Uchiha Clan

Obito set down the note. The few words on it struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

His breathing grew rapid, his chest heaving violently as though an invisible hand were tightly choking his throat.

Obito's vision darkened, and his body swayed involuntarily.

His eyes widened, his pupils seeming ready to split apart, filled with disbelief and unspeakable pain.

It felt as though countless sharp steel needles had pierced his heart at once, the agony nearly suffocating him.

A tear slid down his face...

"How... how could this happen..."

Obito's voice was hoarse and broken.

"Why... why..."

His grandmother had always been the most important person in his life, his only warm refuge in this unfamiliar Ninja World.

Yet at this moment, he had never imagined that, just to let him awaken the Sharingan, his grandmother would choose such a resolute course of action!

She had chosen to end her own life to stimulate him into awakening his eyes!

This cruel truth was like a sharp dagger, mercilessly piercing his heart and leaving him in unbearable pain.

Obito's eyes opened wider and wider, as though his eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets!

His ragged breathing grew increasingly obvious, like a bellows being worked frantically.

At that moment, his pupils changed rapidly, as if red ink had been dripped into them. In the blink of an eye, they were dyed a vivid scarlet!

First, a mysterious and eerie single tomoe quietly appeared in his eyes!

Then, just an instant later, the second tomoe emerged like a ghost.

Yet it was not over. Only two seconds later, the third tomoe flashed forth like lightning, clearly appearing in his eyes!

His once ordinary pupils had undergone such an astonishing transformation in such a short span of time!

He had surged from the initial awakening state all the way to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!

It was clear just how unimaginably immense the impact of this event had been on Obito!

At that moment, Obito finally understood deeply what it meant to possess cursed eyes!

This power was not easily obtained. It could only be awakened at a terrible cost.

The so-called Love Clan possessed these eyes, which appeared incomparably powerful but were in truth filled with evil and ominous curses.

Every awakening was accompanied by bloody sacrifice. Whether it meant losing a loved one, facing endless threats of death, or suffering some other extreme form of stimulation, only then would these eyes truly open.

Obito trembled all over, the overwhelming power brought by his awakened Sharingan and the heart-rending pain intertwining within him!

Fear rose in his heart. Even three tomoe had brought him such suffering; he did not dare imagine the Mangekyo Sharingan that lay ahead!

Obito looked blankly around him, feeling as though the cold had pierced deep into his bones!

"These cursed eyes..."

Obito murmured to himself.

The next day, Obito stood before his grandmother's grave.

Minato walked over, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

He approached the grave and gently placed the bouquet before the tombstone.

"Obito, keep going! Your grandmother definitely wouldn't want to see you so depressed..."

Minato bent slightly and gently patted Obito's shoulder, consoling him earnestly.

Not far behind them, Kakashi and Rin also wore worried expressions. They stared intently at Obito, concern plain in their eyes.

"Obito, you have to be strong. Teacher Minato, me, Rin, and Kakashi—we're all here by your side, supporting you."

Kushina stepped forward as well, placing both hands on Obito's shoulders as she comforted him softly.

"That's right, Obito. We're all here!"

Rin said sincerely.

"Keep going!"

Kakashi called out those two words, brief but firm. Though he did not say much, Kakashi understood the pain of losing family very well. When his father had passed away, that unforgettable grief had tormented him deeply too.

That was why he could fully empathize with everything Obito was enduring at that moment. Such understanding required no excessive words.

Hearing their caring words of encouragement, Obito's once unbearably heavy heart gradually felt a trace of warmth, like seeing scattered starlight in the darkness.

"Thank you, everyone!"

Obito bowed deeply.

After returning to the clan, Fugaku Uchiha was already waiting for him at the entrance.

"Have you awakened the Sharingan?"

That was the first thing Fugaku Uchiha asked.

Obito slowly opened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan in response!

Fugaku Uchiha was startled. Three tomoe right from the start!

This talent was unmatched!

"Congratulations! A Three-Tomoe Sharingan from the very beginning is unprecedented! Congratulations!"

Fugaku Uchiha said.

Obito's heart trembled violently upon hearing that!

His grandmother had died, and Fugaku Uchiha was congratulating him for awakening the Sharingan?

In that instant, Obito seemed to understand why Itachi Uchiha had begun to doubt the Uchiha Clan.

Itachi Uchiha had been devastated by the death of his companion, yet his father had been happy that he awakened his eyes. That was also why Itachi Uchiha hated the clan.

Fugaku Uchiha had only noticed Itachi Uchiha's eyes, as well as the power and responsibility that came after awakening them. He had failed to notice what Itachi Uchiha had lost in order to awaken them.

(PS: I do not agree with Itachi Uchiha's actions. Killing his parents was wrong, and killing innocent clan members was wrong. This is not an attempt to whitewash Itachi Uchiha. I have always been impartial; I am merely describing what the original work sought to convey.)

"Having one more clansman is something worth celebrating. Our Uchiha Clan will be proud of you as well."

"However, do not become arrogant after gaining the Sharingan. You must continue refining your power and grow stronger without ceasing!"

Fugaku Uchiha said to Obito expressionlessly.

Trading the life of an elderly person who had never awakened the Sharingan for a pair of three-tomoe eyes was, from the clan head's perspective, completely excellent news!

It was worth celebrating. With another Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan would become stronger.

Obito, who now possessed three tomoe, would surely stand shoulder to shoulder with Shisui Uchiha!

Obito did not answer. He merely nodded repeatedly.

He walked straight past Fugaku Uchiha and returned home.

Fugaku Uchiha watched Obito silently, then vanished in an instant.

News of Obito awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan also spread throughout the clan.

The rumors that Obito was not truly a member of the Uchiha Clan collapsed on their own!

Members of the Uchiha Hawk Faction swiftly congratulated and tried to recruit Obito, sending him experience in training the Sharingan as well as methods for using it to cast genjutsu and control others.

Konoha also granted Obito seven days of bereavement leave!

Hiruzen Sarutobi personally wrote Obito a letter of consolation!

At first, it had been a letter of comfort, but Hiruzen Sarutobi forcibly dragged it onto the topic of the Will of Fire!

He compared Obito's grandmother to fire and Obito to a young sprout, saying that the older generation's sacrifice had allowed Obito, the sprout, to grow.

Afterward, he went on and on about the Will of Fire. A letter of consolation had somehow been forcibly made to "burn" beneath Hiruzen Sarutobi's pen.

Obito did not want to see either the clan's side or the village's side!

Both carried a certain political undertone.

The Uchiha Clan wanted to make him a bargaining chip against the village.

The village was also trying to win him over, forcibly instilling the Will of Fire into him!

Neither side cared that he was only a child who had lost his grandmother.