"Hiruzen, we want to know your opinion on Uchiha Meikyō. Although he is Tsunade's disciple, we must be wary of the Uchiha who have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Utatane Koharu said to the Third Hokage with a serious expression.
"I know, and I know it in much more detail."
The Third Hokage chuckled and took out several reports from his drawer.
"Here are the details sent by Dan and Tsunade after this battle, as well as a record of the battle's events that I specifically inquired about with Minato."
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura took the report and examined it carefully.
"As you probably know, Teacher Tobirama has done a lot of research on the Uchiha Clan."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice rang in Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's ears.
"Teacher Tobirama has personally witnessed many times that when members of the Uchiha Clan lose an important love or suffer from their disappointment, a special Yin Release Chakra will surge from their heads and be transmitted to their eyes through the optic nerve, causing the Sharingan to awaken or evolve. This is why, in the process of rapidly becoming stronger, members of the Uchiha Clan are always accompanied by darkness and hatred in their hearts, making them prone to going astray."
"Teacher Tobirama even regarded the Uchiha Clan as an evil clan because of this. But just as Teacher Tobirama recognized Kagami as the inheritor of the Will of Fire, I also believe that Meikyō's bloodline descendant is a special Uchiha who has inherited the Will of Fire."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out his pipe and looked at Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, whose faces held a hint of reminiscence.
"Back when we were carrying out dangerous missions, whether it was me and Danzo, or you and Torifu, we were all saved by Kagami's Sharingan Genjutsu. Kagami believes that the greatest significance of this power from our bloodline is to protect our companions and prevent the tragedy that happened back then from happening again."
By this time, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had also finished reading the reports submitted by these individuals.
"It was when Meikyō saw his teacher, Dan Katō, on the verge of death that he awakened his Mangekyou Mangekyō Sharingan in order to protect Dan. It can be said that Meikyō was much luckier than most Uchiha, because he gained the power to protect what he was about to lose."
Utatane Koharu, raised a question:
"Can we be sure that Uchiha Meikyō didn't awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan before that, and then kept it a secret from everyone until now? If that's really the case, then that brat is the most dangerous one!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head.
"I think it's unlikely. Perhaps Dan and Tsunade are exaggerating, but even Minato highly approves of Meikyō's Will of Fire. Uchiha Meikyō is a very reliable person. Besides, no matter how special he is, how could an Uchiha not make it public after obtaining such a powerful power as the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's explanation was accepted by Utatane Koharu and others.
As an Uchiha, if one awakens the Sharingan or the Sharingan evolves, one would definitely be eager to run around showing off one's newly acquired power to everyone.
From this perspective, Uchiha Meikyō should indeed have activated his Mangekyō Sharingan to rescue Dan Katō, whose life was hanging by a thread.
"So, Uchiha Meikyō must have already formed a very deep bond with Dan Katō and the others. Besides Dan, Tsunade and her two teammates, and even Minato, all have a deep bond with Uchiha Meikyō. Many of these people are key figures in the Hokage lineage. It seems that Hiruzen, you started planning for this kid's development a long time ago, intending to bring him under your control."
Mitokado Homura couldn't help but admire Hiruzen Sarutobi's foresight.
Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly, but quickly recovered.
At first, he simply thought that Uchiha Meikyō was just an ordinary Uchiha genius. There had been some people like that in the past, and the current situation was actually due to the choices made by Kato, Uchiha Meikyō, and others.
Regardless of the fact that Hiruzen Sarutobi believed he had quickly subdued the Uchiha after they rose to fame, he readily accepted Mitokado Homura's praise.
That's right, I have such foresight and insight that I was able to discover geniuses like Uchiha Meikyō and Minato Namikaze early on and use them for my own purposes.
The Year 42 of Konoha's existence was the most difficult year Konoha had faced since its founding, when it was confronted with war.
On the Stone Village battlefield, Jiraiya with Minato Namikaze, resisted the attack of Iwagakure and a stalemate ensued.
On the battlefield of Kumogakure, the Third Raikage was incredibly powerful and unstoppable. Orochimaru, unlike Jiraiya had a powerful disciple as an ally, and unlike Dan Katō had a powerful wife in addition to his disciple, faced a difficult situation.
