Fugaku's Memories

Watching the clan members leave after being dismissed, Fugaku rubbed his brow and looked at his two sons, each held in one of Mikoto's arms.

"Itachi, Hane, if there's nothing else, go to sleep! It's getting late!"

Hane nodded, took Itachi's hand, and left their mother's embrace. Under Mikoto's reluctant gaze, they went upstairs.

When they reached his room, Hane looked at the still well-behaved Itachi and turned to his younger brother. "Itachi, do you want to sleep with your brother tonight?"

Itachi thought for a moment, then nodded without hesitation. The two brothers had slept together since they were little. It had only been a little over a year since they started sleeping in separate rooms.

That night, the two brothers lay quietly in bed. Moonlight streamed through a crack in the window, draping the room in a veil of mystery.

Neither of them felt sleepy.

One barely needed sleep at all, while the other had a heart full of worries.

"Itachi, what dream do you have for when you grow up?" Hane asked softly.

Itachi was silent for a while before answering, "Brother, I want the village to remain peaceful forever!"

"Peace... As expected, such a heavy subject." Hane thought blandly.

"Itachi, if one day you had to choose between the clan and the village, what would you do?" Hane still asked the question whose answer he desperately wanted to know.

Itachi furrowed his little brows. "Brother, can't the village and the clan live peacefully together?"

"I said if. I never said it would definitely happen," Hane answered helplessly.

"I would stop both sides, Brother!" Itachi replied firmly.

Hane breathed a slight sigh of relief. "It seems the clan and the village still carry equal weight in Itachi's heart."

"Haha! What can a little brat like you possibly do, talking so big? Go to sleep. Peace isn't something children like us need to worry about. Graduate from the Ninja Academy first."

After saying that, Hane closed his eyes. He fell asleep as soon as he said he would. Come to think of it, it had probably been over a year since he had truly slept.

"Itachi, I hope you have a good dream tonight!"

Although he wanted to refute his brother's earlier words, Itachi held it back when he saw Hane close his eyes.

"Mm! Good night, Brother." With that, Itachi closed his eyes as well.

The next day, Hane woke just as dawn broke. Sleeping again felt nowhere near as refreshing as meditating and cultivating, and his head felt a little foggy.

Sure enough, cultivating immortality is what brings happiness. Hane thought to himself.

Glancing at Itachi, who was still sleeping soundly beside him, Hane did not disturb him and quietly went downstairs.

Hane saw that his mother was already busy in the kitchen. After wishing her good morning, he hurried toward the backyard.

By the time Mikoto heard the sound and turned around, he had already vanished from sight.

"This child..." Mikoto shook her head helplessly.

When he arrived at a remote corner of the backyard, he saw four square plots of land that had been neatly plowed, with a wooden fence beside them.

Hane's precious medicinal herbs were planted here. Ever since awakening his four auxiliary professions, Hane had attached great importance to all four of them.

Both weapon refining and alchemy required precious materials, so when Hane had been young, he had no way to improve his progress in those two through practice.

But Formation Art and Planting Art were different. As long as he constantly familiarized himself with various restrictions, he could set them up using Cinnabar and Yellow Talisman.

As for the latter, anything Hane planted could earn him at least some experience. Thus, he had developed a fondness for farming from a young age.

It had to be said that, as the Uchiha Clan head, Fugaku had a sufficiently large backyard. Aside from the training ground, there was still plenty of empty space behind the house.

The four plots together covered seven or eight mu of land, nearly all planted with flowers and herbs Hane had dug up from the wilderness over the years.

Of course, he had not dug up those flowers and herbs at random. Each possessed, more or less, some distinct medicinal properties.

According to the Hundred Herbs Compendium provided by the Planting Art, Hane could clearly distinguish the functions and medicinal properties contained within every plant.

It was simply that the medicinal properties of herbs in the Ninja World were far too weak. He needed to slowly nurture them with spiritual energy, deepening the strength of their origins before they could possibly become materials for refining pills.

After entering the garden, Hane first checked whether the Spirit Gathering Array he had set up with talismans had been damaged by insects or ants. After a thorough inspection, all the restrictions remained intact, and Hane could not help but sigh in relief. Setting up Formation Art was extremely time-consuming.

