Several days later, the Uchiha Clan's regular high-level meeting was convened in the council hall at the center of the clan grounds.
Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku sat upright in the seat of honor.
Below him sat the elders of the Uchiha Clan, along with the core senior members of the Uchiha Guard.
As the meeting was drawing to a close, Uchiha Tekka suddenly spoke up.
"Clan Head, honored elders, I have a proposal!"
"Uchiha Shinsuke, who has recently shown outstanding performance in the Guard, possesses strength and leadership ability that far surpasses anyone of his age!"
"I believe that for a genius like Shinsuke, we should grant him greater authority and more resources, so that he may nurture more of our young clansmen!"
It was clear that the Hawks faction intended to draw Uchiha Shinsuke to their side and have him hold more power, thereby achieving their goal of making him fully align with the Hawks.
At that moment, the Dove faction elder at his side, Uchiha Gen, let out a cold snort and spoke up.
"Tekka, you are wrong to say that!"
"Uchiha Shinsuke has indeed performed admirably, but he is only twelve years old, is he not? At such an age, he is still not ready to shoulder great responsibilities."
"I believe we should wait a few more years before promoting him, as it is still too early now!"
"Elder Gen, it is you who are wrong to say that."
Everyone turned toward the voice and saw that Uchiha Shinsuke, at some point unnoticed, had risen from the last seat.
Uchiha Shinsuke had also been in attendance at today's meeting, but due to his junior standing, he had been sitting in an unobtrusive corner the entire time.
"Elder Gen, the times have changed."
"Our Uchiha Clan is beset by powerful enemies from without and weighed down by deep internal conflict from within!"
"The shadow of the Nine-Tails incident has yet to dissipate, and the village leadership's suspicion and wariness toward us grows with each passing day!"
"Root's fangs have already reached for us more than once!"
"Under these circumstances, if we do not break from convention and promote the young people who truly have the strength and the ability to bring hope to our clan, then what kind of future awaits us?!"
"Will we continue to be marginalized? Confined to a corner of the village, barely clinging to existence?"
Some of the younger senior members of the Guard already had deep agreement showing in their eyes.
They had long harbored dissatisfaction with the clan's conservative policies.
Uchiha Shinsuke's words had undeniably spoken what was in their hearts!
Seeing this, Uchiha Tekka immediately seized the moment and chimed in: "What Shinsuke said is right! Clan Head, honored elders! The clan now stands at a critical crossroads, and we must seek change! We must give the young people their chance!"
"I propose that Uchiha Shinsuke be put in charge of part of the Guard's training work! With his abilities, he will certainly be able to greatly raise the overall strength of our younger generation!"
Elder Gen still wanted to argue back, and opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.
Every gaze in the room gathered on Uchiha Fugaku.
He was the Uchiha Clan's clan head, and the final decision rested in Uchiha Fugaku's hands.
After a long silence, Uchiha Fugaku finally spoke.
"Shinsuke's strength is indeed impressive."
Fugaku first acknowledged Uchiha Shinsuke.
A flash of delight crossed Tekka's eyes.
"However, training clansmen is no simple matter, and requires not only strength but also experience and the ability to manage people."
Fugaku then shifted his tone.
"Very well."
"There has been an unused training ground within the clan all this time, so let Shinsuke be put in charge of it."
"Let him first select a group of people and see what results he can achieve."
"If he truly manages to develop talent, we can then consider expanding the scale and entrusting him with more training responsibilities."
"Thank you for your trust, Clan Head," Uchiha Shinsuke bowed slightly, "Shinsuke will not fail this mission!"
Over the next several days, Uchiha Shinsuke used the system to conduct a loyalty assessment on all eligible members of the Guard.
Only those with loyalty to the clan above 70% and loyalty to himself above 60% would be selected by Uchiha Shinsuke to join his training camp.
In the end, Uchiha Shinsuke selected twenty qualified Guard members to join the training camp, and for those whose loyalty was insufficient, he could only offer his apologies.
