The Tale of the Uchiha

Yan waited for the stale air to clear from the cave, lit a fire starter, and slowly walked in.

There were no murals on the walls. Yan breathed a sigh of relief. At least this wasn't a prison for some mighty figure of the Shinobi World.

At the bottom of the steps, he found scroll after scroll.

No one seemed to have sorted them in ages. They lay in messy piles.

Yan opened a scroll at random and began to read:

"Second year of Ninna. Udon. Earthquake."

"Third year of Ninna. Peace throughout the land."

Yan checked several more scrolls. Their entries were sparse, recording nothing but natural disasters and astronomical observations.

Forget history—there wasn't even a record of Hachiman Great Bodhisattva.

"Good grief. If you're going to write history, at least include some details."

Yan grumbled, then resorted to the slowest method: checking the scrolls one by one.

Personnel transfers...

Daily records...

Land grants...

Wait!

Yan's eyes widened. On a yellowed land-grant record, he read that a Senju branch of the Ōtsutsuki had been granted a fief worth three hundred koku.

Ōtsutsuki. That meant the Senju Clan had received a noble land grant in the early Warring States period!

Yan realized this place had to contain something he needed, so he set the record aside.

As he moved the scrolls piled above it, half of a scroll made from a different material came into view. He could make out the words "the tale" on it.

Yan pulled it free and froze when he saw the writing on the outside.

The scroll was titled The Tale of the Uchiha!

He'd found it!

Yan slowly unfurled the scroll. The elegant handwriting gave him the impression that its author was a gentle woman.

"I have a feeling that we were all born at the dawn of an age of war."

"Looking back on the past thirty years, I see a tumultuous time, as fleeting and unreal as a dream."

"I cannot bear for future generations to forget so much blood and grief. I am the daughter of a warrior house, and today I take up my brush to write this lament."

From the opening, Yan realized the tale dated to the early Warring States period, perhaps even its beginning.

"My name is A Miao, eldest daughter of Musashi, a Kiyokawa warrior. By the time I was born, Ninshu, whose followers worshipped the Sage of Six Paths and used Chakra to heal the sick, had collapsed many years before."

"People who could use Chakra flooded the courts of every nation, and the Daimyo no longer valued us warrior families. Yet these newcomers were rife with conflict among themselves."

"I heard that even while Ninshu still existed, they had split into two factions: one that prized martial strength and one that prized harmony. The leaders of both called themselves Ōtsutsuki. Though they shared blood and ancestry, they fought to the death."

Yan understood that these two Ōtsutsuki factions had to be the descendants of Asura and Indra.

"The martial Ōtsutsuki had crimson eyes, while the Ōtsutsuki who prized harmony possessed monstrous strength."

"After our late lord died, the crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki seized control of the court and installed his eldest son as Daimyo, though he was merely their puppet. Their leader was named Kiyomori Ōtsutsuki. His elder son was Tomomori, and his younger son was Munemori."

"At the time, Kiyomori ruthlessly purged his opponents. Members of the other Ōtsutsuki faction were driven out or even murdered. Finally, in the third year of Shiratori, he accused them of conspiring for personal gain and wiped out the entire household."

"The young heir of the mighty Ōtsutsuki was named Yoshitsune, and his sister Kagura was my friend. Yoshitsune and Tomomori had always been close, a friendship known throughout the capital. Yet when disaster struck Yoshitsune's family, Tomomori was forced to obey his clan. At only seven years old, he was ordered to lead troops against Yoshitsune's people."

"I had heard that crimson eyes were born of tragedy. After the bloody battle that destroyed the mighty Ōtsutsuki branch in our country, Tomomori may have felt the sorrow of this world. By the time he returned, his eyes had turned crimson."

"Yet Yoshitsune and Kagura escaped to another country. Kiyomori knew nothing of this and, believing he had no rivals left, sank into a life of pleasure. His ruthless ambition was plain to see. We warrior families lived in fear amid the turmoil. Furious as we were, we could do nothing."

"The Daimyo could no longer bear the humiliation and sent members of his family to flee. Nine out of ten died, but one, a man named Hojo, reached the country to the south."

"After years of dominating the court, the crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki sought to force the Daimyo to abdicate through military victories. They waged wars on every side, exhausting the people and the treasury and earning the deep resentment of other nations. Even among their own ranks, many were discontent."

"Just then, Hojo married the princess of the southern country and raised an army to rid the court of Kiyomori. Yoshitsune and Kagura joined him, gathering the mighty Ōtsutsuki around them, along with twenty ninja clans of various sizes."

"The nations both hated and feared Kiyomori. Hojo's call drew support from all sides, and the nations formed an alliance, acclaimed him their leader, and named him Son of Heaven. Hojo established a military force called ninja."

"Enraged, Kiyomori led an army against them, only to suffer defeat after defeat. He and Munemori ultimately fell to Yoshitsune. Hojo ordered Yoshitsune to behead father and son. Tomomori wept for three days when his father and brother died at the hands of his dearest friend. He then succeeded as clan head in the capital, his nature utterly changed."

