How Far Can Those Eyes of Yours See?

Night lay black as ink as Kagami Uchiha walked toward the clan council hall beneath the moonlight.

After more than half a day's rest, his exhaustion from the past several days had eased.

He passed through several intersecting alleys, and a sprawling main residence came into view.

Two stone posts stood before the veranda, and a long, narrow corridor stretched inward. The council hall lay deep within the residence. Kagami stepped onto the wooden floorboards, his shoes making soft, low sounds as he crossed the corridor and headed straight for the closed doors.

Dark hardwood beams and pillars framed the council hall, with old-fashioned Gunbai patterns carved into the roof beams. Smoothly polished bluestone slabs covered the floor, and several rows of broad wooden tables stood inside. A faint scent of pine resin hung in the air.

Uchiha Rei, the current clan head, sat in the seat of honor at the far end of the hall, his expression grave.

Beside him sat the elder Kagami had seen during the day, Uchiha Yo.

Uchiha Setsuna lounged in a seat to one side, his eyes cold.

The three waited in silence for Kagami Uchiha to enter.

Creak—

As the heavy doors swung open, Kagami Uchiha walked slowly into the hall.

"Kagami, you're here. How are you feeling?" Uchiha Yo asked gently.

"Thank you for asking, Elder. I'm much better," Kagami Uchiha replied evenly.

"Kagami, what exactly happened on this trip to the Land of Lightning? Why did Kinkaku and Ginkaku attack you? What happened?" Uchiha Rei asked from the seat of honor, his brow furrowed.

"Lord Hokage will inform everyone at the Hokage Building about what happened in the Land of Lightning. I don't want to say more right now. I hope you'll understand, Clan Head," Kagami Uchiha said calmly.

Bang!

A dull crash rang out as Uchiha Setsuna slammed his palm onto the wooden table.

"You! You both saw that. What kind of attitude is this?"

"Kagami, are you even a member of the Uchiha Clan anymore?"

"Ever since you joined Tobirama Senju's Shadow Guard, you've barely taken part in clan affairs. How can you face our Uchiha ancestors?"

He leaned forward, brows drawn tight, and fixed Kagami Uchiha with an openly hostile stare. His tone carried the harsh reproach of an elder dressing down a junior.

"That's enough, Setsuna. Kagami is still young, and he's only just returned alive from the battlefield. Don't be so hard on him," Uchiha Yo urged.

Kagami Uchiha watched the agitated Uchiha Setsuna and suddenly gave a derisive laugh. "Hah. I've barely taken part in clan affairs since joining the Shadow Guard? At every clan meeting, I've had to listen to a fool like you spout nonsense. One moment you want a coup, the next you want to assassinate Tobirama Senju. Are you stupid, Uchiha Setsuna?"

"What did you say, you brat?" Uchiha Setsuna flew into a rage, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly spinning in his eyes.

Kagami Uchiha's voice dripped with disdain. "That's all it takes to set you off?"

"What right do you have to be angry? What did I say that was wrong? You're over forty and still only have the strength of an ordinary Jonin. You think you can brainwash a few naive young clansmen and assassinate the Hokage? Do you know how many Anbu Ninja guard Tobirama Senju?"

"You call yourselves the Hawk Faction day in and day out, but you're the ones tearing this clan apart!"

"Kagami, that's going too far. Setsuna is doing it for the clan too," Uchiha Yo rebuked him, staring at Kagami Uchiha as though he had become a different person.

Kagami Uchiha ignored him. He turned to the clan head and addressed them all. "I'm here to tell you that from now on, there will be no more so-called Hawk Faction or Dove Faction in the Uchiha Clan. We all belong to the same clan."

"And do you know how a clan should coexist with its village?"

"Under the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the One Country, One Village system took root in everyone's minds. Even if the Uchiha Clan left Konoha now, we wouldn't survive long in the Shinobi World."

"Let me ask you something. If you had the guts, why didn't you urge Madara Uchiha to found a village of his own back then? With his strength, who besides Hashirama Senju could have stopped him?"

"And Madara Uchiha was an idiot himself. He broke away from the clan, convinced he knew best, then came back to fight Hashirama Senju—and lost."

"He's responsible for half the awkward position the Uchiha Clan holds in the village."

