The next day.
The morning light was faint.
Uchiha Setsuna stood in front of the courtyard, taking a deep breath to prepare himself mentally.
"What does the Clan Head want with me? I can finally meet the Clan Head in private!"
Uchiha Setsuna was very excited. Previously, he had only seen Uchiha Madara during clan meetings at Naka Shrine; other than that, he had never met him in private. Today was his first time.
Just then, Uchiha Setsuna suddenly saw a young child wearing a haori, with handsome features and carrying a wrapped longsword, walking out of the courtyard gate.
"Good morning, Young Clan Head."
Uchiha Setsuna lowered his head and said to the child.
"Is Lord Setsuna here to see my uncle?" Uchiha Su recognized the Ninja before him.
Uchiha Setsuna had quite a prominent reputation. He was a hardline hawk who hoped that the Uchiha Clan would produce a Hokage. Furthermore, he was a Uchiha Jonin who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and was currently serving in the Konoha Police Force.
"Yes, the Clan Head sent someone to send me a message last night, asking me to come and meet the Clan Head today... Also, Young Clan Head, you don't need to address me as 'Lord'; I don't deserve it."
Uchiha Setsuna said.
"In that case, Brother Setsuna, go in and see my uncle. I have something to do and need to head out."
Uchiha Su said softly, and then he left.
...
Uchiha Su arrived at the lake next to Naka Shrine.
Whenever he was free, he would come to this lake to train. This lake was also a place where Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke would often train in the future.
It just so happened that Uchiha Su's Uchiha Style Swordsmanship had been at a bottleneck for a long time. He wanted to train here to break through the bottleneck as soon as possible.
He took out the kusanagi sword that Uchiha Madara had given him half a year ago, on his sixth birthday. This kusanagi sword had a very nice name: shimizu.
Uchiha Su had possessed excellent talent in swordsmanship since he was young, far greater than his aptitude for Fire Release or taijutsu.
Immediately, Uchiha Su began to practice Uchiha Style Swordsmanship by the lake of Naka Shrine.
Uchiha Style Swordsmanship was a style passed down from the Warring States Period. This swordsmanship was born entirely for combat; it lacked flashiness and possessed more lethality.
Uchiha Su began to perform Uchiha Style Swordsmanship. In an instant, the sword light was cold and sharp, and sword shadows weaved around him, impenetrable.
Uchiha Su gradually entered a state of flow, as if the blade in his hand had become a part of his body, moving as easily as his own arm.
Soon, Uchiha Su completed a full set of Uchiha Style Swordsmanship, and the view before his eyes changed.
[Uchiha Style Swordsmanship lv4 → lv5]
Uchiha Su's eyes lit up. The reason he could maintain such high-intensity training was entirely because he could see his own growth.
If not for this panel, perhaps Uchiha Su would be more playful. Furthermore, Uchiha Su's talent in swordsmanship was excellent; at the very least, he felt he was not inferior to Sakumo Hatake.
According to the information he knew, the purest swordsmanship experts in the current Ninja World were almost all in the Land of Iron. That was the stronghold of samurai, and everyone's swordsmanship was not weak.
Others, like Konoha, Kumogakure... these Ninja Villages, almost all knew some swordsmanship, but very few people were skilled at it.
"Sakumo Hatake from the school also has very strong swordsmanship..." Uchiha Su recalled his sparring with Sakumo Hatake. The opponent's swordsmanship was as fast and sharp as lightning, but he didn't think Sakumo Hatake was stronger than him. Their swordsmanship attainments were likely on par.
Just as he was pondering, a somewhat childish voice sounded from behind him.
"Evil Uchiha brat..."
"Tsunade, why are you here?" Uchiha Su didn't even turn his head; he knew it was Tsunade speaking.
The only person who could say this in the Uchiha Clan Compound, aside from a certain white-haired guy—oh, that white-haired guy wouldn't come to the Uchiha Clan Compound—was a certain second generation of the Hokage lineage who didn't want to reveal their name.
"I already know about the squad formations. Guess which squad you've been assigned to?"
Tsunade blinked at Uchiha Su and continued, "How about we make a bet? If you guess right, I'll give you..."
Before Tsunade could finish, Uchiha Su interrupted her directly. He waved his hand and said, "Tsunade, don't bet. You're bad at it but love it anyway. Besides winning a bet against the First Hokage, who else have you ever won a bet against?"
"That's slander..." Tsunade stuttered at first, then said righteously, "Besides, before the bet, no one knows if they will win or lose. Only at the moment the answer is revealed can one know!"
Uchiha Su looked at Tsunade quietly.
Tsunade felt creeped out by Uchiha Su's gaze and couldn't help but say, "Are you thinking of something very rude?"
Uchiha Su's eyelid twitched slightly. He said, "No, I was just thinking that if you ever became Hokage, I seriously suspect you would gamble away the entire Konoha!"
"Huh? Isn't that thought rude enough already?"
Tsunade gradually clenched her fist. What a joke, how could she possibly gamble away Konoha Village... The more she thought about it, the less confident she became...
"Alright, I'm not joking with you anymore. The reason I came to find you this time is because of Teacher Sarutobi's request. Orochimaru, you, and I have been assigned to Team Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi is our squad leader Jonin."
Tsunade guiltily changed the subject, not mentioning the bet at all.
"Jonin Sarutobi?"
Uchiha Su nodded. Hiruzen Sarutobi was very famous in Konoha Village at this time. As a disciple of the Second Hokage, his reputation was very high.
That's right, the one currently in charge of Konoha Village was the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, the man who understood the Uchiha better than the Uchiha themselves.
The establishment of the Konoha Police Force, the relocation of the Uchiha Clan Compound, and the increasingly deteriorating reputation of the Uchiha were all caused under his leadership.
As for Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage at this time was more like Konoha Village's 'nuclear deterrent,' used to deter other great powers in the Ninja World, as well as the restless Uchiha Clan.
After all, when everyone agreed to establish the Konoha organization, it was settled that the first leader would be given to the Senju family. That was fine, since the Senju family had the bigger fist. So, the Uchiha were rubbing their hands and waiting for a Uchiha to take the position of the Second Hokage.
But who would have known that the Senju family wouldn't stick to the brotherhood, and while isolating the Uchiha, they snatched the seat of the second leader.
How could the hot-tempered and extreme-prone "red-eye disease" tolerate this?
Uchiha Madara was still alive, so the relationship between the Uchiha and the Village during this period was very delicate.
In Uchiha Su's view, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha during this period was even more tense than the time when Uchiha Itachi wiped out the clan later on.