"He sought to raise another army and march south. When the Daimyo refused, Tomomori murdered him. When his clansmen urged him to rest and rebuild, he killed them too."

"After such brutality, no one dared speak. Tomomori marched out again and fought the allied forces south of the Land of Take."

Yan thought he knew what came next: Tomomori must have awakened the Mangekyo, then exhausted his ocular power and died on the battlefield.

But the next passage nearly made him drop the scroll.

"The crimson eyes are distinguished by their Tomoe. The strongest bear three. Upon reaching that stage, a crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki with a resolute will can awaken ocular techniques through the clan's secret treasure. The eyes do not change in appearance, but become far stronger than ordinary three-Tomoe eyes."

"There are many such techniques, including the inextinguishable flames called Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, which drowns its victim in an illusion."

What the hell? Yan had never imagined the Uchiha ancestors could use ocular techniques without awakening the Mangekyo.

Then why had that knowledge been lost?

No need to ask. Black Zetsu had to have played a major part.

"Proud Tomomori did not use the secret treasure to awaken an ocular technique. Yet his prowess was beyond even demons and gods. We warriors were like ants on that battlefield, while ninja summoned lightning and breathed fire. Even the gods could have done no more."

"It is often said that arrogance precedes defeat. Their earlier victories led the allies to underestimate Tomomori, and disputes over their interests divided them. Tomomori was a warrior against whom ten thousand men could not stand. The allied forces suffered a crushing defeat."

"As the army broke, Hojo, the Son of Heaven, held firm. He personally led troops to cover the main force's retreat and was beheaded by Tomomori on the battlefield."

"With the Son of Heaven dead and the main force routed, Tomomori believed victory was assured."

"Yet Yoshitsune and Kagura had already learned the location of the crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki's secret treasure from a benefactor. Hojo had fought to buy them time, and to rouse everyone's will to resist through his own death."

"Tomomori pursued them with his army, plundering civilians and destroying Buddhist temples along the way. He even ordered his troops to slaughter any city that failed to surrender after three beats of the war drum. His deeds outraged gods and men alike!"

"At that, the defeated generals resolved to fight to the end. They swore a new blood oath and installed several of Hojo's sons as Daimyo, forming another alliance. With their backs against the wall, their morale surpassed Tomomori's even without the Son of Heaven to lead them."

"Tomomori struggled to take their strongholds. Meanwhile, Yoshitsune and Kagura slipped into the capital of the Land of Take. I hid them, and after they stole the secret treasure, I glimpsed it for myself."

"It was a mask carved from wood, with a pair of scarlet eyes where its own should have been. They looked as fresh as if they had just been taken from a living person. We felt a terrible sense of foreboding—not because of the eyes, but because the mask's material seemed to want to absorb Yoshitsune and Kagura's Chakra."

"When the treasure was stolen, the crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki fell into turmoil. Defeat at the front and disaster at home forced Tomomori to withdraw."

"Yoshitsune and Kagura took my father and me with them when they fled. Sure enough, Tomomori flew into a rage on his return to the capital and immediately arrested anyone he suspected."

"He showed no mercy even to his own clansmen. After executing those who had guarded the treasure, he sought to exterminate their families too."

A chill ran through Yan. This generation's Indra was completely unhinged.

"When crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki came to offer their allegiance, I knew Tomomori's cause was lost."

"Sure enough, the allied forces swept back into the Land of Take. As Tomomori led his army to meet them, the crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki behind his lines rebelled. His followers and kin had turned against him."

"In just two years, his fortunes had risen and fallen. His army collapsed, and he retreated again and again before finally launching a diversion."

"He left a small force to feign a decisive battle on land while personally leading his main force by sea to attack the south of the continent."

"Yoshitsune and Kagura hurried back with part of the army and met him in a final battle on the southern sea."

"I did not witness that battle. They say the fighting darkened the heavens and that the sea ran red with blood, like autumn maple leaves. Yoshitsune and Tomomori, two friends since childhood, fought each other to the death."

"The allied forces had rushed back and fought desperately, but they were still losing. In that moment of despair, Yoshitsune put on the crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki's secret treasure. He became a monster with a thousand hands upon his back, wreathed in crimson Chakra, undying and impervious to blades!"

"Perhaps even the legendary Tailed Beasts were not as terrifying as Yoshitsune was then. He lost his mind and slaughtered indiscriminately. More than half his own clansmen were killed or wounded."

"Tomomori looked at the monster before him and laughed without end, even as tears of blood slowly ran down his cheeks. The Tomoe in his crimson eyes joined together, forming intricate patterns."

"Those scarlet eyes allowed Tomomori to summon the armored upper body of a giant. As the two fought on, the giant continued to grow until it became an immense figure with armor, arms, and legs."

"Yoshitsune's Chakra suddenly swelled, and he too became a giant."

