Father and Son

The relationship between father and son had always been difficult to put into words.

No matter how many arguments they had once had, no matter how deeply they had disagreed, Shisui cast it all aside at this moment.

"He possessed terrifying power—the power to reshape the entire terrain in an instant, even affect the weather. That power was as terrifying as the First Hokage described in our clan's records!"

Shisui spoke in a low voice. "Before him, I felt as insignificant as an ant..."

Slap!

Uchiha Hikari struck Shisui across the face, sending him straight to the ground.

Shisui stared in stunned disbelief, only to see uncontrollable fury on his father's face. It was flushed bright red, and his entire body was even trembling!

"Father..."

"The power of the Uchiha Clan is unparalleled! It cannot be questioned!"

Uchiha Hikari's voice was furious, filled with disappointment. "Don't look at me like that! Uchiha Shisui, you are a genius of the Uchiha Clan, the pride of the Uchiha Clan, the future of the Uchiha Clan—and the son of Uchiha Hikari! How could such thoughts ever arise in your mind?!"

"Father, I..."

"I know what you're thinking, Uchiha Shisui. Your Three-Tomoe Sharingan, even Fugaku's Three-Tomoe... cough, cough, cough... Fugaku's Three-Tomoe was just as powerless before that man's Hyoton... cough... after all... cough... it was power that even Jiraiya's Sage Mode suffered a crushing defeat against."

"But... cough, cough, cough, cough... but who told you that the Three-Tomoe Sharingan is the limit of our Uchiha Clan?!"

His agitation made Uchiha Hikari cough without pause. Shisui tried to step forward, only for Uchiha Hikari to shove him away.

"I'm telling you, Uchiha Shisui, no matter what a person lacks, they cannot lack confidence. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan has never been the limit of our Uchiha Clan. Beyond it lies power on an even higher level!"

"W-What..." Shisui was taken aback.

"Konohagakure was founded long ago by our ancestor and the First Hokage together. Back then, our ancestor possessed power in no way inferior to the First Hokage's. That was the true power of the Uchiha Clan—power sufficient to pacify an age of chaos!"

"The Mangekyō Sharingan!"

Uchiha Hikari seized Shisui by the shoulders. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes stared fixedly at Shisui's young face. "As long as you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, you can unlock the ultimate power of the Uchiha Clan. Before that power, this so-called Yuki Yoru will be nothing but a pathetic mongrel! As long as you awaken the Mangekyō, the glory of our Uchiha Clan will emerge once more!"

"And you, Uchiha Shisui—my son—your talent is the greatest I have ever seen. It is even enough to stand alongside the ancestor recorded in our clan's archives!"

"If there is anyone who can awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and gain power comparable to our ancestor's, then I believe it must be you, Uchiha Shisui. That person must be you!"

"I..."

Uchiha Shisui opened his mouth. Looking at his father, whose veins bulged from agitation and whose face was flushed red, he did not know what to say for a moment.

His father had placed immense hopes upon him, but could he truly do it?

He did not even have both of his Sharingan... anymore.

"I know what you're thinking!"

Uchiha Hikari spoke again. With forceful hands, he tore away the bandages covering Shisui's face, revealing the empty eye socket beneath.

Squelch!

"Father!"

Before Shisui's disbelieving eyes, Uchiha Hikari forcibly gouged a crimson eyeball from his own eye and stuffed it directly into Shisui's empty socket.

Chakra circulated, stimulating the nerves in the eye as blood streamed down both their faces.

A smile appeared on Uchiha Hikari's face. His bloodstained palm pressed tightly over Shisui's right eye as Chakra continuously flowed into it. "We are father and son. Our eyes will not reject one another. This eye will help you see farther!"

"Father, no, I..."

"Shisui!"

Shisui wanted to say something. At a loss, his first instinct was to return the eye to his father, but Uchiha Hikari gripped his head tightly.

"I was going to die anyway. You know that—I was going to die anyway."

"Your father is a useless man. I never gave you much fatherly love, nor did I lead the Uchiha Clan to greater glory. But do you know, Shisui? Your father was once someone remarkable too. I was a genius of the Uchiha Clan, and the pride of your Grandfather."

"But your father was useless. I did not have the capacity to keep walking forward... Ever since your Grandfather died—died in the so-called manner of a 'hero'—the Uchiha Clan gradually withdrew from Konohagakure's core..."

Uchiha Hikari rambled on, pressing close to Shisui's face as he spoke words Shisui had never heard before.

"Dad..." Shisui embraced Uchiha Hikari.

In Shisui's memory, his father had been an exceptionally proud, exceptionally solitary man.

In his heart, the honor and glory of the clan had always come first. No member of the Uchiha Clan could ever be bullied in his eyes; they always had to stand above everyone else in Konohagakure. That stubbornness, that unhealthy pride, had once made Shisui think his father was a fanatic.

But now, Shisui understood.

It had all begun with the death of his Grandfather, Kagami Uchiha.

Ever since Kagami Uchiha died in battle, the entire core of Konohagakure had been completely controlled by the Hokage's faction. They had gradually driven the Uchiha Clan out of the center of power, trying to turn one of the two great clans that founded Konohagakure into an ordinary clan like any other.

To fight against this, his father, Uchiha Hikari, had protested again and again, worked tirelessly again and again, but ultimately still failed.

But...

Shisui still could not understand it. They were all part of Konohagakure—was there really anything wrong with becoming like an ordinary clan?

But he did not say it aloud. He knew his father's state clearly. If he spoke carelessly again, something very bad might happen.

"Foolish! Foolish! Foolish!"

Uchiha Hikari suddenly flew into a rage and grabbed Shisui by the shoulders.

His scarlet Sharingan and bloodied eye socket stared fixedly at Shisui. "How could you think such things? Did you think I didn't know what you were thinking?!"

"The Sharingan possess the power of resonance. My eye is in your socket—how could I possibly not sense your thoughts?!"

"Father, it's not like that, I—"

"Uchiha Shisui, get this straight. It was the Uchiha and Senju who founded Konohagakure. Not the Sarutobi Clan, and not the Shimura Clan! Why was the First Hokage and Second Hokage from the Senju Clan, yet the Third Hokage wasn't one of us, and even the Fourth Hokage still isn't one of us?!"

"We are Uchiha, Uchiha Shisui. We are Uchiha! Cast those thoughts out of your head. You are the pride of the Uchiha Clan. I want you to seize the position of Fourth Hokage. I want you to become the Fourth Hoka—"

Uchiha Hikari's words abruptly stopped. The body whose hands clutched Shisui suddenly stiffened, then collapsed limply against Shisui.

Uchiha Shisui stood frozen in place. Looking at Uchiha Hikari's ferocious face, now utterly devoid of life, his entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Father... no, no, Dad, no... don't die, Dad!!!"