The Three-Year Period Has Arrived! Please, Uchiha Mirai, Come Out of Seclusion!

It was early spring.

The forested hills behind the Uchiha compound teemed with life. Birdsong and insect chirps filled the green woods, while the Naka River shimmered in the sunlight.

Uchiha Mirai lounged lazily in a recliner, continuously fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan as he admired the beauty of the clan grounds, unable to help sighing.

"Fine mountains, fine waters, fine scenery."

His peripheral vision shifted slightly behind him.

"Too bad the visitor isn't a fine person."

Uchiha Shisui, who had just arrived, darkened.

What did he mean, not a fine person???

"Mirai, your tongue is as sharp as ever!"

Uchiha Shisui glanced helplessly at Uchiha Mirai, who was reclining in the chair.

He and Uchiha Mirai had been classmates since their student days.

Within the Uchiha Clan, they had been recognized as the two strongest geniuses of their generation.

But Shisui knew full well that compared to Mirai, he was still far too green.

"Go on, then. Our busy Shisui, instead of dealing with ANBU matters, what brings you to seek out an idler like me?"

Uchiha Mirai lazily waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand and continued admiring the scenery of the clan grounds.

Uchiha Shisui's expression grew more complicated, and he sighed.

"Mirai, you should know that the clan and the village have reached a point where reconciliation is impossible. If you still refuse to come out of seclusion, then I'm afraid it really will..."

"How laughable!"

A trace of mockery appeared in Uchiha Mirai's eyes.

"The famed Shisui of the Body Flicker can't even resolve the clan's conflicts, so you came begging me to come out of seclusion?"

Uchiha Shisui's face instantly flushed red.

"I've already done everything I could. It's just that the clansmen's thinking is far too stubborn. They simply lack the capacity to understand the Will of Fire!"

"What a fine capacity!"

The moment Uchiha Shisui finished speaking, a chilly voice abruptly came from behind him.

His scalp tingled, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

This was Uchiha Mirai's secluded residence. Hardly anyone ever came here.

Besides him and Mirai, there was a third person!?

Shisui immediately turned his head.

He saw a young boy carrying tea, staring deeply at him.

The boy's features were remarkably refined, with two deep tear troughs beneath his eyes.

Uchiha Itachi, Clan Head Fugaku's eldest son.

He should only be nine years old now.

Uchiha Shisui made the judgment in an instant.

Itachi withdrew his gaze from Shisui, walked over to Uchiha Mirai's recliner, and skillfully placed the tea on the low table.

"Brother Mirai, the tea is ready."

He turned toward Shisui somewhat stiffly and said expressionlessly.

"Shisui, would you like a cup of tea as well?"

Uchiha Mirai picked up the teapot from the low table, raised it to his mouth, and gulped down several mouthfuls before looking at Itachi in praise.

"Not bad! Little Itachi, your skills are improving!"

"Not at all. You flatter me, Brother Mirai."

Uchiha Itachi scratched his hair somewhat shyly.

Beside them, Uchiha Shisui was nearly petrified, his mouth hanging open in a daze.

???

What the hell?

Was he seeing this right?

This was Uchiha Itachi? Clan Head Fugaku's eldest son?

Why did he look like Mirai's little follower?

Uchiha Itachi turned and stared coldly at Shisui.

"Shisui, let me remind you: the Uchiha Clan's capacity is not for the Hokage, but for its clansmen."

"Without clansmen, what Uchiha Clan is there to speak of? Shisui, you're part of the Uchiha Clan too. Surely you don't fail to understand something so simple?"

Uchiha Shisui was left speechless by Itachi's retort. He knew Itachi was responding to what he had just said.

Itachi gave a cold snort.

"Shisui, I advise you to read less of that Will of Fire nonsense. A simple metaphor got you trapped to death."

"They call you a genius of the Uchiha Clan, yet you've disgraced the clan!"

Little Itachi rolled his eyes, his face full of disdain.

