After awakening the One-Tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Sou's life suddenly picked up pace. Izuna trained him more strictly and put more care into it. He didn't just teach him the fundamentals of Nintaijutsu; he began systematically instructing him in the basic uses of the Sharingan—perception, copying, and the simplest genjutsu, Hypnosis.
Uchiha Sou absorbed every bit of knowledge like a starving man. His adult mind let him grasp the subtle control of Chakra and the logic behind tactics much faster, while the enhanced dynamic vision and perception granted by the One-Tomoe Sharingan made learning twice as effective. He was especially fascinated by genjutsu. The ability to subtly influence someone's senses and mind with Chakra seemed... more interesting than straightforward Fire Style, and offered far more room for creativity.
Of course, such intense training also meant greater demands on his body. Uchiha Sou had noticed his appetite growing and found himself tiring more easily. He had to start exercising deliberately and think about how to get more nutrition—or... earn some money.
The Uchiha Clan was a major clan in the Warring States Period, but its resources weren't limitless. As a war orphan, he had Lord Madara's support and wanted for little, but anything extra had to come from mission pay or spoils of war.
That afternoon, just as training came to an end, Izuna wiped the sweat from his brow and said casually, "There's a clan meeting tonight. Big Brother asked me to bring you along to listen in."
Uchiha Sou blinked. "A clan meeting? Me?" Going by his previous life's memories and his current status, he was far too young to attend a meeting this important.
"Mm." Izuna nodded, his gaze deepening. "You've awakened your Sharingan, so you're now part of the clan's true fighting strength. Besides... things have been tense out there lately. The Senju have been making moves one after another, and the clan needs every able-bodied member. It can't hurt to learn what's going on ahead of time."
Uchiha Sou's heart stirred, but he nodded. "Yes, Uncle Izuna."
Night fell, and the meeting hall in the Uchiha Clan Compound blazed with light.
The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Uchiha Sou followed Izuna inside and quietly took a seat toward the back of the hall. He could feel countless gazes sweeping over him, their scrutiny and curiosity tinged with a trace of... disdain? Clearly, some of the veteran shinobi didn't think much of this kid who had only been allowed in because he was the clan leader's nephew and had just awakened his Sharingan.
Several clan elders presided over the meeting, but everyone's attention was fixed on Uchiha Madara, seated at the head of the room with his eyes closed. Even sitting still, he exuded a suffocating pressure.
As Izuna had predicted, the meeting revolved around the conflict with the Senju Clan.
"Three more outposts in the northwest have been taken out. Tobirama Senju led the attack! His team moved cleanly and efficiently. Our people couldn't even send up a signal!"
"The mine in the south was harassed, too. We haven't lost it, but production has come to a complete standstill!"
"That old bastard Senju Butsuma is clearly determined to grind us down!"
The elders spoke with anger and bloodlust.
"Blood must be paid for with blood! We should gather our elite and hit them back hard!"
"Right! Show them what the Uchiha are capable of!"
"Lord Madara, give the order!"
The voices calling for war held an overwhelming majority. The Uchiha Clan had always been known for its hardline stance and its refusal to let any slight go unanswered.
Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes. His scarlet gaze swept across the room, and the noisy hall fell silent at once.
"Revenge? And then what?" Madara's voice was cold and calm. "We draw out Hashirama Senju and fight another battle? More people die, and the hatred grows deeper? Over and over, until the clan has spilled its last drop of blood?"
His questions sobered some of the more hotheaded elders, though they still looked unconvinced.
An elder spoke in a low voice. "Lord Madara, are we supposed to swallow this insult? If this goes on, what will become of the clan's reputation? We keep losing resource sites, and morale will plummet!"
"Reputation?" Madara let out a cold laugh. "You earn it through strength, not by piling up pointless sacrifices. Tobirama Senju excels at ambushes and assassinations, so we'll answer in kind. Form an elite squad and give them a taste of their own medicine. The goal isn't a large-scale conflict. It's precise strikes against their outposts and resource sites. Izuna."
"Big Brother." Izuna answered at once.
"You're in charge. Choose people you can trust completely. Move fast, and hit hard."