"I had accompanied the returning army to record its movements. Though I was hundreds of miles from the battlefield, I could see two enormous figures fighting far out at sea."

"One had a thousand hands upon its back and was crimson all over, like a wrathful guardian deity. The other was a blue giant clad in armor and wielding a long sword, just like Susanoo, whom the legends say the Sage of Six Paths' eldest son became!"

"The battle lasted three days and three nights. They even sank a stretch of land, dividing the once-connected southern landmass into a chain of islands. At last, the monster Yoshitsune had become tore off Tomomori's head and returned victorious. We should have celebrated."

"But Yoshitsune, still bereft of reason, continued to attack his own clan. Most of the soldiers who came to reinforce him fled screaming, crying that a wrathful guardian deity—a Bodhisattva—had descended to earth."

"At last, Kagura led their clansmen in completely sealing away her brother."

"When Kagura returned, her hair had turned red. She told me what had happened on the battlefield: their clansmen had been linked to Yoshitsune's raging Chakra through Sealing Jutsu, and many of their hair colors had changed."

"With the war over, the allies divided the land. Everything seemed harmonious. They granted the clans that knew Ninjutsu a shared territory, so those ninja bloodlines no longer had to scatter across the world."

"After consulting one another, the newly installed Daimyo bestowed surnames on the ninja. The mighty Ōtsutsuki received names such as Senju and Uzumaki. The crimson-eyed Ōtsutsuki who had surrendered wished to sever all ties with Tomomori, so they named themselves Uchiha after their family's Gunbai."

"An age of peace seemed close at hand, but I had already seen the ambition in their eyes. The Daimyo wanted more land, their retainers wanted to overthrow their masters, and countless slaves still yearned to rebel."

"I saw how fear of ninja led them to grant the ninja land, yet carve most of it into scattered little parcels. As their numbers grew, another bloodbath would surely follow."

"Through one means or another, the nobles gradually pushed ninja out of politics. Only five years have passed, yet many ninja have already lost their noble standing."

"Kagura saw through their ambitions too. By then she had been given the surname Uzumaki. She entrusted me with a whirlpool-shaped jade pendant, saying she would take some of her clansmen to guard the seal. Many now coveted Yoshitsune's evil power, and there were ambitious people even among her own clan. She asked me to keep the pendant that could undo the seal."

"I saw in Kagura's eyes that she was prepared to die. She did not hide it from me. She said she missed her brother and wanted to enter the seal to try to purify that accursed power. If she succeeded, she would come to me for the pendant."

"Fifty years of life pass like a dream, like an illusion. Power and ambition bring us ordinary people together, then tear us apart. Those who once shared wine beneath the cherry blossoms are now scattered far and wide. I named this book The Tale of the Uchiha to mock Kiyomori and the others, who spent their lives chasing ambition, only for their descendants to abandon even the Ōtsutsuki name."

After reading this Shinobi World version of The Tale of Genji, Yan felt a weight settle over him. After Ninshu's collapse, ninja had entered the nobles' courts and stirred up decades of upheaval, only to become tools in the nobles' hands.

How tragic.

Yan looked at the scroll's final passage. The ink was different, and the writing had grown crooked, as though an old woman could no longer summon the strength to write with her youthful grace.

"Decades have passed, and the world has become what I feared. Daimyo and nobles hire ninja to fight their wars. Absurdly, even as they are treated like tools, these ninja clans enslave some of their own. Yet we warrior families have little right to laugh. Samurai can now do no more than scrape by in the Land of Iron."

"As war rages, people have begun to pray to gods and Buddhas for salvation. Lately, I hear the Buddhists have proclaimed a Hachiman Great Bodhisattva who protects the people."

"When I heard the deeds they attributed to Hachiman Great Bodhisattva, I wept. They had combined Hojo's great struggle against Kiyomori's tyranny with the image of Yoshitsune as a monster and proclaimed the result a Bodhisattva descended from heaven. Living, breathing people had become gods. Could there be a greater change in this world?"

"The nobles have been fighting fiercely of late. Many have fled to safety, but I will not leave my home. I will wait for Kagura."

"But year after year, Kagura has not come. I do not think I have long to live."

Yan could almost see an old woman, frail with age, waiting for word from her friend.

"Kagura, you are a ninja. You should live longer than I will, and I know you can find this book. Outside the place where I have kept it stands a collection of Hachiman Great Bodhisattva statues. I have hidden the pendant well. If I am dead when you come, look for it among the statues. You will know which one."

"If you are reading this and you are not Kagura, then you must be someone from a later age, tormented by the darkness of this world. I know you came here to learn what your forebears did. Sadly, we achieved nothing. If you need that power, think carefully before you act. I placed the pendant inside Hachiman Great Bodhisattva. If that statue still stands in your time, you may take it. The way to retrieve it is wine."

Yan's eyes lit up. Jackpot.

(I'm going to sleep now. There'll be two more chapters when I wake up.)