The incompetent Fugaku

"Wait! Itachi, do you know what you're saying?"

As the three of them took turns explaining, Fugaku's brow knotted tightly. The more he heard, the less sense it made.

The Sage of Six Paths passing on his teachings, Wood Release-what a load of nonsense!

If Sasuke alone had been spouting this rubbish, he could have understood. But Itachi had always been calm and collected, never acting on impulse, always thinking carefully and avoiding extremes. Why had he started saying such vague, outlandish things too?

Believing Sasuke's claims was worse than believing Shisui Uchiha would turn traitor, get set up by Danzo, and jump off a cliff to his death, or that Uchiha Itachi would suddenly betray them and slaughter the entire clan.

At that thought, Fugaku was about to scold Sasuke for fooling around at a time like this, but before the words left his mouth, he suddenly froze. Carefully sensing the feedback from his eyes, he stood rooted to the spot.

What did his Dojutsu, [Yasaka no Magatama], mean by telling him that what he had just imagined was very likely to happen in the future?

"So you don't believe me, Dad? Then let me tell you about the future the Sage of Six Paths showed me."

Gulp.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He had been about to lead with something shocking, only to find that Fugaku's reaction was even stronger than those of the two behind him, who already knew what he was going to say. He could even hear Fugaku swallowing.

"In the future I saw, one man endured in silence for years, but neglected to communicate with those closest to him. In the end, he died and his clan was wiped out, leaving only two survivors."

"Ahem." Itachi choked on the tea he had just drunk and gave Sasuke a reproachful look. Why did he keep bringing up these baseless accusations...?

Gulp. Fugaku's eyes widened. Realizing he had lost his composure, he discreetly covered his forehead with one hand. Red light flickered in his eyes, and the three tomoe transformed into an intricate pattern. He activated [Ebisu], using the information he already had to explore the future. In an instant, his mind seemed to travel beyond the world as countless images surfaced in his eyes.

The frightening part wasn't what Sasuke had said. It was... his ability had worked. Though the future he saw was fragmented, it was almost exactly as Sasuke had described...

He was beginning to believe that Sasuke really was chosen by fate and had received the Sage of Six Paths' teachings...

Gulp.

His pupils contracted, then returned to normal. Fugaku abruptly raised his head, staring in disbelief at Sasuke, who was still chattering away, and at Itachi and Shisui, whose expressions looked somewhat off.

"Dad, if you ask me, you really need to talk to my brother more. I keep telling you two to sit down and talk, but you never listen. Don't end up like that story I saw, regretting everything when it's too late."

Huh? Why was there a fluctuation of unusual ocular power?

Purple light flickered in Sasuke's eyes, and he noticed traces of unusual ocular power lingering in Fugaku's eyes.

This was one of the changes brought about by combining his Sharingan with the Purple Demon Eye: exceptional sensitivity to unusual spiritual energy.

Unless I'm mistaken, did Fugaku just activate his Mangekyo ability?

Things are getting interesting.

"Father, you wouldn't want to see the Uchiha Clan slaughtered, Konoha crippled, brothers turning against each other, loved ones killing loved ones, and friends killing friends, would you?"

"If that happened... forget being a clan leader or a father. I wouldn't even deserve to call myself human..."

Looking dazed, Fugaku fell into the same state Shisui and Itachi had been in earlier. Normally, none of the three should have reacted this way, but the blow had been so overwhelming that it had thrown their minds into turmoil.

Isn't this conversation getting a little too awful? ×2

Sasuke: What's awful about it? This conversation is fantastic.

Ping-

Sasuke abruptly clutched his forehead and turned to glare at Itachi, who had flicked him. He gave Itachi the middle finger, though that did take some of the wind out of his sails.

Fugaku was clearly in a worse mental state than either Shisui or Itachi. Perhaps the online rumors from Sasuke's previous life had been right, and Fugaku's Mangekyo really did have something to do with foreseeing the future. That would explain his extreme reaction. Nothing much had even happened yet, and he had already managed to turn himself into an incompetent clan leader.

"Uh, Lord Clan Leader, perhaps I should explain."

After hesitating and surveying the situation in the room, Shisui stepped forward. At this point, they certainly couldn't let Sasuke, who had no filter whatsoever, keep saying whatever popped into his head.

It would be quite the joke if he talked Fugaku into having a heart attack.

Itachi's position made him unsuitable too, so Shisui, as something of an outsider, would have to do it.

Once Itachi nodded, Shisui sorted through everything he knew from Sasuke's rather disjointed account and began explaining from the beginning.

Well, in a sense, he really did start with the dawn of creation.

He went from the Sage of Six Paths founding Ninshu to the Senju and Uchiha, then Madara Uchiha, the Nine-Tails' Attack, his own intention to seek out the Third Hokage, Sasuke's Wood Release, and the future course of the world.

"Is... all of this true?"

He looked at Sasuke, then instinctively turned toward Itachi. After receiving confirmation, Fugaku tipped his head back and gazed up at the sky.

"Well, Dad, if you don't believe me, the three of you can visit the Naka Shrine. There's a stone tablet there, and with the Mangekyo, you can read most of it."

"!!!"

After his initial shock, Fugaku had little reason to question Sasuke's words. All the signs indicated that Sasuke did indeed know many things they didn't. And after Shisui revealed that he had the Mangekyo, Fugaku more or less understood why Sasuke wanted the four of them to discuss this together.

Shisui was the only outsider, but he was also the only one publicly known to possess the Mangekyo.

Except...

Was Sasuke implying that all three of them had the Mangekyo? Fugaku wasn't surprised that Sasuke knew about his. After all, the boy claimed that the Sage of Six Paths had taken him to glimpse the past and future.

During a casual conversation with Minato, Minato had once mentioned that his teacher, Jiraiya, had been shown a glimpse of the future by the Great Toad Sage. So Fugaku wasn't surprised by that part.

But... Itachi was only around thirteen this year. Did he already have the Mangekyo?

Could he have awakened it from the shock just now?

Thought after thought welled up. After a moment of silence, Fugaku shook his head. They couldn't just keep going like this. They might as well visit the Naka Shrine first and verify all the unbelievable things they had heard today.

The Naka Shrine.

Disbelief flashed in three pairs of scarlet eyes as they stared intently at the stone tablet. Their expressions alone revealed the shock in their hearts.

Meanwhile, Sasuke leaned against the wall with his chin propped in his hand, utterly bored.

For fuck's sake, there were four people here, and three of them could read it. Did he not count as a person? Did he seriously not count?!

Listening to the three of them reading in astonishment and discussing what they saw, Sasuke suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right, Dad, what's your Mangekyo ability? Does it have something to do with prophecy, and is that why you've been so indecisive all these years?"