"Uchiha Izumi, with grades like these, you'll probably have a hard time graduating..."
There were about thirty students in each Ninja Academy class, and usually only a single-digit number managed to graduate.
Though Sasuke had no idea where all those ninjas came from.
But if you ranked tenth in your class, you had almost no chance of graduating.
"I know, but I've been trying really hard..." Izumi looked dejected.
Sasuke knew she was trying hard.
After all, he made sure Izumi practiced every night.
Sasuke ventured, "Are all the people ahead of you from ninja clans?"
Izumi nodded. "Yeah, most of them."
Sasuke understood.
It had nothing to do with talent.
There were many clan children at the Ninja Academy, as well as second- or third-generation ninja from civilian families.
They had started training under the guidance of their parents or clan members before they ever enrolled.
Even Itachi Uchiha had started training at three or four. Not only had his father, the head of the Uchiha Clan, personally instructed him, but he'd recently been sparring with Shisui Uchiha...
When he was four, he had even gone to the battlefield and witnessed the horrors of war.
But Izumi's parents weren't ninja.
When she was little, the only ninja games she'd played were the sort of make-believe games kids played at home...
She hadn't started systematic training until she entered the Ninja Academy, and outside of class, she had no one to guide her.
Even though she had awakened the Sharingan, she probably didn't know how to use it.
Getting above-average grades was already a remarkable feat.
"Then you're doing fine. That's already pretty good." Sasuke tried to comfort her. Remembering that an elder of the clan was gravely ill and close to death, he patted Izumi's thigh and said, "I'll think of something to help you."
A prodigy who had awakened the Sharingan at five and could reach the Three Tomoe by thirteen at the latest, yet couldn't last a single round against Obito. What a waste of talent.
"Think of something? You?" Izumi looked surprised.
She really couldn't imagine how Sasuke could think of a way to help her.
Several days later, in the afternoon.
Fugaku Uchiha, who had already left home, returned and said to Mikoto, "Elder Nobuhiko doesn't have much time left. Let's go see him one last time."
Not much time left?... Mikoto sighed inwardly, then nodded. "All right."
Sasuke, who had been practicing his writing, heard them and ran out with Izumi. "Dad, Mom, are you going to see Elder Nobuhiko? We want to come too!"
Elder Nobuhiko?... Izumi hurriedly whispered, "Sasuke!"
She'd thought Sasuke had something to say to his parents, but she hadn't expected him to want to go see Elder Nobuhiko!
Elder Nobuhiko's final moments would surely be reserved for his family and the clan's senior members. How could he have time to see little kids like them?
Showing up uninvited would only seem rude and inconsiderate.
Fugaku gave Sasuke a long look, then nodded. "Come along, then. Izumi, you can come too."
Then he turned to Mikoto and said, "Seeing the clan's young geniuses might make Elder Nobuhiko happy, and help him pass peacefully."
"That works, too."
They were really going together? She was going too?... Izumi was stunned.
When they arrived at Elder Nobuhiko's home, she was still completely bewildered.
In the room.
"Elder Nobuhiko, my younger son, Sasuke, wants to see you."
Elder Nobuhiko's breathing was faint. "Sa... suke?"
He had heard of Sasuke, the little prodigy of the clan.
Born in the late Warring States period, he had witnessed the final battle between the Senju and the Uchiha, the setting aside of their grievances and the founding of Konoha, and then Clan Head Madara's departure. He had seen how the Uchiha Clan was suppressed and gradually fell into decline. As an old-timer, he held a position of great respect in the clan, and his greatest regret in life was that he had never seen the Uchiha rise again.
Even now, with his strength nearly spent, he still kept an eye on the clan's geniuses.
He still yearned to see hope for the Uchiha Clan before his life came to an end.
But Sasuke... was too young.
So far, all he had shown was precociousness.
For a ninja clan, what ultimately mattered was talent for ninjutsu.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't live to see Sasuke's talent emerge.
Seeing that Elder Nobuhiko didn't seem inclined to meet Sasuke, Fugaku closed and reopened his eyes. They became a pair of Mangekyo.
"Hm?" Elder Nobuhiko narrowed his eyes, looking puzzled.
Fugaku spoke. "Ever since Sasuke was born, I haven't been able to see the future of the Uchiha Clan clearly through these eyes..."
!!! Elder Nobuhiko's pupils contracted!
