A Father's Guidance

The girl standing before him was none other than Kurenai Yuhi, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.

As soon as Kurenai returned from Konoha, she headed to the Uchiha Clan Compound to find Sora and play. When she heard that Sora had been injured and admitted to the hospital, she hurried over.

"Waaah! Sora, don't die!" Kurenai burst into the hospital room. The first thing she saw was the mummy on the bed. Her eyes reddened, and tears as big as beans rolled down her cheeks.

Sora's brow darkened.

Who are you cursing? I'm sitting right here, perfectly fine, and you're cursing me to die?

"Uh, little girl, Sora's only badly injured. He isn't going to die."

At this awkward moment, Kazuki Utsuki spoke up to explain. He briefly clarified that Sora had been injured on a mission, but wasn't going to die.

Hearing that Sora wasn't going to die, Kurenai finally stopped crying. Her eyes still red, she gazed at him with nothing but concern.

"Sora, do you want a gummy?" Kurenai wiped her eyes, then took one from her pocket and asked cautiously.

Seeing this, Sora smiled helplessly. He wasn't used to the little girl being so gentle all of a sudden.

"Sure."

He reached out, but his finger stopped a centimeter from the gummy.

The room fell silent. Everyone was watching Sora's every move, so that small gesture made their hearts skip a beat.

Kurenai's eyes widened. Her fingers trembled uncontrollably, and the tears she'd just stopped began to trickle down her cheeks again. She shook with fear, her lips turning pale.

"Sora, y-your eyes... What's wrong with them?"

That was exactly what everyone else wanted to ask. Since Sora had woken up covered in visible injuries, they had all assumed that he'd only hurt his body.

But when he reached for the candy just now, they realized something seemed to be wrong with his eyes.

"...It's nothing."

After a moment's silence, Sora spoke softly and picked up the gummy, popping it into his mouth.

He had to admit, it was pretty good. It melted in his mouth, barely needing to be chewed. It was sweet, with a faint hint of mint.

He said it was nothing, but how could that incident just now mean nothing?

"Sora, how many fingers is this?" Kurenai asked, her face pale as she held up two fingers.

Seeing how worried she was, Sora felt a mischievous impulse. "Three."

At his answer, Kurenai jolted. Her pupils went unfocused, her eyes glazed over, and she murmured,

"It's over, it's over. Sora's eyes are blurry! What do we do? What do we do? Waaah... Will he go blind?"

"That's enough." Tsunade couldn't take it anymore and rubbed Kurenai's head. "He's teasing you."

"Huh?" Kurenai looked up blankly and met the playful gleam in Sora's eyes. She immediately caught on. "Ahh! You jerk, Sora! How dare you tease me? I was so worried about you!"

The teasing dispelled the awkward atmosphere, and the girl's indignant outburst made everyone laugh.

Unlike Kurenai and Shisui, who were relieved, Tsunade and Kazuki Utsuki's expressions turned grim. It was only natural that the two children hadn't noticed anything; they were too innocent.

But the two adults knew better. They could see it clearly: something really was wrong with Sora's eyes. He wasn't blind, but if he could miss something at such close range, that was a serious problem.

They stayed for a few hours before heading back. Kurenai had wanted to stay behind, but Tsunade sent her away, saying Sora needed to rest.

Once everyone had left, the lively hospital room fell silent. Sora lay on the bed while a small Katsuyu rested on his chest, healing him. Tsunade had left her there especially for him.

Bored, he wanted to get out of bed and walk around, but his cast and bandages put an end to that idea.

"Phew... This is so boring."

For a moment, he felt he could truly understand what it was like to be paralyzed. Being unable to move was unbearably tedious.

A week later, his bandages finally came off, but his cast remained. He still couldn't move around freely, though at least he no longer had to drink porridge. His arm had healed a lot; as long as he didn't do anything stupid like pull-ups or other strenuous exercise, he would be fine.

Two weeks later, the cast came off. He could get out of bed and walk around, but only at a leisurely pace. It would still be a while before he could run or fight.

Many people came to visit him during that time. His father and mother, Shisui, Kurenai, Rin, and Kazuki Utsuki were the most frequent visitors.

One person worth mentioning was Hiruzen Sarutobi, who came to see him once. Perhaps it was because Sora had been injured while carrying out a mission as a member of the Anbu. Only when he got close to the Third Hokage did Sora feel the pressure that radiated from him.

There was a reason he was nicknamed "the Strongest Hokage."

On top of that, Ryoma Aburame from Root had also come by. He'd given Sora a strange look.

Three weeks later, Sora was discharged from the hospital and returned home. He was able to resume training.

Thwack, thwack, thwack—

Four shuriken sank deep into the wood, embedding themselves in the tree trunk.

Sora lowered his eyes, his heart heavy with frustration. He'd thrown six shuriken at once. Before, he could have hit the same spot with all of them. Now, only four had hit their mark.

Years of practice with shuriken had been ruined by his eyes.

His father had naturally noticed the problem with his eyes. Sora explained that they'd been injured. Opening Susanoo without the Sharingan was simply too unbelievable, so he used his injury as an excuse to explain what was wrong with them.

With a stern expression, Sora took the shuriken from the tree, then sat down against its trunk, staring blankly. The marks left by the shuriken above him were uneven.

He had no talent for developing ninjutsu. His eyes had also ruined the shuriken and kunai skills he'd excelled at. In other words, without the system, was he just useless?

And after what had happened with Tsunade, he was wary of the system. He no longer trusted it.

He had a suspicion.

Whenever the world's course deviated, the system would issue a quest.

If his guess was right, how could he change Rin's death? How could he prevent the Uchiha Clan's destruction? The truth was, all his strength came from the system.

It was only a suspicion, but he had to prepare for the worst.

"What? Disappointed in yourself?"

As Sora sat there lost in thought, a voice pulled him back. He looked up and saw his father.

Momosuke glanced at the tree trunk, then at the state Sora was in, and immediately understood what his son was thinking.

He shrugged, without a trace of his usual dignity, and sat down in the dirt without a care.

"Giving up on yourself? That doesn't sound like my son," he said casually.

Sora smiled bitterly. "I can't even use shuriken properly anymore."

Momosuke smiled. "Give me six shuriken."

Sora paused, unsure what his father was planning, but handed him six shuriken anyway.

Momosuke began, "When I was a kid, I was an idiot. Compared to your grandfather's talent, I was practically a bastard picked up off the street. You know, the strongest ninjutsu I have now is just a single B-rank technique: the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

"But so what? With the way I use shuriken and kunai, I've still become as strong as I am today. Apart from the Uchiha Clan head, who can overpower me, no one is sure they could beat me."

Momosuke looked at Sora and said solemnly,

"You've mastered summoning and ninjutsu far better than I have. And now you're getting down over shuriken?

"Besides, what do your eyes have to do with Taijutsu?"

With that, he closed his eyes and flung the shuriken in his hand. The six shuriken shot off in different directions, but after striking and ricocheting off objects, they converged again.

A dull thud rang out. All six shuriken had struck the same notch.

Sora stared blankly at the spot. Momosuke spoke earnestly:

"Son, sure, we're members of the Uchiha Clan, but that doesn't mean our eyes are everything. You still have a heart that can look down on it all."