This Is My Mettle

"Yashiro-senpai, Yashiro-senpai?"

Uchiha Chi bent over, one hand braced on his knee as he waved at the man.

Yet tearful Uchiha Yashiro showed no reaction at all.

"Senpai, you... actually cried?" Uchiha Chi widened his eyes and leaned closer curiously.

"That wasn't necessary, was it..."

Although Uchiha Chi knew that his genjutsu, with its nearly percentage-based boost, would most likely affect Uchiha Yashiro, he truly had not expected it to hit this hard.

Hadn't he just stuffed some plotlines from novels he had read in his previous life into the genjutsu?

For example, Uchiha Chi had trusted Uchiha Fugaku completely, seeing him as an elder who was like both a brother and a father, only to discover on his birthday that he had been betrayed.

For example, in order to keep his promise and conceal his talent, Uchiha Chi had endured humiliation for years, only to be viciously trampled by his peers. In the end, he learned that all of it had been ordered by Uchiha Fugaku.

Was that really so heartbreaking? Why was Uchiha's tolerance for hardship so low?

Yet Uchiha Yashiro said nothing, merely shedding pearl-like tears.

He understood. He completely understood now.

Why, after taking office for so many years, Uchiha Fugaku had always acted as though he cared deeply for Uchiha, yet never accomplished anything...

"It isn't because Uchiha Fugaku is incompetent. It's because he never intended to govern Uchiha properly in the first place!"

Uchiha Chi's expression instantly turned strange.

Now he even wanted to speak up for Uchiha Fugaku.

The Clan Head... he wasn't entirely incompetent...

But Uchiha Chi said nothing. He merely grinned at the sky and began silently snickering.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Yashiro continued venting his emotions.

"(Choke)... What will become of... our great Uchiha... (Sob)...?"

His emotions grew more and more agitated, and his tone increasingly extreme. By the end, it had even turned into a low roar.

"Could he actually be an undercover agent from the Senju Clan, trying to completely destroy Uchiha!?"

Watching Uchiha Yashiro cry and curse, having lost all the arrogance he had displayed an hour ago, Uchiha Chi let out a heavy sigh.

He stepped forward and gently patted the other man's shoulder, though the smile on his face was incomparably bright.

"For Uchiha's sake, please calm down, senpai. Be careful—walls have ears..."

With a grave tone, he comforted him in a low voice. "As long as someone knows the truth, Uchiha will never fall!"

Only then did Uchiha Yashiro restrain his voice, wiping the tears from his face with his sleeve.

He now completely believed Uchiha Chi's words.

After all, people could lie, but the Sharingan would not.

The fact that he had been caught in Uchiha Chi's genjutsu meant that Uchiha Chi's ocular power was deeper than his own. At the same time, it meant that Uchiha Chi had suffered far more than he had.

What had endured such pain could not possibly be false.

"You're right. I'll go find the elders right now and report that bastard Uchiha Fugaku!"

"No matter what Uchiha Fugaku's intentions are... I swear on my life that even if I'm crushed to dust, I won't let him succeed!"

After declaring those imposing words, Uchiha Yashiro immediately got to his feet and headed outside.

He was going to expose Uchiha Fugaku!

"Hey, hey." Uchiha Chi broke into a slight sweat at that and quickly grabbed Uchiha Yashiro. "You can't do that."

"Why not?" Uchiha Yashiro asked in confusion.

Uchiha Chi explained solemnly, "A frozen river is not formed in a single day. Even the head of the clan has been bought off. We don't know how deeply the clan has been infiltrated. If we report him rashly, then if we're unlucky, we may be silenced outright. When that happens..."

He shook his head. "There will be no one left who can save Uchiha."

"This..."

Upon hearing that, Uchiha Yashiro grew nervous as well. He scratched his scalp hard, his face filled with distress. "Then what should we do now?"

He had never been particularly good at thinking. Otherwise, he would have run for clan head back then.

Still, he had the advantage of knowing his own limits. That was why he had settled on following Uchiha Fugaku and quietly working under him.

