Fatherly Love, Filial Piety, Uchiha

Chapter 2: Fatherly Kindness and Filial Piety in Uchiha

As expected, when things go wrong, just beat up your little brother...

After giving Madara a sound thrashing, Uchiha Shin felt his body instantly refreshed and his mood improved significantly.

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

"Big Brother, I'm hungry..."

Three-year-old Izuna sat cross-legged on the tatami mat, clutching his stomach with both hands, his eyes blinking as he gazed at Uchiha Shin, his expression filled with a longing for food.

"Um, Big Brother, I'm hungry too..."

Hearing Izuna say this, Madara scrambled up, looking at Uchiha Shin with a fawning, pitiful expression.

Uchiha Shin clutched his forehead in sudden agony.

"I suppose I owe you two."

In truth, it was nearly noon, and Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Aoi had been out for half a day.

Children were naturally impatient when hungry, so it was perfectly normal for Madara and Izuna to be complaining now.

Fortunately, Uchiha To and Uchiha Kawa, the two younger brothers, were so small that Uchiha Aoi hadn't felt comfortable leaving them in Uchiha Shin's care.

Before heading out on their mission, Uchiha Aoi had entrusted those two to the care of Uchiha Shin's aunt.

Otherwise, there was no way Uchiha Shin could have managed to watch four children all by himself.

Although the Uchiha Clan was one of the most powerful ninja clans in the Land of Fire...

And Uchiha Shin was the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan leader—in modern terms, he was a bona fide young master of a great family!

How could a young master of a great family not have maids or nannies to serve and care for him?

Actually, you're overthinking it.

One must realize that both the clan leader and his wife had to personally go out to execute missions, which showed that the Uchiha Clan truly had no surplus of ninjas or civilians.

It was a case of every single person being essential to the operation!

That was why Uchiha Shin, the dignified eldest son of the clan leader, had been reduced to babysitting.

As for what special privileges or benefits the clan leader's household had?

Uchiha Shin tilted his head and thought about it; perhaps the food was a little better, maybe!

In the Warring States period of Naruto, the average life expectancy was only about thirty years, and the biggest reason for dragging down this average was the high rate of infant mortality.

In ninja clans, six-year-old children had to take up blades and kunai to head to the battlefield; looking back at our five thousand years of Chinese history, there was no dynasty like that.

Without a stable environment, how could the common people at the bottom possibly engage in production safely and with peace of mind?

Therefore, in the Warring States period of Naruto, all kinds of supplies were truly scarce!

Take the Uchiha Clan as an example: for civilian families within the clan, their daily food was rice plus two pieces of boiled radish, and at most, a bowl of nameless miso soup.

The key was that they weren't even guaranteed to be full.

It was slightly better for families with ninjas; they could probably eat white rice, but eating white rice at every meal was likely considered a luxury, so rice with boiled radish was essentially unavoidable.

However, for the clan leader's household, they had completely bid farewell to the days of worrying about rice; they could still eat white rice at every meal, and occasionally they could even mix in dried salted fish, pickled radish, and miso soup.

After all, salt was considered a rather scarce commodity in this Warring States period of Naruto.

"What do you want to eat for lunch today?"

Uchiha Shin asked in a very democratic manner.

"How about plum rice!"

Three-year-old Izuna subconsciously swallowed, his voice filled with longing for plum rice.

"What about you, Madara?"

Uchiha Shin turned his head to look at Madara.

"Then let's have plum rice!"

"I haven't eaten it in a long time either..."

Madara scratched his head and replied happily.

"Then the old rules apply..."

"Madara, go chop the firewood; Izuna, you're responsible for the fire later; I'll wash the rice and take charge of cooking. Any problems?"

After hearing their answers, Uchiha Shin began to delegate the tasks.

Fortunately, Uchiha Shin had gained a wealth of babysitting experience over the past few years, so cooking and such were no problem for him at all.

And under Uchiha Shin's careful cultivation, four-year-old Madara had become a master of chopping wood, while three-year-old Izuna had become an expert at tending the fire, haha.

Once the tasks were assigned, the three of them walked out of the house and into the courtyard.

Uchiha Shin first scooped half a pot of water from the water vat in the yard into the clay pot used for daily cooking.

Then, he turned back to retrieve the rice from the rice jar inside the house, carefully placing the amount suitable for the three of them into the clay pot. He held the pot with one hand and plunged his other hand into the rice, gently stirring it in a clockwise motion.

Two or three minutes later, Uchiha Shin had finished washing the rice.

