The shock on Uchiha Shigeru's face lasted only a few seconds before it was swiftly replaced by rage and jealousy.
"You... you useless trash, how could you possibly awaken the Sharingan?"
Why?
Why could this worthless fool he had always trampled underfoot awaken the symbol of the Uchiha Clan's glory?
"Hmph, it's nothing more than a single tomoe."
"You think awakening the eye changes the fact that you're trash?"
Jealousy twisted Uchiha Shigeru's expression into something ugly.
He absolutely could not allow a piece of trash to show off in front of him.
"Don't get too full of yourself!"
Uchiha Shigeru let out a low snarl and struck first.
His body lunged forward, right fist clenched, and a completely unskilled straight punch came crashing hard toward Uchiha Shinsuke's face.
Uchiha Shigeru threw everything into that punch, wanting to beat this newly "awakened" trash back into his place and make him understand who was in charge.
However, fast as he was, Uchiha Shinsuke's eyes were faster.
Through the vision of the single-tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Shigeru's movements played out like slow-motion footage from a film.
'Too slow, practically like a snail.'
Shinsuke's body had already instinctively made the perfect response as he sneered inwardly.
At the very instant Uchiha Shigeru's fist was about to connect, Uchiha Shinsuke's body shifted slightly to the side, dodging the powerful blow by the smallest of margins.
At the same time, Uchiha Shinsuke's right leg struck first despite moving second, kicking hard into Uchiha Shigeru's left knee.
A sharp crack rang out.
"Aah!"
Uchiha Shigeru let out a scream of agony as piercing pain tore through his left leg, his body instantly lost its balance, and he crashed to one knee with a thud, large drops of cold sweat immediately beading on his forehead.
One move.
With just one move, the Uchiha Shigeru who had been so impossibly arrogant moments ago was completely broken.
His left leg had been snapped clean through.
"Shigeru-bro!"
The remaining Uchiha Gou and Uchiha Ken saw this and went pale with shock.
What the hell was going on?
How could the trash Shinsuke, who had always let them bully him without even daring to breathe loudly, become this terrifyingly strong just from awakening the Sharingan?
"Bastard! You dare injure Shigeru-bro!" Uchiha Gou cried out in shock and fury, his hands moving quickly through hand seals as he prepared to use a jutsu to take back the upper hand.
But Uchiha Shinsuke gave him absolutely no opportunity.
The moment Uchiha Gou began forming seals, Uchiha Shinsuke's Sharingan had already seen through his movements.
'Is that a Fire Style? The seals are all over the place and he's moving so slowly.'
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Uchiha Shinsuke also formed hand seals, but his speed was more than double that of Uchiha Gou.
He drew in a deep breath, his chest visibly swelling, then forcefully expelled a blast forward.
A fireball over two meters in diameter, far larger and more scorching than anything in the original host's memories of practice sessions, roared forward with searing heat toward Uchiha Gou, who was still clumsily forming seals.
"What?!"
Uchiha Gou had only gotten halfway through his seals when he saw that enormous fireball bearing down on him, and his face filled with terror and despair.
He had no time to complete the jutsu and no time to dodge.
With a boom, the blazing fireball swallowed him whole.
A shrill scream rang out, and Uchiha Gou was sent flying backward, slamming hard into the wall, his entire body scorched black and giving off the stench of burning flesh, knocked unconscious on the spot.
A one-hit kill, another one-hit kill.
Of course, Shinsuke had deliberately held back his chakra output, otherwise Uchiha Gou's fate would not have been merely passing out but rather being roasted into a lump of charcoal.
The sole remaining Uchiha Ken was by now so frightened his soul had nearly fled his body, his face completely drained of color, both legs trembling badly.
"D... don't come near me!" Uchiha Ken's voice shook with a whimper, and not even a trace remained of his earlier arrogance.
Uchiha Shinsuke walked up to him and looked down at him with ice-cold eyes.
"Just now, who was it that called me trash?"
Uchiha Ken's entire body shuddered.
"It... it wasn't me... it was Shigeru-bro... it was Gou-bro who said it... I... I didn't say anything..." Uchiha Ken babbled incoherently, desperately trying to push all the blame away from himself.
"Oh?" Uchiha Shinsuke's voice betrayed no emotion whatsoever, "And the protection money?"
"There... there's no protection money! There never was any protection money!"
Uchiha Ken dropped to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming down his face, kowtowing frantically and begging for mercy.
"Shinsuke... Shinsuke-sama, we were wrong! We had eyes but failed to see Mount Tai! We will never dare again! Please, I beg you, spare us!"
"From now on, go around me when you see me. Do you understand?" Uchiha Shinsuke said coldly.
"Otherwise, every time I see you, I will beat you."
"Understood! Understood!"
Uchiha Ken scrambled away as though granted a pardon, crawling on all fours over to Uchiha Shigeru and hauling him up, ignoring his screams about his broken leg, while also hoisting the unconscious Uchiha Gou onto his shoulder, fleeing the scene in a stumbling, tumbling panic.
Watching their wretched, fleeing figures, the red in Uchiha Shinsuke's eyes slowly faded, returning to their normal black pupils.
He let out a long, slow breath, and the tension wound through his nerves released along with it.
Feeling the power surging full within his body, an unprecedented sense of control rose within him.
"From this day forward, I, Uchiha Shinsuke, am no longer the trash that anyone can bully!"
[Ding!]
[Host has successfully counterattacked the bullies and displayed the bearing worthy of an Uchiha, Clan Honor +50!]
[Uchiha Shinsuke Attribute Panel]
[Strength: Early Chunin]
[Mastered Skills: Shadow Clone Jutsu (Mastery), Great Fireball Jutsu (Mastery), Sharingan (One Tomoe)]
[Clan Standing: Ordinary Genin]
[Clan Honor: 50]
[Overall Clan Prestige Rating: Genin Level (Early)]
[(Warning: The Uchiha Clan currently faces internal and external threats and confronts a grave crisis of survival! There is a risk of clan annihilation!)]
Looking at the system panel that appeared in his mind, Uchiha Shinsuke's brow furrowed slightly.
'Clan Honor? Overall Clan Prestige Rating? It seems this system is not simply a matter of strengthening me personally.'
Uchiha Shinsuke murmured to himself, and drawing on his past life's memories of the Naruto storyline, a powerful sense of crisis surged in his heart.
After the Nine-Tails incident, the Uchiha Clan was suspected and ostracized by Konoha's leadership, ultimately forced into a corner of the village, isolated from all of Konoha, and their final fate was the utterly horrifying annihilation of the entire clan.
He had no intention of becoming a sacrifice in that tragic chapter of history.
'System, explain your functions to me in detail.' Uchiha Shinsuke recited inwardly.