"Understood." A sharp glint flashed in Izuna's eyes.
Uchiha Sou listened quietly, but a storm was brewing inside him. Madara's decision still seemed hardline, but it showed a shift away from simply meeting force with force. He was focusing more on efficiency and practical gains, with even a hint of... helplessness. Was he trying to avoid a direct confrontation with Hashirama Senju? Because of Izuna?
The meeting moved on to other matters, mainly resource allocation and defensive arrangements.
Just as the meeting was drawing to a close, an elder in charge of intelligence hesitated, then finally spoke up. "There's one more thing... Several minor clans along the border have been acting restless lately. The Hagoromo Clan in particular seems to have been in more frequent contact with the Senju."
The Hagoromo Clan?
At the name, Uchiha Sou's heart lurched. If he remembered the original story correctly, the Hagoromo Clan was somehow connected to Izuna Uchiha's death. During a large-scale clash with the Senju, Izuna had been gravely wounded by Tobirama Senju while protecting Madara, and eventually died of his injuries!
He couldn't remember exactly when it happened, but it was definitely before the Uchiha and Senju reached their final peace agreement! Could it be soon?
He glanced at Izuna, seated ahead of him, then stole a look at Madara.
Madara's expression seemed to grow even colder. His fingers tapped the armrest absently. "The Hagoromo... They're just fair-weather opportunists. Keep watching them. If they really dare to betray us, we'll teach them—and the Senju—a lesson they'll never forget."
The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed.
Uchiha Sou followed Izuna out of the hall, but his thoughts remained in turmoil.
"What's wrong? Did it scare you?" Izuna noticed his distraction and asked gently. "Clan meetings are always like this, full of strife and bloodlust."
"No..." Uchiha Sou shook his head. He hesitated, then couldn't help asking in a low voice, "Uncle Izuna, is the Hagoromo Clan... a serious threat?"
Izuna looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to be concerned about this. "They're just a bunch of bootlickers. They side with whoever's stronger. Don't worry; the clan knows how to deal with them." He paused, his voice brimming with confidence. "No scheme can stand against overwhelming strength. As long as Big Brother and I are here, the Uchiha will never fall."
Looking at Izuna's confident, resolute profile, Uchiha Sou found the words "Be careful of Tobirama Senju" stuck in his throat. He couldn't bring himself to say them.
What right did he have to warn him? Some vague "feeling"? In the Uchiha Clan, strength was what gave a person a voice. Who would believe a kid who had only just awakened a One-Tomoe Sharingan? His warning might even arouse needless suspicion.
All he could do was bury his unease deep inside.
"Come on, don't overthink it." Izuna patted his shoulder. "Focus on getting stronger. Starting tomorrow, you can join my squad on a few simple patrol and reconnaissance missions. Real combat is the best teacher."
"Yes!" Uchiha Sou suppressed his troubled thoughts and nodded.
That night, Uchiha Sou lay on his bedroll, wide awake.
The elders' hateful words in the meeting hall, Madara's cold and grim decision, Izuna's confident yet unsettling smile, and the name "Hagoromo," like a curse, echoed in his mind again and again.
The wheels of history seemed to be rolling along their destined path, rumbling toward that known, sorrowful ending.
Once again, he felt how small and powerless he was.
A One-Tomoe Sharingan meant nothing in the struggle between clans, let alone in the tides of the Warring States Period.
"Power... I need to get stronger faster..."
"But... what can I do? Just watch it happen?"
He turned over, his gaze seeming to pierce the roof and look out at the silent, dangerous night sky.
A vague, daring thought quietly took root in his heart for the first time.
If... if he couldn't change anything head-on, could he... secretly nudge some insignificant piece on the board from the shadows, without anyone noticing?
For example, make a messenger from the Hagoromo Clan "accidentally" lose his way? Or make a plan to ambush the Uchiha supply line "coincidentally" come to light just a little earlier?
He didn't know whether his newly awakened eyes could help him do it, or what kind of chain reaction his actions might set off.
But the urge to do something, to break free of the path fate had laid out, took root in his heart like a seed.
The night was still young.
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