Goodbye, Then

It could be said that the Ninja Academy was the most prominent venue in Konohagakure for Uchiha prodigies to show off. For years, Konoha's major Ninja Clans had endured the repeated blows of the Uchiha show-offs and had grown accustomed to being bullied.

Therefore, early graduation was the norm for the Uchiha. Those who completed all six years at the Ninja Academy were practically "as rare as phoenix feathers." Retsuo applying for graduation only after reaching the third grade could only be considered passable.

As for Obito, who was the class dunce, there was no need to say more. Among the Uchiha, he was a first-class endangered animal.

Ukyo pretended to stroke the stubble on his cheek. "Little Retsuo, graduating early means going to the battlefield early. Are you mentally prepared? Don't get scared half to death like you did back then."

I wasn't scared half to death back then. I was actually nearly killed, okay? I, a dignified transmigrator, almost died before awakening my past-life memories. Talk about absurd!

"Uh... you didn't come here just to make fun of me, did you?"

"Of course I did!" Uchiha Ukyo nodded emphatically, but Yulong pulled him aside again and wagged her finger. "Of course not. The clan head sent us to talk to you about awakening your eyes."

"The Sharingan?"

Retsuo immediately gave Tenma and Shinji a look. The two understood at once and hurriedly took their leave.

Ukyo's gaze followed Tenma as he departed, and he looked thoughtful. When had Retsuo become friends with those two commoners? Not bad, not bad. It seemed like they had formed a very good bond.

Yulong nodded solemnly. "That's right! You're now wearing the title of super genius of our Uchiha Clan, and you're already nine years old. When are you going to awaken your eyes? I awakened mine at ten. Without the Sharingan, you won't be able to use many of our Uchiha Clan's secret techniques... How is that possible—"

"How is that possible!" ×2

Amid their cries of surprise, Retsuo deactivated his Sharingan.

He gestured for silence and said in a low voice, "I only awakened it a few days ago. No one knows, not even Tenma and Shinji. You absolutely must not tell the clan head. Just pretend I haven't awakened it yet. To me, this awakening is an absolute secret."

In truth, Retsuo had hesitated over whether to tell Ukyo and Yulong. Originally, he hadn't wanted to tell anyone.

It wasn't that he was afraid they couldn't keep their mouths shut. A ninja's mouth had always been extremely trustworthy. He simply didn't want Obito or the village to know about his awakening, so it was best not to say anything.

However, as he became more proficient at using the Yin Release Barrier's warnings, Retsuo could rest assured that Obito hadn't sent White Zetsu to monitor him around the clock. Perhaps White Zetsu that was readily available to Obito was also in short supply at this point in time.

After a brief weighing of the pros and cons, he decided to tell the siblings. Letting them know that he had awakened his eyes would make things much more convenient.

After all, they were the people closest to him.

At this moment, Ukyo and Yulong's shock gradually faded. After all, awakening the eyes at nine wasn't entirely unacceptable, nor did it break the Uchiha Clan's record for the youngest person to awaken their eyes since the founding of Konoha.

What replaced it was immense delight! The tomoe in Ukyo's eyes gleamed. He sprang onto the roof in a single bound, looked around, then jumped back down and said excitedly, "When I first heard that you'd become some kind of genius, I didn't really believe it. Who would've thought? The disgrace of the entire clan actually turned from a pheasant into a phoenix?"

"The disgrace of the entire clan was clearly my brother..."

"But why did you keep it secret?" Yulong was extremely confused, and also somewhat displeased. "Our Uchiha Clan should naturally cultivate the Sharingan openly after awakening it. Otherwise, how are you going to train these eyes? You only have One Tomoe. Don't tell me you think you can evolve to Three Tomoe automatically without training? Look at Ukyo. He's nearly twenty and still hasn't reached Three Tomoe because he spent too much energy on other things. Besides, awakening your eyes while you're still at the Ninja Academy is an incredible achievement. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Exactly! As far as I remember, the last Ninja Academy student to awaken their eyes did so during the Second Shinobi World War. That was more than a decade ago."

