Uchiha Zuho (2)

Uchiha Zuho soon returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound he knew so well. He walked silently to his family's front door and reached out to push it open.

But for some reason, he seemed to have lost even the strength to open the door.

In the end, Uchiha Zuho took a deep breath and gently pushed it open. He was just about to say, "I'm home."

Suddenly, a figure a head taller than Uchiha Zuho appeared right in front of him. Before he could react, the figure slammed into him. Zuho's body toppled backward against his will, and he landed hard on his backside.

After knocking Uchiha Zuho down, the figure didn't even apologize. Instead, he muttered in an annoyed, disdainful tone, "What rotten luck! I just stepped outside and already ran into a roadblock like you. Hey, watch where you're going next time."

As if it were all Uchiha Zuho's fault, though Zuho still stiffly replied, "I'm sorry, big brother. I'll be more careful next time."

The one who had knocked Uchiha Zuho down was his biological older brother, Uchiha Fun.

"Tch, enough already! Listen up! Don't call me your brother when we're outside! I don't have a weak, useless little brother like you! I get laughed at and mocked because of you every single time! It's humiliating!

"Now hurry up and get out of my way! Don't block me! I've already made plans with my friends! If this roadblock of yours makes me late, I'm blaming you for all of it!"

Uchiha Fun shouted furiously. He even tried to kick Uchiha Zuho, who was still on the ground, but Zuho rolled aside and dodged the blow.

Seeing this, Uchiha Fun's face twisted with disdain, and he gave a scornful "Tch."

He looked down on Uchiha Zuho for dodging, thinking he was nothing but a coward.

Then Uchiha Fun turned and walked away without looking back, hurrying off as if he couldn't bear to stay a moment longer. He soon disappeared into the dark night, leaving Uchiha Zuho lying alone on the ground.

As he watched Uchiha Fun's retreating figure, Uchiha Zuho was overcome by complicated feelings.

He slowly got to his feet and gently brushed the dust from his clothes and hands, gazing blankly at the open doorway.

Beyond it, a dim hallway stretched into the depths of the house. A faint light shone through the gap beneath a door at the far end.

Uchiha Zuho knew someone was waiting for him there. He straightened his rumpled clothes.

He started toward that sliver of light. With every step, it felt as if he were walking on cotton, his legs weak and unsteady.

Uchiha Zuho didn't know why he felt so powerless in his own home, but he kept moving forward.

As he drew closer, the faint light grew clearer.

When he reached the room, he stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke softly.

"Grandfather, I'm home."

A low voice came from inside.

"Come in!"

Uchiha Zuho opened the door and entered. Three people were seated inside.

"Good evening, Grandfather, Father, Mother."

Their gazes all fell on Uchiha Zuho. One of them was like a sharp sword, aimed straight at him, and he felt an indescribably heavy pressure.

He couldn't help lowering his head, as if the gaze weighed a thousand pounds and was too much to bear.

The owner of that gaze was his grandfather, Uchiha Setsuna.

Some of Konoha's older generation would recognize him. Uchiha Setsuna had been active in Konoha during the reign of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

A typical hardliner among the Uchiha, Uchiha Setsuna had resented Tobirama Senju's policies toward the Uchiha Clan.

Having inherited Uchiha Madara's will, he burned with a fierce desire to reclaim from the Senju Clan the power and status that belonged to the Uchiha.

This ambition drove Uchiha Setsuna to take action again and again, trying to change the status quo.

But his plans hadn't escaped Tobirama Senju's notice. When Setsuna tried to incite the Uchiha into rebellion and unrest, Tobirama quickly caught wind of it and decisively sent Anbu members to investigate.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Uchiha Setsuna couldn't deny the charges. Tobirama Senju personally ordered the Anbu to arrest him and lock him away in the heavily guarded Konoha Prison.

From then on, the ambitious man lost his freedom. At just twenty-six, in the prime of his life, he could only endure the days in a cold cell.

When he thought he would spend the rest of his life in prison, Uchiha Setsuna was released in his twelfth year behind bars. His son, Uchiha Shin, had paid to buy his freedom.

The reason Uchiha Setsuna could be released after so many years was that he had been arrested before he could put his plans into action. At most, he was guilty of an attempted uprising.

He was released in Konoha's twenty-third year. Uchiha Setsuna also learned that Tobirama Senju, the man who had put him behind bars for twelve years, had died in battle several years earlier. Tobirama's student and former leader of the Hokage's guard squad, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was now the Third Hokage.

By then, his daughter-in-law had given birth to a grandson. In the newborn child, Uchiha Setsuna saw fresh hope for realizing his ambitions, and he gave him a name full of meaning: "Fun."

Uchiha Fun! A fire burning beneath the forest!

Yes. After all those years in prison, the torment had twisted Uchiha Setsuna's heart. His ambition was no longer limited to reclaiming the Uchiha's power and status from the Senju Clan.

Now, he wanted to control all of Konoha! Or perhaps destroy the entire village!

From then on, Uchiha Setsuna devoted himself to raising his grandson, Uchiha Fun.

When the people of his generation in the clan learned that Uchiha Setsuna had been released, they came to visit him. Seeing him at home, earnestly caring for his grandson, they all assumed he had mended his ways.

They congratulated him with smiles, never noticing that when Uchiha Setsuna gazed at the babbling Uchiha Fun in his arms, his eyes held not affection but a tangle of ambition and desire.

The peaceful days continued. Time flew by, and before long it was Konoha's twenty-fifth year. Uchiha Fun was already two years old, old enough to begin training.

Not long afterward, Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Kaori had another son. Having witnessed Uchiha Fun's astonishing talent during this time, Uchiha Setsuna couldn't help conceiving a chilling idea.

This younger grandson could help his older brother as he grew.

So Uchiha Setsuna named the little boy "Zuho."

Uchiha Zuho—the one who would help his brother Uchiha Fun's blazing fire burn ever brighter.

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