The Spirit Gathering Array formed with talismans was currently quite fragile. Compared to spirit stones, it was especially vulnerable to damage from insects and ants.

Among ordinary-grade Formation Art, he did not have any that could repel insects and ants or contain lethal intent.

Thus, checking the Formation Art's integrity every day had become part of his routine. Looking at the vibrant, flourishing flowers and herbs, Hane's mood improved considerably. After a little longer, these plants should be usable for alchemy.

Though they were only basic pills, they were still important life-saving trump cards for him, given his current lack of spiritual energy.

Hane carefully loosened the soil in his little fields according to the habits of each plant, occasionally using the Little Cloud Rain Technique from Water Release to irrigate them and nourish their roots.

Every movement was filled with focus and seriousness, yet what he did not know was that Fugaku was silently standing by the window, quietly watching his every action.

"When did my son start taking up such a hobby?" Fugaku could not help sinking into thought.

"It must have been when he was a little over three. He still clearly remembered coming home after finishing work that day. His eldest son had held up a weed picked from the roadside, opened his arms to ask for a hug, and then, while he laughed happily, said in his childish voice that he wanted to farm in the backyard."

"At the time, he had looked at his wife in confusion, only to find Mikoto wearing the same helpless expression.

His instinctive reaction had been to refuse, but when he saw the pleading look in his son's eyes, he agreed without hesitation. He had even rubbed his beard against the boy's little face.

It seemed that the father and son had not been unable to grow close from the beginning. Whenever he held Hane as a child, his mouth would split wide with joy.

It was only later, when Hane turned four and began ninja training, that their relationship gradually grew distant.

Itachi trained very diligently. He did whatever Fugaku told him to do, but Hane was mischievous. Aside from basic training, the little boy always seemed to have endless other things to do.

It was Hane's lack of effort and his perfunctory attitude toward being a ninja that had caused Fugaku to change.

Whenever Fugaku criticized Hane for this attitude, Hane would argue back. Sometimes, Fugaku could not even out-argue a four-year-old child. Hane always had countless twisted arguments.

Back then, Fugaku had seemed both helpless and disappointed. He wanted to forcefully destroy those improper pursuits of Hane's like a stern father, but whenever he thought of the consequences, of how it might make the child unbearably sad, he could not bring himself to do it.

Gradually, father and son became silent around each other. Usually, Fugaku could only pretend to be a father who did not speak much, yet was full of authority.

Later, Itachi's performance grew increasingly outstanding, and Fugaku slowly came to accept it. After all, who could guarantee that every child they had would be so exceptional?

He simply let Hane indulge in those unproductive hobbies.

There had even been a moment when he felt it might be a good thing that his eldest son lacked talent as a ninja. The profession of a ninja was simply too stifling and painful. If that little fellow had not stopped him from taking Itachi onto the battlefield that day, he might still have remained in the dark...

"Fugaku! What are you thinking about?" Mikoto walked up behind him, gently wrapped her arms around him, and asked.

"Nothing. Mikoto, you've worked hard." Fugaku came back to himself and held the hand Mikoto had placed around his waist.

"What have I worked hard over? Today's clan meeting must have left you caught in the middle again, right?" Mikoto answered understandingly.

"There's no helping it. The village is pushing too hard, and it's only natural for the clansmen to be angry. If only the Fourth Hokage were still here!" Fugaku sighed with a frown.

"I wonder how Kushina's child is doing. He lost his parents so young. I wonder if he's living well now," Mikoto asked sadly.

"That was the child of her closest friend, after all!"

"Sigh!" Fugaku did not directly answer his wife's question, only heaved a deep sigh.

As the head of the Military Police Force, he naturally knew Naruto's circumstances. But what could he do? The village now guarded against the Uchiha as though they were enemies.

"I hope Hane and Itachi can grow up quickly. With their talents, they will surely be able to change the village's current situation."

After saying that, the couple quietly watched Hane continuing to work in the backyard, both wearing gratified expressions.

"It's time to call the children to eat!" After a long while, when Hane seemed about to finish, Mikoto spoke softly.

Fugaku nodded and headed toward a patch of woods somewhere outside the house. He knew that Itachi was probably secretly training at this hour.