After pouring out the excess water, Uchiha Shin took three dried plums from a jar in the room and buried them deep into the rice.

Once that was done, Uchiha Shin hung the clay pot containing the rice and plums on the rack above the hearth.

After four-year-old Madara finished chopping the firewood, he and three-year-old Izuna carried the wood over and set it down by the hearth in the room.

Three-year-old Izuna skillfully took out a flint and quickly ignited a fire in the hearth.

As dry wood was added, the flames in the hearth burned brighter and brighter.

The process of cooking rice was, naturally, a bit dull.

Aside from Izuna occasionally adding a handful of dry wood to the hearth, the attention of all three was fixed on the clay pot hanging from the rack above the fire.

About thirty minutes later, the aroma of the dried plums drifted directly through the lid of the clay pot.

"It smells so good..."

"Can we eat it yet! Big Brother!"

Izuna, who was tending the fire, took a deep breath of the plum-scented air and said with a hint of intoxication.

"Mm!"

Uchiha Shin nodded, then stood up and carefully removed the clay pot from the rack, carrying it over to the low table nearby.

When Uchiha Shin lifted the lid of the clay pot, the sweet and tart scent of the dried plums mixed with the unique fragrance of the rice instantly filled the entire room.

"Plum rice really is great, haha!"

"That's right, that's right!"

Hearing the discussion between Izuna and Madara, Uchiha Shin smiled slightly, then filled a full bowl of rice for Madara, Izuna, and himself, topping each person's portion with one of the dried plums.

"I'm digging in!"

After Uchiha Shin, Uchiha Izuna, and Uchiha Madara pressed their hands together in thanks, they began their assault on the plum rice before them.

"Delicious!"

"So good!"

In no time at all, the three of them had swallowed the plum rice in their bowls.

The gluttonous Izuna even licked his bowl clean at the end, haha.

Sigh, what a pitiful child, he hasn't seen much of the world.

Uchiha Shin couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the eight great culinary traditions and the countless delicacies of his past life.

Thinking of the hardships he had endured in the five years since he transmigrated... he really shouldn't have been such a chatterbox back then, talking about how "Lord Madara" was washed up or whatever.

After Uchiha Shin cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, he brewed a pot of hot tea. Each of them took a cup, slurped it down, and then lay on the tatami mats without a shred of decorum.

Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Aoi, the married couple, had gone out on a mission and had been gone for two days.

By the time the two of them returned home, it was already the evening of the second day.

"We're home...!"

"Mom and Dad are back!"

Hearing the voices of Uchiha Aoi and Uchiha Tajima, Izuna, who had been lying on the tatami playing dead, sat up at once and ran toward the door.

"Mom...!"

Children will be children; four-year-old Madara looked with disdain at Izuna, who had immediately thrown himself into their mother's arms.

He was a big kid now; he wouldn't engage in such childish behavior like Izuna.

As for Uchiha Shin, it was already difficult enough for him to pretend to be a child; asking him to act spoiled toward Uchiha Aoi was something he truly couldn't do!

"Madara, and Shin, why aren't you coming over to welcome Mom?"

"Mom is so heartbroken!"

Uchiha Aoi pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction with Madara and Shin, who were unwilling to come over for a hug.

"Welcome home, Mom and Dad!"

Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Madara walked slowly toward Uchiha Aoi and greeted their parents with smiles.

"Mm!"

Uchiha Tajima nodded slightly and gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

After all, as the head of the clan and the master of the house, he couldn't express his emotions as freely as his wife.

He still had to maintain the dignity of a clan head and a father!

"Shin, Madara, you've actually become distant with Mom."

"Mom is just so heartbroken!"

Uchiha Aoi feigned a huff, stretched out both hands, and began to ruffle the hair of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Shin.

Uchiha Shin felt Uchiha Aoi's gentle hand on his head and couldn't help but wonder why he felt like a cat being petted.

"Too cunning..."

"I want Mommy to rub my head too."

Izuna, currently in Uchiha Aoi's arms, decided to join in the fun; not daring to challenge Uchiha Shin, he set his sights on Madara instead.

The three-year-old Izuna acted like a little piglet, grunting and nudging his way forward until he had pushed four-year-old Madara's head right out from under Uchiha Aoi's hand.

Uchiha Aoi seemed quite pleased to see her sons behaving this way.

Harmony between brothers is something every parent longs to see.

After the four of them played for a while, Uchiha Aoi went out again to fetch Uchiha To and Uchiha Kawa from Uchiha Shin's aunt.

She then dumped the two little ones onto Uchiha Shin and went off to prepare dinner.

