Do You Know the Truth About Uchiha Madara's Betrayal

New Year's Day was an important festival for the people of Konoha Village, second only to the Hokage's inauguration ceremony.

Early morning.

Uchiha Fugaku put on an elaborate black kimono and offered incense at the family shrine before returning to the bedroom. He noticed Mikoto's heavy outer robe: "Hmm? Didn't I tell you yesterday to stay home and rest well? Going for the first shrine visit of the year is too strenuous."

"I'm not even three months along yet... And as your wife, Fugaku-kun, it would be too disrespectful not to participate in the clan's New Year's shrine visit!" Mikoto, who was pregnant, applied a light makeup and asked, "Did you see Itachi just now?"

Last year, Itachi, being sensible, had dressed up and waited in the main hall for his parents. Children had little resistance to New Year's festivities and were often more eager than their elders to participate in rituals, as attending adult activities meant their parents recognized they had grown up.

This year seemed a bit different...

Beiyuan was curled up in his blanket, stubbornly refusing to get up.

Beside him, Uchiha Itachi, dressed in a child's kimono, knelt by the small blanket: "Beiyuan, wake up! The first day of the New Year is the clan's first shrine visit, let's go together!"

"Caw!"

A muffled crow's caw came from the blanket. Getting up in winter...

Itachi's small face contorted, his small brows furrowed. He nudged Beiyuan through the blanket: "On the first day of the New Year, you can't oversleep!"

The Uchiha clan's first shrine visit meant that on the first day of the New Year, all clan members, regardless of age or gender, would go to Naka Shrine to worship the gods. As a ninja clan famous for its fire style jutsu and Sharingan, their choice of deity was a bit peculiar: the Naka River God... it was probably to pray for abundant rainfall during the difficult farming period of the Warring States period.

Five minutes later.

After the Uchiha Fugaku family left, the vast number of Uchiha clan members heading towards the shrine parted to make way for them, giving them a clear path. The clan head's presence was imposing, and someone even shouted, "Clan Head! Many people are waiting at the shrine! Please hurry!"

Fugaku's mouth twitched slightly...

"Father is very respected..." Uchiha Itachi said, cupping his arms around the sleepy Beiyuan on his shoulders. The crow who had overslept was finally persuaded to get up by him.

"..."

Uchiha Fugaku didn't reply. Instead, Uchiha Mikoto's eyes held a smile: "It's the same as last year... It looks like it will be a tough year again!"

Even the usually slow Beiyuan felt that something was off.

As they moved with the crowd, Beiyuan noticed that the event wasn't particularly solemn. Many young people and children were wearing simple casual clothes... but the clan head's family was dressed significantly more splendidly.

There was even someone wearing a ninja outfit!

It was a young boy with large eyes. People also tended to give way to him, and it was clear he was not someone to be trifled with... This guy...

"Do you like Ninja Crows too?" The boy stood beside Itachi, not appearing out of place at all. He looked at Itachi and Beiyuan, and his clear young voice reached them: "I'm Shisui, Uchiha Shisui."

The little boy's small face tensed: "Uchiha, Itachi."

"Well, relax a little." Uchiha Shisui bent down and put his arm around the boy's shoulders: "Are you dressed so formally for the New Year's shrine visit? That's right, after all, you are the clan head's son..."

"Itachi, you go with Shisui, take your time!" Uchiha Fugaku turned his head, saw Shisui standing next to Itachi, and said helplessly, "I'll trouble you, Shisui. Mikoto and I need to head over quickly to preside over the start of the shrine visit..."

Shisui nodded at the couple: "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him."

As a rising genius of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Shisui, after graduating from the first year, was allowed to participate in the Chunin Exams due to his exceptionally high mission completion rate, and he was promoted to Chunin... Of course, most importantly, Uchiha Shisui already possessed the Three Tomoe Sharingan!

Even more importantly, he was only eight years old... The Uchiha clan believed he would definitely awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan...

He was universally recognized as the future strongest Uchiha...

The two future Uchiha met as if by fate. The young boy's spirits were clearly low, and he dejectedly lowered his head: "It's all my fault, I forgot that Father has to be the first to worship the gods..."

"Caw..."

It was the crow on his shoulder that was oversleeping.

Hearing Itachi's words, the boy couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahaha... Clan Head won't blame you! If someone can't resist being the first to worship the gods, he'll be even happier than before!"

The little boy and the red-eyed crow looked at Uchiha Shisui with curiosity.

"Clan Head must not have told you!" Uchiha Shisui didn't keep them in suspense. He looked towards Naka Shrine, located on the mountain, and softly recounted the traditions of the Uchiha clan.

"According to legend, in a very distant era, probably even before the Warring States period! Naka Shrine once had male and female shamans, and their status was very high. The former was responsible for presiding over the worship; the latter was responsible for distributing holy water. But later, with the rise of ninja and the coming of war..."

"The powerless male and female shamans perished... Later, the person presiding over Naka Shrine's first shrine visit became the clan head's family, with the clan head representing the male shaman and the clan head's wife representing the female shaman... This was a very arduous task."

"In the late Warring States period, the Uchiha clan grew stronger and stronger, and the number of clan members increased. The process of the first shrine visit was greatly simplified... However, a new problem arose... The clan head at that time, Uchiha Madara, was the one who ended the war and founded Konoha along with the First Hokage."

"He had no wife, and he was a very willful person."

"The New Year's first shrine visit was a grand event that could unite all clan members. Every clan member opposed his decision to cancel the collective shrine visit and have everyone worship individually, but the role of the female shaman was very important."

"Uchiha Madara decided that on the first day of the New Year, whoever arrived at Naka Shrine first to worship would have him and his wife preside over the New Year's first shrine visit."

"Because the clan head at the time had no heir."

"During that period, many powerful people in the Uchiha clan wanted to preside over the first shrine visit, thereby gaining immense prestige and running for the next clan head... So the clan became increasingly prosperous... and the number of people grew..."

At this point, Uchiha Shisui paused and said helplessly, "Later... the lineage of clan heads never broke. Presiding over the New Year's first shrine visit for many clan members became a thankless task... Everyone returned to the old ways, tacitly agreeing that the clan head would preside over the first shrine visit... There were only a few exceptions, and they were all because the clan head had important family matters and could not preside..."

"..."

Both Beiyuan and Uchiha Itachi felt their understanding of the world had been shaken. This attitude of shirking difficult and tedious work onto the clan head... Was it worthy of the Uchiha? No wonder Fugaku's expression wasn't very good after leaving.

Besides the clan members' yearning for peace, did Madara defect from Konoha also because he liked to avoid a pile of messy, tedious work, and as a result, the Uchiha clan no longer recognized this clan head...

"Don't make that face!" Uchiha Shisui smiled and took Itachi's hand, leading him over a step: "After all, this is also the responsibility of being a clan head! Future Itachi, don't shirk it either!"