Uchiha Shinsuke drafted a series of training plans, with Min, Tetsu, and Kai taking turns overseeing basic drills, while he himself channeled more of his energy into developing his own jutsu.
...
The training ground was a scene of wreckage.
The ground was covered in craters of varying depths, some with scorched black edges and others still crackling with faint traces of electrical arcs.
Uchiha Shinsuke was breathing hard, his sweat soaking through his black short hair as several strands clung to his forehead.
"Still not working…"
Uchiha Shinsuke muttered under his breath, brow tightly furrowed.
Ever since he had mastered the nature transformations of Lightning Release and Fire Release, Uchiha Shinsuke had been attempting to combine the chakra of both natures at a higher level.
"Clan Growth System, purchase advanced theoretical knowledge on chakra nature fusion."
Shinsuke recited this inwardly.
5,000 Clan Honor Points were deducted.
In an instant, a vast and profound body of theory, far exceeding the ordinary knowledge of the shinobi world, surged into Shinsuke's mind like a flood.
Shinsuke sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to absorb this incomparably precious knowledge while continuously simulating various fusion methods in his mind.
Time passed, second by second.
Suddenly, Uchiha Shinsuke opened his eyes, and a sharp gleam flashed through them!
Uchiha Shinsuke extended his right hand, palm facing upward.
Crackle!
Pale blue lightning release chakra was the first to manifest.
Whoosh!
Immediately after, crimson fire release chakra surged forth as well, radiating intense heat.
"Now!"
Shinsuke's gaze sharpened as he controlled the two types of chakra and began spinning and compressing them together in his palm at high speed in an extremely complex and intricate manner!
The output ratio of the chakra, the speed of rotation, and the degree of compression all had to be controlled with absolute precision!
Hissss——
A piercing sound of energy friction rang out as the two natures of chakra clashed violently in his palm, seemingly on the verge of exploding at any moment!
Fine beads of sweat seeped from Uchiha Shinsuke's forehead, and his face grew slightly pale from the tremendous chakra consumption.
But he gritted his teeth and pressed on regardless.
Uchiha Shinsuke could feel that he was just a little short, just the tiniest bit away from breaking through that barrier!
"Condense!"
Uchiha Shinsuke let out a fierce low roar, and the chakra within his body surged out in an unreserved, frenzied torrent!
Hmmmm——!
A strange resonant hum rang out!
After the lightning-fire chakra in Uchiha Shinsuke's palm reached a certain critical point, it miraculously stabilized!
They were no longer repelling each other but instead became perfectly intertwined and fused together!
This formed a blazing white sphere of energy with flickers of lightning gleaming faintly within its interior!
The aura radiating from this energy sphere was far more terrifying than either pure Lightning Release or pure Fire Release!
"It worked!"
A flicker of joy crossed Uchiha Shinsuke's eyes.
He could feel the terrifying power contained within this mass of energy!
He attempted to drive the energy mass along the trajectory he had envisioned and thrust it forcefully forward!
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Breath!"
ROARRR——!
Like the cry of a dragon!
That blazing white energy sphere instantly transformed into a thick, dazzling white pillar of energy laced with countless fine lightning serpents and came howling forward!
Its power had already reached the threshold of an S-rank jutsu!
Just as Uchiha Shinsuke was feeling a surge of elation over the power of his self-created jutsu, an unexpected change struck!
"Ugh!"
A heart-piercing, stabbing pain exploded through Uchiha Shinsuke's right hand, followed immediately by an overwhelming sensation of paralysis!
His entire right arm seemed to instantly lose all feeling and dropped out of his control!
"This is… recoil?"
"Is the power too great, and my body not yet strong enough to keep up?"
However, this was precisely proof of the might of the Lightning Fire Dragon's Breath!
An S-rank jutsu had been successfully developed!
"It seems I need to further refine the chakra's flow path and improve my body's adaptability to this fused energy."
"My physical strength needs to catch up as well!"