"You should be grateful that, for now, the clan is still safe. Tobirama Senju won't strike first, but he won't stand by and watch a rebellion either."

"And you in particular, Uchiha Setsuna—watch that filthy mouth of yours!"

"Kagami Uchiha, you're asking for death!" Uchiha Setsuna lunged at him.

"Hmph! You want to dance too?" A strange, magnificent pair of Mangekyō Sharingan spun in Kagami Uchiha's eyes.

"Stop, Setsuna!" Uchiha Rei rose from the seat of honor and shouted.

"Is that... the Mangekyō Sharingan? Kagami, you've awakened the power of Lord Madara and Lord Izuna?" Uchiha Rei cried, excitement filling his voice.

"What? The Mangekyō Sharingan?"

"It really is! The pattern is different, but that powerful ocular chakra is just like Lord Madara's!"

All three men in the council hall were stunned by Kagami Uchiha's awakened Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Kagami, now that you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, can we take Konoha by force?" Uchiha Setsuna asked, his heart burning with excitement despite their confrontation moments earlier.

No wonder Tobirama Senju thinks everyone in the Uchiha Clan is crazy. Honestly...

"Give up that fantasy, Setsuna. Tobirama Senju already knows about my Mangekyō Sharingan. Do you think he won't be on guard against me?"

"Besides, my eyes aren't Madara Uchiha's Eternal Eye. If I use them too much, I'll go blind."

Uchiha Setsuna's excited expression froze.

"Then what should we do from now on? We'll listen to you, Kagami," Uchiha Rei asked from the side.

Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Yo nodded vigorously too, looking ready to follow his every order.

Among the Uchiha, might made right.

That was why Madara Uchiha had won the devotion of so many clansmen despite his arrogant attitude: he was strong.

Why had no Uchiha dared to object when Konoha was founded? Why had no one followed Madara Uchiha when he left the village?

Part of the reason was that village life truly was safer—far better than life in the Warring States Period.

More importantly, Hashirama Senju was stronger than Madara Uchiha. If they were going to follow someone strong anyway, who would choose the loser?

And then there was the difference in their personalities. Hashirama Senju might have been unrivaled in the world, but as long as you did nothing to harm the village, he was easy to get along with.

Madara Uchiha, on the other hand, wore a sour face every day, as if the whole world owed him something.

There was no contest.

Kagami Uchiha looked at the three expectant faces and smiled, his tension easing. "If you're all going to listen to me from now on, then I'm setting a few rules."

"First, there will be no more factions within the clan."

Uchiha Setsuna nodded along.

"Second, there's only one way to change the clan's position: the Uchiha Clan must produce a Hokage too. The Senju have held the office for two terms. We helped found this village, so why shouldn't we have a chance?"

Uchiha Setsuna wasn't the only one nodding furiously. Uchiha Yo and Uchiha Rei joined in.

Satisfied with their response, Kagami Uchiha continued. "Third, we need to change how our clansmen treat the other people in the village. What people say matters. The Uchiha Clan's reputation matters too. Who would want a ninja from a clan with a terrible reputation to become Hokage?"

"Fourth, I haven't thought of it yet. I'll tell you when I do."

He turned to leave, but paused at the doorway. His Mangekyō Sharingan slowly turned as he glanced back at the three clan elders and spoke with pointed meaning.

"Remember, everyone lives inside the cage of their own understanding and calls it reality. Understanding is a hazy thing."

"My eyes have already seen the future. So how far can those eyes of yours really see?"

The next morning, Kagami Uchiha washed up, put on clean clothes, and stepped out of his small courtyard.

He strolled through the streets of the Uchiha Clan Compound, passing clansmen whose faces were bright with smiles.

The general store owner loudly called out that everything was on sale today. Women carrying shopping baskets gathered in twos and threes at alley corners and outside shops, chatting quietly. Children chased one another along the streets, laughing and playing.

When they saw Kagami Uchiha, many greeted him warmly.

"Isn't that Kagami? Have you had breakfast? Come have something to eat," an elderly woman said kindly.

"Big Brother Kagami, are you going out? You've only just come back from the battlefield. If you need anything, I can take care of it for you," a young Uchiha ninja offered, looking at him with admiration.

"Hey, Kagami, good morning! Want some Pacific saury? It came in today. You and the cats both know how good saury tastes..." The fish shop owner grinned cheerfully.

