The world begins with refining skills

Chapter 382 The Uchiha Clan Members Have Disappeared! (Please Subscribe)

A month later.

A gust of wind blowing from the east swept across the sky.

In the dense forest west of Konoha Village, the emerald green leaves rustled in the strong wind.

Some leaves with loosely attached petioles and branches that had been forcibly pulled off resembled a group of homeless orphans, drifting lonely and helpless in the sky.

A strong wind swept through the sky above the Aburame family, carrying withered leaves.

Several parasitic insects that were trying to take off against the wind were slapped hard against the wall.

Outside the Oil Women's residence, beneath a gate made of clay and stones.

Wearing a military green coat and a pair of the Oil Women Clan's signature round-framed sunglasses, Zhiwei, an Oil Woman, was leading several clan members to see off their distinguished guest.

"Lord Danzo, please take care. The Aburame family will arrange for a suitable candidate to report to Root within half a month."

"Then I'll wait for Chief Zhiwei's good news. I hope it won't disappoint me!"

Danzo said meaningfully, then led a few of his men and left without looking back, braving the strong wind.

After Danzo and his group had completely disappeared from sight, the Aburame clansmen standing nearby said somewhat unwillingly, "Clan Chief, are we really going to agree to Danzo's unreasonable demands?"

“Five years ago, we just sent Yang Dou to the Root, and now Danzo is asking for people again, and he even wants a genius from the clan. Isn’t that going too far?”

The Aburame family is not a small family, but it is definitely not a large family either.

The clan was small to begin with, and even fewer had the aptitude for ninjas. Those who could be considered truly talented were even fewer.

They had already sent a clansman with the potential to become a Jonin, and to this day they still don't know whether he is alive or dead.

Now Danzo is demanding people again, which is clearly an attempt to use the life of their genius Aburame to replenish the flesh and blood of his own body.

Aburame Shiki sighed and said, "The Third Hokage gave us instructions beforehand, and the Aburame family couldn't refuse!"

"We're all Konoha ninjas, why should we be bullied by Root? The Hokage is too much."

The women of the Oil Women tribe looked indignant, and some disrespectful words were about to slip out.

"Shut up!" Aburame Zhiwei immediately snapped at him, "What do you want to say? Is this something you should be saying?"

The woman instantly came to her senses, realizing she had almost made a mistake, and immediately lowered her head to admit it.

He was still muttering to himself, "If only Lord Minato were still here."

That gentle and sunny yellow flash certainly wouldn't sit idly by and let the roots be so arrogant.

You Nu Zhiwei heard the murmurings of her people, but said nothing more.

He certainly didn't want to send the clan's geniuses to the Roots to be used as tools, but he had no other choice.

If it weren't for the fact that his son Shino is only two years old this year, and Danzo's side is in a hurry to have combat power, this person would probably be his son.

Hoooo ...

A gust of wind carried a leaf and slapped it against Aburame Shimi's cheek.

Suddenly, Yu Nu Zhiwei raised her hand and grabbed a leaf that was helpless in the strong wind.

Looking at the leaf in her hand, Aburame Shiki felt a sense of powerlessness rise in her heart.

Despite being the head of a clan, there are differences between ninja clans, even greater than the differences between commoners and ninja clans.

Faced with the will of the village's upper class, he was like a leaf drifting in the wind, unable to decide where to go.

"Fine, let's get Shiguro back as soon as possible. At this time, he might be safer in Root than on the front lines."

That was the only way Aburame Shiki could console herself.

At the same time, a thought couldn't help but arise in my mind: what would have happened if the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, hadn't died during the Nine-Tails' rampage?

The sand and gravel whipped up by the east wind kept getting into Danzo's mouth and nose, which annoyed him greatly.

"This wind has been blowing for several days now, hasn't it? Is it usually this windy at this time of year?"

Danzo Shimura was somewhat puzzled. Konoha was surrounded by giant trees that were tens of meters tall, so there shouldn't be such a strong wind.

In his decades of life, he had rarely seen such strong winds blow in Konoha.

And the wind blows for days on end; if you didn't know better, you'd almost think this was the Land of Wind!

Several of Danzo's subordinates exchanged glances, unsure whether he was asking them a question or talking to himself.

Just as they were still hesitating whether to answer, Shimura Danzo continued:

"Which ninja clans haven't we visited yet?"