He knew Fugaku possessed the Mangekyo, and he knew what its ability was!
The Forbidden Eye could reveal the threads of the future once the user had made a choice!
And now...
Could the Uchiha Clan's revival be about to fall to Sasuke?
At the thought, he seemed to rally as if on his deathbed, and spoke quickly and clearly. "Fugaku, could you be mistaken?"
Fugaku shook his head. "At first, I didn't suspect Sasuke either..."
"But whenever Sasuke appeared in the future I saw, the vision would cut off."
"So I tried to look into Sasuke's future, but I found nothing..."
"Even the futures of those who came into contact with him grew increasingly unclear..."
"I can't even see Konoha's future clearly anymore..."
"And because of that, my eyesight has also..."
He couldn't even see Konoha's future anymore?... Nobuhiko immediately asked, "When did this start?"
"The Night of the Nine-Tails."
"So you brought Sasuke here?"
"No, he asked to see you himself, and he brought Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Hazuki's daughter, with him."
"And she... is the one whose future is growing increasingly unclear..."
Unable to see the future... able to affect the futures of those around him... Nobuhiko's breathing grew rapid. He immediately called out, "Quick, bring them in!"
"Yes!"
Outside the room.
Several senior clan members kept glancing at Sasuke and Izumi.
Sasuke looked perfectly calm, but Izumi was on pins and needles.
Just then, Fugaku came out. "Sasuke, Izumi, come in."
At that, Mikoto looked astonished, Izumi's mind went blank, and even Sasuke couldn't help but be surprised.
Why were they being allowed in?
He'd only wanted to find out when Elder Nobuhiko would die.
After all, he had left only three Spore Clones in Konoha, and they were all occupied with their own tasks now.
"Fugaku!"
An elder immediately reprimanded him. "It's one thing for children not to know any better, but don't you, as clan head, know better?"
As soon as the words left his mouth—
"Let them in!"
Elder Nobuhiko's strong voice, tinged with displeasure, came from inside the room.
The elder froze.
The other people who heard Elder Nobuhiko's voice felt their hearts sink.
They understood that Elder Nobuhiko was already...
But they didn't understand why he would reserve the final moments of his life for two children...
"Come on, Izumi."
Sasuke led Izumi into the room.
"Elder Nobuhiko." x2
Elder Nobuhiko first looked Sasuke up and down. From his spirit, energy, and bearing alone, he could tell Sasuke was different.
As for Izumi... well, she seemed ordinary.
He looked away and waved Fugaku out of the room.
He was meeting with the two of them alone after all?... The clan members outside exchanged glances.
In the room.
Elder Nobuhiko said, "You're Sasuke, right? Get to the point. I don't have much time left. Fugaku said you wanted to see me. Tell me why."
He was getting straight to the point. It was the simplest way to test Sasuke.
Sasuke's thoughts stirred.
He understood that forcibly binding someone's soul, even a fellow clan member's, would inevitably cause resentment.
If he could persuade him while he was still alive, that would be best.
At the very least, he could prepare him for it. If he knew what was coming, he'd find it easier to accept.
So Sasuke didn't bother beating around the bush. "To be honest, I didn't expect you to agree to see us either. I only came along because I wanted to find out when you would die..."
"I don't know what Dad said to you, but whatever it was, it made you agree to see us in person..."
"But since we're already here, I'll say it now."
As he spoke, he tugged at Uchiha Izumi beside him. "Izumi, show the elder your Sharingan first."
Why would he say something like, 'I wanted to find out when you would die'! Izumi grumbled inwardly.
Still, despite her thoughts, she didn't dare question him under the circumstances. She did as she was told, and her eyes instantly turned scarlet.
Sasuke said, "She awakened it when she was five. That should count as exceptional talent in the Uchiha Clan, right?"
"Five... Awakening the Sharingan so young is indeed rare." Elder Nobuhiko didn't dwell on Sasuke's words. He looked approvingly at Izumi, then shook his head. "But it isn't enough."
"If this had happened ten or twenty years earlier, I might have been able to teach her myself, maybe even take her on as my final student. But now... that reason isn't enough."
"Elder Nobuhiko, you can't do it now... but you can after you die!" Sasuke gave a restrained, yet polite smile. "After you die, would you be interested in continuing to serve the Uchiha Clan by training Izumi?"
Before you continue