Opening Eyes!

Year 70 of Konoha.

Deep within the dense forest outside Konohagakure, night fell, dyeing the sea of trees a suffocating shade of ink. Only scattered moonlight struggled to pierce the layers of branches and leaves, casting mottled and eerie spots of light on the ground.

Hasty breaths and stumbling footsteps shattered the forest's deathly silence.

Two young figures were running with all their might. The slightly older one was Uchiha Sakuya, about seven years old. He tightly gripped the wrist of his younger brother, Uchiha Ren—a child of only five or six, already panting heavily—almost dragging him through the rugged forest. Their already tattered Uchiha clan robes were practically in tatters, stained with dirt and grass, making them look utterly pathetic.

"B-Brother, I can't run anymore..." Ren had inherited their mother's beauty exceptionally well. His voice was choked with tears and hoarse from exhaustion, his small face pale. Every breath was like pulling a bellows.

"We can't stop! Ren, just a little longer!" Sakuya's voice was equally hurried, but carried an undeniable firmness. He glanced back, his still-young black eyes filled with panic, yet he tried his best to project a sense of calm for his brother, "We're almost within the village's warning range!"

However, the sound of breaking air behind them ruthlessly shattered their hope.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several shuriken precisely embedded themselves into the tree trunks in front of them, forcing them to stop abruptly.

"Tch, two little brats from the Uchiha clan, quite the runners." A cold voice emerged from the shadows. Three mercenaries in simple ninja armor, with fierce expressions, surrounded them in a triangular formation, their eyes like jackals sizing up prey.

They had been hired by a faction fearful of the remaining Uchiha forces, tasked with eliminating these "potential seeds of danger."

Sakuya immediately shielded his brother behind him, quickly pulling out a kunai from his ninja pouch and assuming a defensive stance, though his hands trembled slightly. He knew these were experienced desperadoes, far beyond the capabilities of two newly graduated genin like themselves.

The scarred mercenary leader sneered, "Big brother, let's not waste time. Let's finish them quickly and collect the bounty."

"Brother..." Ren hid behind Sakuya, his small hands clutching Sakuya's robe tightly, trembling all over with fear.

"Don't be scared, Ren, stay close to me!" Sakuya growled, trying to find an opening to break through.

But the mercenaries gave them no chance. Two of them instantly attacked, their kunai and short swords flashing with deadly cold light. Sakuya barely managed to block the attack aimed at him, but the immense force numbed his arm, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.

"Brat, die!" Another mercenary cunningly circled around, his target aimed directly at the seemingly weaker Ren.

"Ren! Dodge!" Sakuya's eyes were about to split open. He wanted to go to his brother's aid but was pinned down by his opponent.

Just as the cold blade was about to pierce Ren's chest, this little boy who had been cowering behind his brother, trembling with fright, erupted with a surge of courage from somewhere. He let out a scream and shoved his brother forcefully in a safer direction, then used all his strength, gripping a small kunai, to charge forward!

"You're not allowed to hurt my brother!"

His voice was sharp with childishness, yet carried a desperate tenacity.

Clang!

How could a small kunai possibly block the full force of an adult mercenary's slash? Ren's kunai was instantly knocked away, his hand splitting open and bleeding profusely. The immense impact sent him flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against a large tree with a dull thud before slumping softly to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"Ren!!!" Sakuya's roar tore through the night sky. He watched helplessly as his brother was sent flying like a rag doll, unable to do anything. Ren's small body curled up beneath the tree, his life or death unknown.

In that instant, boundless fear and searing pain gripped his heart.

"Such touching brotherly love." The mercenary who had injured Ren grinned sinisterly and walked step by step towards the defenseless Ren, raising his sword high, "Let's start with you, you little brat!"

The blade reflected the bleak moonlight, aimed at Ren's tender neck, and then fell heavily!

"No--!!!"

Extreme rage, despair, and the boundless fear of losing his beloved sibling erupted like a volcano in Uchiha Sakuya's chest! A searing pain, almost enough to tear his eyes apart, exploded from the depths of his eyes!

The world in his vision suddenly changed!

His sight became incredibly clear. The subtle tremors of the enemy's muscles, the trajectory of the blade cutting through the air, the slow process of leaves falling... everything seemed to slow down and be analyzed. That torrent of fiery emotion broke through some innate shackles, transforming into a cold and powerful force that surged into his eyes.

The black pupils in his eyes instantly turned blood-red. Two black tomoe quickly appeared within that blood-redness, spinning, emitting an eerie and cold light.

Two-Tomoe Sharingan, awakened!

Time seemed to freeze.

The swordsman mercenary's movements appeared full of flaws in his eyes, laughably slow.

"Get... lost!"

Sakuya's voice was low, unlike a child's, filled with overwhelming killing intent. His body seemed driven by instinct, moving at extreme speed, even leaving a slight afterimage.

At the very instant before the blade touched Ren!

Squelch!

A kunai, at an incredibly tricky angle, pierced the mercenary's throat with pinpoint accuracy.

The sinister grin on the mercenary's face froze instantly, turning into disbelief and shock. He futilely clutched the wound from which warm blood spurted, gurgled, and finally fell heavily to the ground, his eyes glazing over.

All of this happened too quickly, too fast for the other two mercenaries to react.

"What? Sharingan?!" The scarred mercenary looked at Sakuya's eerie blood-red eyes in horror, his internal alarm bells ringing loudly, "The intel was wrong! This brat..."

But his exclamation was cut short.

With the Sharingan awakened, Sakuya's fighting style was completely different. He could see through all movements and predict every attack. Rage and killing intent drove him, pushing his learned taijutsu to its absolute limit.

Figures crossed, and kunai clashed, sparks flying.

The other mercenary was exposed for a feint within a few moves by Sakuya. His kunai accurately sliced open the mercenary's wrist. In the instant the mercenary was stunned by the pain, a fatal blow reached his throat.

Only the scarred leader remained. Fear had already taken root in his heart, but Sakuya gave him no chance. Even the genjutsu ability of a two-tomoe Sharingan was enough to make a wavering opponent lose focus for an instant.

The scarred mercenary's movements faltered for a moment.

It was in that instant!

Sakuya Uchiha closed the distance like a phantom, his kunai piercing through the man's heart without a moment's hesitation.

The forest returned to a deathly silence, leaving only the thick, nauseating scent of blood to permeate the air.

The blood-red hue in Sakuya's eyes slowly faded, and the tomoe vanished. The intense chakra consumption and mental strain left him feeling dizzy and weak. Yet, he could not afford to care; he stumbled toward his younger brother.

"Lian! Lian!" He scooped up his brother's limp body with trembling hands, his voice filled with lingering fear and panic.

Little Lian struggled to open his eyes. Seeing his brother safe and sound, a weak but relieved smile broke across his blood-stained face: "Brother... you're okay... that's good..."

Watching his brother's frail state and feeling his shallow breathing, while recalling the desperate, Thousand Jun moment from just before, Sakuya Uchiha pulled his brother into a tight embrace, his tears finally spilling over uncontrollably. These eyes, just awakened for the sake of slaughter, were now shedding scalding tears solely for the sake of protection.

In the shadows of the era of peace that the Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, had strived to build, the wheel of fate for the Uchiha seemed to be turning once again in a cruel fashion, centered upon a young child. It was as if the members of the Uchiha clan were burdened by a heavy, inescapable curse.