The Shopkeeper of Konoha

226. Pity covered by guilt



With Hinata showing up for magic lessons many times, her father, in order to pass time and teach his own daughter, took up magic lessons himself. He was of medium talent, with a particular emphasis on pantheonic magic. He started to grasp magic over time, though it wasn't extraordinary, but it did help boost his power levels by various degrees.

After Lyanna joined them, Fugaku came out, and he wasn't alone. Along with him, Ned was there too, wearing the formal and official dress code of the Northerners for House Stark. The only absent thing was the fur coat, signifying that he was here on an official visit.

Suffice to say, watching the Uchihas opened his eyes to degrees he wouldn't have believed in his entire lifetime. He had seen how these people worked and the abilities they possessed. A huge part of him was afraid, but he also knew that it was temporary. One day they would return to their place, and the 'rent' they would pay for being here was to take down the Night King.

At first, he thought not all of these people would be capable of fighting, but watching a single one of them blow fire from their mouth enough to char him and at least a dozen of his men in one move made him realize that it would be foolish if he thought the Kingdom ever had a chance.

And that wasn't even their prime power. They were assassins to begin with, and killing them would be like killing babies. So, he made some rules for them so that they would feel safe and not ostracized by any degree.

"Fugaku-san, I hope you like the new place," Aoto said as he came forward. Fugaku bowed his head and thanked him again.

"You have done us a favor that is probably unforgettable for our clan. Your name would be written on the ancestry tablet of the Uchihas," Fugaku said.

"Hahaha... No... I don't want that. My name written on the same tablet as Madara? Oh hell no," Aoto said. This made Fugaku awkwardly laugh for a bit. He then said in a shy manner.

"We are trying to remove his name from the tablet, but the general consensus of the people of the clan aren't very up and forward with it," Fugaku said. Personally, he wanted to delete that name. By now, he fully trusted Aoto, and, in fact, among the war heroes of the Uchiha, the name of Obito was removed silently.

"He is a legend of the Uchihas, and honestly, he is just someone who is being manipulated. Nothing more. Can't blame him for that," Aoto said, to which Fugaku shook his head and replied.

"He is old enough to understand what is reality and what is virtual. Just because he is more powerful and a genius, he decided to play god. As you have said, he even achieved Rinnegan before his death due to injecting Hashirama's cells. But then he decided to snatch freedom from the lives of others, and we can't let that happen."

"Well, he is broken enough. Lost his parents and his brothers. This traumatizes people and makes them believe in a foolish dream," Aoto couldn't finish the words when Edward chimed in and said.

"Can you stop with war advice and war stories? We have enough life problems to think about war now." This made everyone laugh, and Aoto had to apologize. Fugaku called everyone in for a proper welcome.

Chomei and Hiashi were very excited as they felt like they were out of prison and wanted to roam around. So after the warm welcome of the Uchihas was done, Chomei was the first to say goodbye.

It didn't take time for Chomei to get out and just fly away. Of course, Chomei wasn't dumb enough to unleash the full form of seven tails. Chomei turned into a hawk and just flew away into the horizon.

"Chomei has progressed a lot in transformation," Loki said, as he himself had taught Chomei and he was proud of the progress. Hiashi, meanwhile, had decided to hang around the Uchihas before he went back to the library to see his daughter.

Ned too had attended the welcome and talked with Aoto for quite a bit about the plans of the future. Since Aoto and the rest came from a much modern world, as the Hand of the King, he wanted to take some ideas and implement them. There was only one piece of advice that Aoto gave him for faster progress.

"You need to build roads. Roads that are sturdy and smooth. It means very little in the grand scheme of things but it's actually the most pivotal part of civilization."

"Roads? Is that it?" Ned was surprised that the main advice to him was for building roads. He knew that roads were important for the ease of business, but he didn't expect that the civilization's advancement would be attached to it.

"Yes. Only that can elevate better governance, advancement, safety, food, and security of the people. Other things that the Kingdom requires can be easily received at the shop, but for now, I would say to build roads," Aoto said. Ned understood and promised to think about it and make necessary changes.

Ned left with some of his most trusted guards. Like him, they too were horrified seeing these people appear out of nowhere. Thankfully, these men were only loyal to Ned and not to the Kingdom. And seeing such a good relationship with their Warden gave them peace.

"Hopefully, they won't antagonize us," Fugaku said.

"I hope so too. I would hate to see small houses crumble under your feet." Aoto laughed, to which Fugaku just smiled. If it was in Konoha and somebody told him that, he would have felt proud.

But here he had a mixed sense of feeling. A feeling of pity covered up with guilt. Fugaku knew well enough that this world might turn violent pretty soon because of their presence.

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