Uchiha Mei walked to the center of the hall, between two facing rows of six kneeling First Branch jonin.
Uchiha Shien silently followed and knelt just behind her.
He knew his place within the Uchiha clan hierarchy; he had self-awareness.
Even so, someone still spoke up.
"Mei, why did you bring him here?"
The voice came from a broad-shouldered Uchiha whose very presence radiated pressure.
Uchiha Shota — an elite jonin, and the current spearhead of the clan's hawkish faction.
"Uncle Shota," Mei said calmly,
"Uchiha Shien is my—technically—'fiancé.' Isn't it perfectly reasonable for him to attend a First Branch meeting?"
She said it as if the word fiancé meant nothing to her at all — not the slightest blush.
Their engagement was no secret within the clan. It had been arranged by the former clan head to pave the way for his granddaughter's future.
If she married outside the clan, she'd lose any chance of power; by taking a husband into the family instead, there would be no risk of the Uchiha's authority falling into another man's hands.
In other words — he was a tool.
That was exactly why Uchiha Shien's predecessor had so desperately wanted to break off the match.
But Uchiha Shien? He relished it.
In his previous life, a "super-rich, super-beautiful" girl feeding him soft rice was the kind of dream he could never reach. After reincarnating into this world, one was spoon-fed to him — how could he possibly refuse?
Refuse the soft rice, and he'd have starved long ago — let alone made it into the Ninja Academy.
So when the "tool" got invited to a family council, Uchiha Shota's questioning wasn't out of spite, merely skepticism.
"But you aren't married yet, are you?" another jonin added.
The words sounded similar, but his tone carried a note of provocation.
Clan heads could be replaced. He was eyeing that very position, and the only way to reach it was to chip away at Mei's authority.
Now it made sense why this particular man — Uchiha Shu — seemed so deliberately antagonistic.
"This meeting concerns him directly," Mei said, sweeping her gaze over the six jonin before her.
Despite being only thirteen, she faced them with utter composure. Not an ounce of fear. Pure dominance.
Uchiha Shien, kneeling behind her, silently rated it: Breathtakingly badass.
Though he had lived here for two and a half years since transmigrating, he hadn't interacted much with his fiancée. Most of what he knew about her came from gossip — that she was a "genius."
Now he finally saw it for himself — strong-willed, imperious, commanding.
"All right then, Mei," said the only woman among the six.
"What was so urgent that you called us all together?"
This was Uchiha Shizuka, a jonin and a close friend of Mei's late mother — one of her staunchest allies.
Thanks to Shizuka and Uchiha Shota's support, the First Branch leadership had remained firmly in Mei's hands.
"It's because of this."
Mei produced a small vial of undiluted liquid.
Ordinary healing salves wouldn't warrant summoning six senior jonin, let alone risk offending the village leadership.
After listening to her brief explanation, the jonin's expressions turned to open astonishment.
All six wore the same incredulous look.
They all knew of Uchiha Shien, of course — the so-called fiancé of Lady Mei, infamous at the Academy as a dead-last loser.
To think he had developed something like this…
It was akin to the Akimichi Clan's secret pills, but this one was broader in scope, usable by anyone — not bound to a specific clan technique.
Naturally, the village would demand it turned over.
Unlike the Akimichi's pills, this wasn't a hereditary secret technique — it could be mass-produced and used by anyone. That kind of medicine was far too strategic for Konoha to let the Uchiha keep.
The real question was how to hand it over.
If this had been some ordinary Academy student, they'd be lucky to keep their freedom, let alone any rights to their creation.
But if the Uchiha clan represented him, the negotiation could yield compensation — and protection for Uchiha Shien himself.
Because the darkness of the shinobi world was no illusion.
Even the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, relied on Root to bear the village's sins — that was how deep the shadows ran.
After long discussion, the First Branch jonin finally reached consensus.
The healing agent could be turned over in controlled batches.
But in return, the village must compensate the clan — and Uchiha Shien would receive ten percent of that profit. The Uchiha would shoulder all external pressure.
Sound like a bad deal?
Only if you didn't understand how dark the shinobi world truly was. Under these circumstances, it was already a very generous arrangement.
All thanks to his golden thigh — Uchiha Mei.
Without her protection, Uchiha Shien would have been dragged into Root, brainwashed, and turned into yet another disposable tool for Danzo.
That realization was why he had revealed his value in the first place.
Of course, Uchiha Shien had already told Mei what he actually wanted in return — so she made sure those demands were written into the deal.
His ten percent share would be converted entirely into research equipment, materials, and knowledge resources.
Things he had dreamed of obtaining.
So rather than feeling cheated, Uchiha Shien was downright excited about the arrangement.
When the council concluded, he returned to his room.
Since only the two of them lived in that spacious courtyard, his quarters were enormous — complete with a basement laboratory set aside just for him.
The Next Morning
Uchiha Shien rose early — not to attend class, but to join the team assignment ceremony.
After graduation, new genin were sorted into three-man squads under the supervision of a jonin instructor. Only after promotion to chunin or jonin would they operate independently.
If yesterday's incident hadn't happened, Uchiha Shien would've happily lazed away the day.
But now that he'd beaten Kakashi, the White Fang's Son, there was no universe in which they'd fail him.
He was now officially an active-duty shinobi — though one without a base salary.
To earn pay, you needed an official post.
That was why the Uchiha clung so tightly to the Police Force — beyond the authority, it provided a steady paycheck.
Unassigned shinobi, by contrast, had to take missions for all their income.
And Uchiha Shien didn't even have the option to refuse enlistment.
Why?
Because he'd been trained at the Academy — nurtured by the village. He couldn't simply opt out.
Shinobi trained privately by the clan could refuse to join the village's active ranks and serve as family retainers instead.
That was how, in the anime, the Sarutobi clan could secretly maintain thousands of ninja — clan-raised forces weren't subject to Hokage control.
But Academy graduates? Born of Konoha, die for Konoha — no other choice.
Only those explicitly abandoned by the village could retire freely.
That was why Uchiha Shien had spent years pretending to be useless — to avoid being drafted.
Unfortunately, his plan had failed spectacularly.
Now that he'd demonstrated his strength, only an idiot would deny his promotion to full shinobi.
As he stepped out of the clan compound, Uchiha Shien suddenly slipped sideways into an alley —
Not because of an attack, but to avoid the figure that darted out from behind him at lightning speed.
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