Guidance

"What exactly are you talking about...?"

Uchiha Fugaku felt rather stupid. He simply couldn't keep up with his younger brother's train of thought.

He understood the literal meaning, at least.

Become a Hokage candidate.

But while that was easy enough to say, it was exceedingly difficult for an Uchiha ninja like him.

"Ha ha!"

Uchiha Hui also realized he had been too vague.

He had gotten carried away talking without thinking any of it through in detail.

He used his laughter to mask his feelings.

Soon, he regained his composure.

"Become Hokage, brother. Put everything on the line. This might be one of the few chances the Uchiha Clan has left. The future might be far more difficult than you imagine."

Uchiha Hui spoke slowly, his voice low.

At those words,

Uchiha Fugaku's heart tightened.

He had already sensed the undercurrents stirring within the village. In fact, it was hardly an exaggeration to say that he felt the Uchiha's current situation might already be comparable to their circumstances after that man left Konoha.

It might even be worse.

After all, back then, no one had ever suggested making the Uchiha relocate their clan grounds.

"Tell me what you think, Hui. Both I and the Uchiha Clan need your advice!"

Uchiha Fugaku wanted to say, "You're just being alarmist."

But the voice within him forced him to calm down and say those words to his younger brother instead.

A brief silence followed.

Uchiha Hui shared his "insights" into the future, such as how the Third already intended to resume his position, and how the Uchiha Clan's position was growing weaker.

As his analysis continued,

Uchiha Fugaku gradually gained a painfully clear understanding of what it meant to be slowly bled dry.

A new fire kindled in his heart.

His thinking began to shift, and among other things, he started taking his younger brother's suggestion of "becoming a Hokage candidate" more seriously.

The two continued talking in the study.

Time flew by.

Their conversation finally wound down after midnight, by which point Uchiha Hui was yawning with fatigue.

He had done most of the talking earlier in the night.

Because he knew how the plot would unfold, his grasp of the bigger picture far surpassed Uchiha Fugaku's.

After accepting some of his insights,

Uchiha Fugaku gradually began applying them to other matters. Drawing on his assessment of the current situation and his own more detailed understanding of the Uchiha, he had already formed some preliminary plans. He then briefly laid them out for Uchiha Hui, hoping his brother could help analyze them and offer feedback...

"Stay here tonight."

Uchiha Fugaku pulled Uchiha Hui into the guest room.

For the first time in years, the two brothers slept in the same room again.

Uchiha Hui didn't hesitate. He simply lay down.

He was tired.

The next day.

When Uchiha Hui got up, he discovered it was almost noon.

Uchiha Fugaku had gotten up and left around six or seven. As both clan leader and captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, he had plenty to deal with every day.

Not to mention that last night's conversation with Uchiha Hui had stirred something within him, leaving him full of drive.

"Hui, are you up?"

Seeing Uchiha Hui emerge, Uchiha Mikoto approached him with concern.

"Yes, Mikoto."

Uchiha Hui rubbed his temples and nodded slightly at the sunlight outside. Then he asked, "Is there anything to eat? I'm a little hungry."

"Of course."

Uchiha Mikoto smiled and gestured for him to sit at the table, then brought food out of the kitchen: sushi, sweet soup, and several enormous pork chops.

"Then I'll dig right in."

Uchiha Hui started eating.

He was quite fond of his sister-in-law. She was the very picture of a traditional ideal wife, managing everything at home perfectly and caring for her husband and children with meticulous attention.

While Uchiha Hui was eating, Uchiha Itachi came out of his room carrying the still-swaddled Sasuke. He nodded briefly to Hui, then sat down beside him.

"Sasuke is as lively as ever."

Uchiha Hui glanced at Sasuke and found the baby staring at him wide-eyed, a smile on his face.

He couldn't help teasing him.

Itachi clearly adored his younger brother, so he looked proud when Sasuke received this "praise."

"Is something on your mind, Itachi?"

Uchiha Hui looked at his nephew.

He could easily tell that the boy wanted to say something, but seemed a little shy.

They might have been family,

but because of the body's previous owner, they hadn't met often in the past, much less grown close.

"There is something I'd like to ask of you, Uncle..."

