I want to become strong enough to protect you

A trickle of bright red blood slowly flowed out from the corner of Lan Feng's mouth and dripped onto the tattered quilt.

  Immediately afterwards, there was another violent coughing fit. Lan Feng covered his mouth with his hand. When he took his hand away, it was covered with sticky black blood.

  "Lanfeng!" Uchiha Fugaku was horrified and didn't even care about Senju Ai. He hurried to the bedside and wanted to check on Lanfeng's condition.

  "Don't touch me! If you dare to touch me with your dirty hands, I will die immediately in front of you!" Lan Feng said viciously without bothering to wipe the blood off his hands.

  This was not meant to scare Fugaku. Being tortured by illness was worse than death, so it was better to end it all!

  At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku also saw the burning anger in his eyes.

  That was the look one gives to a mortal enemy. How could it be like looking at one's own biological father?

  Frightened by Lanfeng's words, Fugaku stopped and dared not move forward.

  Seeing his son spitting blood because of anger, Qianshou Aixin's heart was filled with grief.

  But she could only hold her son in her arms and comfort him silently.

  For a moment, the air in the dilapidated shack seemed to freeze, and there was deathly silence.

  These three people, who should have been closely bound together by blood, now seem like sworn enemies.

  Finally, the Uchiha member who had been standing outside the house knocked on the door frame, breaking the awkward and heavy atmosphere.

  "Lord Fugaku, it's getting late. Before heading to the inauguration ceremony, you must first report to the Grand Elder." The person outside the door reminded in a low voice.

  "I understand..." Fugaku's face had a complicated expression, and he seemed a little reluctant, but he quickly calmed himself down and walked towards the door.

  With one foot already out of the door, he couldn't hold back and spoke again: "I will petition the elders and do my best to give you and your son a legitimate status!"

  After saying that, Uchiha Fugaku didn't look back. He quickened his pace and walked out of the shed, and soon disappeared in the afterglow of the sunset.

  Along with Fugaku's departure, also disappeared was an Anbu jonin who had been hiding his presence on the roof of the shed.

  Inside the house, there was only a mother and son who were tortured by fate. They hugged each other in silence, with tears dripping from their eyes.

  Seeing his mother crying, Lan Feng's heart felt like it was being cut by a knife.

  He could indeed die at any time, but without him as his son, his mother would be completely alone. How could he bear to leave his mother living in pain alone in this world?

  "Mother, I'm sorry. I said too much just now." Lan Feng suddenly felt a little guilty.

  "You've grown up, Lanfeng. I don't blame you. It's me as a mother who is unable to give you a better life." Qianshou Ai wiped the tears from her face and gently stroked her son's forehead.

  "I want to learn ninjutsu. When I get better, I will use my own hands to protect us from being bullied by anyone!" Lan Feng clenched his fists and said seriously.

  Hearing her son's words of striving to improve himself, Senju Ai burst into laughter and nodded in approval, "Okay, maybe if you learn some ninjutsu, it will also help strengthen your body."

  As she spoke, Qianju Ai stood up and walked into the inner room. After searching for a while, she took out a torn scroll.

  "These are the secret ninjutsu of our Senju clan. You should start with the simplest ones and don't push yourself too hard." Senju said kindly.

  Lan Feng nodded, took the scroll from his mother, opened the first line, and saw that it was the famous Wood Release Ninjutsu?

  Lan Feng had an impression of the grafting technique that was part of the Wood Release technique.

  In the Naruto anime that I watched in my previous life, this was the first Wood Release Ninjutsu that Uchiha Obito learned after fusing with Hashirama's cells.

  Apparently, this encyclopedia of ninjutsu is a unique copy.

  Although no one in the Senju clan has passed down the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, it is always helpful to learn about it.

  At worst, I can apply what I have learned to other ninjutsu.

  "Don't worry, mother. I will work hard to cultivate and strive to be strong enough to protect you as soon as possible!"

  The last half of the sun's face hung obliquely in the sky.

  Crows circled in the sky, their miserable cries seemed to be telling the whole Konoha about the misery of this mother and son.  

  ——

  Soon, night fell.

  The Elders' Council Chamber is located in the center of the Uchiha clan's territory.

  At this moment in the meeting hall, the great elder of the Uchiha clan was sitting on the throne, and a group of the Uchiha clan's jonin and elders were sitting around him.

  There's nothing else to say. The position of the head of the Uchiha clan has been vacant for a long time.

  Therefore, this position has always been temporarily held by the Great Elder. All issues must be approved by the clan elders before being finalized by the Great Elder.

  "Fugaku, are you crazy? How dare you ask me such a thing?"

  At this moment, the Uchiha elder, Uchiha Fugaku's wife, and Uchiha Mikoto's father, was looking coldly at Fugaku who was kneeling on the ground.

  "Great Elder, I hope you can consider it. Please, please agree to my request." Uchiha Fugaku did not dare to look up and pleaded humbly.

  In order to seek a legitimate status for them and their son, Uchiha Fugaku took the risk and made such a request to his father-in-law on the eve of his succession.

  But at this time, another Uchiha elder next to him said bluntly: "Great Elder, there is no need to discuss this matter."

  "We Uchiha and the Senju clan have been at odds with each other since the Warring States Period. We finally waited for the Senju clan to decline. The power of Konoha should have belonged to us Uchiha long ago!"

  "How can we accept a Senju bastard at this time and taint the pure bloodline of our Uchiha clan?"

  Hearing this, another old man named Zhang at the side said, "That's right! Fugaku, do you think that just because you are going to be the clan leader, you can do whatever you want?"

  "If you still don't understand your position, you are not qualified to be the chief of this clan!"

  At this moment, the Great Elder swept his eyes around the conference room, and as expected, all the elders agreed with him.

  So, he raised his voice and said, "Fugaku, you heard everything. You never mentioned this matter. Don't let Mikoto know that you had such thoughts!"

  "I, I understand." At this time, Uchiha Fugaku gritted his teeth, the sweat on his forehead wet the forehead guard, but he did not dare to resist anymore.

  "Step back." Then, the great elder waved his hand, and the ending was the same as twelve years ago, without any change.

  When Fugaku walked out of the meeting room, a fierce light flashed in the clan leader's eyes. He waved his hand and ordered the guards behind him to come forward and gave him a few instructions.

  ——

  At the same time, a lamp was lit in the shed in the far corner of the Uchiha station.

  Senju Ai was washing the blood-stained sheets, while Lanfeng was sitting on the bed, studying the ninjutsu scroll given to him by his mother by candlelight.

  This scroll records various ninjutsu in detail, including the wood escape technique that no one else can practice, from the simple cutting technique, wooden ingot wall, to the advanced and complex Kongōjutsu.

  There are also other five types of ninjutsu, everything you need.

  Lan Feng read through all the techniques in one breath and memorized several simple ninjutsu firmly in his mind.

  It's a pity that my body is still very weak and I don't know when I can start to condense chakra and practice hand seals.

  I don't know how long I watched, but I felt sleepy and yawned. When Qianshou Ai saw this, she put down the work in her hands and walked to the bed.

  "It's getting late. Rest tonight and continue studying tomorrow. Your health is more important."

  "It's okay, mother. I want to watch it a little longer because I really want to become stronger quickly!" Lan Feng regained his spirit, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

  Looking at her motivated son, Qian Shou Ai is extremely pleased.

  But just as she was about to persuade her son that impatient people would not eat hot tofu, she heard faint footsteps not far from the door.

  "Lanfeng, hide behind me quickly and don't make any noise!"

  (End of this chapter)