was at his wit’s end.

As if sensing his son’s worry, Fugaku smiled and patted Itachi’s head, signaling him not to worry. Then he turned to Yusuke and said, ”The clan doesn’t have many ninjas who can stand on their own two feet right now. And among those people, I don’t see anyone who can become a true pillar for the clan. When I heard about your outstanding performance in the Third Great Ninja War, I was very happy and have been keeping an eye on you ever since.”

Fugaku’s expression turned serious, and he looked directly into Yusuke’s eyes, ”But from your performance, I haven’t seen the sense of clan honor that an Uchiha should have! Can you tell me the true place of the clan in your heart? Uchiha Yusuke!”

Fugaku’s tone was extremely serious, especially when he said Yusuke’s name at the end, emphasizing his words.

Facing Fugaku’s question, Yusuke felt a bit ashamed. He had been so focused on training and developing ninjutsu that he hadn’t made any particular contribution to the clan.

But Yusuke didn’t intend to abandon the clan. After confirming his identity as an Uchiha after crossing over, Yusuke had already decided to save the clan from its tragic fate! However, he didn’t want to use political maneuvering to do so.

”Clan leader, I am also an Uchiha. But from the current situation, do you see a path forward for the clan?” Yusuke calmly asked back.

Hearing Yusuke’s words, Fugaku slowly closed his eyes and sighed. Then he slowly opened his eyes again, his gaze sharp as he looked at Yusuke and said, ”Even if we can’t see the path ahead, we Uchiha must persevere. The clan cannot be destroyed on our watch! And you, with your extraordinary talent, should shoulder this responsibility, not abandon the clan!”

”I haven’t abandoned the clan. I’ve simply abandoned the idea of saving the clan through political means.” In his conversation with Fugaku, Yusuke started to reveal his true thoughts for the first time.

Fugaku frowned slightly and asked tentatively, ”What do you mean?”

”Over the years, with the deliberate exclusion of various forces, our Uchiha clan’s space for survival in Konoha has become smaller and smaller. It’s not that there’s no way to recover, but I admit that I don’t have the intelligence for that.” Yusuke met Fugaku’s sharp gaze without fear.

”So I’ve dedicated all my efforts to improving my strength. If the clan had a strong figure like our ancestor, Uchiha Madara, those so-called exclusions and conspiracies wouldn’t matter. All the problems plaguing the clan would be easily solved!” Yusuke no longer concealed his pursuit of power, or perhaps his ambition.

Fugaku stared at Yusuke blankly, his eyes filled with disbelief. He had never thought that Yusuke would have the ambition to become a strong figure like Uchiha Madara.

You see, after the Sage of Six Paths, there were only two people who had truly reached that level — the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara.

”That’s also why I rarely attend clan meetings. While you guys are scheming and maneuvering with other high-ranking officials in the village, I’ve been diligently training.” Ignoring Fugaku, whose eyes were slightly glazed over, Yusuke stated his reason for skipping clan meetings with a confident air.

The reception room fell silent for a moment. No one spoke. Fugaku was considering the possibility of Yusuke’s ideas, while Yusuke quietly waited.

For Yusuke, his goal had never changed. He had skipped clan meetings in the past, and he wouldn’t attend them in the future!

”Perhaps it takes someone with your caliber and ambition to reach the heights of our ancestor, Uchiha Madara!” After a long silence, Fugaku sighed and continued to ask Yusuke, ”So, in your opinion, what should the clan do now?”

Yusuke thought for a moment and said, ”If it were me, facing the relentless pressure from other forces, I might choose to retreat. Of course, this ’retreat’ would also involve being prepared to retreat completely. But I think that if the clan gives up its power and goes into seclusion, focusing on improving the clan members’ strength, it might be a way to secure a foothold.”

Fugaku shook his head, ”Have I not considered that? Unfortunately, most of the clan members wouldn’t agree.”

Yusuke nodded and didn’t say anything more. He actually had one more sentence he hadn’t said, which was ”If the clan leader had enough authority, he could make the decision alone.” But there was no need to say such an impossible assumption.

”I’ll instruct the clan to grant you permission to skip future clan meetings. But for some important meetings, I’ll have someone notify you in advance. You must attend those meetings!” Fugaku looked at Yusuke, his gaze intense,不容拒绝 (不容拒绝 means ”不容拒绝” which means ”unyielding” or ”cannot be refused”).

