After the assessment

Konoha Year Six, late winter.

Only a day had passed since the year-end assessment, and news of Yinglang defeating Kagami spread faster than the Naka River thawed.

The assessment had only ended the previous evening, yet before dawn the next day, the entire Uchiha Clan Compound knew. In teahouses, beside wells, wherever people caught their breath at the training grounds, everyone was talking about the same thing.

"...Have you heard? Young Master Yinglang won the year-end assessment!"

"Won? Against whom?"

"Against whom? Young Master Kagami!"

"What?! Young Master Kagami? Elder Yuanguang's son? The one who awakened his Two-Tomoe during the assessment?"

"Who else! Young Master Yinglang held a shuriken to his neck in front of the whole Elite Class. He lost!"

Everyone erupted.

"That can't be... Young Master Yinglang's only five. He only looks a little sturdier than other children to me..."

"Five? He awakened his eyes! One-Tomoe! Right there during the assessment!"

"Good heavens... Awakening his eyes at five? Did the Uchiha ancestors ever produce anyone like that?"

"The ancestors? How old was Lord Madara when he awakened his eyes? Is there a record?"

"Never heard the elders mention anyone doing it that early... Well... Lord Yinglang is definitely a genius, anyway!"

At first, there was shock and disbelief. But too many people had been there, and every one of them swore it was true, recounting it in vivid detail. How he had caught the punch, how he had broken through the Great Fireball, how those shuriken had turned on their own, how one had finally pressed against the back of Young Master Kagami's neck... The details grew more precise with every telling, leaving no room for disbelief.

Once people believed it, the conversation shifted.

In a restaurant, two middle-aged clansmen spoke loudly over sake and side dishes.

"If you ask me, Young Master Kagami deserved that loss." One took a sip of sake. "You didn't see it. From beginning to end, Young Master Yinglang looked so... hmm, casual! That's it, casual! Like he didn't take the assessment seriously at all, just fought on a whim."

Someone beside him immediately took offense and put down his chopsticks. "What do you mean, casual? That's composure! Confidence, understand? He knew what he was doing and had the skills to back it up, so he made something difficult look easy! You think everyone's like you, baring their teeth the moment they step up?"

"Hey, I was just saying..."

"Then watch what you say! That's bearing! The bearing that comes naturally when someone's strength reaches that level! You could learn a thing or two!"

Out on the street, several half-grown children chased one another around, doing convincing imitations.

"Behold my Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

"I've awakened my Two-Tomoe! I'm angry!"

"What good does being angry do? Can the Sharingan see behind you? Hahaha!"

"Then awaken the Byakugan!"

"Your mom's cheating on your dad!"

"I'll beat you up!"

Laughter erupted.

Beneath the veranda at Naka Shrine, several white-haired, white-bearded elders basked in the sun, silent for a long while.

At last, one spoke slowly. "Xuan... found himself a treasure this time."

Another narrowed his eyes. "Whether he's a treasure remains to be seen. The tallest tree in the forest..."

"Gets battered by the wind?" A third snorted. "That depends on the wind and the tree. Awakening his eyes at five, creating his own ninjutsu... There's no holding this seedling down anymore. We can only see how he grows."

"As for Yuanguang..."

"A loss is a loss," the first elder said evenly, his voice carrying the detachment of someone who had seen much of the world. "Whether in the clan or the shinobi world, when has the winner not taken all? Aren't history books filled with what the winners want people to see? That child Kagami is proud and arrogant. Whether this setback breaks him or makes him depends on his own fortune. But right now, the glory belongs to that child Yinglang. That is reality, whether anyone likes it or not."

Uchiha Gen's residence, the study.

The fire crackled. The tea had gone cold.

Elder Xuan sat behind his desk, holding a detailed assessment record that Tetsu Uchiha had just delivered. He read it slowly, word by word. Even after finishing, he did not put it down, simply holding it as his gaze rested on the dancing flames, motionless for a long while.

Liuli gently pushed the door open, replaced his tea with a hot cup, set it down, and did not leave immediately.

"Father," she called softly.

Elder Xuan raised his eyes, glanced at his daughter, then looked back at the record, tapping the words "Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique" with a finger.

