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Chapter 18N
🕑 Added 2025-06-22 21:23:03 +0000 UTCChapter 18N
“Five million ryo in fines.”
Uchiha Fugaku gave the answer.
“That’s it?”
Rēn raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Five million ryo sounded like a large sum, but to Rēn, it was something he could earn by taking on a few high-difficulty missions. Besides, his family had a private workshop that produced explosive tags. He could just spend more time there and craft a batch of high-quality tags. Five million ryo wasn’t hard to gather.
To make an explosive tag, a fire-style user needed to refine their chakra and seal it into a tag. When used, the sealing formula would detonate the stored chakra like a bomb to inflict damage.
The Uchiha clan claimed to be second to none in fire-style ninjutsu—and no one dared challenge that claim.
Selling explosive tags had been one of their traditional businesses since the invention of the technique. It was their main source of income. Even without missions, the clan could make a fortune just by producing and selling these tags.
One tag could cost anywhere from 2,000 to 12,000 ryo, depending on quality. High-grade tags could obliterate a person, while lower-quality ones would only injure. The Uchiha clan’s products were unquestionably top-tier.
Rēn, known as the Flame Demon, could sell a single tag he made for the full 12,000 ryo.
He also had a gold-finger ability: Mana Infusion (Flame), which allowed him to produce tags several times faster than normal. If not for his chakra limits, he could easily make ten thousand seals or more a day.
To be honest, he suspected Konan’s six hundred billion explosive tags were produced by using secret techniques to prepare the paper first, then letting Nagato inject the fire-style chakra.
With the chakra reserves of the Uzumaki clan, which could be called ‘chakra monsters,’ they could probably make hundreds of thousands—or even millions—of tags in a day.
Otherwise,
Six hundred billion tags?
Even selling the entire Akatsuki wouldn’t cover the cost.
And even then, there was no guarantee that many could be bought.
Explosive tags were strategic military supplies. In any nation or village, they were under strict control. Small-scale sales weren’t a problem, but large-scale purchases would definitely attract attention. No one would sell huge quantities to unknown buyers.
“We’re not done. That fine is just a bonus.”
Uchiha Fugaku rubbed the porcelain teacup in his hand.
“I plan to send you to the Border Guard Forces.”
“Hey, clan leader, didn’t you say that was something the you from five years ago would’ve done?”
“I never said the current me wouldn’t do it. Besides, I’m only the head of the Konoha Police. I can’t interfere in border defense matters. But I’m going to submit a request tonight, stating that the Uchiha are willing to help the village by stationing forces at the border. Your name will be at the top. The village will likely approve.”
“If things move quickly, you might have to pack your bags by noon tomorrow. No, it’ll probably be even faster. If I send the request tonight, you could be leaving first thing in the morning.”
Hearing this, Rēn realized this clan head wasn’t as simple as he looked.
He could reject a verbal invitation from the Third Hokage, but he couldn’t disobey an official order issued under the Hokage’s name. As someone assigned to the Police Department—a role directly granted by the Second Hokage—he was protected by the authority granted to the Uchiha. It was both a cage and a roof.
At the very least, even the Third Hokage couldn’t interfere with internal Police Department matters. That was power exclusive to the Uchiha.
Now, Fugaku, as head of the department, intended to force him out and hand him over to the Border Guard as a gesture of goodwill to the village. Once there, he’d be under the Hokage’s direct command, to be molded however they saw fit.
This way, They didn’t need to eliminate him directly. They could use this transfer as an excuse to sideline a potential usurper. It appeased the village while removing a threat. A perfect two-birds-one-stone strategy.
“Tomorrow, huh?”
Rēn repeated the word Fugaku kept emphasizing.
Suddenly,
He felt a jolt of clarity.
By telling him this in advance, it was giving him one last chance. If he didn’t act now, then tomorrow he’d have no reason to resist the reassignment.
“Clan head, I used to think you were a man who had completely failed in your responsibilities. Honestly, I still think that now. But… it seems you do care about the clan, at least a little. You haven’t thrown it away like garbage.... For now at least.”
As he said this, Rēn stood up and marched toward the veranda. He stopped when he looked down and saw his shoes were missing. Only then did he turn back. The wooden floor thumped loudly under his feet.
“You’re rambling again. I don’t know what goes through your head all day.”
Behind him came the sound of the sliding door being opened and closed. Fugaku sighed, completely unable to understand where Rēn’s resentment came from. He knew he wasn’t perfect—but abandoning the clan?
......He would never do such a thing.
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Outside;
Another set of footsteps echoed in the hallway.
A woman in a beige apron stepped into the room.
“Fugaku, are you really planning to give the position to that child?”
The calm and elegant woman, with a refined appearance like that of a noble lady, was Uchiha Mikoto—Fugaku’s wife. She hadn’t gone out as Rēn had assumed. She had been in the next room, listening to the entire conversation between her husband and the boy called Rēn.
“Everything is for the clan.”
Fugaku let out a heavy sigh.
“This time, the Hokage caught us getting close to the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and used it to pull all the neutral families to his side. It forced me to take action against Rēn. But the clan’s anger is boiling over. If I punish Rēn now, even with a valid reason… the clan will explode.”
“And besides, Rēn… that child is strong. Neither I nor Shisui can say for sure that we could defeat him. If he really has the strength to seize the clan head’s position tonight, then… let him taste how hard it is to sit on that volcano. Right now, the clan is like a mountain about to erupt… These nights, I’ve been thinking about what direction we should take. But I haven’t found an answer…”
With Itachi out on a mission and Sasuke at the Ninja Academy, for once, the heavily burdened clan leader confided in his wife. He let go of the strong façade he wore in front of the village and the clan, revealing the weakness and pain he carried.
Mikoto sat beside him in silence, listening to his worries.
She embraced the endless sorrow and pressure in his heart with quiet tenderness.
