Izuna, restore the glory of the Uchiha!

As dawn broke, pale blue light pierced through the clouds, casting a soft shadow on the rooftops of the Uchiha clan's houses.

Zhili dragged her tired body and pushed open her front door.

She originally planned to just throw herself on the bed and sleep soundly to make up for the exhaustion from doing experiments all night.

As soon as I entered the living room, I saw a small, thin figure lying on the small square table.

Zhili approached slowly, her bare feet barely making a sound on the tatami mats.

But his instinct to remain vigilant all the time makes Hibiki, even when he's fast asleep, seem to be very sensitive to the slightest noise.

When Zhili walked to the side, squatted down, and ruffled her messy hair, before she could even speak, Rihei had already made a move.

She let out a few groggy breaths as she regained consciousness, and struggled to move her shoulders, which had become stiff from maintaining one position for so long.

"Why don't you go to your room to sleep? You'll easily catch a cold here."

Zhili asked softly, sat down beside her, poured himself a cup of cold, overnight tea from the table, and moistened his throat.

Riping finally lifted her head fully, still half asleep. A few strands of short black hair and red marks from her poor sleeping posture clung to her face. Her voice was muffled and hoarse from just waking up.

"When I saw you hadn't come back, I thought something had happened... I wanted to wait a little longer, but I was just too tired and couldn't stay awake..."

Zhili pushed the teacup back, brushed aside the messy hair in front of Rihei's eyes, and rubbed her flushed cheeks.

"You've stayed up so late, aren't you going out with Sousuke today?"

"Him..."

When Sousuke was mentioned, Hiiragi's voice rose, revealing a sense of helplessness.

"That guy drank too much yesterday, I had to carry him home, he's probably still not awake."

Zhili smiled and didn't dwell on where the two children had gone drinking or how they got so drunk.

She pulled Rihei's hand and stood up, and Rihei also stood up and rubbed his eyes.

"Let's go, looks like we'll have to go back to our room and catch up on some sleep."

Riping responded in a daze.

Meanwhile, Sosuke was sprawled out on the tatami mats in his room, fast asleep.

When he saw Rihei again, looking refreshed, it was the opening ceremony the next day.

In the early morning, Izuna stood in front of the mirror again, fiddling with the intricate belt.

Still feeling awkward, he decided to go in his everyday clothes.

He organized the ceremony himself and set the rules, so why add more constraints?

He quickly changed into his usual blue turtleneck ethnic clothing, straightened his sleeves, and went out the door.

The path beneath his feet led to the school's address, and he kept walking, bumping into many acquaintances along the way.

The tribespeople were very curious about the school, although not everyone was required to participate in the ceremony.

But as long as they don't have duty assignments, people who are bored don't mind coming to join in the fun and see what tricks the second-in-command has up his sleeve this time.

Izuna, with uncanny foresight, chose a training ground next to the school as the location for the opening ceremony, rather than the school's own small playground.

The time was approaching, and the designated location was already packed with a bustling crowd.

In addition to the students and their families, he also specially invited many other people to watch the ceremony.

The elders all gave the same story: they claimed to be unwell and that there was no need to disturb the meeting in a venue without even seats. But in reality, they still sent a lot of spies to keep an eye on things.

Ban stood calmly to one side, dressed in the black patriarchal attire, holding a speech in his hand, waiting for him to speak.

On the other side, the three teachers who had come all the way from Daming Prefecture also stood by.

They had only been in the clan's territory for a short time, and although Izuna received them with high honors, he did not perform the formal apprenticeship ceremony as is customary for nobles, which made them somewhat uneasy.

But then, Izuna informed them that there would be a grand welcoming ceremony for the entire clan.

Seeing the Uchiha clan making such a grand mobilization, with even the clan head personally attending, the three of them's initial resentment towards the group of ninjas vanished, and they stood happily to the side, observing the group of ninjas.

After all, as renowned scholars and pedantic teachers raised in a greenhouse by the daimyo, they had been confined to the domain schools since they completed their studies, and had never seen such a scene before.

Mr. Tanaka, who was at the head of the group, was very excited and agreed to speak on stage, determined to show the demeanor of a scholar.

After settling the others in, Izuna turned his attention to the last guest.

Tobirama Senju.

Yes, he was there too.

As the most valuable prisoner of the Uchiha clan at present, and of course the highest-ranking guest, Tobirama Senju was naturally invited to the event.

Of course, to appease his people, he was dressed in a very safe manner, with shackles on his body and guards surrounding him.

Even the Uchiha clan members who were terrified by his appearance couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing his attire, and a sense of pride as victors welled up within them.

It is both a boast by the Uchiha and a sign of respect from them.

I really want to know what Senju would think.

Tobirama himself was speechless, because this should have been his precious time to catch up on sleep. He had just finished working on a set of data all night and was brought to the scene to be a mascot. He couldn't help but look indifferent and dejected.

This is exactly the effect Izuna wanted to see.

He needed to subtly reduce the hostility and hatred of the Senju clan towards the Uchiha people in this way—that terrifying Tobirama Senju was now just an exhausted ordinary person.

The number of people on the training field gradually increased, and the noise rose and fell.

Everyone stayed on track thanks to the large backdrop banner that Izuna had instructed the workers to erect overnight in the center of the training ground, which stood out like a striking sign on this barren training ground.

[The First Opening Ceremony of Nanhe Technical School]

"Lord Izuna!"

Izuna's gaze was drawn to a shout.

It's Sousuke.

Wearing brand-new winter clothes, Sosuke was panting as he ran towards him through the crowd.

He stopped in front of Izuna, calmed his breathing, and handed her a densely written manuscript.

This was a task that Izuna had recently assigned him—to speak on stage as a student representative.

No one is more suitable to talk about Izuna's motivation for founding this school than him.

Izuna took the densely written manuscript and scanned it quickly.

That being said, this child's preparations are a bit too serious.

However, Izuna did not directly state his opinion when faced with Sousuke's expectant gaze.

He patted Sousuke on the shoulder, speaking earnestly:

"You wrote very well. You'll be the first to speak, Madara and the teacher. You can be the last one to speak."

"yes!"

Sosuke nodded vigorously.

The ceremony is about to begin.