Uchiha Tajima's Self-Directed Performance

"It wasn't that. His eyes told me that he had been betrayed."

Uchiha Yao practically gritted out those words.

"And the one who betrayed him was the brother-in-law he trusted most—Uchiha Tajima!"

His own father had been killed by his own uncle? That news was far more explosive than learning that his old man had been a super genius. He drew in a sharp breath.

"If I hadn't later discovered the images recorded in Jin's eyes before his death, I wouldn't have believed that Uchiha Tajima—the man who nearly cried himself unconscious at the funeral—was actually such a despicable person!"

Uchiha Yao said bitterly.

"When you were eight, your parents led a squad on an assassination mission. They never expected the enemy to be prepared, with an inescapable net laid out for them. In the end, your father led your mother and Uchiha Tajima through a bloody path. Just as they were about to escape, Uchiha Tajima attacked and severely injured your father. That allowed the enemy to catch up with him. Your mother refused to abandon your father, and the two of them ultimately died together."

Uchiha Yao slowly revealed the truth behind the original owner's parents' deaths.

"The images were stored in Jin's eyes."

Uchiha Jin's body had later been brought back and laid to rest. The one who examined his corpse was his father, Uchiha Yao.

Uchiha Yao sensed something wrong in the lingering Dojutsu Power within his son's eyes. Enduring the pain, he temporarily removed them and brought them back to the laboratory for research.

It was only one day years later that he saw those images within his son's Sharingan.

"My son was a genius! And you, my grandson, are a peerless genius with even greater talent than your father."

Uchiha Yao shifted his gaze. After a brief struggle flickered at the corner of his eye, an indescribable light shone in his black One Eye as he stared straight at Uchiha Gin and declared with certainty.

"Ah?"

Uchiha Gin was stunned at being mentioned so suddenly. Didn't this old man know how useless the original owner had been? A peerless genius? More like a peerless vegetable. Had this old geezer mistaken him for someone else?

Seeing the disbelief written across his grandson's face, Uchiha Yao continued.

"When Uchiha Tajima told you that your parents had died in battle, you were only eight years old, yet you awakened the Sharingan."

"???"

Uchiha Gin felt like his brain was no longer working. Hadn't he been the one to awaken the original owner's Sharingan?

"And it was the Uchiha Clan's most powerful kind—the Mangekyō Sharingan."

Uchiha Yao dropped a shocking revelation.

"??????"

Uchiha Gin's brain completely crashed. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to slap himself a few times and ask where the hell that massive Mangekyō had gone.

"Uchiha Tajima personally witnessed the birth of your Mangekyō Sharingan. From that moment onward, he set his sights on you."

Ignoring Uchiha Gin's changing expression, Uchiha Yao continued.

"And at the time, you weren't the only one with a Mangekyō."

A nostalgic look appeared on Uchiha Yao's face. "There was another child, just like you."

"Who was it?"

The hidden photograph flashed through Uchiha Gin's mind.

"She was the child of your neighbor. Her parents were squad members who died alongside yours."

"After that child awakened her Mangekyō, her emotions became extremely unstable. Everyone at the laboratory called her Nameless."

Uchiha Yao did not know much about the other child's family.

"Because the two of you were too young to control the Mangekyō's power, the elderly Clan Leader at the time appointed me to care for you both while also researching Mangekyō Eye Techniques."

As though recalling happier times, Uchiha Yao even pulled a faint smile from his cold lips.

"The two of you had been living happily in the laboratory, but two years later..."

Uchiha Yao Changed the Subject, and his expression turned cold. "The Old Clan Leader died of illness, leaving the clan leaderless. At the time, Uchiha Yan, the head of the militant faction, and Uchiha Miao, the laboratory's second-in-command, openly nominated Uchiha Tajima to succeed her as Clan Leader. They also proposed that Uchiha Tajima marry the previous Clan Leader's daughter. Unaware of the truth, I voted in favor as well."

"I never expected Uchiha Tajima's first action after taking office to be having Uchiha Miao replace me and transferring me to another department for research."

