Identical Eyes

"Kazuna, you have good ideas and great talent. A young man like you will surely become a great tree of Konohagakure in the future, sheltering the village from wind and rain. The clan will be proud of you as well."

Fugaku suddenly said to Kazuna, "But precisely because you are too young, you only see the surface of many things. There is still much in this world that your eyes, at your current stage, cannot see through."

"Oh!" Kazuna chuckled. "My eyes can't see through them? Does that mean the Clan Leader's eyes can? You don't have that many more tomoe than I do, either."

Fugaku smiled faintly. "Is that really so? Then take another look. Are our eyes truly the same?"

He slowly opened his closed eyes.

A pair of strange pupils appeared before everyone.

They were not simply Three Tomoe Sharingan. They looked somewhat like Itachi's, with a Shuriken pattern—but three tomoe had been added to the body of the Shuriken.

Seeing those eyes, many clan members looked puzzled.

Setsuna Uchiha and Sougi Uchiha, however, shot to their feet in shock.

"How is that possible?"

"M-Mangekyō..."

Setsuna Uchiha muttered, "You actually... Fugaku, you actually possess such eyes?"

He was agitated, anxious, and somewhat furious.

Fugaku was fighting Kazuna. With eyes like those, could Kazuna still win?

Absolutely not!

Kazuna's original advantage would vanish completely.

Having seen Madara Uchiha before, Setsuna Uchiha knew all too well the power contained within those eyes.

Yet Fugaku possessed such eyes, and still allowed the clan to be persecuted to this extent.

What a bastard!

Amid his shock, Sougi Uchiha also began to let his thoughts run wild.

Fugaku had eyes like these, yet he had kept them hidden all this time. What was he trying to do?

He wouldn't do anything reckless, would he?

After all, the price for obtaining such eyes was extraordinarily steep.

If Fugaku suffered a severe shock and did something extreme, there would never again be peace between the village and the Uchiha.

"This is the evolved form of the Three Tomoe Sharingan," Fugaku said calmly. "The Mangekyō Sharingan."

"An evolution of the Three Tomoe?"

The Uchiha were stunned.

Some of them had heard that beyond the Three Tomoe Sharingan, there was an even deeper Sharingan, but no one had ever seen it.

Their Clan Leader actually had it!

They stared at those eyes with excitement and burning fervor.

"Well? Kazuna, do you agree with what I said just now?"

"I see farther than you do."

Fugaku's aura rose, pressing heavily down on Kazuna like a ferocious beast.

Kazuna chuckled. His expression remained unchanged; in fact, his smile grew even brighter. Fugaku revealing the Mangekyō did not shake him in the slightest.

What nonsense!

He'd known that ages ago. If he acted shocked now, there'd be something wrong with his brain.

Still, Fugaku's Mangekyō ability remained unknown.

He remembered that in his previous life, some people had said Fugaku's Mangekyō possessed genjutsu—top-tier genjutsu no worse than Tsukuyomi.

Others said it was a space-time ability.

Whichever it was, Kazuna was prepared.

"Our eyes really are different."

Fugaku smiled slightly, folding his arms with a distinctly lofty air. "Then..."

"I remember you opened your Mangekyō like this, right? Let me try!" Kazuna imitated Fugaku's earlier pose and closed his eyes.

Fugaku: "..."

Just now, I was only... only...

Posing... building momentum?

Right, building momentum!

Damn it!

Kazuna, enough already!

Mangekyō! This is the Mangekyō!

Can't you take this more seriously? Can't you show some respect for the Mangekyo?

Fierce Eyes Fugaku remained expressionless, but his gaze turned even more vicious.

"Enough!" Kazuna suddenly spoke, then slowly opened his eyes.

A pair of strange pupils appeared.

They were not Three Tomoe!

Naturally, they were also different from Fugaku's eyes. Within them was an eerie triangular symbol.

Anyone stared at by those eyes felt the spine-chilling dread of being watched by a snake.

Yet without question, even those who had never seen a Mangekyo before concluded at that moment that this was a pair of Mangekyo!

The second pair of Mangekyo!

Setsuna Uchiha's voice trembled as he muttered, "The Uchiha are going to rise. Two pairs of Mangekyo—two pairs!"

Kazuna shot the old man a glance and muttered inwardly, What low standards!

You got this excited over just two pairs? If you knew Itachi and Shisui had eyes like these too, would you shoot into the sky like a fountain on the spot!?

He looked at Fugaku and said, "Clan Leader, have I awakened them? I copied your movements just now with my Sharingan—a perfect replication!"

Someone wanted to laugh.

Others actually followed Kazuna's movements and closed their eyes, only to be viciously kicked by the people beside them.

Fugaku stared blankly at Kazuna. "Kazuna, you..."

Kazuna grinned. "Clan Leader, do we still need to fight?"

After a brief silence, Fugaku said, "You awakened the Mangekyo long ago?"

Kazuna did not bother hiding it. "Yes!"

"When?"

"After I completed my last mission."

Fugaku swallowed the rest of his words.

The others also wore complicated expressions.

Kazuna said with a playful smile, "What a pity, right? I didn't awaken them on the battlefield, but after the war!"

Whether that was true or not, if I said it was, then it was. If you said otherwise, show me the evidence.

What if I told you I ate a Fruit and advanced to the Mangekyo? Would you believe me?

Itachi Uchiha over there in the corner, what are you rolling your eyes for? You're Red Eye!

Kazuna sighed, deactivated his Mangekyo, and said, "Under the embrace of the Will of Fire, I went to the battlefield at the age of six. At eight, I took part in the Third Shinobi World War. Although I did not achieve much on the battlefield, Hokage-sama did not disdain me. He encouraged me as always. He believed that I would surely distinguish myself in battle, and for that, he gave me many opportunities."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the Uchiha's three higher-ups could not help twitching.

There were so many problems with that statement that they did not even know where to begin.

One of the core tenets of the Will of Fire was protecting children, yet Kazuna had gone to the battlefield at six.

During the Third Shinobi World War, such things were common in Konohagakure.

As for the opportunities the Hokage had supposedly given Kazuna... back then, the most dangerous missions had practically been monopolized by the Uchiha.

The most absurd part was that Crimson Flame had no military achievements?

He was a powerful shinobi on par with the Yellow Flash.

Yet when the Third Shinobi World War ended, the Yellow Flash directly became Hokage, while Crimson Flame was scorned by everyone.

Two complete extremes!

The Uchiha's three higher-ups fell silent, while the other Uchiha began to stir.

No one was stupid.

Kazuna continued in an admiring tone, "When everyone was spitting on me, only Hokage-sama did not disdain me. He comforted me in private. Although the tiny, insignificant achievements I made on the battlefield had been erased, he remembered them in his heart. One day, he would openly announce the contributions I had made to the village."

"Although I never saw him take action, that was because he was preparing a detailed plan. Whether it took three years, thirty years, or three hundred years—even if he died, he would remember that promise."

"Sorry, I got too worked up. My throat feels uncomfortable..." Kazuna smiled awkwardly, and then...

"Ptooey."

"..."

"Actually, I don't need any of that, really." Kazuna said with emotion, "As long as I can see the village at peace and see the smiles on the children's faces, I'll be satisfied. Like Hokage-sama's grandson—he smiles all day long."

"Cough, cough!"

At last, someone could no longer hold back a dry cough.

That statement was far too ambiguous.