Uchiha Fugaku's Dōjutsu

Uchiha Yehuo stared at the scene before him.

He understood everything now.

His brother hadn't lied. He hadn't been joking, either...

Uchiha Itachi!

He really had defected!

"Heh... hehehe, hahahaha!"

Nobihi braced one hand against his forehead and the other against the doorframe. Covering his face, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha!!"

"It's a lie! All of it! Uchiha Itachi! I'll find you and kill you! That's the price you'll pay for deceiving me!"

"Ahahaha—!"

As he laughed wildly, three jet-black tomoe appeared in Uchiha Yehuo's eyes. His Ocular Power erupted!

At the turn of the stairs.

Thud! Sasuke clutched his forehead and collapsed to the floor.

"Sasuke!"

Mikoto had been watching Nobihi's wild laughter with anguish on her face. At the sound, she turned.

Her tears spilled over at once.

She rushed to her son and lifted him into her arms, her trembling hand stroking his face.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry..."

Uchiha Fugaku watched Nobihi with a conflicted expression.

He had no idea what to do or say. Everything was in chaos, and his mind was a muddle...

"Enough!"

A cold rebuke rang out.

Shinji Uchiha strode through the front door and seized Nobihi by the throat.

"Who are you going to kill?!"

"He's your brother! You grew up together! You've spent more time with him than you have with me, your own flesh-and-blood brother!"

"And you say you're going to kill him?"

"You say you're going to kill him right in front of Aunt Mikoto?!"

"You ungrateful bastard!"

"Come on. If you've got the guts, try killing me first!"

Nobihi's face flushed red as Shinji gripped his throat. Terror filled his eyes.

In all his memories... his brother had never been this angry!

"Come on! Kill me!"

"N-Nii-san..."

A pitiful plea squeezed out of Nobihi's throat.

Shinji saw the terror on his face and sneered.

"With the eyes you have now, you aren't even worthy of standing before Uchiha Itachi!"

"You're an embarrassment. Get lost!"

Bang!

Shinji Uchiha flung Nobihi away like a discarded object, sending him five meters through the air.

He struck the wall and slowly slid down.

"Shinji!"

Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto cried out together, looking toward Nobihi with concern.

Shinji dusted off his hands.

His face was tight with anger.

"Don't bother with him. He won't die. He has no skill, but plenty of temper. I regret not teaching him myself when he was little what it means to throw an egg against a rock!"

With that,

Shinji spared Nobihi no further glance. He went straight upstairs and took Sasuke from Mikoto's arms.

Even unconscious, the boy's brows were knitted tight.

His little face was twisted in pain.

"Shinji, you..."

Uchiha Mikoto looked at Shinji uneasily. Only today had she realized she didn't truly know the boy she had watched grow up.

Shinji looked at Mikoto and let out a soft breath.

"Aunt Mikoto, it'll be all right. It's too early for Sasuke to awaken his Sharingan. I'll help with the Sealing of his Ocular Power."

Mikoto hesitated.

She instinctively looked toward Fugaku, seeking her husband's opinion.

But she quickly turned back.

She looked at Shinji, near despair in her eyes. "...I trust you!"

"Mm."

Shinji carried Sasuke upstairs. "Let's go to his room."

"Okay!"

"..."

Downstairs.

Uchiha Fugaku watched the three disappear up the stairs and gave a bitter smile.

He grabbed his cup and drained it.

Hiss!

Shinji raised both hands. A seal like Naruto's appeared on Sasuke's lower abdomen.

At its center was the Uzumaki emblem, surrounded by inscriptions and five Tomoe.

"Is it done?"

Mikoto looked at Sasuke anxiously.

"Mm."

Shinji nodded. "I sealed his Ocular Power. Once his emotions have settled, I'll gradually undo the Sealing after he starts school next year. Otherwise..."

"A child awakening the Sharingan so suddenly and using its power without restraint isn't necessarily a good thing."

"The whole clan treats it as the measure of a genius, but to me, it only burns through their life. It's not worth it."

"And right now?" Mikoto stroked Sasuke's hair, her face full of tenderness.

"Don't worry. He's just asleep."

"Thank you, Shinji!"

