Yu's Train of Thought

However, what Mikoto did not know was that this was how Yu truly treated his enemies. His formidable spirit was reined in, and a vast amount of mental energy was transmuted into intense killing intent.

So much so that when Yu intended to kill someone with a weaker spirit than his own, his sheer mental pressure alone was enough to make the enemy struggle to breathe, as if they were facing a natural predator in a moment of mortal crisis.

Itachi was led upstairs by his mother, and unable to hold back his grievances any longer, he buried his face in Mikoto's embrace and burst into tears.

Mikoto patiently stroked Itachi's back. Although she did not know what had transpired between Yu and Itachi, she trusted that if Itachi wanted to talk, he would tell her.

Sure enough, under Mikoto's gentle soothing, Itachi gradually recounted the sequence of events amidst his sobs. Finally, he lifted his tear-stained eyes to look at his mother.

"Mother! Was I really wrong?" This was the first time Itachi had shown his vulnerability in front of his parents.

One must know that while Itachi might become a doting brother in the future, right now, he was merely a younger brother being controlled by his older brother.

Since he was small, Itachi had felt that his brother was incredible. When he was just over two years old and incapable of doing anything, his brother could already change his diapers and dress him.

At three, he could help their mother with chores and look after him; at four, he dared to talk back and argue with their stern father.

At five, he even fought their father to protect him and earned his father's recognition.

These small, individual incidents left the impression in Itachi's growing mind that his brother was omnipotent, to the point that facing his brother's anger made him feel even more desperate than facing his father's.

Watching Itachi cry his heart out, Mikoto suddenly almost couldn't help but laugh. Itachi seems more like a real child now; he knows to seek comfort when he's sad, she mused to herself.

"Itachi, Yu is your brother. If he was that angry, there must have been something you did wrong. Instead of trusting an outsider, you didn't trust Yu, the brother who raised you since you were little. I think that is why Yu is angry," Mikoto replied gently.

"But Shisui said we must strive to build bridges for the village. I didn't want Shisui's hard work to go to waste, so I wanted to persuade my brother," Itachi said, feeling a sudden sense of injustice.

"Shisui, is it?" Mikoto said faintly. "He has his own path to walk, and Yu has his. He inherited his grandfather's will, while Yu is now the Young Clan Head trusted by many clansmen. Compared to the weight on Shisui's shoulders, shouldn't you be more considerate of your brother?"

"He is a child the same age as you. A mere six-year-old body, yet he has to bear the trust of hundreds, even thousands of clansmen. Itachi, do you know the weight of that?"

Itachi shook his head; at six, he did not yet understand the difference.

Mikoto smiled. "Let's put it this way. Your brother Shisui is only pursuing his own dream; if he fails, at most, his dream is gone."

"But your brother bears responsibility. The clansmen's expectations and their trust in him do not allow him to fail. Once he fails, it isn't just him who suffers! His mistake alone would be the mistake of the entire clan!"

As she said this, a trace of pity flickered in Mikoto's eyes.

Itachi stared blankly at his mother. His young mind began to place himself in his brother's position, and instantly, he felt a sense of oppression—a pressure that made him feel as though he couldn't breathe.

Only then did he realize how heavy the clansmen's kind smiles, which he saw on the way home every day, must be for his brother. No wonder his brother had already left that day, yet still turned back—was it precisely because of this inability to let them down?

Itachi felt a pang of sadness, but this time, it wasn't because he had been scolded by his brother, but because he had failed to be considerate of a brother who was the same age as him.

Perhaps in Itachi's heart, Yu had always been a towering mountain, so he felt that the weight he currently bore was only natural.

Meanwhile, Yu was contemplating his meeting with Uchiha Lieyang that night.

Through this confrontation with the Third Hokage, Yu realized that the path of trying to integrate the Uchiha into the village through mutual understanding was a dead end.

This was not just a problem with the Konoha high-ups, but also the indifference the villagers held toward the Uchiha.

Yu did not care how the people in the village viewed the Uchiha, but he understood one principle: from beginning to end, the Uchiha had never wronged Konoha.

Expecting a group of prejudiced people to truly embrace the Uchiha was nothing short of a pipe dream.

To avoid being bullied, one must constantly grow stronger—not just himself, but the entire clan. After all, he had parents, relatives, and perhaps even a wife and children in the future.

His own energy was limited; one moment of negligence could lead to enemies finding a weakness. The solution to this was to infinitely elevate his own strength and that of his clan.

Since the path of a benevolent king was impassable, he would walk the path of a hegemon. He would suppress the entire Konoha with the strength of his clan; those who complied would prosper, and those who resisted would perish. If, in the end, the people of the Shinobi World wanted peace, then so be it!

It was not that Yu couldn't achieve it. He could certainly follow the path of the First Emperor. With his long lifespan, as long as he remained, the Shinobi World would not fall into chaos.

To achieve this, Yu needed powerful and loyal henchmen. To possess such a force, Yu had prerequisites: Alchemy and Formation Techniques.

What was the essence of the Sharingan? Nothing more than spiritual energy and intense emotional stimulation.

Yu could provide both. This incident had just earned him a massive amount of Malice Points, enough to upgrade his Formation Techniques and Alchemy.

He would find a secret base, set up a large-scale Heart Tempering Formation, and use it to imprint his own Thought Imprint of loyalty onto his clansmen.

As for the spirit, that was even simpler. The herbs in his Herb Garden were ripe. After tonight, he would harvest them and refine them into pills to enhance mental power.

He would first boost the mental strength of the younger generation brought by Uchiha Lieyang, then throw them into the Heart Tempering Formation to suffer through agony, and finally appear in their illusions as a savior. By subtly branding them with his Thought Imprint of loyalty, he believed that a large number of Mangekyo users would soon emerge within the clan.

With an Uchiha like that, he didn't believe any clan in Konoha would dare to challenge him.

As for the ordinary clansmen, wasn't there a shortage of jobs now? He would arrange for them to cultivate herbs for him and pay them wages. He would then refine Health Pills or Beauty Pills—elixirs not particularly important to cultivators—and sell them through the shop he had just acquired in the center of Konoha.

This was a perfect closed loop. Thinking of this, a cold smirk curled the corners of Yu's mouth.

"Sarutobi, Danzo, what else do you have to fight me with? When the time comes, I will make you watch as Konoha transforms into my image. I imagine by then, you will have become sufficiently plump leeks for the harvest."

As for the civilians of Konoha, if he gave them enough of a way to survive and they still didn't listen, Yu would make them experience exactly what it meant for a king's majesty to be inviolable!