That is Orochimaru. His command ability is excellent enough. Although his personal strength is not the top among the Kage Level masters, he is, in a conventional sense, an all-round ninja with almost no weaknesses, just like the Third Hokage. It was this that allowed him to lead the Konoha forces to barely stop the Kumogakure's invasion.
However, without any help, even Orochimaru was unable to launch a counterattack and could only maintain the situation from deteriorating further.
Of the three fronts in Konoha, the one that performed best was naturally the Suna's front.
Tsunade's presence is a huge boost to any team. Her detoxification and wide-range healing abilities are irreplaceable by any other ninja. Uchiha Meikyō is also a ninja of the same type as Konoha White Fang, a natural counter to puppeteers. With the addition of Dan Katō, Suna could only suffer repeated defeats after losing the Tailed Beast card.
With victory in hand, Dan Katō did not choose to take risks, but instead led the Konoha Ninja to steadily and gradually Suna's strategic space.
Year 42 of Konoha passed in the midst of war.
Time flew by and it was now the Year 43 of Konoha.
Meikyō stood at the entrance of his tent and saw a young Uchiha ninja.
He and a group of other Konoha Ninja were selected from the village to support the front lines.
Most of these people came from the major ninja clans of Konoha. The Uchiha Clan alone sent more than twenty people to the Suna front.
Konoha is currently fighting on three fronts, facing immense pressure. The Third Hokage had no choice but to personally negotiate with the heads of the various Ninja Clan, offering some benefits in exchange for these Ninja Clan contributing their elite forces to the battlefield.
These powers are one of the most important foundations that have enabled the Ninja Clan in Konoha to achieve their current status, and even the Third Hokage was alarmed by them.
The Uchiha Clan alone dispatched more than twenty Jonin, and the Hyuga Clan sent a full fifteen Jonin.
The total number of Jonin Konoha is less than two hundred. Most of them are ninja from the Ninja Clan with good traditions and abundant resources. Medium-sized Ninja Clan like the Ino-Shika-Cho, Aburame Clan, and Inuzuka Clan clans usually have a maximum of ten or so Jonin, and only a handful of Jonin- level combatants can be deployed.
The fact that the Uchiha and Hyūga Clan could muster so much fighting power means that this is definitely not all of them; there must be other forces remaining to maintain their positions.
The Hyuga Clan is alright; while the Byakugan can help those Jonin, it's definitely not as powerful Sharingan with Three Tomoe. Uchiha with Three-Tomoe Sharingan are considered strong Jonin, and the proportion of Elite Jonin among them is actually quite large.
It's no wonder that when Konoha was at its weakest, these Uchiha believed they had the ability to rebel, and the Third Hokage was extremely worried about them.
Those Uchiha ninjas who came to the front lines from their clans naturally gathered under the command of Uchiha Meikyō Myokage, who was currently enjoying great popularity and was considered one of the younger generation's war heroes of Konoha, along with Minato Namikaze.
After meeting these people, Meikyō kept one of them.
Because he brought a message from Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Yu.
"You're only fifteen and you're already Special Jonin with Futatsudomoe? That's pretty good. What's your name?"
With a faint smile on his face, Meikyō asked the young Uchiha in a friendly manner.
"Lord Meikyō, my name is Jin! Jin as in ashes, Uchiha Jin. My father hoped that I would one day become someone who could burn all of the Uchiha's enemies to ashes with Fire Style!"
Uchiha Jin's tone was quite excited.
After Meikyō held his own against veteran Kage Level fighters like Chiyo on the battlefield, earning the nickname "Uchiha no Kōkyō" (Meikyō the Body Flicker), many Uchiha believed that Meikyō was the current strongest Uchiha.
Of course, out of consideration for the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, most people only talked about it in private. In public, they would add a prefix to this number one swordsman, calling him the Uchiha's Top Swordsman.
This is actually the same idea as the future Uchiha Shisui, the Uchiha's Top Genjutsu User.
