"Who is it?"
When he opened the door, a little shrimp came into view! Well, would you look at that—it was the power-pole fanatic!
"Oh, it's Itachi? What is it?" Uchiha Gen asked flatly. With him around, the filial son wouldn't get the chance to wipe out the clan. When the time came, it was anyone's guess who would wipe out whom!
"Senior Gen, my father would like you to come over," Uchiha Itachi said respectfully!
Looking at the little adult standing before him, Gen knew that no amount of outward respect would stop Itachi from stabbing him in the back. He hoped that with him getting involved, Itachi would have less contact with the Konoha High Command! He wasn't expecting any great achievements—just no mistakes. Itachi could simply be an ordinary Uchiha!
"Mm, got it! You go on ahead. I'll be there shortly!" Gen had a pretty good idea why Uchiha Fugaku had sent Itachi to deliver the message. He was probably hoping Itachi could get better acquainted with him. After all, Gen was the strongest in the Uchiha Clan. Fugaku might have been arrogant, but even he understood that a whale with money could never beat a whale with permissions!
And Gen was that whale with permissions. Heh heh!
At the Uchiha Clan Compound, at Fugaku's house~
"Father, I've already informed Senior Gen. He said he'll be here shortly!" Uchiha Itachi still looked like a little adult.
Fugaku was quite pleased with his son's precociousness. As expected of his son—he was better than other kids his age, both in strength and mental fortitude!
"Mm. Itachi, you should spend more time with Gen from now on. He's the hope of our Uchiha Clan!" Uchiha Fugaku instructed. After all, the clan would eventually be handed over to Itachi. As the clan's strongest, Uchiha Gen was still so young that he would probably still be in his prime after Fugaku was gone. Itachi really did need to build a good relationship with him!
"Yes, Father~" Young Itachi looked seriously at Uchiha Fugaku!
Knock, knock~
"That should be Gen. Itachi, go open the door!~"
"Yes, Father~"
In the garden~
Uchiha Gen and Fugaku sat facing each other. Mrs. Mikoto had come by once to serve tea, then went to look after Sasuke. The brother-obsessed Uchiha Itachi sat quietly off to the side!
"Gen, about the matter you brought up last time, the elders and I have come up with a plan. The clan currently has thirty pairs of spare Three-Tomoe Sharingan, sixty eyes in total. The main reason is that the clan never anticipated this situation, and Sharingan are difficult to preserve. On top of that, there are the maintenance costs! Sixty Three-Tomoe Sharingan are the limit of what the clan can provide!
"Huh? Only sixty?" In the original story, Danzo had an entire armful, and Obito had collected enough to cover a whole wall! But considering they'd taken them straight from living Uchiha, it made sense that they had so many!
"That's right, sixty. They were all left behind by clan members who died in recent years. There are Sharingan left over from even earlier times, but they're unusable. These sixty are the only ones that still work!" Fugaku sighed regretfully.
"Sixty will be enough, even if it's not many. Our main goal is to win over Konoha's major clans. We only need to offer the civilians a bit of a gimmick!" Uchiha Gen nodded. It was a little less than he'd hoped, but it would do! After all, they could refill them; they weren't disposable!
Of course, an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan used for Izanagi was indeed disposable. But his Mangekyo ability could force a refill!
"We've already found a place for the Konoha Sharingan Welfare Lottery Store. After a few days of renovations, it'll be ready to open tomorrow! But then we'll have to trouble you to replenish the ocular power in those Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Gen!" Fugaku looked at Uchiha Gen earnestly.
"That's no trouble. I'll just assign a Shadow Clone to handle it. If it runs low on ocular power, I'll replenish it!" In the original story, Uchiha members could use Shadow Clones with Sharingan, and Madara had even used a Shadow Clone to activate Susanoo. That showed that Shadow Clones really did possess the original body's ocular power!
If that was the case, then a Shadow Clone could certainly handle transmitting ocular power. And it wasn't as if it had to work every day; it probably wouldn't need a refill even once a week. The Ninja World was dangerous, sure, but who could afford a Three-Tomoe Sharingan? Clan heads and the Konoha High Command, of course! People like them were the least likely to die. If they didn't use Izanagi, there'd be no need to replenish them!
To be honest, Uchiha Gen didn't want to make the Sharingan available to the Konoha High Command. But even if he didn't, they could still obtain them through underhanded means. If replenishing their ocular power proved inconvenient, they might start stockpiling Sharingan on an arm like Danzo had in the original story, using sheer quantity to increase their chances. That would be pretty disgusting!
So he might as well make them available to the High Command directly. That would keep the Uchiha safer, too. If they could buy one, then as long as the High Command wasn't stupid, they wouldn't persecute the Uchiha and risk public outrage just to offend Uchiha Gen!
Besides, when they were facing his current Susanoo, enhanced by a ridiculous +9999, would an extra life or two even matter to the High Command? If they had two lives, he'd just have to cut them down one more time!
Having thought it through, Uchiha Gen stopped dwelling on it!
He picked up his teacup and drained it in one gulp, then rose to take his leave!
"Itachi, go see Gen off!"
"Yes, Father~" Young Itachi quickly got up and followed! His little body was surprisingly nimble! At this point, Uchiha Itachi should have been about as strong as a Genin. After all, Fugaku had taken the kid to the battlefield when he was only four!
"Senior Gen, wait for me~"
Hearing the voice of the Uchiha Clan's most filial son behind him, Uchiha Gen slowed his pace!
"Huh? Itachi? Did Fugaku tell you to come again? What a pain!" Uchiha Gen muttered, rubbing the tousled hair on his head. He hated this kind of political maneuvering! Life was easier—and longer—when you kept things simple. Social relationships were such a hassle!
"Itachi? Senior, my name is Itachi! Uchiha Itachi!" The filial son puffed out his cheeks as he spoke!
"Sure, Itachi. Got it, Itachi~" He completely ignored Uchiha Itachi's objection!
"Hmph~ If Father hadn't told me to, I wouldn't want to talk to someone like you!" Young Uchiha Itachi still had a trace of childishness about him. He wasn't yet as gloomy and cold as the teenage Itachi!
"Then why did you come?" Uchiha Gen continued walking without a care!
Little Uchiha Itachi hurried to keep up with Gen!
"Because Father said you were the hope of the Uchiha Clan and told me to get along with you. I don't really understand, but I'll do exactly what Father told me to!" Uchiha Itachi looked at Uchiha Gen with an extremely serious expression!
"Oh~ Is that so? I hope you'll keep listening to Fugaku. As for being the hope of the Uchiha Clan, with Fugaku's strength, he can protect the clan just fine on his own. There's no need to pin your hopes on someone else," Uchiha Gen said casually!
Before you continue