Compared to the somewhat unusual weather, Shimura Danzo was more concerned with recruiting talented ninjas from various ninja clans to bolster the Root's strength.

"Reporting to Lord Danzo, there are also the Kurama family and the Inuzuka family."

Danzo pondered for a few seconds and said, "Then let's go to the Inuzuka clan first!"

The Kurama clan has no other notable ninjutsu or taijutsu besides genjutsu, and genjutsu is too easily countered by the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.

In comparison, the Inuzuka clan's ninja beasts are somewhat more useful, well, only somewhat.

Soon, the group arrived at the Inuzuka family's territory.

With Hiruzen Sarutobi's prior instructions, the Inuzuka clan readily yielded, offering their insignificant strength for the sake of Konoha.

The whole process went very smoothly, which made Danzo Shimura's obsession with the Hokage position even more deeply rooted.

Konoha Avenue, located near the very center of the village, is also Konoha's most bustling commercial street.

Here you can find goods and specialties from all over the world, from the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and even the Land of Lightning. Caravans also come to Konoha to trade.

Employers and caravans that come to Konoha to post missions will also come here to spend some money after posting their missions.

This situation arises because the ninja village's status among the five great nations is not only that of a military stronghold, but also that of a financial and technological center.

In the ninja world, where most societies are still in an ancient state, the ninja villages have already entered the electrical age.

A new food stall recently opened on this busiest street in Konoha.

Rin's Dining Shop!

The shop's signboard also features a red and white tennis racket design, the emblem of the Uchiha clan.

It's so obvious at a glance which family owns this business.

"Didn't the Uchi family all move away? How come there's still a food stall here?"

Several villagers from Konoha who were traveling together saw the sign for Rin's restaurant, and one of them, a villager named Fujikawa Hirota, asked in surprise.

"I'm not sure about that, but this eatery has been open for almost half a month," his companion answered his question. "It's very popular!"

“It’s really popular!” Fujikawa Hirotaka looked at the customers queuing outside Rin’s restaurant, his doubts deepening.

"Didn't they say they orchestrated the fox demon rebellion? Why is everyone still saying..."

Fujikawa Hirota couldn't understand it. Didn't everyone previously tacitly oppose the Uchiha clan?

Has the wind in the village changed again? Am I out of touch with the latest trends?

"Ahem. A fox demon may be a fox demon, but we still need to eat!" His companion coughed awkwardly a few times and said, "It's all because the food at that restaurant is too good!"

"Is it really that delicious?" Hirota Fujikawa's tone was full of doubt. What kind of food could be so delicious that it would make someone abandon their stance?
"It's really delicious! Stir-fried pork intestines with chili peppers, braised pork knuckle. Even the simplest stir-fried vegetables are delicious!"

"???" Fujikawa Hirotada: "What kind of strange names are these? I've never heard of them before." "You'll see when you try it. Come on, let's go line up." Seeing his disbelief, his companion immediately pulled Fujikawa Hirotada to join the queue.
After a while, the group entered the food stall.

Hirota Fujikawa was instantly captivated by the aroma of the food stall, and his mouth watered involuntarily.

"It smells so good!"

"Welcome! Please come this way, guests!"

A waiter wearing the Uchiha clan crest smiled and came to invite Fujikawa Hirotaka and his party to their seats.

Fujikawa Hirota was somewhat surprised; this was the first time he had ever encountered such a kind Uchiha.

'Perhaps it's because all the Uchiha ninjas I encountered before were wearing police uniforms?'

Ordinary Uchiha clan members might not be so annoying.

After ordering, Hirotaka Fujikawa and the others sat down and chatted.

"The wind has been so strong these past few days, it's blown my hair all crooked."

"Haha, that's not a problem with the wind, it's just that your head is crooked."

"What? My head is crooked? Don't you dare slander me, you brat!"

"."

Soon after, the dishes for the group were served.

After taking a small bite, Hirota Fujikawa was immediately immersed in the enjoyment on his tongue.

Faced with a choice between his stance and the food, Hirota Fujikawa decisively chose the food.

Besides, the fox demon uprising may not necessarily be a conspiracy by the Uchiha clan!

Just as the group was enjoying the secret cuisine from the Uchiha clan, a crisp sound of ceramic cutlery hitting the ground caught their attention.

"Baka! Boss, where's the boss? Come out and explain why there's a rat's tail here!"

A middle-aged man was standing on a stool, cursing loudly.