Retsuo nodded to show that he understood.

Even if both people awakened their eyes at nine, one had graduated early, completed two years of missions, stained his hands with an enemy's blood, witnessed teammates die horribly, and endured the chaos of war, while the other had spent all his time studying the Will of Fire. Clearly, the latter was far more talented, and by a huge margin.

Although Retsuo hadn't broken any records, in Ukyo and Yulong's eyes, he was the latter.

Uchiha Shisui was the former.

Yulong and Ukyo had been away from the village for some time and didn't understand the recent situation. They only felt that if Retsuo revealed these eyes, Konoha would be shaken to its foundations.

In reality, it would indeed cause an upheaval, but not quite the one they imagined...

Retsuo, however, had no need to agonize over it. No matter how smoothly he trained the Sharingan, what use was it if he couldn't awaken the Mangekyo?

Was he supposed to serve himself up to Itachi?

Besides, in Retsuo's training plan, there were simply too many things with higher priority than training the Sharingan.

He briefly recounted what had happened in the village over the past few days. The siblings' Sharingan nearly popped out of their eyes! They had never expected that the conflict with Root had already reached the point where the clan head had to send Jōnin from the clan to protect Retsuo inside the village...

Ridiculous!

Ukyo gave a cold laugh. "There are far too many people in Root. Some of them need to die!"

Yulong's eyes shifted. "No wonder you wanted to keep it secret. But now that you've awakened your eyes, I think you should quickly learn a few practical techniques—ones that can bring out the Sharingan's power and serve as trump cards when necessary."

Retsuo had already made up his mind. He immediately spoke in a childlike tone. "I want to learn genjutsu, Ukyo-nii. I want to learn the strongest genjutsu in our Uchiha Clan!"

Ukyo was caught between laughter and tears. "Hey, hey, don't tell me you want to learn Genjutsu - Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn? That technique is incredibly difficult. You don't have any genjutsu foundation, and you have no experience using the Sharingan either. Learn something simpler. I think the Manipulated Shuriken Technique would suit you better right now."

"That's true. People shouldn't aim too high and neglect the basics." Yulong rarely agreed with her brother. "Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn not only has extremely high requirements for genjutsu, it also relies on the Sharingan to see through the opponent's genjutsu instantly, allowing you to send the caster's Spiritual Energy back along its original path and complete the mirrored reversal. It all depends on these eyes."

After saying this, she pointed at Ukyo. "This idiot only learned it last year."

"Hey, hey, I have Two Tomoe! Being able to learn Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn with Two Tomoe already makes me a genius, all right? Plenty of Three Tomoe seniors in the clan haven't learned this technique. Retsuo, if you really can't learn it, then even if I teach you, you absolutely won't be able to master it within a year."

"Then you should teach it to me even more. I already told you, I'm a genius."

Genjutsu - Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn, a genjutsu that reflected other genjutsu, was the very embodiment of turning an opponent's techniques against them. It was an excellent show-off technique, and together with the Fire Release - Great Fireball Technique, it was considered a symbol of the Uchiha Clan.

It brought the Sharingan's dynamic vision into full play.

Compared to that, copying other people's ninjutsu with the Sharingan was simply pathetic!

However, not long afterward, another scream rang out from the small courtyard: "How is that possible!"

Yulong clutched her head and crouched on the ground. Her genjutsu had been reflected, leaving her with a splitting headache!

Ukyo clicked his tongue repeatedly. "What an intense Yin Release Chakra! You call that One Tomoe? You're..."

Retsuo quietly edged away. "I told you, I'm a genius. This is a genius's One Tomoe. Yulong-nee, are you all right? Uh, that's great if you are. I'm planning to get some rest..."

"Don't leave! This time I'm going to cast genjutsu with the Sharingan. Stand right there!"

"Bye-bye, then."