Time slipped swiftly by, like sand flowing through one's fingers. The slightest lapse, and it was already gone. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
"Hey, hey, hey, why do I feel like there's a narrator?" Uchiha Takashi, now ten years old, crouched beside the river, constantly looking around. "I keep feeling like someone's watching me."
Homura Uchiha, who was fishing beside him, turned his head and asked in confusion, "What are you talking about? We're so close to the clan grounds. How could anyone be here?"
Uchiha Takashi scratched the back of his head. "Maybe I'm being too sensitive. After all the ambushes these past two years, I've gotten a little jumpy."
Homura Uchiha shook his head. "You're just too tense. Relax, relax. We're so close to the clan grounds. How could..." His utterly confident expression suddenly vanished, as though something had occurred to him.
The scene from four years ago was still vivid, like a bone stuck in his throat, a thorn in his back, sitting on pins and needles, eating raw flesh and drinking blood...
"Hey, what are you two doing?" Aka Uchiha came down the path from the clan grounds. "You went fishing without inviting me!"
Uchiha Takashi folded his arms. "If we'd invited you, we might not have caught a single fish."
"Don't say that. I'm a fishing expert..." Aka Uchiha stopped beside the river and looked at Homura Uchiha's keepnet. "Homura, how come you don't have a single fish?"
"What do you mean? There's one right here! Here, I'll show you." Homura Uchiha immediately grew agitated at that, yanked the keepnet out of the water, and held it in front of Aka Uchiha.
Aka Uchiha stared for ages but still couldn't find the fish Homura Uchiha was talking about. He blinked at him. "Are you sure there's actually a fish in here?"
"There really is! Here, I'll point it out." Homura Uchiha widened his eyes and said urgently, "Of course you can't see it like that. Use your Sharingan!"
As he spoke, Homura Uchiha activated his One-Tomoe Sharingan and pointed at a spot inside the keepnet.
Hearing that, Aka Uchiha activated his Sharingan too and looked into the keepnet. Sure enough, following the direction Homura pointed, he saw a very, very tiny fry flopping around inside, about the size of a little fingernail.
"This..." Aka Uchiha was speechless. You call a fish that tiny a fish? How did your keepnet even keep it from escaping?
Everyone had presumably noticed that both of them had successfully awakened their Sharingan, each with a single tomoe.
As for the specific reason, it was simply that they'd gone on missions, encountered some rather emotionally painful things, and been stimulated into awakening their eyes...
There was no need to go into the details, but it was worth mentioning that Uchiha Takashi had successfully reached futatsudomoe during that incident. A ten-year-old with futatsudomoe wasn't particularly rare in the clan, but neither was it common, so Uchiha Takashi had also been given the title of genius.
Many things had happened over those two years, one after another, but no major wars had broken out. Although the Sarutobi Clan had drawn closer to the Senju Clan, it hadn't become hostile toward the Uchiha.
The Uchiha Clan hadn't expanded outward either, instead holding on to its own little patch of land and steadily developing, successfully bringing its population past twenty thousand.
Who could have imagined that peace could last for two whole years in such a chaotic time as the Warring States era? It truly was hard to believe.
Yet peace was ultimately only an illusion, and beneath that false illusion, the flames of war were already faintly burning.
The Senju Clan and Uzumaki Clan, having recently recovered their strength, seemed to be stirring again, and the Sarutobi Clan also showed every sign of joining them.
Although the Uchiha Clan had also recovered some strength over those two years, facing three clans at once still put it under considerable pressure.
But it was only considerable pressure. The Uchiha Clan had enough strength to sweep away the obstacles ahead and stand against those three clans from afar.
"Sigh, looks like there's going to be another war..." Homura Uchiha sighed, holding his fishing rod. Aka Uchiha teased him with a grin. "Stop talking about that. I think you're just trying to change the subject because you can't catch any fish."
"Nonsense! I caught a fish! I didn't get skunked!" Homura Uchiha said in exasperation. "You're the one who often doesn't catch a single fish."
That instantly hit a nerve with Aka Uchiha. Clenching his fists, he said, "Nonsense! Can that tiny fry of yours even count as a fish? You're just like me. You can't catch a single one!"
Homura Uchiha (*￣m￣): "You can't catch fish even with your Sharingan. How do you have the nerve to criticize me? At least I can catch fish when I use mine!"