"This," he began, his voice somewhat grave, "has never appeared in the Clan Archives."

"Yes," Liuli replied.

"Had he ever shown it to you or Shinichi before?"

"No." Liuli shook her head. "His taijutsu consists of the basics Teacher Shinichi taught him. His chakra control has progressed normally. His shuriken throwing... was merely adequate."

Elder Xuan fell silent. A five-year-old child had hidden it from everyone and secretly devised such a strange, intricate method of manipulating shuriken? Was that possible? Who was behind him? Or... had he truly done it himself?

He looked again at the line, "Awakened the One-Tomoe Sharingan during combat." Five years old.

He closed his eyes, and it seemed he could once again see that little figure from years ago, silently breaking ice to catch fish on a bitter winter morning, quietly yielding peaches amid the bustle of spring. Filial, considerate, composed. He had always thought that what he valued was this maturity of character beyond the boy's years.

Now, it seemed he might still have underestimated him.

This was more than character.

This was a hidden dragon in the depths.

"Yuanguang," he asked, opening his eyes. "Any movement on his side?"

"Young Master Kagami hasn't left his house since returning. Elder Yuanguang requested leave today and did not attend the Elders' Council," Liuli answered.

The corner of Elder Xuan's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. Father and son were probably on pins and needles now. Yuanguang, in particular, had devoted himself to currying favor with Konoha, raising his son as a "model" to demonstrate his loyalty to the Senju. Now, a boy from a collateral branch whom he had always looked down on had publicly torn that "model" to pieces. He had lost face badly.

"Keep an eye on them," Elder Xuan said. "But don't overdo it. Yinglang won fair and square. Everything was within the rules. No one can say otherwise."

"Yes."

"Also..." Elder Xuan paused and looked at his daughter. "Have Yinglang come see me when he returns."

"Yes."

After everyone dispersed from the Elite Training Ground, Yutian did not return to the dormitory. He ran alone to the Pine Grove on Back Mountain and punched an old tree, again and again. His hands split and bled, but he did not stop.

His mind was filled with that final scene. Yinglang's calm eyes, the cold tip of the shuriken, and Young Master Kagami's face, instantly ashen, as though the sky had fallen.

He had won.

He had really won.

Not through luck, not through some accident. With deeply concealed strength that overwhelmed everything, he had won cleanly, leaving no room for doubt.

Yutian stopped, braced his hands on his knees, and gasped for breath. Clouds of white mist dispersed in the cold air. Looking at his bloodied, mangled knuckles, he suddenly began to laugh quietly. As he laughed, his eyes grew a little hot.

He remembered his earlier resentment, his stubborn belief that "admitting defeat is a disgrace." How ridiculous it seemed now. True strength was not stubbornly charging headfirst into a wall. It was doing what Yinglang had done: enduring, planning, then cutting the enemy's throat with a single stroke when the time came to draw his sword, turning every doubt, every sneer, every slight into a footnote to victory.

He straightened, wiped his face, and his eyes became calmer and more resolute than ever before.

The road was still long. But there was light ahead now.

The Hokage Office.

Hashirama Senju rubbed his chin as he read the report submitted by the Anbu, grinning. "Incredible, absolutely incredible! This little Uchiha awakened his eyes at five, created his own ninjutsu, and even beat Yuanguang's boy! Hahahaha, interesting, truly interesting!"

His laughter was hearty. He was genuinely delighted to discover a promising youngster, even an Uchiha one. "He has strength and character, neither arrogant nor impatient, and he won beautifully. Isn't this exactly the future Konoha needs? Wouldn't you say so, Tobirama?"

Tobirama Senju stood by the window with his back to his elder brother and did not answer. He held an identical report, which he read ten times more closely than Hashirama had. Sunlight streamed in beside him, edging his cold, hard profile without dispelling the chill in his eyes.

Awakening his eyes at five! Creating the "Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique"! Tactical deception! Psychological domination! Defeating his opponent with the final strike!

Every phrase raised the alarm in his mind another notch.

"Genius" was no longer enough to describe this. This was heading toward another Madara Uchiha.

Uchiha Yinglang... Uchiha Gen...