Uchiha Mikoto gently embraced Shinji. She had never felt more helpless.

And the only person she could lean on was a boy she had cared for, but who could hardly be called her adopted son...

"Shinji, I don't know how I'd go on without you... Itachi, how could he do something like that?"

Shinji Uchiha patted her shoulder. "Aunt Mikoto... I'll bring Itachi back to the village. I'll set right what he did. One day, he'll be the Itachi you remember. Do you believe me?"

"Mm..."

He sat with her beside Sasuke's bed, listening as she murmured about how she hadn't taken good enough care of Uchiha Itachi.

He turned toward the bright moonlight outside the window.

Shinji's thoughts churned.

Uchiha Itachi... was this part of your plan too? The idea was mine, but I have to admit defeat. You're even more calculating than I am!

He didn't know how much time passed.

Eventually, Shinji noticed the front of his shirt was soaked through.

Mikoto's soft snores reached his ears.

Only then did he carefully ease himself free of Uchiha Mikoto's arms.

He lifted her onto the bed beside Sasuke and covered her with a light blanket...

Before leaving,

he glanced at Mikoto's eyes, swollen from crying, and sighed quietly.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Shinji went downstairs.

Fugaku was still sitting where he had been, drinking alone. "Sorry for the trouble, Shinji."

Shinji sat down as though it were the most natural thing in the world and poured himself a drink. "It's what I should do. Aunt Mikoto has always treated me like her own son. I have to do my duty as a son. If anything, I'm the one who owes her an apology."

Fugaku gave Shinji a surprised look.

"I had you all wrong. I always thought you were cold-blooded, scheming from childhood onward. Like a cold Kunai waiting to strike an enemy a fatal blow. I thought nothing and no one else could move you."

"..."

Shinji took a sip. "Yes. I kept up the act for so long I almost believed it myself. But I'll never forget that moment at my parents' funeral."

"...Aunt Mikoto held me in her arms and told me through her tears that she would be my mother from then on."

Fugaku's expression grew increasingly awkward.

"I owe you thanks... If not for you, Itachi would probably have died last night. I know he'd never be a match for you!"

Shinji lowered his head and drank without answering.

Suddenly,

Fugaku leaned forward and stared straight at him. "But you two little brats did something this big without telling me?"

"Do you know how hard I had to work to keep up the act without ruining your plan?"

"Do you have any idea?!"

"You little bastard!"

"Well..."

Shinji scratched his head and smiled freely. "I knew we couldn't hide it from you. Was it your Dōjutsu?"

"No... What Dōjutsu in this world can see the future?"

Fugaku smiled wryly. "My left eye's Dōjutsu is called Amaterasu. My right eye's... is called Sanzu River."

"Sanzu River?"

Shinji froze. "The river of the dead?"

"That's right."

Fugaku gave a wistful smile.

"It lets me foresee my own death... by a dozen or so breaths."

"No wonder..."

Shinji nodded thoughtfully.

Knowing when death would come more than ten seconds in advance... what a terrifying Dōjutsu.

Still,

it demanded a great deal of strength from its user.

"Uncle Fugaku, you'd better stay in top form. What if one day you saw your own death coming but couldn't change it? Wouldn't that be despair?"

Fugaku laughed and cursed at him. "You little brat! Get out of my house!"

"I do need to go... I'm leaving the village for the Land of Rain in half a month. Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned the mission himself. Unless I want to break with him completely, I have no reason to refuse."

Fugaku tapped his fingers on the table. "What if I go instead?"

"Huh?"

Shinji shook his head at lightning speed. "No, no need, Uncle Fugaku. I'm counting on you to look after things at home."

You've got to be kidding...

I have important business outside the village. You can't take this from me.

"Shisui's still green. Keep an eye on him."

Shinji thought for a moment. "Also, Princess Tsunade may return while I'm away. The village might hold another damned meeting. But I have only one demand."

Shinji looked Fugaku in the eye. "Don't embarrass the Uchiha!"

Uchiha Fugaku had been feeling pleased that Shinji had finally grown up.

He could stand on his own now and had the bearing of a clan leader.

Then Shinji said that last line.

Fugaku's face flushed scarlet, and he roared, "Get out!"