Birth

(Chapter 26: Birth)

"Sharingan?" Cunxia Ye looked confused. He had no idea what the Sharingan was.

Shiba Bun rolled his eyes. "That's why I keep telling you, you idiot—you should read more. Then people wouldn't call you an idiot."

"You're so rude! You're the only one who calls me an idiot!" Cunxia Ye protested. Whenever he was with Shiba Bun, Bun always called him an idiot.

Mikazuki Sora rarely spoke up. "The Sharingan is one of the Three Great Dojutsu. The Hyuga's Byakugan is another, and the last is the legendary Rinnegan. But both the Sharingan and Byakugan are very rare, even within their respective clans. The Byakugan has powerful support abilities and can detect enemies from far away, making it much more useful than the Sharingan strategically. But in battle, the Sharingan has the edge."

Cunxia Ye suddenly understood. "So the Hyuga are geniuses too!"

Hiben put her hands on her hips and said proudly, "Of course!"

"The Byakugan and Sharingan awaken in different ways. The Byakugan seems to depend more on the strength of one's bloodline, so the Hyuga have nothing to do with being geniuses," Shiba Bun said calmly.

"See? I told you. The Hyuga aren't much stronger than us. How could they be geniuses?"

"Wrong! I'm definitely a genius. I just happened to run into prodigies." She glanced at Mirai and Itachi. Hiben was certainly talented, but she couldn't compare to Mirai and Itachi, especially in combat. Being a girl put her at a disadvantage.

By then, the Third Hokage and Fourth Hokage had finished praising all the students and left. School was dismissed.

Hiben and the others pestered Mirai to train them. They had all played together back then, and now that they'd suddenly realized how far he'd pulled ahead, they naturally wanted to work hard to catch up.

After leaving school, Uchiha Itachi headed home. Cunxia Ye called after him, "Itachi, aren't you coming with us?"

"No. My little brother is due soon. Father is busy with work and doesn't have time, so I need to look after Mother," Itachi said. Since he had the Sharingan and Medical Ninjutsu was so advanced, they could tell whether the baby was a boy or a girl very early in the pregnancy. His mother was now close to giving birth, so lately Itachi had been heading home right after school.

"Oh! Congratulations on becoming a big brother!" the others said with smiles.

"Thanks. I'll be going, then." Itachi hurried off toward home.

Mirai furrowed his brow slightly. Was Uchiha Sasuke about to be born? Then Naruto should be born soon, too. He couldn't remember exactly when the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha. He had a quest related to the attack, which was also the quest to unlock the Rare Beast Pavilion. He had enough Points to abandon it, and there would be no penalty for abandoning or failing it—at worst, he'd lose some Points.

But this was a rare opportunity. Earning Points was even harder than working for a salary, and Mirai didn't want to give up the fifty Points. Besides, there was the Rare Beast Pavilion. He needed to make some preparations.

"Mirai, what are you spacing out for? Come on. If I don't improve today, I'm not letting you go."

"Then let's go. Just try to keep up," Mirai said with a smile. They headed together to their old base, the place where they used to play.

Mirai's method was simple: he fought them. Actual combat was always the best way to improve. After he thoroughly beat them up, none of them had the strength to keep going. Mirai also told them to work on their physical fitness and shared his own training routine. They were startled when they heard it. No wonder Mirai was so far ahead of them—his training was downright extreme. Of course, Mirai knew his routine was only average. There were plenty of people who trained even harder.

The next day, Mirai went to class as usual. After school, he trained with the others. A few days later, he heard from Uchiha Itachi that his little brother had been born. As Itachi's cousin, Mirai naturally went to visit.

When he arrived at Itachi's home, Mirai saw Uchiha Sasuke, still wrapped in swaddling clothes. Sasuke's eyes were tightly shut, and he seemed to be fast asleep. Newborns slept for more than twenty hours a day; when they woke, they mostly just cried.

So Mirai made sure not to make too much noise. Uchiha Sasuke looked adorable in his swaddling clothes, with fair, clean skin. After his clan's tragedy, he would look completely different.

When he watched Naruto, Mirai hadn't held anything against Sasuke. What Sasuke did was only human nature. Now, with one of the future protagonists of Naruto right in front of him, Mirai couldn't quite put his feelings into words.

"Mirai, Sasuke is your little brother too," Uchiha Mikoto said with a smile.

Mirai smiled and nodded. A little brother, huh? The Uchiha Clan had a reputation for ruining their brothers. It was a tradition handed down from the earliest generations, almost like a curse.

"If only Sasuke were as clever as you and Itachi. But more than anything, I hope he can live a happy life."

"He will, Mother," Uchiha Itachi said. Looking down at Sasuke in his swaddling clothes, he wore an unusually gentle smile.

Mirai watched Uchiha Itachi, who was genuinely happy, and thought, One day, your little brother will take your life. There was nothing he could do to change anything now, so he would let things take their course.

After dinner, Mirai said his goodbyes and left. He had thought that meeting Uchiha Sasuke might trigger some System Shop quests, but it seemed the time wasn't right, or some requirement hadn't been met. Seeing the family enjoying one another's company, Mirai didn't want to disturb them.

Although he had come to this world in a Uchiha's body, he wasn't truly part of the Uchiha Clan. He couldn't genuinely feel the bond between a mother and child, or between brothers. His home was on Earth, in some unknown dimension, and he didn't even know if he could return. Maybe one day the System Shop would sell a teleportation scroll, and he'd be able to go back. Mirai had no idea that, in the future, a teleportation scroll really would appear.