"Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
Fugaku's shriek exploded like a massive bomb in the hearts of every clan member!
Everyone went wild!
They stared fixedly at the child named Uchiha Hikari. Their hearts nearly leaped into their throats!
A six-year-old child was about to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan directly, without any mental stimulus?
This was no longer genius!
This was legend!
A miracle that could overturn everything the entire Shinobi World knew!
"Steady! Don't let him lose control!"
Uchiha Gen'yō reacted first!
He knew full well that awakening the Mangekyo brought tremendous mental shock and a backlash of ocular power. A six-year-old child's body and soul simply could not withstand it!
Forcing the awakening would only end with the child's body exploding!
"Kamui!"
Gen'yō vanished from where he stood. The next second, he appeared behind Uchiha Hikari!
Rather than touch the child's body, he extended both hands, holding them just above either side of Hikaru's temples!
Vast, pure Sage Body chakra mingled with his mental power, which had already reached a godlike realm. Like a clear spring, it flowed cautiously into Hikaru's mind!
Hum!
Uchiha Hikari's small body shuddered violently.
He felt as though he were in a raging sea of thunder. Now, a stretch of warm sunlight scattered the thunder and gently enveloped him.
The three tomoe in his eyes, which had been on the verge of joining together, gradually slowed their rotation.
In the end, they still failed to break through that final barrier.
Even so, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan radiated ocular power far beyond that of an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan. There was even a faint trace of the Mangekyo's oppressive presence!
"Phew."
At the sight, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
Fugaku even realized that his back was soaked through. That brief moment of tension had exhausted him more than fighting the Fourth Raikage for three days and nights.
"Lord Gen'yō."
Hikaru's parents were so overwhelmed that they could barely speak coherently. They dropped to their knees before Gen'yō and repeatedly kowtowed.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving our son!"
"Get up."
With a sweep of one hand, Gen'yō lifted the two with a gentle force.
He crouched down and carefully examined Uchiha Hikari's extraordinary eyes, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
"A promising seedling. Truly a promising seedling."
He could sense that, catalyzed by the purification solution, the purity of this child's bloodline had reached an utterly terrifying level.
With just a little guidance, awakening the Mangekyo in the future was practically guaranteed!
Even the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was not beyond the realm of possibility!
"From today onward, I will personally teach this child."
Gen'yō stood and announced this to everyone.
The decision prompted another wave of envious exclamations.
What an honor it was to receive personal instruction from a god!
Uchiha Hikari's parents were so excited that they nearly fainted.
They knew their son was destined to soar to great heights!
"Hahaha! Wonderful!"
Elder Uchiha Shusa stroked his white beard and laughed heartily.
"Awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at six! In the entire history of the Shinobi World, only our two ancestors, Madara Uchiha and Uchiha Izuna, could compare, couldn't they?"
"Our Uchiha have a bright future ahead!"
After this incident, no one harbored the slightest doubt about any of Gen'yō's decisions.
The entire clan's cohesion and unity reached an unprecedented peak!
Everyone's face brimmed with anticipation and hope for the future.
They could almost see it already: under Uchiha Gen'yō's leadership, the Uchiha Clan would surely return to its peak! It would even surpass that peak and become a supreme great clan standing at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World!
Yet amid this joyous, peaceful atmosphere, Shisui Uchiha quietly approached Gen'yō.
An unusual trace of gravity marked his handsome face.
"Big Brother Gen'yō."
Shisui lowered his voice, making sure only the two of them could hear.
"What is it, Shisui? Judging by your expression, you don't seem happy about the clan's good fortune."
Gen'yō glanced at him, keenly sensing that something was wrong.
Shisui drew a deep breath and said gravely:
"Big Brother Gen'yō, do you remember assigning Itachi and me to keep watch on the mountain behind the village when we left Konoha?"
"I remember. What about it?"
"Right before our entire clan entered the sacred land, I sensed an extremely strange chakra fluctuation with my Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Shisui's gaze grew utterly serious.
"That chakra was extremely faint and vanished in a flash. If I hadn't pushed my ocular power to its limit at the time, I never would have noticed it!"
"It felt very strange to me."
"It was like both a plant and a human. It was full of a deathly stillness and an ominous aura, nothing like what a living person should have!"
"Most importantly, that chakra had the strongest stealth capabilities I've ever seen! Several times stronger even than some veteran Anbu who specialize in concealment!"
"I suspect something set its sights on us during our escape!"
After hearing Shisui's description, the smile slowly faded from Uchiha Gen'yō's face.
A combination of plant and human?
Top-tier stealth capabilities?
A half-black, half-white figure instantly surfaced in his mind.
Zetsu!
The Akatsuki's intelligence agent!
"I didn't expect them to notice us so soon."
A flicker of icy killing intent flashed through Gen'yō's eyes.
He was not surprised.
He had caused such an uproar, defecting with his entire clan and blowing up the clan grounds. If the Akatsuki still hadn't noticed anything, they wouldn't deserve to stir up the entire Shinobi World later on.
"Is that person still here?"
Gen'yō asked calmly.
"He should have left already."
Shisui shook his head, a trace of lingering fear on his face.
"The instant I discovered him, he immediately cut off my ability to sense his chakra and vanished without a trace. He's extremely alert, a top-tier reconnaissance expert."
"Big Brother Gen'yō, what should we do? If a mysterious, powerful organization has set its sights on us, the road ahead will probably be very dangerous!"
Shisui's worries were not unfounded.
Although they now had the sacred land as a refuge, they could not hide inside it forever.
They had to go to Iwagakure and develop their strength in the outside world!
If this mysterious organization bore them ill will, the consequences would be unthinkable!
"Dangerous?"
At those words, Uchiha Gen'yō gave a disdainful, cold chuckle.
He turned to look at the empty sky in the distance, as though he could see through the barriers of space to the hidden hand spying on them.
His lips curved into a cruel, domineering smile.
"Shisui, who do you think is really in danger, given what we are now?"
"If they leave me alone, so be it."
"But if they really dare reach their claws toward us..."
Gen'yō slowly clenched his fist. Killing intent so vast that it made space itself tremble surged into the sky!
"I wouldn't mind letting them taste what it's like to be ground to bits by Kamui!"
"How many people in that so-called Akatsuki do you think could withstand my eyes?"