The Uchiha Clan Compound had never been particularly noisy, but a distinct, restrained vitality had always lingered there.
The sharp clatter of ninja tools on the training grounds, a few murmured words beneath the eaves, and the unspoken pride flowing through their blood had together shaped the atmosphere of this place.
But today, all of it had fallen silent.
When Shinji Uchiha appeared at the compound's entrance, an invisible, icy pressure spread like a tide.
He walked slowly, his steps no different from usual, yet the chilling aura surrounding him made every clan member he passed involuntarily hold their breath.
It was not killing intent deliberately unleashed, yet it inspired more dread than killing intent-a profound stillness and detachment, as though unimaginable pain had been compressed to absolute zero.
Even more striking were his eyes.
Deep within his pitch-black pupils, an eerie flicker occasionally flashed beyond his control-a pattern formed by a black ring enclosing three crescent-shaped tomoe arranged back to back.
Whenever it appeared, even the surrounding air seemed to freeze. Light warped slightly around it, lending it an ominous, destructive beauty.
"Is that... the Mangekyo?" an older clan member who had read the clan's secrets exclaimed under his breath, his voice trembling with disbe-
lief.
"The legendary... eye that reflects causality... it's actually appeared again!"
Excitement and fervor burned in the eyes of some younger clan members, an instinctive expression of the Uchiha's worship of power.
But far more prevalent were awe and fear rooted deep in their bones.
They watched the pattern occasionally appear in Shinji's eyes, as though gazing into an abyss-or witnessing a walking natural disaster.
No one dared approach him to speak. They even hurriedly avoided eye contact, afraid of being scorched by the lingering force of his ocular power.
The youngest elder in