Pupil Power

The Third Hokage smiled. "You're too modest, Fugaku. You were the first young Uchiha to awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. You have a bright future ahead of you. I hope you won't limit your thinking to yourself and your clan. Consider Konoha's position in everything you do.

"The future belongs to you young people, after all. Think it over carefully."

"Yes, Hokage. I'll give it serious thought," Fugaku Uchiha said.

But he knew he would not be considering the Third Hokage's proposal anytime soon. The rift between the Uchiha and Konoha would only deepen. After the Nine-Tails attacked the village, the Konoha leadership would unanimously decide that the Uchiha had controlled it, causing the Fourth Hokage's death and leaving most of Konoha in ruins.

The Hardline Faction, led by Danzo, would begin plotting against the Uchiha. For now, the leadership was merely following the Second Hokage's wishes by shutting them out. But knowing Danzo, he would set his sights on the Sharingan sooner or later.

A single Three-Tomoe Sharingan was worth a life. Who wouldn't want one?

The Third Hokage picked up a mission scroll from his desk and handed it to Fugaku Uchiha. "This is your promotion mission."

Fugaku Uchiha took the scroll and unrolled it.

Investigate the Land of Wind's activities in the Land of Rain.

Fugaku understood. This was preparation for the Shinobi World War that might soon break out. The Land of Wind and the Land of Earth had already sent small forces into the Land of Rain. Konoha would not wait until the two countries occupied it before deploying its own forces. Perhaps small-scale fighting among the three countries had already begun.

Intelligence-gathering missions were relatively easy for the Uchiha. Sharingan genjutsu made it simple to extract information from a target.

Outside Konoha, Fugaku Uchiha moved through the forest.

Three days later, Fugaku reached the border of the Land of Rain. Caught between the three great powers—the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Fire—it had suffered bitterly from their wars. The entire country was devastated. Some of its people had grown numb; others were filled with hatred for the great powers.

In this cruel world, weakness itself was a sin.

Fugaku waited until nightfall before entering the Land of Rain. Forces from every side were fighting there. If he ran into a squad of elite enemy shinobi, he would be in serious trouble. Darkness offered a little more safety.

No one sent to infiltrate hostile territory before a war was easy to deal with. Fugaku had to be careful.

His crimson Sharingan gleamed, its three tomoe spinning. Even at night, he could clearly make out his surroundings.

Fugaku advanced slowly between the rocks, searching for traces left by passing shinobi. It was proving difficult, and this close to the Land of Fire, most of the tracks likely belonged to Konoha shinobi.

He continued deeper into the Land of Rain under cover, hiding in deserted caves during the day and traveling at night.

That night, as Fugaku searched again for shinobi from the Land of Wind, several dark figures flashed past ahead of him. It was a Rain shinobi patrol, three strong.

Body Flicker Technique.

Fugaku vanished and took cover behind a large rock. He had found no trace of Sand Shinobi in two days. Capturing a few Rain shinobi and questioning them might yield something useful.

The footsteps drew closer. Fugaku focused, and two kunai appeared silently in his hands.

He steadied his breathing. From their conversation, he could tell this was a squad led by a Chunin with two Genin.

He had to take out all three the moment he struck. If he was discovered and a larger patrol came after him, making it back alive would be a serious question.

The footsteps drew closer. Fugaku could already picture the three of them walking toward him.

"Captain, the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Fire keep sending shinobi into the Land of Rain to fight. They have no respect for Lord Hanzō. More civilians were killed by foreign shinobi today," one voice said.

"Those great powers are despicable. They don't care whether people from small countries live or die," another shinobi said bitterly.

Fugaku could tell from their voices that both speakers were young. They were probably the two Genin.

A Chunin had already seen how brutal the shinobi world could be and counted as elite in a small country. He was unlikely to complain to his subordinates.

The Chunin squad leader patted them both on the shoulder. Fugaku heard each pat clearly.

Body Flicker Technique.

He appeared in front of the three. His kunai slashed the two Genin across their throats. As the three tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly, the Rain Chunin started to react, but before he could launch the signal flare in his hand, he fell under Fugaku's genjutsu.

As the two Genin fell, two lines of text appeared in Fugaku's mind.

A cool sensation flowed through his Sharingan. The fatigue from using it for so long eased. His eyes felt refreshed, and everything around him grew sharper.

Fugaku had no time to examine the text. He struck the Chunin's neck with the edge of his hand, then carried him toward a cave he had found earlier.

With war on the verge of breaking out, it would not take Amegakure's patrol shinobi long to find the two Genin's bodies. Fugaku laid false trails to divide the pursuers' attention and erased the tracks he had left behind.

He formed hand seals. Shadow Clone Technique.

Two shadow clones appeared beside Fugaku and ran in separate directions to confuse anyone following him.

After traveling through half the night and knocking the captive unconscious several more times, Fugaku brought the Rain Chunin to the cave he had scouted. He lit a campfire, its glow driving back the darkness.

He bound the Rain shinobi's limbs, gagged him, and sat quietly beside the fire to wait for him to wake.

When Fugaku killed the two Rain Genin, two lines of text had flashed through his mind. Things had been too urgent for him to read them then.

"Killed one Genin. Gained a trace of pupil power."

"Killed one Genin. Gained a trace of pupil power."

So this was the benefit of arriving in Fugaku Uchiha's body. When he killed a shinobi with his own hands, his eyes could absorb some of that shinobi's pupil power.

A Genin gave him only a trace. He did not know whether the amount depended on the target's strength or age.

The Rain shinobi at his feet stirred slightly, then went still again. He was awake and pretending otherwise.

Fugaku seized him by the throat and lifted him. The Rain shinobi could no longer keep up the act. With his limbs bound, all he could do was struggle.

Fugaku tightened his grip. The Rain shinobi's face turned bright red, and the lack of oxygen left him barely conscious.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in Fugaku's eyes. He loosened his grip, and the Rain shinobi stopped resisting. His vacant eyes stared at Fugaku Uchiha.

"Tell me what you know about Sand Shinobi infiltration in the Land of Rain."

"Most Sand Shinobi have stayed near the Land of Wind, fighting Stone shinobi. I heard that only some elite squads are hunting foreign shinobi throughout the Land of Rain."

Fugaku nodded. The Land of Wind and the Land of Earth had already begun fighting. Add the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, and four countries were now engaged in scattered clashes across the Land of Rain.

Fugaku tightened his fingers and snapped the Rain shinobi's neck. A line of text appeared in his mind: Killed one Chunin. Gained a small amount of pupil power.

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