Uchiha Mikoto, who was in the kitchen, seemed to have heard something. She poked her head out and smiled. "Itachi, you're back? Dinner will be ready soon. Go wash your hands first."
Itachi Uchiha forced a smile. "No need, Mom. I've already eaten. I'm a little tired after several days of missions, so I'd like to go back to my room and rest."
Then he turned to his father and Sasuke. "Dad, Sasuke, I'm sorry I can't join you for dinner."
Mikoto spoke up. "Oh, Itachi, you haven't heard yet, have you?"
"Izumi passed her graduation exam today. She's officially a ninja now. Mom specially prepared a feast to celebrate!"
A graduation celebration... Itachi's expression dimmed. Then he saw Uchiha Izumi poke her head out of the kitchen, so he forced a smile. "Then congratulations, Izumi."
"I really am a little tired, though, and I didn't prepare a gift in advance. Izumi, I'm sorry I can't celebrate with you. I'll make it up to you with a gift tomorrow."
"Dad, Mom, Sasuke, I'm very sorry. I'll go rest in my room."
With that, he went straight back to his room.
When they heard the door close, the others finally came back to their senses.
Something was definitely wrong...
Itachi still cared deeply about his family. Even if he was tired, he wouldn't miss something like this.
Mikoto couldn't help looking worried as she glanced at Fugaku.
Seeing this, Fugaku gave Sasuke a meaningful look.
Me again... Sasuke sighed helplessly, then stood and headed for Itachi's room.
He had barely reached the door and hadn't yet knocked when Itachi's voice came from inside. "Sasuke, is that you?"
"I've already gone to bed. Can whatever it is wait until tomorrow?"
"And I can't celebrate Izumi's graduation with her. Tell her I'm sorry. I really am a little tired, and I don't want my mood to spoil the atmosphere for everyone..."
Right. The mood was already spoiled... Sasuke simply opened the door.
Stare.
"..."
At the sound, Itachi turned around. He had been sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees in the garden passage connected to the room, looking up at the moonlight. His expression was helpless, with a hint of awkwardness.
Sasuke walked over and sat beside him. He rested his elbows on his knees, propped his face in his hands, and quietly gazed at the moon.
Neither of them spoke.
After a long while, Itachi sighed and said, "Tenma died."
"I see. What a shame..."
Tenma was a member of Itachi's ninja squad, so Sasuke knew him.
He glanced at Itachi's eyes. Itachi nodded, and his eyes turned crimson, displaying two tomoe. "He died protecting me."
Sasuke patted Itachi on the shoulder. "Losing a comrade must be hard..."
Itachi nodded. "I always believed that both the birth and death of a life had meaning, and that lives could be saved."
"I once saved Tenma. He said he'd repay me someday, but I never expected him to die protecting me in the end."
"I experienced the pain of losing a comrade and felt what it was like to lose someone precious to me. That's why I awakened the Sharingan."
"But if awakening the Sharingan means having to go through this kind of pain, then... what's the point of awakening these eyes?"
"What does that make the Kekkei Genkai our Uchiha Clan has always taken pride in?"
"Are we really an evil clan, cursed by fate?"
No, why could you say all that with a straight face, without even the slightest change in your voice?! Watching Itachi, Sasuke screamed inwardly.
Itachi seemed to realize something. At last, his expression shifted. He turned to Sasuke apologetically. "Sasuke, I forgot you haven't awakened the Sharingan either. I'm sorry. What I said must have bothered you."
Sasuke shook his head. "I haven't awakened the Sharingan, and I've never experienced that kind of pain, but, big brother..."
"I don't think we should cling to the pain of the past. Instead, after experiencing loss, we should cherish even more everything we still have around us."
"Whether it's family, friendship, or love."
"That's what awakening the Sharingan is for, too."
"So we shouldn't question our clan's Kekkei Genkai. We should be grateful for it."
"Because grief becomes the Sharingan. It gives us strength and lets us better protect the things worth cherishing in the future."
"Compared to others, our clan is undoubtedly fortunate."
Fortunate?... Itachi was taken aback. "You think our clan is fortunate compared to others?"
"Yes." Sasuke nodded. "Because they can only watch themselves lose things again and again. With each blow, and every time they're helpless to do anything, they're all too likely to fall into despair."
"But every loss drives our Uchiha Clan's Sharingan to evolve. We grow stronger with every tragedy, until we gain the ability to stop losing what we cherish."
"Except for death, no hardship can defeat us."
"In times of peace, we're no different from ordinary people."
"But in times of adversity, the heavens alone have granted our clan the power to rise from the ashes."
"So doesn't that make us a fortunate clan, favored and blessed by the heavens?"
!!! Itachi's pupils suddenly contracted!
The Sharingan awakened so we could protect everything still worth cherishing.
No hardship could defeat the Uchiha Clan, except death...
We weren't an evil clan, nor one cursed by the heavens!
We were a clan blessed and favored by the heavens!
Could it be... that I had truly misunderstood our clan?
Sasuke's words struck his heart like a heavy hammer, shattering the understanding and doubts about the clan and the Sharingan that had only just begun to take shape in his mind!
Outside the room.
Fugaku, who had been listening intently, stared in stunned silence. Doubt crept into his mind as well.
'Could we have been wrong about our clan and the Sharingan?'
In the Uchiha's thousand years of history, no one had ever interpreted their clan this way!
Inside Soul Space.
It could be seen that way?... Elder Nobuhiko was just as stunned.
But he understood Sasuke better than Fugaku or Itachi did.
Two years ago, Sasuke had said that the Uchiha Clan was a clan of love, and had given him a tremendous shock!
Even so, he still believed the Uchiha Clan was a twisted clan.
Back then, Sasuke hadn't come up with this theory to refute his argument.
Clearly, he'd either thought of this theory sometime afterward or was making it up on the spot!
And yet... it made so much sense!
No one wanted their clan, or their own bloodline, to be defined—or to define itself—as evil!
They simply couldn't find a positive explanation for the fact that the Sharingan awakened through grief, so they had no choice but to accept the label of an evil clan.
Elder Nobuhiko believed that, if handled properly, this theory could drape the Uchiha Clan's bloodline in a sacred veil and redefine it!
But if they handled it poorly... it could bring disaster upon them!
With that thought, Elder Nobuhiko said urgently:
"Sasuke, you absolutely can't spread this theory carelessly. A title like 'Heaven-Favored Clan' is bound to make people resent us!"
Before you continue