Kagami Uchiha politely declined their offers, though the Pacific saury seller had almost made him think he'd run into someone from home.

He left the Uchiha Clan Compound and entered Konoha's main streets.

The village had regained its usual bustle. News that Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had survived and returned safely had swept away the gloom hanging over Konoha these past few days.

Ordinary villagers were no longer anxious. Shops along the streets opened as usual, and people came and went. Compared with the bowed heads and uneasy silence of a few days ago, it was like another world.

Yet beneath the bustle, something still felt wrong.

Every ninja he passed wore an unusually tense, grave expression.

No one knew whether the ambush in the Land of Lightning had truly been an isolated incident.

Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure had rebelled and killed their own Raikage on the spot, but they had attacked Konoha's ninja as well.

After that battle, peace talks between the two nations had all but collapsed. Border clashes were now highly likely, and war might even break out again.

Konoha seemed calm again on the surface, but currents stirred beneath it. Everyone was on edge.

Carrying gifts, Kagami Uchiha made his unhurried way down the main street toward the Shimura Clan's residence.

He planned to visit Danzo.

Before he reached the entrance, he spotted four familiar figures standing at the Shimura Clan's gate.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in the middle, composed but visibly tired.

Torifu Akimichi, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu stood beside him.

Clearly, the four had come to visit Danzo as well.

They stopped talking when they saw Kagami Uchiha approaching and turned toward him.

"Kagami, have you come to see Danzo too?" Utatane Koharu asked with a smile.

Kagami Uchiha gave a small nod in reply.

"Kagami, I never expected you all to survive Kumogakure's pursuit. I'm so glad you made it back," Hiruzen Sarutobi said warmly.

"Come on, Hiruzen. Kagami killed Ginkaku and even helped our teacher kill Kinkaku. He came back as a hero," Torifu Akimichi said, admiration in his voice.

"A hero..." Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured to himself.

"We were lucky, that's all. If Kumogakure hadn't lost its leaders and the will to fight, who knows how things would have turned out?" Kagami Uchiha said modestly, waving a hand.

Creak—

The Shimura Clan's gate opened, and an attendant led them to Danzo.

Danzo's bedroom was quiet, with soft light filtering through the paper window.

Danzo lay flat on the bed, his face frighteningly pale. He looked utterly drained.

His right sleeve hung empty. The wound where he had lost his arm had been carefully dressed and tightly wrapped in thick bandages. He had lost an arm in the desperate battle in the Land of Lightning, and none of his old gloomy toughness remained. All that was left was exhaustion.

"You're here. Please, sit down. Yako, bring tea," Danzo said when he saw them, inviting them to sit before weakly instructing the attendant.

Seeing Danzo like this, Utatane Koharu's face fell, and she began to sob quietly.

"There, Koharu. I'm still here, aren't I? It's only an arm. I'm lucky to have come back alive." Danzo tried to comfort her.

"Danzo, I promise I'll ask our teacher to find a way. I won't let this be the end of your career. You're a hero of Konoha!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said firmly.

"Thanks, Monkey. Even with only one arm, I won't give up being a ninja!" Danzo turned his head toward him. His face was deathly pale and his eyes stubbornly intent. His voice was hoarse and faint, each word deliberate.

His gaze then shifted to Kagami Uchiha, and some of the tension left his shoulders. "Kagami, thank you for saving me. I'll repay you." There was no empty politeness in his pale face, only gratitude toward a dear friend in his eyes.

"You don't owe me anything. When you're better, we can train together again," Kagami Uchiha said calmly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched them, his feelings suddenly tangled.

Danzo and Kagami are that close? I...

At that thought, he stood and said gently to Danzo, "Now that we've seen how you're doing, we can rest easy. I still need to see our teacher, so I'll let you rest." With that, he turned and headed outside.

The others were puzzled, but they knew Danzo needed quiet to recover, so they too said their goodbyes.

After leaving the Shimura Clan's residence, Kagami Uchiha walked alone through the streets, a thought flashing through his mind. Only Hashirama Cells could restore Danzo's arm. I wonder how far Tobirama Senju has gotten with his research.

The sun was setting as he walked alone along the high bank of the Naka River.

"Hey, ninja up ahead! Stop a moment!" called a clear voice, still tinged with a child's innocence.