He stood by the entrance for a long time.
"Knock, knock, knock."
At last, Uchiha Kei knocked on the door.
After a long while,
"Who is it?"
A gentle female voice came from inside.
"I'm Uchiha Kei. I'm here to see the clan head."
Soft footsteps sounded inside, and the door opened.
A beautiful woman with long, loose hair appeared before him.
"Kei?"
Uchiha Mikoto looked at the young man in front of her, puzzled.
Over the past two days, news of a genius from the Uchiha Clan who was nearly as talented as Itachi had spread like wildfire.
Uchiha Kei, who had once been an unknown, had become famous overnight.
As Uchiha Fugaku's wife, Uchiha Mikoto had heard her husband mention his name far too many times over the past two days.
She also knew that the Uchiha Clan owed the young man before her a great deal.
"Lady Mikoto, it's nice to meet you."
Uchiha Kei smiled and bowed slightly.
"Nice to meet you too. Fugaku is waiting inside. Come with me."
Uchiha Mikoto replied warmly and led him into the courtyard.
As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku's home wasn't much different from the house Kei currently lived in, though it had a more old-fashioned charm.
A solitary lamp glowed faintly in the central room.
When the door opened, Uchiha Fugaku was sitting cross-legged beside the table, his gaze deep and unreadable.
"Fugaku, Kei is here."
Uchiha Fugaku looked up at Uchiha Kei.
"Mm."
"Talk among yourselves. I'll go prepare some tea and snacks."
Uchiha Mikoto excused herself, leaving the two of them alone in the room.
Uchiha Kei said nothing as he took a seat across from Uchiha Fugaku.
They looked at each other.
Uchiha Kei studied Uchiha Fugaku carefully.
As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku had little presence in the anime, almost like a background character.
For an Uchiha who possessed the Mangekyo, he had been overlooked in life, and his death had been far too abrupt.
Even his attempted defection had fizzled out.
All in all, Uchiha Fugaku was more or less irrelevant in the entire Naruto World.
Across from him, Uchiha Fugaku was also sizing up the boy.
He found the boy difficult to read.
"Kei, are you satisfied with your new house?"
"It's quite nice. Thank you, Clan Head."
"The Uchiha Clan owed you this."
Uchiha Fugaku sighed.
"It was a failure on my part as clan head. I neglected the children of our heroes, and that led to you being bullied."
Over the past two days, the Uchiha Clan had been undergoing a sweeping purge, and many influential clan members had been punished.
It had all started with Uchiha Kei.
As he looked over the statements of confession, Uchiha Fugaku felt for the first time that he had failed as clan head.
Uchiha Kei shrugged indifferently.
A big forest held all kinds of birds, and people were no different.
Everyone had desires.
Some people simply had limits, while others had none.
"Clan Head, that's not what I came here to talk about today."
Uchiha Kei's expression remained calm.
Uchiha Fugaku's expression shifted. He had a vague idea of Kei's purpose.
"You want to talk about Itachi and Shisui, right?"
As the head of the clan, there were many things he couldn't be kept in the dark about.
"Yes. What do you think of what the three of us are planning?"
He was laying his cards on the table.
That was why Uchiha Kei had come today.
Admittedly, it was a little early for him to be doing this. The slightest misstep could put him in the public eye.
But there were benefits to it as well.
"I don't know."
Uchiha Fugaku shook his head honestly.
He was glad to see the three of them aiming for the Hokage Position.
As the Konoha Police Force and one of Konoha's founding clans, the Uchiha Clan had long been dissatisfied with the way things were.
Why could anyone become Hokage, except an Uchiha?
He, Uchiha Fugaku, was the first to object!
"From here on, I'll need the Uchiha Clan's support."
Uchiha Fugaku didn't agree right away. Instead, he looked at Kei with a strange expression.
"Kei, you're eight this year, right?"
"Yes. I'll be nine in a little over a month."
"At your age, Itachi hadn't even given any thought to something like this."
Uchiha Fugaku sighed heavily.
"I looked into your past a little over the past two days. I hope you don't mind."
Uchiha Kei didn't care.
"You should have awakened the Mangekyo, right?"
Uchiha Fugaku asked, though his tone made it clear he was certain.
Someone who could win both Itachi's and Shisui's respect couldn't have done so with Three Tomoe alone.
Uchiha Kei closed and opened his eyes. A sword-shaped Mangekyo appeared in them.
"I thought so."
He had been sure, but seeing a child who hadn't yet turned nine with the Mangekyo still shook Uchiha Fugaku to the core.
"Pain and sorrow, grief and despair—that's all it takes for us to awaken the Mangekyo."
Uchiha Fugaku gave a bitter smile, a flicker of reminiscence in his eyes.
"Itachi has awakened the Mangekyo too."
"What!"
Uchiha Fugaku sprang to his feet, astonishment and disbelief written all over his face.
"How could he have awakened the Mangekyo? That's impossible."
Uchiha Kei shrugged and didn't explain.
Uchiha Fugaku paced back and forth across the room, muttering, "That's impossible."
Uchiha Kei didn't disturb him. He just sat there quietly.
After a long while, Uchiha Mikoto entered with tea and snacks. Only then did Uchiha Fugaku sit down, though his expression was still strained.
"What's wrong?"
Uchiha Mikoto set down the refreshments and noticed her husband's uneasy expression.
"Nothing. I just feel that Kei's talent is beyond anything I imagined."
"Yes, he's every bit as talented as Itachi."
Uchiha Mikoto said with a bright smile, her eyes curving like crescent moons, warm and lovely.
Once Uchiha Mikoto left the room, Uchiha Fugaku finally let out a sigh.
"Kei, what exactly is the ninja way?"
Uchiha Kei had just picked up a snack. At the question, he paused and set it down.
"I think it's the path you choose to follow. You could also call it a belief."
Uchiha Kei gave it a moment's thought.
"A belief?"
Uchiha Fugaku lifted his teacup, his eyes distant.
"The Hokage Position doesn't really matter to me."
"All I want is to be with my family, happy and carefree, and live a life free of illness and hardship."
"Hopefully Itachi will have a child or two, and Sasuke will grow up."
"How wonderful that would be."
Uchiha Fugaku lost himself in the daydream, a contented smile tugging at his lips.
Uchiha Kei was a little surprised.
The usually stern head of the Uchiha Clan had such an ordinary ninja way?
What about the coup?
What about his serious persona?
This was quite the departure...
But perhaps this was the real Uchiha Fugaku.
A person of flesh and blood.
"That day will come."
Uchiha Kei picked up his teacup and took a small sip.
It was a little bitter...
But sweet, too.
Before you continue