It had rubbed against the Uchiha's pride, but the Third Hokage wasn't the kind to surrender the dock's interests so easily. He swiftly turned around and arranged for a delegation to contact the daimyo of the Land of Fire.
But the daimyo was no fool, and more importantly—he had his pride too.
"I paid Konoha for protection," he muttered with irritation, "but when I need cooperation, I get silence. When they need me, suddenly I'm 'daimyo-sama', and when they don't—I'm invisible!"
In comparison, Uchiha Kamasu had shown sincerity. Not only had the Uchiha dispatched thirty jōnin for protection, but they'd also sent a Mangekyō Sharingan user as a personal envoy. That gesture alone trumped Konoha's sluggish formality.
Leaving aside raw strength, it was the attitude that impressed the daimyo most.
"Compared to Konoha, the Uchiha are clearly more sincere."
As a civilian amid the shinobi world's chaos, the daimyo didn't wield jutsu, but he had wealth, status, and pride. All he wanted was respect and recognition—a little vanity to feed his ego. Was it really so hard to offer that?
So, when a servant reported that a messenger had come from Konoha, the daimyo didn't even bother to hide his disdain.
"Konoha's messenger? Not interested. Send them away."
His words were sharp, shameless even. But they reflected what he truly felt—Konoha's senior council only came crawling when Uchiha Kamasu got a slice of the pie.
Though the daimyo wasn't fully informed on the darker political undercurrents of Konoha, he wasn't blind either. The long-standing rift between Konoha and the Uchiha clan was well known, and so this kind of response felt justified.
Needless to say, the Uchiha representatives in the capital showed no mercy to Konoha's envoys. They sent them away without even an audience.
Of course, the construction of the dock would take time. It wasn't something that had to be rushed.
However, the fact that the daimyo had personally appointed the Uchiha to guard the harbor infuriated Konoha's leadership. Still, Andrew didn't take it to heart. That kind of drama? Not worth his time.
The Third Hokage kept trying to get back into the daimyo's good graces, but it was pointless. The daimyo's surroundings were filled with Uchiha. There was no chance for a breakthrough. They couldn't touch the daimyo, nor could they harass Konoha's own representatives without cause.
One good genjutsu was enough to render Konoha's attempts useless.
So, Andrew ignored the political mess and instead focused on more personal matters. The Uchiha clan's development had finally reached stability, and the commercial ventures he'd launched had started to yield results.
Take the Uchiha Grand Hotel chain, for instance. Four had already been established across the Land of Fire. Itachi had once invited the daimyo to stay at one, and the experience had left such a good impression that the daimyo decided to host his next council meeting at the Uchiha Grand Hotel.
That alone was a massive win for the clan.
It wasn't just the nobles either. Ordinary civilians had found enjoyment through the supporting industries that came with the hotel experience. Be it entertainment, relaxation, or service—Uchiha businesses had nailed it.
After all, vanity isn't exclusive to nobles. In fact, the poorer someone was, the more they craved a taste of luxury. And at the Uchiha Grand Hotel, commoners could live like nobles, even if just for a night.
That was enough to make people flock there.
Of course, some guests grew arrogant, mistaking good service for weakness. But once Shisui personally led a squad to drag out the troublemakers, that illusion disappeared overnight. No one dared act up again.
With Konoha lying low for now, Andrew shifted his focus inward.
He began reflecting on himself.
The last battle against Obito had left him feeling powerless.
His Mangekyō Sharingan was great for intimidating Konoha, but when it came to real combat against top-tier enemies, its limitations became painfully obvious.
His right eye's senjutsu chakra-based ability could boost his overall performance in taijutsu and ninjutsu and even alter ninjutsu forms—but none of it mattered against someone like Obito. If you couldn't break through Kamui's intangibility, you were just swinging at smoke.
He wasn't Minato, after all. He didn't have the tactical mind or the Flying Thunder God Technique to exploit Kamui's cooldowns.
Obito hadn't been able to kill Andrew either, but that was just luck. Next time it could be Uchiha Madara himself. That thought alone made Andrew shiver.
He needed more power.
Though the Three-Tails was in his possession, Andrew had no intention of becoming a jinchūriki. He had other plans for the beast. For now, he'd let it swim around like a giant chakra koi in its holding pool.
Unlocking Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan required conditions he couldn't yet meet. Even the system's shop offered nothing beyond temporary boosts when it came to Mangekyō upgrades.
The lack of political chaos from Konoha's side was also slowing down his progress. Less conflict meant fewer feedback points. So, from time to time, he'd stir things up—just enough to keep the pot boiling.
Forbidden techniques like Flying Thunder God were still out of reach. The Hokage wouldn't hand them over without a fight, and even if Andrew got his hands on the scrolls, there was no guarantee he'd master them.
So instead, he focused on what he could control—his own eyes.
The Uchiha clan had a vast library of techniques, though most required the Sharingan and weren't exactly subtle. Forbidden jutsu might draw too much attention, so he chose to dig into his Mangekyō's potential.
His right eye's power had been identified through repeated ninjutsu testing, leading to the discovery of its senjutsu chakra manipulation. But what about the left eye?
Surely, if the right eye had a unique pupil technique, the left must have one too.
He tried mimicking the method he used to trigger his right eye's ability.
At first, nothing happened. Just chakra drain and a mild headache.
But he wasn't giving up. If Itachi had Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu in each eye, and Shisui had Kotoamatsukami in both—then his dual techniques could be different too.
After some experimentation—and a few days of being unable to see from the strain—Andrew finally got a reaction.
It wasn't concrete yet, so he needed to test it under combat conditions.
"Shisui, hit me with your fastest technique. Don't hold back."
They stood in a secluded clearing near Konoha, surrounded by ancient trees. A month had passed since Andrew began experimenting.
Shisui raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me to go full speed on you? That's... risky."
"I'm ready. Trust me. Just do it."
Taking a deep breath, Shisui activated the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing in a blur of motion. In an instant, he reappeared just inches away, hand extended toward Andrew's chest.
And then—time froze.
Shisui's entire body locked in place, mid-air, mid-strike—completely suspended in time.
The scene was surreal. He was barely a hair's breadth from making contact, but his form had gone rigid, chakra flow interrupted.
The frozen moment barely lasted a single second—but it was enough.
Andrew had vanished from the spot, reappearing a few meters away. He clutched his eye, blood trailing from the left socket, his breath ragged.
Shisui blinked, stumbling slightly as the world re-synced around him.
"What... what just happened?" he gasped, trying to process the strange phenomenon.
From his perspective, Andrew had disappeared instantly, as if skipping frames in reality. Not even his Sharingan could trace it. Worse, his technique had been forcefully disrupted. The chakra fueling his Body Flicker had simply—collapsed.
"You stopped time, didn't you?" Shisui asked, voice low, stunned.
Andrew nodded, still panting. "Yes... but the cost... is enormous."
"That was the left eye's Mangekyō technique," Andrew confirmed. "A true time-stopping ability."
But the power came at a price. In just that single second of frozen time, he'd burned through most of his chakra reserves. His left eye bled profusely, and his vision blurred.
"With my chakra pool, I can only use it once per fight." That was the reality.
But that one second could be the difference between life and death.
So Andrew named the new power: Time Stop.
A fitting name for a terrifying ability.
Now, more than ever, he knew that if he wanted to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Obito or even Madara, he needed every edge he could get.
And Time Stop... might just be the key.
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