Upheaval

In Yating, on the other side of Konoha, Fugaku arrived with his son, Uchiha Itachi.§

Fugaku didn't mind that Qi hadn't come to welcome him, the clan head. Itachi, however, was displeased that they'd been received by an Uchiha he didn't know.

It wasn't that he felt they were being looked down on. But Qi had only just split off from the clan. Wasn't this a little too disrespectful toward the Uchiha Clan?

A divided clan would never be able to reach a unified opinion, and without unity, Konoha would never accept them.

"Where's Qi? Just because you moved out, does that mean you're no longer Uchiha? How dare you treat the Uchiha Clan's leader with such disrespect?"

Tenshen ignored the child.

Lord Qi had once described Itachi as a good child who simply hadn't grown up in a good environment.

When a perceptive five-year-old hadn't yet formed a sound outlook on life, it was easy for adults to sway him with their words. He would imitate them and grow into the person they wanted him to be.

That was why adults liked children who seemed mature beyond their years, even though they should have been carefree and innocent.

Through their words of encouragement and demands, and by affirming his behavior, the adults were guiding this child to think about things he shouldn't have to consider at his age.

And the things they guided him toward were no more than what they themselves hadn't managed to accomplish when they were young, but hoped the next generation would achieve.

The idea that a father's expectations could make his son a dragon was always a fallacy. If the father was a dragon, his son would probably turn out fine. If he wasn't, chances were his son wouldn't be one either.

Uchiha Itachi was only five. He hadn't even seen the world yet. What could he possibly know?

When someone who knew little tried to consider a very complicated problem, he could arrive at a conclusion he felt certain was true, even though it was absurd. In the end, a good child would rely on his own fantasies to fulfill the adults' expectations—and become someone unrecognizable.

Itachi was a good child. He wanted to become the person the adults expected him to be.

Konoha encouraged him to become Hokage, and the Uchiha expected him to become Hokage, so he held himself to the image of a Hokage he'd made up in his mind. His inhuman ideas weren't the child's fault. His environment had shaped him into that person.

Praising a child to death was a truly disgusting tactic.

So although Tenshen disliked the little boy, he didn't blame him.

After all, Lord Qi had explained all this to the pregnant women of the Iga and Koga styles, hoping they wouldn't become the kind of adults who pressured their children to achieve what they themselves couldn't—and raise another child like Uchiha Itachi.

As for reforming Itachi, Tenshen thought, That's none of my business. He isn't my son.

He politely invited Fugaku to take a seat and offered no further explanation for Lord Qi's absence. Instead, he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, which was enough to show that he was qualified to receive Fugaku.

Fugaku had been somewhat displeased by the child's words and thought Qi was being rude. But all his displeasure vanished at once.

Fugaku's eyes widened.

"What? You awakened the Mangekyō too? How did you do it?" In Fugaku's mind, the young girl Uchiha Oboro had awakened her Mangekyō long ago as well. He didn't know that her Mangekyō had been fake—but now the fake had become real.

After speaking, Fugaku sighed and shook his head. His question had been even more discourteous. Before Tenshen could answer, Fugaku continued on his own.

"Ah, I was rude. As someone who awakened the Mangekyō, how could I not understand what you may have gone through recently? You've suffered, Tenshen."

As he spoke, he bowed to Tenshen, offering his condolences and expressing gratitude for what he'd done for the Uchiha Clan.

For an Uchiha, awakening the Mangekyō was the greatest contribution one could make to the clan.

But every Mangekyō awakening meant a human tragedy had taken place. Asking someone what misfortune they'd suffered was indeed rather impolite.

Fugaku looked as though he shared Tenshen's pain, leaving Tenshen a little embarrassed.

"Lord Fugaku, I'm fine. Nothing terrible happened to me. Lord Qi asked me to receive you so I could explain the proper way to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. Perhaps this can prevent many unnecessary tragedies."

Tenshen was at a loss. He hadn't said a word, yet Fugaku was acting as if his entire family had died. It was awkward.

Fugaku excitedly grabbed Tenshen's hand. Having been troubled by the Sharingan's curse for decades, he could hardly believe what he'd just heard.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you awakened it without anything terrible happening?"

This was the kind of news that could rewrite the clan's history. Fugaku had to get the facts straight.

Tenshen didn't answer. He simply withdrew his hand and asked casually,

"Lord Fugaku, how did you awaken your Mangekyō?"

Tenshen's question made Fugaku uncomfortable.

This kind of secret wasn't something one usually shared with outsiders. After all, battles between ninja were often battles of information. When their strength was evenly matched, whoever knew more about the other side had a better chance of winning.

But Fugaku had no choice but to answer.

If what Tenshen said was true, the Uchiha would undergo a tremendous transformation. Over the years, how many madmen had destroyed their own families trying to awaken their eyes, only for it all to end in failure?

If there was now a way to prevent the clan from paying with lives for every additional Mangekyō Sharingan user, then nothing mattered more.

The Uchiha had too few people left as it was. Fugaku had to learn Tenshen's method, no matter what.

But recalling his own misfortune wasn't pleasant. Fugaku's spirits sank. He patted Itachi's head and looked over the ancestral grounds, once dilapidated but now flourishing, then let out a long breath, as if he'd found some measure of peace.

"That year, Itachi was still an infant, and you hadn't arrived yet. My parents died one after the other. As my father lay dying, he held my hand and entrusted the Uchiha Clan to me."

As he spoke, Fugaku also straightened Itachi's collar. It was as if his elders were watching his son as he described them, and he couldn't let the boy be disrespectful in their presence.

"I saw reluctance and resentment in my dying father's eyes. The Uchiha had survived under his leadership, but lost their former glory. My father believed he hadn't been a worthy clan head, and placed all his hopes in me."

As he spoke, Fugaku clenched his fists.

"I knelt before my father's memorial. The pain of losing my family and the sudden burden crushed me until I could hardly breathe. I didn't even dare look into my father's resentful eyes. Then, at the very moment he left this world, I suddenly felt that I was utterly incompetent and had failed his expectations. So I swore to lead the Uchiha to glory."

As he spoke, Fugaku activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. Three tomoe, each with a red dot, marked the pattern of his eyes.

"Oyamatsumi. That's the eye technique of my Sharingan. But the irony is that, among all the Uchiha records about the Sharingan, it's the most useless technique. It has no combat ability; it can only increase fertility. And the Uchiha don't have many people of childbearing age left."