"Want to know how to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Want to possess the godlike power of Susanoo?"
As Uchiha Jin spoke with unbridled fervor, the many Uchiha below the arena and the elders on the chairman's platform were left stunned.
The former were consumed by the prospect of such great power. No Uchiha could possibly refuse it.
The latter, meanwhile, were excited, yet tinged with fear. Though not all the elders on the chairman's platform knew as much about the Mangekyō as Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Fugaku did, the records of the clan's past had made one thing clear to them.
The method of awakening the Mangekyō, the Uchiha's ultimate power, could very well bring unimaginable calamity upon the Uchiha Clan.
Otherwise—
What clan would be foolish enough to seal away such crucial information? And that went doubly for the Uchiha, who worshipped power and the strong!
At that moment...
Even the Uchiha shinobi who hadn't awakened the Sharingan felt a trace of scarlet well up in their eyes. Everyone present stared fixedly at the handsome figure before them, waiting for an answer that seemed like a divine revelation.
"Go fight! Go fight!"
Uchiha Jin's impassioned roar sent the Uchiha below into a frenzy. The elders on the chairman's platform also felt their hearts jolt, then let out a sigh of relief. Only Uchiha Shisui, his expression complicated, bit down hard on his lip.
"Fight to your heart's content! Challenge your limits!"
"Give everything you have to experience and absorb the essence of every battle. Hone your abilities until they reach the heights you imagine—"
"Then you may undergo the trial of life and death, and perhaps gain the chance to awaken the 'power of the gods' belonging to our Uchiha Clan!"
Uchiha Jin seemed to have returned to his own training ground. The Uchiha head instructor's commanding presence was in full force.
Silence!
As Uchiha Jin's words rang out with such conviction, the tournament fell into another strange silence!
His words, almost as if they carried a tremor of their own, echoed in the minds of every Uchiha present.
A moment passed!
Uchiha Jin slowly scanned the crowd. As his gaze swept over them, excitement flushed every Uchiha's face.
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"To the humblest of dreams, to the wails and roars in the darkness—who says only those standing in the light can be heroes..."
Ahem... cough, cough!
Seeing the Uchiha's enthusiastic response, Uchiha Jin lost himself for a moment. But those few lyrics had clearly moved the Uchiha present once again!
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"To the humblest of dreams, to the wails and roars in the darkness—who says only those standing in the light can be heroes..."
Uchiha Jin felt that if he kept letting things drag on, something would go wrong, so he hurriedly turned back to Uchiha Tombo, who wore the red-and-white referee uniform.
Mm!
It was always best to rely on someone he had trained himself. Uchiha Tombo had already gathered up Uchiha Zongxian's remains and returned to the arena.
"Next match: Uchiha Tekka and Uchiha Tonan from the jōnin division. Take the stage!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
Uchiha Style: Sword Leap Flame!
As two afterimages solidified on the arena, dazzling flames once again spread across it...
But while the fight raged on in the arena and the Uchiha below watched with their Sharingan wide open, absorbing every bit of experience, the head of the Uchiha Clan and the great elder came up behind Uchiha Jin at the same time.
"Jin, is this your plan?"
Uchiha Fugaku's expression as he looked at Uchiha Jin was complicated.
Clearly,
the sudden death of an elite jōnin with the Three-Tomoe, along with the appearance of another Mangekyō Sharingan, had shaken the seemingly coldhearted Uchiha Fugaku to his core.
Had he realized this sooner, Uchiha Fugaku would have stopped Uchiha Jin without hesitation. Now, the two outcomes this had brought about left him unable to make sense of what he was feeling.
The Uchiha Clan had gained another Mangekyō Sharingan. Though it belonged to Uchiha Shisui, who had always been on friendly terms with the Hokage's faction, it was a good thing for the clan, no matter how one looked at it.
Mm!
If only Shisui weren't so foolishly saintly!
In truth, even Uchiha Fugaku, a political dullard, couldn't believe one of his own clanmates could be as stupid as Shisui.
But what had shaken and conflicted not only Uchiha Fugaku, but also Uchiha Setsuna, was—
Uchiha Jin!
Kage Level!
That was right!
Though Uchiha Jin had always looked down on these two Wolongs and Fengchus, apart from their kindergarten-level political maneuvering, they were outstanding in every other respect.
If Uchiha Shisui could detect the changes in Uchiha Jin in the shortest time, how could Uchiha Fugaku, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan even earlier, fail to notice?
Besides,
Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō was...
Though Uchiha Setsuna hadn't awakened those eyes, he had always shared an unspoken understanding with his old rival. After following the other man's gaze and searching the area, he discovered it too.
Though both men regretted that Uchiha Jin hadn't successfully awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, they sensed the transformed chakra and ocular power within him and easily confirmed that he had already reached Kage Level.
And the death of Uchiha Zongxian, a jōnin with the Three-Tomoe, had brought about both a Mangekyō Sharingan and a newly risen Kage-level fighter.
As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku's feelings were complicated. At last, he understood Uchiha Jin's plan.
It was bonds!
Using the Sharingan to rapidly gain experience was merely the most superficial part. Uchiha Jin's true goal was to strengthen the bonds between his clansmen through battle after battle.
And the consequences those bonds could bring... were already plain to see in Uchiha Jin!
That was why Fugaku and Setsuna both felt a chill in their hearts. At last, they truly understood that Uchiha Jin's reputation as "Jade Shatter" was no idle boast.
He was preparing to take on the entire village of Konoha...
A fervent light glimmered in Uchiha Setsuna's eyes, and an inexplicable excitement stirred in his heart. Even he, long known as the leader of the Radical Faction, had never considered taking on the entire village!
However...
Uchiha Jin had clearly laid an open and unanswerable plan!
By the time the World's Number One Ninja Tournament began, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Setsuna had already lost any chance of stopping it.
After a faint sigh, Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Setsuna. The two old rivals who had once clashed at every turn exchanged a smile. Their aging bodies suddenly blazed with fighting spirit.
But—
This reconciliation, this moment of putting the past behind them with a smile, should have been a moving scene of friendship. Yet to Shisui and Itachi, watching from the chairman's platform, it looked especially sinister and terrifying!
Was the clan head going to yield?
Before you continue