"From that day on, I did not see either of you for a long time. I asked Uchiha Miao about you during that period, but he shut me out. He told me you were undergoing secret experiments and could not leave freely."

As Uchiha Gin considered Uchiha Yao's account, he realized with dread that the original owner's memories contained no trace whatsoever of this so-called laboratory. There were only memories of Uchiha Tajima adopting him as a child and raising him as his own.

For a moment, he could not tell who was lying and who was telling the truth.

"Do you think I'm deceiving you?"

Noticing Uchiha Gin's confusion, Uchiha Yao spoke calmly.

"That's right. If what you're saying is true, why do my memories only contain scenes of Uchiha Tajima accompanying me as I grew up?" Uchiha Gin asked.

"Because your memories—and even your perception—were altered."

Uchiha Yao shook his head. "By Uchiha Tajima's Eye Technique."

Kotoamatsukami?! A genjutsu unique to the Mangekyō Sharingan, praised as the "strongest genjutsu."

It could directly invade someone's mind and alter their will without them noticing.

The technique's effect was extraordinarily powerful. It could control someone unconsciously and achieve victory without conflict, but each use required more than a decade of cooldown.

Putting on an appropriately confused expression, Uchiha Yao explained.

"Uchiha Tajima awakened a Mangekyō at some point as well. His Eye Technique can alter a person's memories and even their will. He used that technique on you, which is why your memories are distorted."

The original owner had actually been hit by Kotoamatsukami? Uchiha Gin was greatly alarmed. That genjutsu, which would be hyped to the heavens in the future, already existed now.

But it made sense. During the Warring States Period, members of the Uchiha Clan awakened Mangekyō Sharingan in great numbers. For the strongest genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, to become known to the Third Hokage and others in the future, it must have been recorded in the archives.

"What exactly happened while I was at the laboratory?"

Uchiha Gin could not help asking. "While I was there, I only researched why the two of you had awakened Mangekyō Sharingan at the same time," Uchiha Yao replied. "I discovered that your Sharingan had an extremely high compatibility with Nameless's. I speculated that this was because your Dojutsu Powers attracted each other while still in the womb, and it also had much to do with the deep bond between the two of you."

"What happened to Nameless and me afterward?"

What Uchiha Gin cared more about was what kind of research Uchiha Miao had conducted on them after Uchiha Yao had been removed from the team.

"I don't know. While you were imprisoned, I tried to contact you as well, but Uchiha Tajima and the others stopped me every time. Not long after, I discovered you in Uchiha Tajima's home, but there was no sign of Nameless."

"Until what happened to the clan six years ago."

After talking for so long, Uchiha Yao had finally brought up the Six Years Ago Clan Massacre.

"Did the Kaguya Clan raid the Clan Grounds?"

Recalling the original owner's memories, Uchiha Gin voiced his guess.

"Heh, how could that be? The Kaguya Clan alone?" Uchiha Yao was utterly dismissive of the Kaguya Clan. "Those brainless fools were merely duped."

"What do you mean?"

Hearing that they had been duped, Uchiha Gin's curiosity was piqued again.

"Uchiha Tajima sent people disguised as Rogue Ninja to deliver intelligence to the Kaguya Clan, which had fled to the Land of Water."

"What intelligence?"

"The Uchiha Clan Land is undefended. Come quickly!"

Uchiha Yao spoke in a low voice, making the words sound chilling.

"For the sake of prestige, Uchiha Tajima actually lured the Kaguya Clan into attacking his own home, intending to make a Heavenly Descent at the critical moment and save the clan from disaster."

"Was Uchiha Tajima strong enough?"

The Kaguya Clan's bloodline limit somewhat countered the Uchiha Clan, whose taijutsu was relatively weak. How could Uchiha Tajima, who had not yet reached his peak at the time, deal with the Kaguya Clan when they had mobilized in full force?

"The two 'Weapons' under his control were his greatest source of confidence at the time."

Uchiha Yao's icy tone seemed to frost over the air around them, making Uchiha Gin's body tremble slightly.