At his feet lay scattered ceramic shards and a clump of white rice.

"Your Rin family restaurant is truly heartless, serving rat meat to your customers!"

Upon hearing what the middle-aged man said, the customers in the restaurant were immediately startled and began picking at their dishes with their chopsticks.

"Could there really be rat meat in it?"

"Ugh, that's disgusting, I don't want to eat it."

"This is an asset of the Uchiha clan; we can't use rat meat, can we?"

"That's hard to say. Wasn't the fox demon chaos back then related to them? Compared to that, what's a little rat meat?"

"."

The food stall suddenly became chaotic, under the deliberate guidance of some people.

The discussion shifted from whether the food was clean to the character of the Uchiha clan.

The middle-aged man's eyes flashed with a hint of smugness as he observed the reactions of the surrounding customers.

The biggest fear when eating out is unclean food, and given the Uchiha clan's already bad reputation, many people probably won't come back.

At that moment, a kind-looking Uchiha woman hurriedly came out of the kitchen.

"Esteemed guest, our Rin Family Restaurant uses only the freshest ingredients; there's no way we'd find a rat's tail."

The Uchiha woman glanced at the distinctly furred rat tail on the plate and immediately understood what it was.

She picked up the chopsticks and looked at the middle-aged man coldly, saying, "This rat's tail is obviously still raw. If you're here to cause trouble, at least put some effort into it!"

The middle-aged man, somewhat annoyed that he hadn't noticed the problem, still insisted, "Even if you didn't use rat meat, it still shows that your restaurant's hygiene is very poor."

"I don't care, pay up! If you don't come up with one million taels today, I'll smash up your shop!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man swept his arm across the table, knocking all the tableware to the floor.

For a moment, the crisp clanging sounds continued.

Ceramic shards and food broth were scattered all over the floor.

"Who dares to vandalize our Uchiha clan's shop?"

Uchiha Touhuan strode into Rin's restaurant and immediately spotted the middle-aged man standing amidst the mess.

"Is it you who tried to smash up our Uchiha shop?"

Uchiha Touhuan pulled out a short stick and smashed it down on the middle-aged man's head.

"Who gave you the courage, you little brat!"

"Ahhh! The Uchiha are hitting me! Help! The Uchiha are hitting me!"

The middle-aged man screamed and ran away with his head in his hands, but was chased and brutally beaten by Uchiha Touhuan.

Soon after, he was dragged away, covered in wounds.

Near the entrance, at a dining table, Sarutobi Masao had a dark expression on his face.

'The Uchiha clan is utterly lawless! They beat up innocent villagers without any investigation!'

Although he sent that person to cause trouble, that cannot be a reason for the police department to abuse its power.

'Fine, the more arrogant the Uchiha clan becomes, the worse their reputation will be in the village.'

'Trying to deceive the villagers of Konoha with these underhanded methods is absolutely impossible!'

boom!
Sarutobi Shiro slammed his hand on the table: "Stop eating! Who knows if it's clean or not? Let's go too, or the police department will beat us up later."

He snorted coldly and left with his companions after paying the bill.

Seeing this, some of the others also wanted to leave.

"Um... how about we just leave?"

"What are you afraid of? We're not causing any trouble. What are the Uchiha going to do to us?"

"You don't actually believe there's rat meat in it, do you??"

"Even if it's rat meat." Fujikawa Hirotada picked up a large, perfectly fatty piece of braised pork, stuffed it full into his mouth, and chewed it with satisfaction.

"I'd eat rat meat even if it tasted so good!"

His words quickly garnered the approval of others.

It doesn't matter if the food is a little dirty, since it's not going to kill anyone.

Besides, they were just eating a meal quietly; they couldn't possibly get beaten up, could they?
So everyone sat down comfortably again.

In the following days, people came to Rin's restaurant to cause trouble every day.

Uchiha Touhuan would always show up in time and beat up the troublemakers, which had almost become a regular occurrence at the restaurant.

Someone even made up a jingle: "Uchiha Douhuan beat the villagers until they screamed in pain!"
Some busybodies even came specifically to watch Uchiha Touhuan beat up the 'villagers'!
However, one day, Rin's restaurant suddenly closed down. It turned out that the two Uchiha clan members who managed the store had gone missing!

"It must have been Sarutobi Shiro who did it. Let's go to the Sarutobi clan and demand his return!"

(End of this chapter)