When Meikyō displayed the incredibly powerful Mangekyō Sharingan and the Susanoo Dojutsu on the battlefield, his prestige within the clan reached an extremely high level.
The Uchiha clan is extremely power-hungry, with some members even to the point of obsession. Otherwise, a group of Uchiha would not have become so arrogant after learning the Izanagi Ninjutsu, ultimately leading to an unprecedented civil war.
For the Uchiha, the Sharingan equals the strongest bloodline limit in the Ninja World, equals power. After Meikyō revealed the Mangekyō Sharingan, they became even more fanatical when they learned that there was something beyond the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Just as Uchiha with Three-Tomoe Sharingan has a higher status than one with Single Tomoe or Futatsudomoe within the clan, the level of Sharingan evolution represents the strength of an Uchiha.
For a young Uchiha Jin like Uchiha, seeing Uchiha Meikyō at this moment was practically like meeting an idol.
"The Clan Head said that at the first clan meeting after the war, he would announce that you, Lord Meikyō, would become the new elder of the clan, and he hopes that you will serve as the future teacher of the clan chief's son."
Uchiha Jin spoke to the Meikyō.
Fugaku's son?
"Has the clan leader named his child yet?" Meikyō asked Jin.
"Yes, the clan leader's child is named Itachi. The Clan Head asked Elder Yu, the most respected Elder Hane in the clan, to name him. The name is meant to express the hope that the child will be as intelligent and alert as Itachi," Uchiha Jin replied.
It really is Uchiha Itachi...
But I never expected that this name was given by Grandpa Yu.
"Oh, right, Lord Meikyō, there's also this."
Uchiha Jin and took out a tattered page that looked very old from his Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist.
"This is a secret medicine that Elder Hane found after reading through many existing ancient books about the Mangekyō Sharingan in the clan. It is said to reduce the burden of using ocular power for Uchiha who have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. However, many of the ingredients in it have been lost to time. It is estimated that only Lady Tsunade has the ability to improve this prescription."
Meikyō took the yellowed pages from Uchiha Jin's hand.
"Thank you, Jin. You can go now."
"Yes, Lord Meikyō."
After seeing Uchiha Jin, Meikyō unfolded the prescription and began to read it.
"Deer antler, wolfberry, and Anko are either medicines with warm and yang-like effects, or they can nourish the eyes. Moreover, the latter are either extremely rare or have already disappeared from the Ninja World."
After glancing at the prescription, Meikyō could easily understand its pharmacology with his current level of Medical Ninjutsu, but restoring it would be quite difficult.
Since it was too much trouble for him to do it himself, Meikyō decisively went to find Tsunade.
"Oh? A prescription to reduce the burden on the body from the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Tsunade took the prescription with curiosity, glancing at Meikyō at the same time.
"The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan is very strong, but if I'm not mistaken, your eyesight has already declined to some extent, right? Otherwise, your Uchiha Clan would never have such a prescription."
Tsunade said with absolute certainty.
Every time they returned from the battlefield injured, whether it was Meikyō or Dan Katō, if their injuries were serious, Tsunade would personally take charge of their treatment in order to ensure that these two important combatants could recover their fighting strength in the shortest possible time.
Therefore, Tsunade had a very detailed understanding of the physical conditions of Meikyō and Dan Katō, and with this prescription, she also had a guess about the changes in Meikyō's eyes.
"Yes... but I don't think it's a big problem."
"That's what Meikyō replied to Tsunade."
He is indeed able to slowly recover his pupil power.
Tsunade shook her head and focused her attention on the prescription.
If this ancient prescription works, then at least it can give him some direction.
"This prescription is indeed quite old and has undergone several modifications, but it should have been abandoned two hundred years ago."
The prescription was quite complex, but with Tsunade's medical skills, she understood it after only a cursory glance.
"The heartwood of the Red Blood Tree is the most important ingredient in this prescription. The Red Blood Tree only grows in the high plateau region of the Land of Lightning closest to the sun and disappeared two hundred years ago. The components contained in its heartwood can stimulate the human body, invigorate the nerves, and contain abundant Chakra. It was also a good material for making Explosive Tag a long time ago."