Chapter 89: Ambush (Part 1)
Uchiha Yuu walked silently through the streets of Konoha, his cold gaze sweeping over the ordinary villagers around him.
His eyes were like those of a lone wolf—dangerous, sharp, and full of aggression.
Everyone who met his gaze instinctively lowered their heads or quickly looked away, their breathing growing shallow and their movements uneasy. To Uchiha Yuu, their reactions were no different from a bunch of pathetic clowns.
And he thoroughly enjoyed it.
He had always taken great pleasure in watching these weaklings tremble before him, as if he and the Uchiha clan were the true rulers of Konoha.
In Yuu's heart, that was exactly how it should be—the Uchiha were meant to rule this village.
Yet now, the once-proud Uchiha had become weak, incompetent. His elder brother had been working tirelessly to restore the clan's strength and dignity, but within their ranks, too many dissenting voices had risen.
Behind those voices stood many hidden figures. Yuu despised politics, but that didn't mean he failed to understand it.
To him, the weak-minded within the clan were nothing but rot that needed to be purged. It was because of them that the Uchiha had fallen into such a pathetic state.
"Fortunately, more and more clan members are finally waking up," Yuu thought coldly. "Soon, my brother will realize his dream, and the Great Elder will achieve his lifelong wish."
Support within the Uchiha was growing, with more members standing on their side. Ever since the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War, they had shined brightly on various battlefields, proving their worth.
Even so, the Uchiha's influence in Konoha remained pitifully small. They were excluded from most major decisions, and burdened with the unfulfilled ambitions of their fathers and forefathers. To many, reclaiming their rightful place was a duty they could no longer ignore.
Once, they were a "minority."
Now, they were the "majority."
"But that brat, Uchiha Kei... why does my brother think so highly of him?" Yuu gritted his teeth as he walked, his heart simmering with rage at the thought of Kei.
Deep down, Yuu had nothing but contempt for that kid.
Kei's father, Uchiha Keisuke, was only a chunin, whose injuries had ended his career as a shinobi. His mother, Uchiha Ryoko, wasn't particularly capable either, and their family lineage had produced no remarkable ninja for generations.
In Yuu's eyes, a kid from such a background had no future. Kei's miserable early life seemed to prove it.
Yet somehow, against all odds—by sheer dumb luck, as Yuu saw it—this nobody awakened the Sharingan on the battlefield. And not just any Sharingan: it immediately manifested at the fully matured three-tomoe stage!
It had taken Yuu countless years of hard work, countless battles, to evolve his Sharingan from one tomoe to three.
And that brat?
In a single life-or-death moment against Minato Namikaze's accidental strike, Kei had erupted with unbelievable power, awakening his Sharingan and narrowly avoiding death.
Death was the greatest fear of any human being, and it wasn't unheard of for a Uchiha to awaken their eyes in the face of it. That much Yuu could begrudgingly admit.
But going straight to three tomoe? That was enough to fill him with a seething, bitter jealousy.
Why?
Why did I have to pour in years of sweat and blood, while he succeeded in an instant?
That stark contrast gnawed at Yuu, making him loathe Kei all the more—especially after Kei openly opposed and humiliated his brother.
To Yuu, his brother's place in his heart was second only to their parents.
His brother had been the one to raise him, protect him, guide him.
And now, that same brother had been defied—successfully—by a worthless upstart like Kei.
It made Yuu hate him to the core.
A few days earlier, Uchiha Kei had publicly attacked Uchiha Hiroki.
To Uchiha Yuu, this was the perfect opportunity for revenge—and also a chance to test just how capable that brat really was.
According to the reports released by the Hokage's office, Kei had single-handedly eliminated a Iwagakure's demolition corps led by Gari, and later took down the elite Ishimizu Hiiragi team of Iwagakure.
Those achievements were almost terrifying.
Yet Yuu was deeply suspicious.
There was no way a kid who had just awakened a three-tomoe Sharingan could pull that off. Even he himself wasn't confident he could do the same!
Most likely, that bastard Minato Namikaze had deliberately handed Kei the credit—perhaps out of guilt, after all the casualties Uchiha had suffered under his command.
And then there was Kakashi... that brat now had a Sharingan in his eye, a glaring reminder of what had been lost.
"Tch, if only it weren't for Uchiha—"
Yuu gritted his teeth in silent anger. "The clan leader is still far too soft."
Truth be told, Yuu wasn't particularly fond of Uchiha Fugaku.
In his eyes, Fugaku was too weak—always trying to appear neutral, always weighing things "for the good of the clan," yet constantly rejecting decisions that came from their faction, especially those led by Yuu's brother.
Every time that happened, it left a bitter taste in Yuu's mouth.
Still, he knew better than to show open disrespect.
No matter how dissatisfied he was, he understood the importance of hierarchy.
Disobedience toward the clan leader was not something he dared entertain.
"Forget it. Might as well focus on training instead," he thought irritably.
Picking up his pace, he headed toward the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters.
His training ground lay within a small forest about a kilometer or two from the headquarters.
Since joining the Police Force, he had made a habit of training there every single day.
After all, being a ninja was about strength above all else.
His brother was powerful, and as the younger sibling, Yuu refused to fall behind.
In fact, deep down, he aspired to surpass his brother someday.
Only by becoming stronger could he protect his brother—especially if his brother were ever to abandon training to focus solely on rebuilding the clan.
As for patrol duties?
Yuu hardly paid them any mind.
In his view, no one dared cause trouble wherever he was stationed anyway.
Everyone in the Police Force, even the clan leader Fugaku himself, knew about his daily training routine.
And since no one said anything about it, Yuu felt no need to restrain himself.
"Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that I'm eyeing the Deputy Chief position..."
Yuu's steps grew faster.
In no time, he reached the forest, where the air was still and quiet save for the occasional chirping of birds.
He loved this atmosphere.
With a casual motion, he tore off his forehead protector and shrugged off his green flak jacket, tossing them aside without a second thought.
Then he began his warm-up exercises.
But what he didn't know was that, at that very moment, a pair of eyes were silently watching him.
And as he stretched and prepared, the owner of those eyes began to move.