Fugaku coughed twice. "So many years have passed, and you still haven't changed."
"Who knows?"
Listening to this ambiguous tone, Fugaku stared at Tōshirō.
For some reason, he felt a subtle distance between himself and Tōshirō, as if there was an invisible barrier separating them.
Is it because… they haven't seen each other in so many years?
Fugaku's mind drifted in that direction.
Beside him, Mikoto hesitated for a moment before calling out, "Tōshirō… brother…"
Frankly, it felt strange calling Tōshirō "brother," since he looked much younger than her.
"You are…?"
Tōshirō looked over. It was a woman with a very young appearance, dressed like a housewife.
Fugaku introduced her. "This is Mikoto, uh, my wife now…"
Itachi looked at his parents, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Father, Mother…"
Tōshirō suddenly understood. He looked Mikoto up and down, smiling. "You've grown into quite a beauty, it seems."
Mikoto, already a mother of two, felt very pleased hearing this. "Tōshirō-san, you're making me shy."
Tōshirō looked at Fugaku. "I remember there was a pretty big age gap between you two. I never thought that you, the serious and unsmiling one, would be a lolicon at heart."
Fugaku coughed violently, showing a rare moment of embarrassment.
"Tōshirō-san, don't tease Fugaku anymore…"
Just as Tōshirō was talking to the couple, another voice interjected. "Tōshirō, it's been a long time!"
Tōshirō looked over.
"It's Yashiro," the man said excitedly, pointing to himself.
Tōshirō said bluntly, "I don't remember."
Uh… that was awkward.
Yashiro, who had been so excited just a moment ago, suddenly became dejected. It was so embarrassing.
Tōshirō gave a hearty laugh. "Haha, just kidding!"
Yashiro's mouth twitched. "So many years have passed, and you still haven't changed much. You're always joking around."
That's not right…
Itachi inwardly denied this claim.
The current Tōshirō was far from being as simple as he appeared on the surface.
He might look bright and cheerful, but inside, he was already rotten.
The gentle smile on his face was just a mask of false pretense.
If you were to ask Itachi why he was so certain, the Mangekyō Sharingan that Tōshirō had just shown was the best proof.
"But you guys have changed a lot," Tōshirō chuckled, stroking his chin. "You've all gotten so old… especially you, Yashiro. Your hair has turned white."
Yashiro looked at Tōshirō, who had equally white hair but looked like a child, and said gloomily, "You don't think everyone is like you, do you?"
Although he didn't understand why Tōshirō looked this way, he could be certain that it wasn't a Transformation Jutsu.
After confirming that the person in front of them was the legendary man from the past, the clan members gathered around and began to whisper. "What? He's Uchiha Tōshirō?" The voices rose and fell, and those who had only heard of Tōshirō but never seen him looked on with great curiosity.
Fugaku looked around, then back at Tōshirō, suppressing the questions in his heart. "It's getting late, Tōshirō. Why don't you stay with us tonight?"
After saying that, he looked at his son beside him. "Is it a problem if Tōshirō stays in your room tonight?"
"I'm sorry," Tōshirō said, smiling at Itachi, whose room was being taken. "I'll make it up to you later."
"Don't worry about it," Itachi nodded slightly, and added, "I was planning to sleep with Sasuke tonight anyway."
While Fugaku was arranging Tōshirō's stay, Yashiro and Inabi were dispersing the clan members, telling them to go home and do what they needed to do.
At this time, a clan member asked, "Fugaku-sama, what about tomorrow…"
Finally…
Itachi looked at his father.
Now that Tōshirō had returned, their original plan would have to be re-evaluated to some extent.
Fugaku pondered for a moment. "The original plan is… canceled."
They had originally planned to stage a coup the next day, but now the plan was canceled. No one had any objections. In fact, they were happy to see things develop in this direction.
The powerful return of a fighter like Tōshirō would surely give the Uchiha clan a huge boost in strength. The coup was something that needed to be reconsidered carefully.
Original plan?
Tōshirō squinted his eyes, looking slightly confused.
Fugaku's expression was serious. "I'll explain everything to you when we get home."
Tōshirō nodded slightly, deep in thought.