Aka Uchiha -`д´-: "You just activated your Sharingan and went straight into the water to grab it! What do you mean, fishing? You call that fishing? I didn't even want to call you out!"
Homura Uchiha (‡▼益▼): "So what? I can grab them. What about you? Can you grab them? You've never caught one!"
"Ugh..." With his sore spot exposed, Aka Uchiha clutched his head, wanting to offer a word or two in rebuttal, but seemingly unable to think of anything.
"Enough, stop arguing, you two." Uchiha Takashi shook his head with a helpless smile. "It's just fishing. How did you end up arguing like this?"
Homura Uchiha and Aka Uchiha (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻: "You fill your keepnet every single time! You don't understand how frustrating it is for us when we can't catch anything!"
As the sky darkened, Homura Uchiha trudged back to the clan grounds behind Uchiha Takashi, carrying his tiny fry with his head hanging dejectedly.
Beside him, Aka Uchiha chuckled. "Homura, you just didn't catch any fish. Why so down? Come on, failing to catch anything once isn't a big deal."
"Aka, shut up!" Homura Uchiha scratched his head, so embarrassed that he wanted to cover Aka Uchiha's mouth.
As the two were roughhousing, a member of the Uchiha Clan approached. "Uchiha Takashi, come with me. The Third Elder wants to see you."
Uchiha Takashi blinked and tilted his head. Unable to think of what the Third Elder wanted with him, he could only follow and see.
He arrived at the Third Elder's residence, pushed open the door, and saw the Third Elder's kindly face.
"Third Elder, you wanted to see me?" Uchiha Takashi slowly approached and asked, "Is there something you'd like me to do?"
The Third Elder stroked his whitening beard and smiled. "Child, don't be so nervous. I haven't called you here over anything major. Just relax."
Uchiha Takashi nodded, then knelt down and sat back on his heels, looking at the Third Elder. "Third Elder, what exactly is it?"
The Third Elder said, "You know that I'm specifically responsible for raising the clan's orphans. This is a responsibility Clan Head Ryo entrusted to me.
"But I feel that I don't have much time left, so I'd like to ask you to take on that responsibility next."
Hearing those words, Uchiha Takashi felt as though he'd been struck on the head. His brain froze on the spot. "Huh? Me?"
The Third Elder nodded. "That's right, you. Everyone else in the clan has important things to do. As an orphan yourself, you can better understand how the other orphans feel and offer them help."
Uchiha Takashi shook his head. "I can't. I don't have the ability." It wasn't that he was too young. In the Warring States era, ten was already considered quite grown-up.
Although ten-year-olds were still considered children in the late Warring States era, in the present era, you could already get married at ten!
But taking on that responsibility meant taking over the position of Third Elder, because that position had been established specifically to raise orphans. It wasn't just about raising orphans, either; it also came with the right to participate in deliberations and govern the Uchiha Clan.
"Third Elder, I'm still too young. This really isn't appropriate. There are still so many seniors in the clan with mitsudomoe..." Uchiha Takashi hurriedly waved his hands, trying to refuse.
The Third Elder extended a hand and pressed it downward. "Child, I believe in you. Besides, most of the clan's elite need to go to the front lines. You should have heard the rumors by now. Peace won't last much longer.
"Soon, the clan's elite will all have to leave the clan grounds for the front lines. Apart from the forces needed to stay behind, there won't be many people left here. I raised you, and I have high hopes for you. I don't think I've misjudged you. I trust my judgment.
"This responsibility isn't about strength, but ability, and the heart to shoulder that responsibility."
"But I'm still so young. If I take over as Third Elder, will there really be no gossip within the clan?" Uchiha Takashi bit his lower lip.
The Third Elder shook his head and said, "Of course not. Do you know how old I was when I took over as Third Elder? I took this position when I was nine.
"Back then, Elder Ryo wasn't the clan head yet. He personally came running to me, took my hand, and told me that I absolutely had to accept this position.
"Afterward, just like you, I thought there was no way I could handle it. But after all these years, aren't I still in this position?"
Hearing the Third Elder's words, Uchiha Takashi fell silent. In the end, he could only nod and say, "All right, Third Elder. Since you've entrusted this responsibility to me, I'll be sure to shoulder it!"
"Good. I trust that I haven't misjudged you..." The Third Elder laughed heartily and took his elder token out of his robes. "From today onward, you are the Third Elder of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Takashi!"
"Yes..."