The fusion of Hashirama's cells gave Uchiha Yuan a huge boost in vitality and chakra—about 400 points each. This leap took him from level 48 directly to 57, a 9-level jump.
Uchiha Yuan's strength had now undoubtedly reached the Kage level—and even without using Mangekyō Sharingan, he was still at that level. With it, he was likely among the elite tier of Kage, comparable to the Third Hokage, Third Raikage, or Namikaze Minato.
If he were to face Kitsuchi again, he was confident of winning—and with Mangekyō, he could even kill him.
Yuan believed that after fully mastering his Mangekyō, even Jiraiya in Sage Mode wouldn't necessarily be able to beat him.
Currently, Yuan was easily among the top three strongest in Konoha. Since the shinobi world still respected strength above all else, this leap in power led Yuan to rethink some of his plans.
Regardless, his immediate priority was taking over the 3rd Division of the Konoha Military Police Force and entering the Uchiha clan's leadership.
Uchiha Mei had already started preparing for this after returning to the village.
In Mei's eyes, Yuan's performance at the Battle of Kikyo Mountain—forcing back Kitsuchi on his own—made him the second-strongest in the clan, just behind the patriarch. Purely by strength, he was more than qualified to be Division 3's captain.
As for concerns about age or experience—forcing back an elite like Kitsuchi had already overridden those doubts.
Even the pacifist faction agreed with Yuan's appointment.
But Division 3 was in rough shape—it only had 14 members left. Including Captain Mei, that was just 15 people. Mei wanted to solve this issue first before handing the division to Yuan—he didn't want to pass him a mess.
The hawk faction was aware of Mei's movements but did not interfere. The clan's authority and the Police Force were somewhat separated. Unless it was a matter internal to Division 3, they had no say.
The only eligible candidate within Division 3 was Uchiha Cai, a descendant of Uchiha Naori. However, she had no interest in power struggles and was more focused on genjutsu research. She saw the captain role as a burden. Being part of the pacifist camp, it made little difference to the hawks whether she or Yuan took charge.
As for Fugaku—he was eager for Yuan to rise quickly. With the village's release of Uchiha Setsuna, the hawks had momentum. Having Yuan—a proven elite—take charge could balance this.
Yuan had guessed some of this clan-level maneuvering but didn't care. Again, in the shinobi world, power spoke loudest. And right now, he was the strongest Uchiha.
If proper channels couldn't get him what he wanted, he wouldn't hesitate to use force.
Even more so now that he'd opened the golden reward box from hitting level 50. The reward? A skill he deemed comparable to his teleportation jutsu:
Skill Name: Annihilation
Type: Active
Effect: Infuses the next attack—be it ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu—with annihilation energy, doubling its power.
Cost: 50 chakra
Note: No cooldown, but high cost. Each level up increases the cost by 50 and doubles the power. Use with caution.
A no-CD, damage-doubling skill? Absolutely god-tier.
The only drawback was its hefty chakra cost. Even with 839 chakra, Yuan had to be careful.
But this meant that in the right moment, he could double his strength.
As Yuan trained, a new class of Academy students was about to graduate.
Compared to previous years, they were lucky—the Third Shinobi War had ended. They wouldn't be immediately thrust into the meat grinder.
But that didn't mean peace was guaranteed. The war had just ended, and tensions between villages remained. These fresh genin would soon enter a different kind of battlefield.
Among this year's Uchiha graduates? Uchiha Shisui.
According to canon, Shisui graduated in Year 46 of Konoha's calendar, awakened his Mangekyō after killing his best friend in Year 47, and met Uchiha Itachi in Year 48—the same year of the Nine-Tails attack.
Currently, it was Year 46—about two months from Year 47.
After hearing Shisui graduated, Yuan went to meet him and gifted him Great Fire Annihilation as a graduation present.
"Senior Yuan, are you going to be the Division 3 captain?" Shisui asked.
"Probably. Why ask?"
"Can I join Division 3 in the future?"
"It's too early for that. Do some real missions first. Get to know the world. Then we'll talk," Yuan said with a smile.
Shisui nodded vaguely in understanding.
Soon after, he began official missions. Unlike most genin who started with D-ranks, Shisui's team immediately took on C-rank tasks.
Yuan also noticed that the Third Hokage seemed to be grooming Shisui—assigning him top-tier teammates and a strong sensei.
Yuan didn't comment on it. But when free, he often chatted with Shisui, subtly guiding his thinking—shaping how Shisui viewed certain people and events.
Time flew. Two months passed. It was now Year 47.
During this period, Yuan had deliberately used and trained his Teleportation and Insight skills—they finally leveled up again.
(To Be Continued...)