Sharingan Believers

"I need an explanation."

Although Uchiha Naoto's tone was flat, Shiri still felt crushed by the weight of his words, unable to catch her breath.

If Shiri had been forced into researching the Sharingan due to her innate talent, Uchiha Naoto was driven purely by obsession.

In his eyes, the members of the Uchiha clan were not living, breathing human beings, but merely walking experimental subjects.

Shiri recited the excuse she had prepared on the road: the plan had initially proceeded smoothly, and she had even sent the signal to notify Daimyo Imagawa's army in advance, but Uchiha Keisuke had suddenly attacked the Senju ninja.

She then omitted the two days she had spent in the valley, claiming only that she had been struck and poisoned by Senju Arashi, falling into a deep ravine where it took her two full days to recover her mobility. She added that both Qiancao and Wuming were missing, and she suspected they had been captured by the Senju.

Naoto listened to Shiri's story without a word, and once she finished, he activated his Sharingan to inspect the flow of chakra within her body.

"Are you aware of the strange rumors circulating in the intelligence circles lately?" Naoto asked suddenly.

Shiri froze. She had prepared for many scenarios, but she hadn't expected this question. She could only answer honestly, "I don't know."

"Four Uchiha ninja ambushed Senju Arashi, the daughter of the Senju clan head, and both sides perished together at Mount Hakkoda," Naoto said to Shiri with a smile, as if he had heard something delightful. "Before you lost your combat capability, how did Wuming perform?"

"She was on par with Senju Arashi," Shiri replied. As the creator of the weapon known as Wuming, Naoto had always been deeply concerned with her combat prowess.

Silence fell between them. Naoto seemed lost in thought, and Shiri couldn't help but ask, "Do you need me to find someone to clarify the facts? Uchiha Keisuke definitely wasn't the Keisuke we knew. I suspect someone is impersonating him just to stir up conflict between us and the Senju."

Naoto didn't answer immediately. He poured a cup of tea from the pot in front of him, then said in a leisurely manner, "That is not something we should be concerned about. In fact, the clan head is quite happy to spread the news everywhere."

"Go to the pharmacy and have someone prescribe you medicine. There is still some of the Aburame Clan's neurotoxin lingering in your body; if left untreated, it will cause permanent nerve damage."

The toxins remaining in Shiri's body were something she had specifically asked Aburame Kei to inject before she left, all to dispel Naoto's suspicions. Seeing that Naoto had tentatively believed her story, Shiri gritted her teeth and probed, "Do the Sharingan of Qiancao and Wuming need to be recovered?"

Naoto glanced at Shiri with an expressionless face, as if trying to peer into her very soul.

"No need. I already placed a seal on them; if the Sharingan were to leave their bodies, they would self-destruct."

He even looked up, offering a faint, inscrutable smile. "I am not lying this time."

Understanding the implication in Naoto's words, Shiri's heart skipped a beat. Not daring to show any emotion, she bowed and fled in a panic.

Watching her hurried retreat, Naoto found it somewhat amusing. He took out another teacup and skillfully brewed a fresh cup of tea, placing it beside him.

After an unnatural ripple in the air, a young man appeared out of thin air in the room. He sat before the freshly brewed tea and drank it down in one gulp, ignoring the scalding heat, which made Uchiha Naoto shake his head repeatedly.

The newcomer was none other than the strongest of the current generation of the Uchiha clan—Uchiha Eiki.

Naoto couldn't be bothered to use tea leaves for Uchiha Eiki again and simply poured him a cup of hot water, prompting Eiki to protest, "Hey! I finally make it home, and you, my uncle, treat me with nothing but plain water?"

Naoto smiled without a word, instead asking, "What do you think of Senju Arashi's strength?"

Eiki was annoyed by the change of subject, but he understood that if his uncle didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't. He could only answer the question honestly:

"Senju Arashi is not the type of opponent I am good at handling. If I don't use the Mangekyo Sharingan, I don't think I am her match."

The hidden meaning behind Eiki's words was: if he used the Mangekyo Sharingan, she would be no match for him.

Naoto didn't dampen his confidence, but continued, "Do you think Wuming, as a weapon, is a success for being able to fight Senju Arashi to a standstill?"

Uchiha Eiki pondered for a moment. He had wanted to blurt out that for Wuming's age, being able to go toe-to-toe with Senju Arashi was already a success, but remembering her bizarre Mangekyo Sharingan, he shook his head instead.

"Considering it took ten years to cultivate her, the efficiency is still too low."

Naoto was satisfied with his answer. He nodded slightly and continued, "According to my research over these past few decades, the Sharingan, which uses hatred as its fuel, has gradually reached its end."

"Even if a superior Sharingan were truly cultivated, the hatred would cause the host to self-destruct first."

"The limits of a bird in a cage are ultimately too low. Only a flower that grows naturally in a vast, open world is truly beautiful."

Having said this, Naoto smiled at Eiki. "Aren't you just such a wild flower that grew that way?"

Eiki remained silent, then followed with a smile, accepting his assessment.

"Even if you inject Wuming with more ninjutsu, she will only become a monster that destroys everything. How could such precious eyes be wasted like that?"

"A brute like the clan head would never understand."

Eiki couldn't help but defend the clan head. "The clan head is also thinking of the Uchiha clan, wanting to build the Uchiha into the strongest family. If you let Wuming go like this, aren't you afraid of cultivating an enemy that will destroy the clan?"

"Compared to the Sharingan, what does a mere Uchiha clan matter?"

"The Sharingan is a gift from the heavens. It is the Sharingan that chose the Uchiha clan, not the Uchiha who chose the Sharingan."

"As long as the Sharingan exists, the Uchiha clan will never perish."

Uchiha Eiki listened silently from the side. Ever since his uncle's eyesight began to deteriorate from the repeated use of the Mangekyo Sharingan, he had fallen into an infinite worship of the eyes; this was not the first time he had said something so shocking.

The Uchiha clan head, mindful of his various contributions to the development of the Sharingan and his obsession, had tacitly allowed many of Uchiha Naoto's insane actions.

I only hope his choices don't truly destroy the Uchiha, Eiki thought to himself.

Back at her own home, Shiri greeted her parents in a rush and slipped into her room alone.

Before leaving, Shiri had summoned two spirit hawks to follow Qiancao and the others, with the agreement that if the test results were non-toxic, they would recall the brown hawk; otherwise, they would summon the other.

As a puff of smoke dissipated, the brown hawk held a note in its beak. On it, written in an unfamiliar hand, were the words:

We have arrived at the territory of the Aburame Clan. The preliminary results show no issues. Please rest assured, Miss Shiri.

The note was signed by Senju Arashi.