Chapter 9 009: The Natural Energy Stopped
Uchiha Taiga returned to his residence, accompanied by strange glances all along the way.
"Not bad, there doesn't seem to be any major issues."
His home was a courtyard, neither too big nor too small—a standard traditional Japanese-style courtyard with a touch of elegance.
The courtyard wasn't large. Three sides were enclosed by black-painted stone walls, while the north-facing side featured a low fence surrounding a few withered bamboo stalks.
A stone lantern leaned crookedly in the corner, its cover half-cracked and accumulating fallen leaves.
The bluestone path, polished smooth from years of footsteps, led straight from the courtyard gate to a low-roofed tea room. A notch still remained on the doorframe, carved by him with a kunai when he was four years old.
A small pond sat in the courtyard, only about ten paces wide. The water was shallow, and a few white stones were scattered across the bottom like carelessly discarded Go pieces.
There were no flowers, no koi fish, and no decorations.
A faded wind chime hung beneath the eaves, having long since stopped ringing.
Everything exuded an air of antiquity, and it had suffered some minor damage due to the Nine-Tails tonight.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem; a little tidying and repair would suffice.
This courtyard was considered quite nice, not just in Konoha, but even within the Uchiha clan. After all, ordinary Uchiha clansmen mostly lived in standard two-story wooden houses or regular single-story homes.
There were only about a dozen courtyards like this in the entire Uchiha compound.
He had the lineage of his father in this life to thank for this.
To put it simply, he was related to Uchiha Fugaku. They were distant cousins, sharing great-grandfathers who were biological brothers, making them fifth-generation collateral relatives.
Strictly speaking, he was supposed to call Uchiha Fugaku his older cousin.
Of course, it was a distant cousin relationship, though it still tied him to the clan head's lineage.
Uchiha Taiga's father in this life had possessed considerable ninja talent. He was a Jonin in his twenties who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, marking him as one of the clan's elites.
Therefore, he had left Uchiha Taiga this courtyard, along with a substantial inheritance.
Because of this, even after becoming an orphan, Taiga had enough money to support himself without needing to rely on the Uchiha clan or the village to raise him.
Returning to his room, he set down his bags, tidied up a bit, and began preparing a late-night snack for himself.
No matter what had happened earlier, since he was in the mood, he was going to make it.
This had been his habit for a long time. Taiga quickly calmed his mind and focused on the task at hand, acting as if his battle with the Nine-Tails and gouging out Shimura Danzo's eye had never happened.
It was still somewhat noisy outside, but that didn't affect him either.
About half an hour later, his late-night meal was ready.
Two small side dishes and a small bottle of sake—this was his midnight snack.
The dishes were simple: one meat and one vegetable.
The sake, however, wasn't something someone his age should be drinking. But since he was an orphan, there was no one around to discipline him.
Besides, it was a habit from his past life, one he had picked back up after turning twelve.
After all, being alone could be quite lonely sometimes, and a little alcohol helped him sleep more soundly.
Just as he poured himself a cup of sake, he heard a knock at the door. Taiga furrowed his brows slightly but still got up and went outside to open it.
Unsurprisingly, the person standing at the door was Uchiha Fugaku.
Compared to when they had met earlier, Fugaku's brows were tightly knit, and his face was completely stern. It was hard to tell if he had suffered some grievance from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Do you need something?"
Taiga asked bluntly.
Fugaku was already accustomed to this attitude and didn't waste time with pleasantries.
"Yes, there is indeed something I need to discuss with you."
The street outside was empty, but Taiga still stepped aside to let him in.
The two entered the courtyard one after the other in silence. When Fugaku was brought into the room, he immediately noticed the two side dishes and the sake on the low table.
"You're still young, you shouldn't be drinking. Furthermore, the Three Prohibitions for Ninja..."
Fugaku's words were abruptly cut off.
"Did you come here just to lecture me about this?"
Taiga fetched another pair of chopsticks and a small sake cup, placing them in front of Fugaku.
Although he acted indifferent toward many things, including the Uchiha clan, it didn't mean he lacked basic manners. He still knew how to treat a guest.
After all, Fugaku was a guest in his home.
On his end, Fugaku didn't mind Taiga's attitude.