Well, herding two sheep is one thing, but herding four is another; Uchiha Shin once again transformed into a nanny, beginning to carefully look after his four younger brothers.

Before long, the sky outside had turned completely dark.

Uchiha Tajima sat beside the low table, sipping hot tea while casting his gaze toward his five sons.

Although he maintained the stern demeanor of a clan head and patriarch, deep down, he was actually quite elated.

Uchiha Shin was already five years old this year and would be participating in the clan trials next year; lately, he had been either busy with clan affairs or out on missions.

Had he been neglecting his eldest son?

Uchiha Tajima pondered this while drinking his tea.

Thirty minutes later, Uchiha Aoi finished preparing dinner and brought it out.

Steamed rice, miso soup, pickled radishes, and dried salted fish—this was tonight's dinner.

Uchiha Shin looked at the meal on the low table and muttered to himself that tonight's dinner was actually quite luxurious!

But no matter, he would eat his fill first.

"Itadakimasu!" ×7

The Uchiha Tajima family enjoyed a meal that looked quite sumptuous for this era, filled with warmth and laughter.

After dinner, Uchiha Aoi took Madara, Izuna, To, and Kawa off to rest first.

After all, in the Warring States period of the ninja world, there were no evening entertainment activities, so people generally went to bed early after dinner.

Uchiha Shin, however, was kept behind by Uchiha Tajima.

It was clear that Uchiha Tajima had something to say to Uchiha Shin tonight.

Uchiha Tajima sat cross-legged in front of Uchiha Shin, thought for a moment, and began, "Shin, you're five years old this year, aren't you?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Uchiha Shin didn't know what Uchiha Tajima was thinking, so he could only nod and grunt in agreement.

"You've been very steady since you were small, and you never liked to make a fuss."

"You've saved your mother and me a lot of worry."

Uchiha Tajima started off by showering five-year-old Uchiha Shin with praise.

Uchiha Shin nodded in agreement, quietly waiting for Uchiha Tajima to continue.

After all, with a thirty-year-old adult soul inside a five-year-old body, it would be impossible to be rowdy, right?

Right.

Uchiha Tajima then changed the subject: "You'll be six next year. You should know what that means for you, right?"

"I know. I'll likely have to participate in the clan trials next year."

"After all, heading to the battlefield at six is the tradition and the rule for every ninja clan in the Land of Fire."

Uchiha Shin answered with great composure.

"Shin, you really are quite something."

"To face next year's clan trials without fear or hesitation—I am truly happy that you have this resolve."

"You are worthy of being the eldest son of Uchiha Tajima."

Hearing his eldest son's calm response, Uchiha Tajima nodded in satisfaction, his heart filled with joy.

"I've been busy with clan affairs these past few years, and I haven't paid much attention to your training..."

"Tomorrow morning, we will go to the training grounds. I will personally test your strength. If you cannot meet my standards, I will train you strictly for the next year!"

"Having resolve is one thing, but the level of your strength is another!"

"I don't want the eldest son of Uchiha Tajima to fail even the Uchiha clan's trials."

Uchiha Tajima crossed his arms and stared intently at Uchiha Shin, wanting to give his eldest son a heads-up in advance.

"Father, I have never slacked off in my training during this time..."

"Please look forward to the results of my training during this period when we are at the training ground tomorrow!"

Facing Uchiha Tajima's reprimand, Uchiha Shin replied neither servile nor overbearing.

"Hm!"

After hearing the answer he wanted, Uchiha Tajima rose and headed toward his bedroom, preparing to rest.

Uchiha Shin likewise turned and walked toward his own bedroom.

As he walked, Uchiha Shin thought...

Back when he first transmigrated here and realized he had become Madara's older brother, and that his name was merely a background character who never appeared in the original Naruto series.

One had to know that in the original work, Uchiha Madara was the eldest son of the family, yet now he had become the eldest of the Uchiha clan.

So, regardless of whether this was due to the butterfly effect, or if Madara had always had an older brother who simply died prematurely before Madara was born.

Which was why Madara didn't know.

None of that mattered...

The key was that he feared death more than anyone, so naturally, he worked harder than anyone else.

Ever since he could remember, aside from the time needed to look after his younger brothers, all his time had been spent on cultivation.

Heh heh, tomorrow I, Uchiha Shin, will shock everyone; I must make Uchiha Tajima greatly astonished. Only if I perform well enough will the clan's resources and the like be tilted in my direction.

Yes, that's right, he, Uchiha Shin, is going to outcompete everyone...