Uchiha Itachi hadn't expected Uchiha Hui to ask first. He was startled, but quickly composed himself, looking a little embarrassed. "I heard you're very good at Ninjutsu, Uncle, so I'd like to learn from you. Father is too busy every day..."

"Is that all?"

Uchiha Hui was a little surprised.

Who would've thought I'd get to teach Itachi someday?

As he recalled,

wasn't Uchiha Itachi very close to Shisui Uchiha? Did he really need Hui's guidance?

At this point, Shisui Uchiha

wasn't very old, only around Kakashi's age, perhaps even younger. But he was already a Jonin, known as the "Uchiha's greatest genius."

So,

with a friend like that to teach him, surely he wouldn't need to seek out a half-baked Chunin like Hui?

Of course,

Uchiha Hui was letting his preconceptions get the better of him.

Shisui Uchiha's age had always been a mystery.

In the story, he sometimes looked like a little boy not much older than Uchiha Itachi, while at other times he appeared to be a young man.

Yet during the Third Shinobi World War,

Shisui Uchiha had already been able to hold his own on the Kirigakure front, even frightening Kirigakure's Ao into retreat with his Chakra alone.

And Shisui and Itachi hadn't become close yet. That had happened after Uchiha Itachi entered the Ninja Academy.

In other words,

Itachi and Shisui hadn't formed a bond at this point.

Naturally, Shisui wasn't personally training him yet.

"It seems you've already resolved to become a ninja before even starting school, Itachi. All right, then. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me in a bit."

Uchiha Hui didn't think it would take much time, so he readily agreed.

Soon,

he finished the food on the table.

Then he gestured for Itachi to find somewhere they could work together.

Itachi handed Sasuke back to his mother, equipped his Ninja Tools, and followed Uchiha Hui toward the training ground behind the courtyard.

However!

Smack!

Uchiha Hui interrupted Uchiha Itachi's attack with a knife-hand strike. The boy promptly fell flat on his face, while the kunai in his hand flew several meters away.

After half an hour of instruction,

Uchiha Hui had gained a thorough understanding of Itachi's abilities.

This nephew of his, who hadn't even started school yet,

already possessed strength on par with a Genin.

His execution of Ninjutsu was still rather immature, but that was only a matter of experience. As for his taijutsu, his age imposed even greater limitations.

All in all,

he certainly deserved his reputation as the legendary Itachi!

But that didn't stop Uchiha Hui from making his nephew suffer a little.

With his face bruised and swollen, Itachi climbed back to his feet. He first wiped away the mucus brought on by the cold air, then looked at his uncle again.

"Itachi! That's enough for today. You're still too young. There's no need to force yourself to perform Ninjutsu and the like. That could even harm your body. Keeping up your current pre-academy taijutsu practice is enough."

Uchiha Hui offered his advice.

Geniuses couldn't be judged by ordinary standards, but he felt that, since they weren't at war, letting children do what was appropriate for their age was the right approach.

The Itachi who massacred his clan in Hui's memories was certainly hateful.

But even someone hateful

could also be deeply pitiable.

If he had the chance,

Uchiha Hui still hoped to change everything that lay ahead.

That change in his thinking

had already begun as he grew familiar with the Uchiha Clan's ninja recently. After last night's in-depth conversation with Uchiha Fugaku, it had even developed into something resembling a solid "plan."

"Yes!"

Uchiha Itachi nodded, picked up the kunai from the ground, and slipped it back into the pouch on his thigh.

"All right, that's enough talking. Your uncle needs to start his own training now. Next time we meet, I'll be checking carefully to see how your training has been going, Itachi!"

Uchiha Hui saw that it was about time.

It was time to open his "dueling arena" again. He ruffled Uchiha Itachi's hair, then strode toward the training ground in the center of the clan grounds.

One thing worth mentioning was that

teaching Uchiha Itachi had actually yielded a reward too.

It wasn't anything particularly impressive, but it left Uchiha Hui feeling as good as if he'd woken up to a five-million jackpot.

As for what the current Uchiha Itachi had dropped,

it was nothing more than a portion of "Trace Chakra."

Still, it was something new.

Even if it didn't offer much of a boost to Hui at his current level.