Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Uchiha Taiga slept incredibly well that night. He didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt over ruining the relationship between Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto.

He slept right through until dawn. After getting up, he washed up and ate his breakfast, going about his morning routine as usual.

Fortunately, his parents in this life had left behind a substantial inheritance. Aside from money, he also owned several storefronts along the village streets.

Thanks to this inheritance, he had grown up without ever needing the clan's financial support.

Otherwise, if he had been too deeply entangled with the clan, he wouldn't be able to stand by and watch their current predicament with such cold detachment.

He had already guessed what would happen today last night. Just as he expected, the Uchiha compound was bustling with activity today.

Many ordinary clan members who had heard about the matters discussed at last night's clan meeting were currently gathered at the entrance of Uchiha Fugaku's estate, clamoring for an explanation.

The Uchiha was not a small clan. Out of thousands of members, aside from those who had awakened their Sharingan, the vast majority were ordinary people who had not.

These clan members were no different from regular civilians.

Since they couldn't become ninjas, their ability to weather unexpected hardships was naturally far lower. It was only because of the Uchiha name that their living conditions were better than the average villager—a perk of bearing the Uchiha surname.

Take their current compound, for example.

The Uchiha compound was located right in the center of Konoha. Alongside the Senju clan, they occupied the best real estate in the village, which even included several commercial streets.

This was the convenience they enjoyed.

The ordinary clan members benefited from this and naturally didn't want their current way of life disrupted.

If the compound was relocated, the future livelihoods of these ordinary members would inevitably take a hit. Anyone with half a brain would refuse to agree to it.

The ninjas would be fine; at worst, they could just take on more missions. Their lives wouldn't be impacted too severely.

But the same couldn't be said for the civilians.

Taiga was heading to the training grounds. When he passed by Fugaku's estate that morning and saw the scene, he merely chuckled, not paying it much mind.

Seeing him walk by, the crowd fell silent.

However, someone couldn't help but speak up. "Taiga, you're a genius of the clan. The village wants us to relocate our compound now. Don't tell me you agreed to this?"

This person voiced the thoughts of many in the crowd.

Taiga didn't have much affection for the Uchiha clan, but his disdain was primarily aimed at the ninja class. He didn't harbor much ill will toward these ordinary civilians.

The ordinary members might also possess the pride of the Uchiha, but since they weren't ninjas, that pride stemmed more from their surname than their own abilities.

Therefore, ever since he was a child, the ordinary civilians had been much kinder to Taiga—the clan's anomaly—than the ninjas had been.

Hearing the question, Taiga smiled and waved his hand. "Of course I don't agree. Whoever agreed to it can be the one to move."

His words immediately drew murmurs of agreement.

"Yeah, we can't agree to this."

"Exactly! We've lived here for decades. It's been this way since the village was founded. Why should we have to move now?"

"That's right. Taiga is a genius; he definitely knows what he's talking about."

Seeing the crowd getting riled up, Taiga simply shook his head and ignored them.

Not harboring ill will was one thing, but he still wouldn't get too deeply involved with these ordinary clan members. It had been this way since he was a child.

Under the current circumstances, Taiga was even less likely to join their protests. He had so many new ninjutsu waiting for his attention; he wasn't going to waste his energy here.

At that moment, the main doors of Fugaku's estate opened. Uchiha Fugaku walked out with a dark expression, bumping right into the passing Taiga.

Needless to say, Fugaku's expression darkened even further.

"Tch."

Finding the encounter a stroke of bad luck, Taiga curled his lip. In the next second, he vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

Seeing the direction Taiga had disappeared in, Fugaku's pupils shrank.

As a veteran Jonin, he naturally saw through it clearly. Taiga had just used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.

It was common knowledge that the Body Flicker Technique required channeling chakra into one's legs.

This scene immediately made Fugaku realize something—

Could it be that Uchiha Taiga was already able to use chakra?

Once this thought arose, the chaotic situation before him suddenly seemed much less important.

But Taiga had already left, so even if Fugaku had questions, he couldn't ask them. Furthermore, the events of the previous night had worsened his opinion of Taiga, making him even less inclined to seek the young man out right now.

Meanwhile, Taiga was completely oblivious to Fugaku's internal monologue.

He and Fugaku mutually despised each other, so he had no interest in guessing what the Clan Head was thinking.

At the abandoned training ground, Taiga poured his energy into mastering new ninjutsu.

Truth be told, with his current abilities, his speed at learning ninjutsu far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Usually, he could grasp a standard C-rank ninjutsu after practicing it just two or three times.

He wouldn't call himself a master yet, but he could use them normally without any issues.

The rest was simply a matter of grinding out the repetitions to build proficiency, and then gradually incorporating his own understanding to form his personal style.

That was only a matter of time, and Taiga was extremely confident in his ability to do so.

Thus, several days passed. He had already mastered nearly half of the ninjutsu recorded on the scroll Orochimaru had left him. The remaining ones were all B-rank and A-rank jutsu, which would require more time to familiarize himself with and master.

During these past few days, the clan compound had been incredibly lively.

It wasn't just the ordinary members causing a fuss; a portion of the members who had awakened their Sharingan were also protesting.

The reason for the uproar was nothing more than their refusal to relocate the compound.

After all, this land had belonged to the Uchiha clan since the village's founding. After so many years, the village higher-ups ordering them to move naturally left everyone dissatisfied.

However, a faction of the Sharingan users chose to remain silent.

These people thought much deeper about the situation.

The village's massive losses during the Nine-Tails' attack, and the fact that the Nine-Tails was controlled by a Sharingan—if one really got down to it, blaming the Uchiha clan wasn't entirely unjustified.

It was only because no concrete evidence had been found. Otherwise, the outcome wouldn't just be the entire clan relocating.

It was highly likely that the entire Uchiha clan would have faced a severe crackdown from the village.

That kind of outcome would be even more unacceptable.

Because of this, a bizarre phenomenon emerged.

The clan's ninja class resented the village, naturally angry that Konoha hadn't given the Uchiha a chance to defend themselves. But more than that, they harbored a deep hatred for the person who had controlled the Nine-Tails.

It was that person who had implicated the entire Uchiha clan!

However, the outcome could no longer be changed.

The Uchiha's relocation was a resolution passed by the Jonin Council, representing the collective will of Konoha's entire ninja class.

No matter how arrogant or crazy the Uchiha were, they couldn't remain unfazed when targeted by almost every ninja in the village.

Finally, the first person to pack their bags and leave the Uchiha compound appeared.

This event acted like cold water poured over boiling oil, instantly forcing the protesting clan members to face reality.

The village wasn't joking around about this.

As a result, more people had no choice but to accept their fate.

Meanwhile, Taiga acted as if he were completely oblivious to all of this, continuing to go about his own business.

On another morning, Taiga got ready and headed out as usual, only to have his path blocked by two ANBU operatives.

"Uchiha Taiga, by the order of the Hokage, we are here to inform you that you have three days to relocate—"

Taiga acted as if he hadn't heard a word. He shoved his shoulder past the ANBU and continued walking straight ahead.

After taking a few steps, he paused, turned his head, and stared at the two ANBU.

"Go back and tell the Hokage: I don't care if the others move or not, but I'm not moving."

It was impossible to tell what expression lay beneath the operative's mask, but seeing Taiga's attitude, his voice darkened.

"This is Lord Hokage's order."

Taiga nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. And? I'm not even a ninja, so why should I listen to him?"