"Brother," Tobirama Senju finally said, his voice level, "do you think it's possible for a five-year-old child, without instruction in secret clan teachings or vast resources, to independently develop a Precision Shuriken Manipulation Technique that isn't even recorded in the Uchiha archives?"

Hashirama Senju's smile faded a little. "Hmm? You mean... someone taught him in secret? Elder Xuan?"

"Not necessarily Xuan." Tobirama Senju turned, his gaze sharp as a blade behind his lenses. "It might have been his own work. But either way, it means there are enormous blind spots in our understanding of the Uchiha. This Uchiha Yinglang's development, the source of his power, his way of thinking-all of them depart completely from the usual Uchiha pattern."

He walked to the desk and tapped the report. "More importantly, he defeated Kagami Uchiha. Indisputably. That means a new, stronger standard has been established in the minds of the younger Uchiha generation. And that standard doesn't belong to the Yuanguang Faction, whom we know and who are willing to cooperate with Konoha. It belongs to Uchiha Gen, who has always been wary of us and whose actions are difficult to predict."

Hashirama Senju frowned. "Tobirama, aren't you overcomplicating this? It was just a match between children..."

"Children?" Tobirama Senju interrupted, his tone growing heavier. "Brother, have you forgotten how we grew up? Children of shinobi clans start learning how to win and how to survive from the moment they can walk. Within the Uchiha, this match was a rehearsal for power. Kagami Uchiha lost more than an assessment. He also lost the halo his father Yuanguang had always tried to build around their faction as the Uchiha's 'correct future.'"

He paused, a glint of cold calculation flashing in his eyes.

"So, I've decided to take Kagami Uchiha as my disciple."

Hashirama froze. "What? You'll teach him? Why?"

"Because he lost, and badly." Tobirama spoke with calm cruelty. "Right now, he needs guidance more than ever, and he's at his most susceptible to influence. Yuanguang's policy of currying favor with Konoha has suffered a setback, and his son has been crushed by someone from the Xuan Faction. Their standing within the clan has hit rock bottom. If I offer a helping hand now and personally teach Kagami, it will be aid in their hour of need."

Seeing his brother's puzzled gaze, he continued, "Kagami does have talent. He awakened Two-Tomoe at seven. Though arrogant, his character hasn't fully formed yet. I can turn him around and reshape him into what Konoha needs. Make him stronger, more 'correct,' more devoted to the Will of Fire. At the same time, he'll be a planted stake within the Uchiha, a pair of eyes. Through him, we can gain a clearer understanding of the Xuan Faction, and of that... Uchiha Yinglang."

Hashirama opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, it became a sigh. He knew his younger brother's considerations were always more pragmatic and colder, but often more effective as well. "Are you... confident? That child is probably harboring hatred."

Tobirama Senju did not spell everything out. Hatred was not necessarily a bad thing. Used correctly, it became the most obedient weapon.

He did not pursue the subject further, returning his gaze to the report.

"That Uchiha Yinglang..." His voice dropped, as though he were speaking to himself. "Awakening his eyes at five, creating his own ninjutsu, a tactical mind far beyond his peers... Just what has Xuan raised?"

He recalled Yinglang's remark recorded by a spectator at the end of the report: "The Sharingan can't see behind you."

Perceptive, incisive, lethal in a single strike. It seemed less like a child's flash of inspiration and more like a combat philosophy deeply rooted in instinct.

This child must be watched closely. No, more than watched.

In his mind, Tobirama Senju silently moved the name "Uchiha Yinglang" from the list of unknown threats to the very top of those requiring extreme vigilance and the beginnings of contingency plans.

Konoha's winter seemed to have quietly filled with turbulent undercurrents and a bone-piercing chill because of this children's match at the Uchiha training ground.

And at that moment, at the center of the disturbance-

Uchiha Yinglang had just finished his Evening Chakra Refinement (fake) and was sitting beneath the veranda at Elder Xuan's home. Watching the gloomy sky, he reached out and caught the first drifting snowflake.

The snowflake melted swiftly in his palm, its chill seeping into his skin.

He lowered his head, looked at his small hand, which nonetheless contained terrifying power, then slowly clenched it.

Finally, he told himself, ever so softly and without a sound, it has begun.