Two days later, it was time to hand over the evidence to the Kumogakure envoy. Since the bodies of the deceased Kumogakure shinobi were in their hands, the Hyuga Clan had been unable to find anything.
Naturally, Minato had refused the Kumogakure shinobi's unreasonable demand that Konoha hand someone over. In the end, Konoha compensated Kumogakure with some supplies, and Kumogakure ultimately signed the armistice agreement. Neji's father, Hizashi Hyuga, had also survived instead of dying as he had in the original story.
June 9, Year 55 of Konoha. Today was a special day. It had been a year since Itachi became a Genin, and more importantly, eight years ago today was the day Itachi had been born.
At Fugaku Uchiha's home, Fugaku and Mikoto had both returned early. The house had been cleaned until it was spotless, and the table was covered with delicacies. Most plentiful of all was Itachi's favorite, Tricolor Dango.
After placing the final dish on the table, Mikoto sat down as well.
"We've finally got everything ready. Now we just have to wait for Itachi to come back."
Mikoto spoke with a smile, clearly very happy.
"Aniki said in the letter sent by his summoning beast that he'd probably be back tonight. It should be soon, right?" Ye Wuyue said. He was almost four years old now, and July 23 was Sasuke's birthday.
After another half year of training, Ye Wuyue's Kido and Hakuda had reached a good level. His Shunpo was average, and he had also mastered some basic ninjutsu. The basic Transformation, Clone, and Substitution Techniques went without saying. He had basically mastered all the Fire Release ninjutsu below rank B in the Uchiha Clan.
(Classification: average, good, proficient, mastery)
Since the damage of low-level Hado was insufficient, especially after abandoning the incantation, ninjutsu dealt slightly more damage than Hado for him at present.
"How about we turn off the lights and give Aniki a surprise later?" Ye Wuyue suddenly suggested.
Fugaku was clearly somewhat unwilling, but under the strong insistence of Mikoto and Ye Wuyue, he ultimately agreed.
After a while, Fugaku's house became completely dark...
On a street in Konoha
"Goodbye, Itachi!" A girl with two gray braids and a midriff-baring outfit waved and said with a smile.
"Hmph!" Another hedgehog-haired boy beside her snorted and turned his head away. Then he turned back toward Itachi and said, "I'll definitely outperform you on the next mission!"
"Hey~ Tenma, aren't you being a little too boastful? Itachi is much stronger than you. He even saved you once during this mission." The braided girl teased him.
The girl's words made Tenma's face redden slightly.
"Hmph, I never asked him to save me. Besides, maybe I'll be the one saving him next time!" Tenma said arrogantly.
His words were not wrong, either. In the original story, Itachi's team encountered the masked man during a mission. Tenma had stood in front of Itachi at the time. In the end, he was the only one left alive from Itachi's team, which directly led to Itachi awakening the Sharingan.
"Yeah~ yeah~ Then you'd better work hard. I'm going home first." The braided girl left as she spoke, and Itachi waved goodbye to her.
"Goodbye, Tenma." Itachi smiled and waved at Tenma. He was already somewhat impatient to go home and see his adorable little brother.
After turning around and running a few steps, a voice called out to him.
"Wait!"
Itachi stopped in confusion. Tenma stood there with his fists clenched, his eyes looking elsewhere.
"About this mission... thank you for saving me. But I'll definitely repay you someday!"
After saying that, Tenma ran off without looking back.
Itachi froze for a moment, then smiled and turned toward home.
Ye Wuyue had been hiding behind the door with a party popper for about ten minutes. Mikoto and Fugaku were doing the same, and a raised vein was already visible on Fugaku's forehead.
"Sasuke, what kind of terrible idea was this? We don't even know whether Itachi can come back today. Could it be that..."
Fugaku was starting to think about teaching his younger son a lesson, but Mikoto interrupted him.
"Shh, I hear footsteps outside."
At that, the three of them instantly fell silent.
Creak!
After a while, the front door was pushed open. Ye Wuyue quickly turned on the lights and pulled the string on the party popper.
"Happy birthday, Aniki!"
"Happy birthday, Itachi!"
"Happy birthday!"
Fugaku's house immediately lit up. Confetti flew everywhere, yet not a single piece landed on the star of the day.
Outside the door, the moment Itachi heard the noise after opening it, he jumped backward and drew the Kunai from his ninja pouch. When he saw the scene behind the door, the Kunai fell from his hand.
Fugaku was stunned for a moment at Itachi's reaction, but he immediately began praising him. "Not bad. You have excellent vigilance."
Mikoto's eyes were filled with heartache. "Missions outside must have been exhausting, right? Come in and take a bath first. We'll eat soon."
Ye Wuyue said nothing, merely sighing inwardly. Something commonplace in modern life was probably a luxury in the shinobi world.
Itachi's reaction proved that point.
He stood frozen for a while before tears began to fall. His mission this time had been to suppress bandits, and during it he had seen many children who had lost their families. Returning home at this moment made him feel an extraordinary happiness.
"I'm home!"
Itachi said with a smile.
At that moment, Ye Wuyue suddenly noticed something unusual. Itachi's eyes seemed to have suddenly changed.
He took a closer look. Wasn't that the Sharingan? And a Two-Tomoe Sharingan at that!
Two tomoe had appeared in each of Itachi's large, expressive eyes.
"Aniki, your eyes..."
Ye Wuyue pointed at Itachi's eyes. Itachi, who had just been about to enter, froze for a moment. He also felt that his eyes seemed somewhat different.
Fugaku had just gone back to reheat the food, while Mikoto was preparing hot water.
"Dad, Aniki awakened his eyes!" Ye Wuyue shouted.
Fugaku, who had been reheating the food, ran out in his apron when he heard that.
Itachi had just rubbed his eyes and walked into the house.
"Two-Tomoe Sharingan! Hahahahaha, as expected of my son!"
Fugaku was shocked when he saw Itachi's eyes, then proudly burst into laughter.
Amid his happiness, Ye Wuyue also had some other thoughts.
The requirement for awakening the Sharingan was an intense emotional fluctuation. It had never specified whether the emotion had to be positive or negative, and Itachi's awakening today proved that point.
Happy and joyful emotions could also fulfill the conditions for awakening the Sharingan. In other words, as long as one was joyful enough, awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan might not be impossible. There would be no need to lose a family member or friend.
Unfortunately, that glittering golden man was not in this world. Otherwise, Ye Wuyue could have asked him how to achieve joy.
At the dining table, with Itachi having awakened the Sharingan and it also being his birthday, the whole family was in high spirits. Even Fugaku, who normally never smiled, had been grinning until now.
"To Itachi's eighth birthday and his awakening of the Sharingan—cheers!" Fugaku raised his cup and said.
"Cheers!" ×3
The family raised their cups and clinked them together. Fugaku's cup held sake, while everyone else had fruit juice.
After setting down their cups, Fugaku suddenly fell silent.
"What's wrong, Father?" Itachi asked.
"If... only every Sharingan awakening could happen the way yours did..."
Before you continue