Yusuke nodded. ”Understood. Thank you for your understanding, clan leader.” The conversation had reached this point, and Fugaku had already made a great concession to him. If he didn’t accept it, he would be unreasonable.

With the clan matters mostly settled, Fugaku’s expression relaxed. He revealed another reason for inviting Yusuke, ”Actually, I have one more thing I wanted to discuss with you.”

”Please go on.” Yusuke said.

”What do you think of Itachi?” Fugaku gently patted Itachi’s shoulder and asked Yusuke.

Yusuke was slightly taken aback and understood why Fugaku had brought Itachi with him to talk to him. Fugaku probably wanted to arrange for Itachi to become his disciple.

Because besides this reason, Yusuke couldn’t think of any other possibility for Fugaku to ask this question. It couldn’t be that he wanted to become a relative by marriage, asking if his sister, Izumi, and Itachi would be a good match, right?

”Itachi is six years old, and he’ll be entering the Ninja Academy soon. I’ve only recently started teaching him ninjutsu. You might think I’m exaggerating, but in my opinion, he has a talent that is no less than yours! I hope you can be his teacher and guide his ninjutsu training in the future.” Fugaku said seriously.

In his opinion, Itachi’s talent was even greater than Yusuke’s, but he had to be a little humble when he said it.

Itachi was very intelligent, and he also guessed his father’s intentions. He also hoped to have a suitable teacher to guide him, so he looked at Yusuke with anticipation.

Yusuke smiled and nodded, ”I also see that Itachi has extraordinary talent. I’d be very happy to be his teacher. But I didn’t expect that I would take on two disciples in one day. I don’t know how to describe this feeling.”

Yusuke had planned to contact Itachi sooner or later, after all, Itachi was a key figure in the Uchiha clan’s fate. It was perfect that Fugaku had come to him directly to ask him to be Itachi’s teacher.

Fugaku didn’t ask about the other disciple Yusuke mentioned. Instead, he instructed Itachi to perform a formal apprenticeship ceremony.

Itachi stood up from the cushion, knelt on the floor, and respectfully bowed to Yusuke, ”Uchiha Itachi, please teach me well in the future.”

Yusuke helped Itachi up, officially accepting him as his second disciple. Looking at the little boy, Itachi, Yusuke couldn’t help but think of his own little sister, Izumi.

”Izumi will be going to the Ninja Academy soon too. With Kabuto and Itachi, maybe I should just apply to lead a Genin team?” Yusuke thought to himself.

At this time, Yusuke didn’t know that his sister was Itachi’s lover in ”Itachi Shinden.” If he had known, he wouldn’t have arranged things this way. In Yusuke’s understanding, Itachi, a brother-complex, was already beyond repair.

”Yusuke, is your Sharingan really not awakened, or are you just hiding your strength?” Fugaku asked after Itachi finished his bow.

”It’s really not awakened. I’ve done a lot of research, and it seems that it requires strong mental stimulation to awaken the Sharingan. So I gave up.” Yusuke said helplessly.

Fugaku nodded, ”That’s usually the case, but the Sharingan is activated by the Yin Seal, which is mental energy. Logically speaking, with your current mental strength, you should have enough to awaken the Sharingan even without external stimulation.”

Fugaku thought for a moment, then suddenly looked at Yusuke with a strange expression, ”Your father isn’t from the Uchiha clan. Could it be that you didn’t inherit the Uchiha clan’s kekkei genkai?”

Hearing Fugaku’s words, Yusuke didn’t seem surprised. ”To be honest, I’m also suspecting that now.”

Although the Uchiha bloodline was very powerful, even if a non-Uchiha married an Uchiha, their offspring would usually inherit the Uchiha clan’s kekkei genkai.

Unless the other party also possessed a powerful kekkei genkai, there would be a small chance that their offspring wouldn’t inherit the Sharingan but would inherit other kekkei genkai.

Of course, there was also a very small chance of inheriting two kekkei genkai.

But Yusuke’s father was just an ordinary person. There was no reason for him to be superior to the Uchiha clan in terms of bloodline, preventing Yusuke from inheriting the Uchiha clan’s kekkei genkai.

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