There was a significant age gap between them, yet they were of the same generation and shared a distant bloodline. Because of this, ever since Taiga's talents were revealed, Fugaku had long harbored the intention of properly nurturing him.
However, after years of interaction, Fugaku was well aware of Taiga's temperament. He had already gotten angry at him plenty of times in the past, but he was ultimately helpless against the boy.
Their current dynamic was basically just like this.
Fugaku sat down cross-legged, poured himself a cup of sake, downed it in one gulp, and then looked at Taiga.
"The Third Hokage promised me that once tonight's incident passes and the village stabilizes, Shimura Danzo will be punished."
Taiga glanced up at him but remained silent, continuing to eat his food.
"Additionally, you came into contact with the Nine-Tails tonight. I need you to tell me... was the Nine-Tails truly being controlled by a Sharingan?"
Taiga put down his chopsticks. Looking at Fugaku's solemn face, he spoke in a flat tone, "The Nine-Tails was indeed controlled by a Sharingan genjutsu. I've already confirmed it."
"Damn it!"
Fugaku slammed his fist onto the low table, causing everything on it to tremble.
"Take it easy. If you break it, you're paying for it. This is made of black goldwood."
Taiga wiped the spot Fugaku had struck with his hand, his face full of disgust.
Fugaku took a deep breath, ignoring the remark, though a trace of anger was already visible on his face.
"To be able to control the Nine-Tails, their Sharingan's visual prowess must be extraordinary. To achieve such a feat..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but he already had an answer in his heart.
The Mangekyo Sharingan!
Taiga pretended not to understand. "So, who do you think it could be?"
Fugaku fell silent.
"It can't be Uchiha Madara, right? The man has been dead for years," Taiga chuckled lightly.
Fugaku's expression grew even uglier. He let out a long breath, poured himself another cup of sake, and drank it before looking back at Taiga.
"With this incident, the Uchiha clan's situation will become extremely passive moving forward. Compared to the matter with Shimura Danzo, the appearance of the Nine-Tails tonight—and the fact that it was controlled by a Sharingan—is far more severe."
He stared intently at Taiga.
"You should understand what this means."
Taiga leisurely drank a cup of sake before meeting Fugaku's gaze.
"So? What are you trying to say?"
"Taiga, stop being so willful. Your talent shouldn't go to waste. If you become stronger, you can absolutely provide the Uchiha clan with greater leverage."
The corners of Taiga's mouth curled up. "And then go to war with the village?"
Fugaku's expression shifted slightly. "It hasn't reached that point yet."
"So what you mean is, once I become stronger, I'll become the Uchiha's weapon against the village?"
Fugaku remained silent.
"Boring."
Taiga curled his lip. "You're like this, and the rest of the Uchiha clan is exactly the same. Arrogant yet completely oblivious. You want to change the status quo, but you're afraid of the consequences. Always hesitating and looking over your shoulders—it's laughable."
"Taiga..."
"Stop right there!"
Taiga raised a hand. "Finish your drink and hurry back. No one gets to decide what I do. Not you, and not the village."
"As for whether the Nine-Tails incident will affect the clan, that's something for you, the clan head, to worry about. I'm just an ordinary clansman. It's not my place to decide such things, nor am I interested."
The atmosphere instantly fell silent.
Looking at Taiga, Fugaku seemed to have many things he wanted to say, but in the end, no words came out.
Eventually, Fugaku left, carrying the scent of alcohol with him.
After all these years, he knew Taiga's personality all too well. Even if he issued an order as the clan head, Taiga would simply ignore it.
It wasn't as if this hadn't happened before, but every time it did, it left him in an incredibly awkward position.
Therefore, even though Fugaku had a lot to say before coming here, seeing Taiga's attitude made him realize that saying anything more would be useless.
"Heh, the Uchiha... they really leave you speechless."
With a light chuckle, Taiga completely tossed Fugaku to the back of his mind. He finished his food and drink, washed up, and went to bed for a good night's sleep.
At some point in his sleep, Taiga's brows twitched slightly, as if he sensed some sort of change in his body, though he didn't wake up.
If someone could see natural energy, they would have noticed that at a certain moment in the latter half of the night, the natural energy that had constantly been surging into his body suddenly stopped.