If he had not discovered that there was something wrong with Uchiha Fugaku, then after another twenty years of hard work, he might not have been unable to become an elder...

Seeing that Uchiha Yashiro was willing to listen, Uchiha Chi relaxed slightly as he regained control of the situation.

"What we need to do now is lie low as much as possible and investigate in secret."

Uchiha Chi patiently said, "Only after we determine who is a friend and who is an enemy can we make an appropriate plan."

"You're right." Uchiha Yashiro did not quite understand, but it sounded reasonable. "Then how do we investigate?"

Without realizing it, he had already instinctively placed himself and Uchiha Chi on the same side.

"It's simple." Uchiha Chi spread his hands and smiled. "Aren't you a member of the Security Force?"

This time, Uchiha Yashiro understood.

Using the Security Force's resources to investigate was indeed no difficult matter for him.

Even if he had to hide it from his superior, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Yashiro had been in the Security Force for so many years. He had his own people, more or less.

Still, his brow remained tightly furrowed. "But the problem is... I still don't know what those people look like."

"But I do." Uchiha Chi's smile grew even brighter. "You don't need to worry about that."

At those words, Uchiha Yashiro's eyes immediately lit up.

Right.

Uchiha Chi was the first person to discover those people. Naturally, he had a way to distinguish them from their clansmen!

Wonderful! Uchiha was saved!

Just as the fire in his heart blazed hotter,

Uchiha Chi suddenly put away his smile, his tone turning serious. "Yashiro-senpai."

"W-what is it?" Uchiha Yashiro hurriedly asked.

Uchiha Chi wore a solemn expression. "Do you have the resolve—or rather, the mettle—to continue enduring this for Uchiha's future?"

Looking at the black tomoe in Uchiha Chi's eyes, Uchiha Yashiro fell silent for a moment.

He understood the meaning behind those words very well.

After learning a piece of the truth, he was now filled with disgust toward Uchiha Fugaku, a superior whose eyes held nothing but his own interests.

But if they wanted to investigate smoothly without alerting the enemy or alarming forces outside the clan, he had to remain in the Security Force.

And remaining in the Security Force meant he would inevitably have to stay under Uchiha Fugaku's command, while also making sure not to reveal anything in their daily interactions.

For someone as straightforward as him, it was undoubtedly an enormous challenge.

But...

How could he disappoint this boy's expectations?

"I do." Uchiha Yashiro raised his head, his gaze within the Sharingan incomparably resolute. "To take back Uchiha's future, I'd even eat shit if I had to... This is my mettle."

"That won't be necessary..." Uchiha Chi's mouth twitched, but he still nodded seriously. "Then I look forward to working with you from now on, Yashiro-senpai."

As he spoke, he smiled and extended his hand toward Uchiha Yashiro.

Uchiha Yashiro naturally took it. "Chi... what should I call you?"

After pondering for a moment, Uchiha Chi humbly replied, "Yashiro-senpai, just call me A-Chi."

"Don't call me senpai anymore." Uchiha Yashiro shook his head forcefully, his scarlet eyes full of guilt. "I was used as a weapon by Uchiha Fugaku. I'm not worthy of being your senior at all."

"A-Chi, is it? Fine, I'll call you A-Chi." He murmured the name, then nodded. "In that case, you should address me as an equal as well."

Faced with Uchiha Chi, who had also awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and uncovered Uchiha Fugaku's conspiracy, Uchiha Yashiro could no longer treat this great contributor with the tone of someone instructing a junior.

"Even so, you're still my elder..." Uchiha Chi narrowed his eyes in thought, then suddenly brightened. "Then how about I call you Old Eight?"

"Old Eight?" Uchiha Yashiro frowned slightly, repeatedly savoring the meaning of the term. He felt a strange sense of closeness within that rough, simple form of address.

"Not a bad name." He nodded in satisfaction. "Then call me Old Eight from now on!"

As he spoke, he gripped Uchiha Chi's hand tightly.

Beneath the pitch-black curtain of night, Dark Clouds veiled the bright moon, leaving only scattered stars to witness this secret meeting that would be enough to alter the course of Uchiha's history!