Beside them, Uchiha Mirai secretly gave him a thumbs-up.

As expected of the kid I raised!

Not bad, little Itachi. Your ideological awareness is impressive!

According to the original timeline, Uchiha Itachi had once encountered Uchiha Shisui while practicing shuriken in the woods.

The two later grew closer and closer. Still young and confused, Itachi was gradually influenced by Shisui and grew into that idiot weasel he became later on.

But this time, Uchiha Itachi had not met his Brother Shisui in those woods. Instead, he had met Brother Mirai, a transmigrator whose head was full of Marxist materialist values.

From that point on, Itachi's way of thinking was rewritten.

Uchiha Shisui's face flushed red as he argued.

"Itachi, I disagree with your views! Wherever leaves dance, the fire lives on! We shouldn't ask what the village has done for us, but what we have done for the village!"

Uchiha Mirai rolled his eyes.

Even Itachi's values had been rewritten by his Marxist dialectical materialism. Why had Shisui, who had awakened the strongest genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, still failed to escape the poisonous tumor of the Will of Fire?

Good grief, had he cast Kotoamatsukami on himself or what?

Grass! (A plant.)

"Shisui, don't you understand yet?"

Little Itachi glared at Shisui indignantly.

"The so-called Will of Fire is merely a tool those higher-ups use to exploit the villagers. From beginning to end, it's been full of hypocrisy and brainwashing!"

"My foolish Shisui! When will you finally wake up?"

Itachi's anger puffed out both his cheeks like round little balloons.

He truly could not understand how someone as foolish as Shisui could exist in this world.

Compared to Marxist materialism, trash like the Will of Fire was absolute bullshit!

He still clearly remembered the first time he had finished listening to Brother Mirai's analysis of the Will of Fire.

That night, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He took out the book The Will of Fire again and read it carefully until midnight, only to see two words between its lines—pyramid scheme!

That night, Itachi wept bitterly and gave himself a hard slap across the face!

If not for Brother Mirai, he might really have been brainwashed by the Will of Fire and done something stupid in the future!

"Wake up already, Shisui! Don't wallow in the lies woven by those higher-ups!"

"Brother Mirai made so many contributions to the village, and what did he get in return? Haven't you seen those higher-ups for what they really are?"

Itachi's roar made Shisui's body tremble. He turned to look at Uchiha Mirai, who was lying in his chair.

During the Third Shinobi War, Konoha had produced two peerless geniuses.

One was the Yellow Flash, who had earned tremendous fame during the war with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

The other... was Uchiha Mirai!

He possessed a second kekkei genkai—a strange poison!

The enemy shinobi called him... Calamity Uchiha!

A saying had spread across the battlefields of the Third Shinobi War...

Uchiha Mirai would make you lose your future!

Even now, many shinobi in the other four great ninja villages still lived in fear of Uchiha Mirai.

Some shinobi who had survived under Uchiha Mirai's hands back then had even mutated, growing things like tentacles???

Uchiha Shisui looked with deep regret at Mirai, who lounged lazily in his chair.

If not for that incident, Uchiha Mirai would have had an unlimited future ahead of him.

What a pity...

On the eve of the Yellow Flash's succession as Hokage, Uchiha Mirai had been forcibly removed from his post by the higher-ups on the grounds that he endangered the village's security.

From then on, he had never recovered. He gradually faded from the clan's sight and secluded himself by the Naka River.

Uchiha Shisui took a deep breath and stared seriously at Mirai on the recliner.

"Three years! A full three years! Mirai, have you truly not cared about the clan at all during these three years?"

"Tomorrow, the clan head will hold a clan meeting at Naka Shrine to discuss the family's future."

"Mirai, it has been far too long since the clan last heard your legend."

"Return to the world, Mirai!"

Uchiha Shisui stared firmly at Uchiha Mirai.

A thousand words converged into one sentence.

The three-year term had ended. Uchiha Mirai, please return to the world!