Everyone understood and left one after another.
Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. This was for the best.
He looked around, thinking that they on the other side should be able to understand this, too.
The Root members must be secretly watching this place right now.
"Itachi, let's go…"
"Yes…"
Itachi looked away and followed them.
A distance away, on a large tree, a Root member observing the situation felt a strong sense of foreboding and lowered his binoculars.
"What's the situation?" his companion asked.
They couldn't just go over there since it was a gathering of Uchiha clan members; they would likely be discovered.
"This is bad. That man has returned. We must tell Danzō-sama about this."
Afterward, the Root members returned to Danzō as quickly as possible.
Danzō, who was waiting for the result, was surprised to see his subordinates return so early.
He remained calm, silently waiting for his subordinates to give him an update.
The Root members didn't answer immediately but looked at each other. They could predict that Danzō-sama would not be in a good mood after hearing this news.
Danzō frowned. "What happened?"
His impatience got a response. The next second, one of his subordinates' low voice came through. "Danzō-sama, Tōshirō has returned…"
"Who?"
Danzō's expression was one of confusion upon hearing the name of someone who was supposed to be dead.
This was normal, after all; the man had been dead in his mind for decades.
So, when he heard the name "Tōshirō," he subconsciously didn't connect it to that person, resulting in it sounding quite unfamiliar.
The Root member was silent for a moment before saying the full name with a heavy tone. "…Uchiha… Tōshirō…"
"Wh-what…"
Danzō's pupils suddenly dilated, his expression beyond disbelief.
"That's impossible!"
At the Ninja Academy, Sasuke looked at a target that was dozens of meters away. He took a deep breath, aimed at the bullseye, and threw the shuriken he held in his hand.
With a few clanking sounds, all ten shuriken hit the bullseye except for one that was slightly off.
The result was not ideal, and Sasuke was not happy.
Of course, this was only unsatisfactory from his perspective.
No, this result was far from reaching the level of his brother, let alone earning his father's praise.
Just as he was feeling annoyed with his performance, a series of cheers came from behind him.
"Ah!"
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Wow, Sasuke is so cool!"
Sasuke had inherited his mother's good looks, and with his outstanding academic performance, he was very popular at school, especially among the girls, who all saw him as an object of affection.
Sasuke was indifferent to this; he just found it noisy.
"Sasuke is as amazing as always," a Root member disguised as a school teacher said, complimenting him while recording his score.
"I still have a long way to go…"
Sasuke's goal was his brother, Itachi, so getting this kind of result was only natural to him.
While they were talking, a voice came from beside him. "Sasuke, don't get cocky. I will definitely beat you."
Without even turning around, Sasuke knew who it was. He didn't bother to look back and just walked away.
"Hey, wait up…"
The yellow-haired boy was about to yell and run after him but was suddenly blocked by a group of girls who scolded him. "Naruto, don't bother Sasuke-kun."
They then surrounded Naruto.
Sasuke looked up at the twilight sky, thinking that school was out pretty late today.
The Uchiha clan district was far from the village, and therefore also far from the Ninja Academy. If he went home now, it would probably be evening.
Would his brother be home when he got back?
No, he probably wouldn't be.
His brother always had so many things to do.
Lately, Sasuke had grown used to his brother not being home.
The next time they meet, I must surprise my brother.
How does that saying go? Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Just as Sasuke was making a silent vow, a soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Uh, um…"
Sasuke looked up. In front of him was a pink-haired girl with a headband.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked. He remembered this girl's name was Sakura.
Sakura held her right wrist with her left hand behind her back, her face was red, and she was fidgeting, wanting to say something.
At that moment, a blond-haired girl ran over and pointed at the pink-haired girl. "You a**hole, Sakura! You're trying to seduce Sasuke-kun while I'm not looking!"
Sakura suddenly seemed like a different person as she retorted, "What did you say? I was just chatting with Sasuke-kun."
"You're still lying."
"I'm not lying, Ino-pig!"
"Forehead!"
"Ino-pig!"
The two girls pushed at each other, their eyes locking as if sparks were flying.
Seeing this, Sasuke closed his eyes, finding the act of two girls fighting over him to be very boring.
(End of Chapter)
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