Chapter 114: Venting Some Anger

"Ninety-three—these elders really have cultivated quite a few Elite Forces!"

Shisui looked at the intelligence in his hand and gave a cold snort, thoroughly dissatisfied.

In the information he first obtained, the clan only had ninety-three jonin (including special jonin), forty-four of whom were in the Police Department; even if all the other forty-nine registered for the selection teams, that was still forty-four too many.

None of these people were recorded in the clan registry, which meant they were all the trusted confidants and pillars of the various branch families and elders.

However, when he saw the intelligence below, he could not help but reveal a satisfied smile—these people would soon be his.

Of the ninety-three, ninety chose Shisui's philosophy when stating their vision for reviving the clan—though, of course, many of them had been rendered speechless by the chunin and genin he had arranged to question them, and ultimately chose to change their statements and adopt Shisui's philosophy instead.

This intelligence had been compiled by the genin he had arranged; frequently sending people to contact those jonin was somewhat difficult, but contacting these genin and chunin was easy and effortless.

Through this selection, Shisui not only found over ninety jonin for free to instruct the clan's younger generation for ten full days, but also got a clear picture of the results of his efforts over the past several months.

"It's time—I need to vent some anger!"

Shisui had always been a magnanimous person, but those few pages of plans truly made it hard for him to let go; if he didn't retaliate a little, he felt he would remember this matter for the rest of his life.

And so, when the ten‑day adjustment period ended and the selection began, Shisui temporarily summoned Hui and said, "Brother Hui, I'll trouble you to make a trip—go ask him to take action, and remember to tell him to strike fast and not linger in battle."

Hui's eyes widened, looking at Shisui with an expression of disbelief, and hesitated, "Would he really agree to this?"

"Just tell him that if he misses this chance, he'll never have another one—and it's not like we're taking their lives, so he should agree. If he truly refuses, then find someone else; the key is absolutely not to be discovered."

"Hehehe, understood!" Hui's eyes flashed, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably, eager to try.

After Hui left, Shisui secretly glanced at the several elders, the corners of his mouth curling upward—he had been clan head for several months now, and he could finally vent his anger.

"Hiss~ Is the weather turning cold?"

The Third Elder's body jolted, and he couldn't help but shrink in on himself as he muttered in confusion.

"Heh, when you're old you should just lie down already—don't hold up the clan's future," the Fourth Elder immediately mocked upon seeing this.

Seeing the two start arguing again, the Grand Elder sighed and could only look toward the clan training ground.

At this moment, including those three jonin who had not embraced Shisui's philosophy, sixty‑four of the ninety‑three teams were gathered here; the remaining teams had already been secretly manipulated by Shisui and were eliminated the moment the adjustment period ended.

These people's strength was formidable enough, but they lacked the Will of Fire in their hearts—how could such people enter the Anbu? At least, that was the reply the several elders received; whether they believed it or not was none of Shisui's concern. He hadn't organized this selection to genuinely pick elite ninja for the Third Hokage anyway—it was just for show.

As for the remaining people, they would face off two by two on this training ground, continuously determining winners, until finally eight jonin were selected to enter the Anbu.

Don't be fooled by the fact that it was only eight people—that was actually already quite a lot. The Anbu only had about seventy people in total; even if the Third Hokage trusted Shisui, he still wouldn't dare let too many Uchiha in.

One must remember that after the annual jonin council, when an Uchiha uprising was imminent, the Third Hokage had only offered up two squad slots—also eight people.

It was just that the previous eight had been nominated by Fugaku and the several elders after discussion, without all this trouble.

On the other side, Shisui had already arranged the match order and was continuing his behind-the-scenes manipulation, laying the groundwork for those three jonin—barring any surprises, they would win all the way through and successfully enter the Anbu.

Several months had still not been enough to make them accept his philosophy, so they were likely Uchiha through and through—Shisui had already given up on them.

The entire selection consisted of fifty-six matches, which in theory would last about three days. In practice—"It's getting late; let's continue the rest tomorrow."

As night fell, the several elders checked the time and decided to leave, but Shisui suddenly refused with righteous indignation: "Lord Third is still waiting for the Uchiha's strength—how can we be so lax? I've already had people prepare dinner and lighting; the matches will continue through the night tonight, and all participating ninja are not permitted to leave the grounds."

Though the crowd was puzzled, it was the clan head's order after all, and they were all ninja—staying up one night wouldn't affect them much, so they agreed.

The several elders opened their mouths, but if not for the large crowd here and Shisui's Copy Wheel Eye being so bright, they would have started cursing long ago.

However, Shisui still cared about the several elders and softly persuaded, "Of course, given your advanced years, you elders may return first. The matches likely won't finish tonight—you can come back tomorrow morning to watch, it's the same."

Now that sounded like something a decent person would say; the several men nodded in relief and, no longer forcing themselves to stay, rose and left one after another.

Only the Grand Elder raised an eyebrow, glancing at Shisui with a nagging feeling that this fellow was up to no good—but he was simply too old, his bodily functions severely deteriorated, and he couldn't stay up all night, so he had no choice but to leave as well.

After the several men departed, Shisui watched the matches with a straight face.

On the other side, the Police Department had also received word: because too many people had recently been thrown into the Police Department's main prison, Muye Cun's streets appeared somewhat unstable, so tonight they needed to work two hours of overtime and could only return to the clan grounds after the villagers of Muye Cun had gone to sleep.

After receiving the order, Badao was full of confusion—whether Muye Cun was stable or not, they would always leave people on duty, so why go to the trouble of keeping everyone behind?

But the order had indeed come from Shisui, so he had no choice but to accept it.

At the same time, in the western part of the Uchiha clan grounds, inside the newly built ancestral hall, Fugaku had made all preparations. Looking at the unfamiliar face in the water basin, Fugaku finally made up his mind.

"Shisui is right—it's been so many years. If we don't act now, there really will be no chance left~"

Fugaku sighed softly, and his figure vanished instantly, while the two ninja standing guard outside the ancestral hall noticed nothing at all.

In the clan grounds, south of the training ground, the Third Elder was being escorted back to his compound by two chunin.

As they walked, the Third Elder couldn't help but sigh, "Shisui does have ability as clan head, but he's too young and acts recklessly—just like Fugaku back in the day. A perfectly good selection made so complicated; who knows what he's thinking."

The two exchanged a glance, but neither agreed with the other's words in their hearts—they only refrained from arguing out of respect for his seniority.

When the three reached a corner, a figure suddenly appeared behind them, and before the two could react, they were knocked unconscious in an instant.

Only the Third Elder was left, snapping his head around to stare in shock at the black-clad figure before him. But he did not panic—instantly manifesting three tomoe, he fixed his gaze on the other and asked in a low voice, "Who are you, sir? Why do you trespass in our Uchiha clan grounds?"

To infiltrate the Uchiha clan grounds without a sound was no ordinary feat; if he were younger, the Third Elder would have already drawn his blade and charged forward. But he was advanced in years and no longer in his prime as a ninja, so he only activated his Copy Wheel Eye and did not attack directly.

In taijutsu he might not be a match for the opponent, but as long as the other's genjutsu resistance wasn't high, he could show them why one must never look directly into an Uchiha's eyes on the battlefield.

The black-clad figure wore a mask, revealing only a pair of eyes—those eyeballs, black and white distinct, stared straight into the Third Elder's Copy Wheel Eye without flinching at all.

The two held each other's gaze for only a few breaths before fine beads of sweat appeared on the Third Elder's forehead, and he looked at the other in shock.

"Damn it, this guy..."

(End of this chapter)