Intelligence

"What conditions?"

"Come up with another couple of lines for us. How about it? With your intelligence, that should be easy, right?"

The corner of Uchiha Yan's mouth twitched. Were these two addicted to showing off? Was one motto each not enough?

He wanted to turn the Uchiha into people with manners, like those who followed Confucianism, not make them increasingly good at showing off.

Something's wrong! Why are these Uchiha getting more and more arrogant? Forget it! I'll deal with what's in front of me first.

At that thought, Uchiha Yan nodded slightly.

"Sure! Before our next mission outside the village, I'll give each of you a line. I guarantee it'll shock anyone who hears it!"

"Heh heh heh... Go on! As long as it doesn't involve wiping out the Uchiha Clan, we'll agree to anything!"

"Has the commander for the clan leader's front been decided yet?"

Jinyan swirled his wine cup. "Not yet! But at this morning's jonin meeting, the Third said he'd choose between Mitokado Homura and Danzo, with Shikaku Nara as a backup.

"Danzo wanted to go to the clan leader's front, but the Third stopped him. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both wanted Danzo to go to the Land of Lightning front, though."

"Didn't the Third say when he'd decide?"

"Not yet! There's something strange, though. Every major clan knows Danzo sent people to assassinate the Third, but for some reason, the Third still lets him attend meetings."

Xiaren rolled his eyes. "What's strange about that? There's no evidence, and the Third and Danzo were teammates.

"This is war. If Danzo dares pull anything, the Konoha ninja won't let him get away with it."

"Heh!"

Uchiha Yan chuckled. "What if he assigns the Uchiha the most dangerous missions, then sells the intelligence to Kumogakure?

"Given the chance, Danzo will do everything he can to get the Uchiha killed."

"No way! Maybe in peacetime, but this is war. Without the Uchiha, how would we hold off Kumogakure?"

"Nothing's impossible!"

Uchiha Yan's expression turned serious. "We have to send Danzo to the Land of Water border. I won't feel at ease with him around our clansmen."

"That's not something we can decide! Unless we go kill Danzo right now."

"Make Danzo choose to go to the Land of Water himself, and make it so the Third has no choice but to let him. We'll need to cooperate with Danzo a little."

??????

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing confusion in the other's eyes.

Jinyan gave a light cough, then asked:

"Yan, are you sure you didn't misspeak? Make Danzo go to the Land of Water of his own accord? And we have to cooperate with him? Danzo and the Uchiha are enemies."

"I didn't misspeak! Danzo wants to destroy the Uchiha, but right now, the Third won't let him touch us.

"He'll settle for the next best thing: killing the Uchiha he most wants dead to vent his hatred.

"Add accurate intelligence on Kirigakure, and Danzo will definitely choose to go to the Land of Water border for military merit."

Xiaren looked bewildered. "The person he most wants dead? The clan leader?"

"Me!"

Uchiha Yan raised his hand, the corners of his mouth slowly lifting.

"I'm definitely the one he most wants dead. On the Night of the Nine-Tails and the day of the funeral, I ruined his plans twice.

"Even if neither of those made him want to kill me, what I do next will make him want to tear me to pieces."

At those words, Jinyan's pupils contracted sharply. "Yan, don't tell me you want to go to the Land of Water border and stay right under Danzo's nose?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Both spoke in unison to stop him, and Xiaren even stood straight up.

"Our clan finally has someone clever. How could we let you take that risk?"

"I have no choice!"

Uchiha Yan sighed softly. "My death alone wouldn't affect the war, but if something happened to the clan leader and the others, it wouldn't just affect the Uchiha. It would affect Konoha too.

"Besides, I won't necessarily die. I'm on the same squad as Kakashi, after all.

"Konoha has a gap between generations, and Kakashi is the only genius among the younger generation. The Third won't let Kakashi die at the hands of our own people.

"There's one more thing. I need to go to the Land of Water border to awaken my Sharingan and prepare to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan while I'm at it."

"You don't even have any bond with your teammates. How the hell would you awaken your Sharingan?"

"The Sharingan doesn't only awaken when a loved one dies. Losing something you consider important can awaken it too."

At that, Uchiha Yan paused, thought for a moment, then continued.

"To be precise, it isn't loss that awakens the Sharingan, but intense emotional fluctuations.

"Intense emotional stimuli cause surges in hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which may activate certain epigenetic switches.

"In other words, whether it's a tailed beast's negative emotions, facing a hopeless situation in battle, or having your worldview shattered, any of those can awaken the Sharingan."

"No matter what you say today, we won't agree to let you go to the Land of Water with Danzo."

"Exactly! Don't even think about going!"

Jinyan nodded in agreement. "Tell us your plan and the intelligence. Danzo has always wanted military merit so he can become Hokage.

"As long as the intelligence is worth it, he'll definitely go. That way, he won't affect the clan leader's front either.

"As for you, stay put in the village."

"Then I won't tell you! Figure it out yourselves!"

"Hahaha..."

The two burst out laughing. Xiaren closed his eyes and opened them again, three tomoe slowly turning within them.

"Yan, take a look at these eyes. Do you think you can keep quiet just because you want to?"

Uchiha Yan looked up, meeting Xiaren's eyes directly, and fell into a genjutsu before he could react.

"Yan, what's your plan for Danzo? And what's the intelligence on Kirigakure?"

In Xiaren's view, a kid like Uchiha Yan, who hadn't even awakened his Sharingan, was completely unsuited to dangerous missions.

Besides, this kid was planning to awaken his Sharingan in his own way. Though the idea was somewhat naive, his intentions were good.

If he really could find the Uchiha a way to awaken the Sharingan without suffering loss, nothing could be better.

No matter how he looked at it, he didn't want to see Uchiha Yan killed by Danzo's scheming.

Some time later, after hearing the real plan from Uchiha Yan, both their faces were filled with shock.

Gulp!

Jinyan swallowed with difficulty. "Xiaren, is he even human? He thought of all this on the Night of the Nine-Tails, and deliberately showed it in Amegakure so the Third would believe he was evil.

"He did all this just to get to the Land of Rain border, awaken his Sharingan, and bring Danzo along?"

"Didn't you hear him? Or do you think he could break free of a three-tomoe genjutsu and lie?"

"That's not what I meant! How old is he? How could he think of so much?"

"Are you stupid?"

Xiaren rolled his eyes. "He just said he falls into an illusion every night when he sleeps. Who knows what sort of illusion Senior Tenmu created for him with his Mangekyō Sharingan?

"The Sharingan can even alter reality. What's so strange about him living another dozen years or so in an illusion?"

"True! Ask him what his plan is for awakening the Sharingan, and why he has to go to the Land of Water."

Xiaren nodded slightly, gently stroking Uchiha Yan's forehead with his right palm as he spoke softly.

"Yan, how do you plan to awaken your Sharingan and advance it?"

"Use the war to finish Danzo off so he can no longer threaten me. A single oversight during this could cost me my life, keeping me constantly on edge and facing desperate situations at any moment. I'll use that to awaken the Sharingan.

"If that doesn't work, I can also use Danzo to put myself under strict control, leaving me unable to confide in anyone. Once I reach a certain breaking point, my resentment will erupt. That can awaken it too.

"Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan requires Shisui's eyes and a Lightning Clone. The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan requires balancing yin and yang. The Confucian teachings Itachi is studying are an experiment, and there's also the Hyūga..."

"Stop!"

Before he could finish, Xiaren spoke up and cut him off.