Roy smiled and patted Itachi's small head once more before slowly standing up. One second he was stretching his arms lazily, but in the next, his body blurred. He flickered repeatedly, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake. As the fine hair at Itachi's temples swayed slightly, the young boy sitting on the veranda felt the space beside him go empty. When he looked again, his brother had already pulled back the curtain and stepped outside, leaving only a shimmering, vague silhouette.
'Brother...' Itachi's eyes, far more mature than those of a typical child, shifted as he watched the departing figure blankly.
Roy moved his body slightly to adapt as he activated [Grandmaster Dark Step]. Currently, his Main Body Power Reception jumped from 80% to 81%.
The youth, with his black hair draped over his shoulders, smiled and said, "Father."
Uchiha Fugaku had just returned from his shift. His brow was deeply furrowed, and he was still dressed in his black form-fitting combat suit beneath a green Jonin flak jacket. His face was stern, softening only for a moment when he saw Roy. He gave the boy a brief nod. "You've grown up. There are some things you should know now."
The man mimicked Roy's earlier gesture, reaching out to ruffle Roy's hair. "Come with me to the clan meeting today. Don't say anything; just listen carefully. Tell me your thoughts when we return."
"Fugaku, isn't it a bit too early for that?" The kitchen curtain was pulled aside, revealing a gentle face.
Uchiha Mikoto, wearing an apron, walked out holding a windbreaker embroidered with the red-and-white Uchiha fan crest. Even as she spoke, her hands didn't stop moving as she draped the coat over Roy. She looked him up and down, a satisfied smile blooming on her face. "So handsome."
"I have my mother to thank for these looks."
"Of course you do." Mikoto squinted her eyes, her smile as bright as a flower.
Fugaku patted Roy on the shoulder. To be fair, once the boy put on the windbreaker with the Uchiha clan crest, he really did look the part. For a fleeting moment, Fugaku was reminded of his younger self, taken to his first clan meeting by his own father at roughly this age. That had been his first encounter with the complexities of the adult world.
"It's not too early," Fugaku said expressionlessly. "The clan suffered heavy casualties this time. The situation waits for no one, and the younger generation needs to step forward."
The battlefield was never child's play; it was a genuine struggle between life and death. Roy had run into Obito a few days ago and had already heard the big-mouthed boy mention that this wasn't just a meeting, but a memorial service. Every single Uchiha who had fallen on the battlefield would be invited into the ancestral lands—the Naka Shrine. They would be enshrined alongside the ancestors who had perished during the Warring States period, the First and Second Great Ninja Wars, and various missions.
As Fugaku's wife, Mikoto spent enough time with her husband to be well aware of the current situation. She nodded, allowing Roy to leave with Fugaku. Just then, the curtain pulled back to reveal Itachi's chubby little face. Mikoto took Itachi's hand as they watched the two figures walk away. She whispered to the toddler, "Itachi, tell Daddy and Brother to come back early. Mommy is making hamburger steaks for them."
Itachi pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then waved his hand at Roy and Fugaku.
The door creaked shut, sealing off the interior from the exterior, separating the small family from the great clan—and the village—into two different worlds.
On the path leading to the shrine, Fugaku walked ahead while Roy followed at a leisurely pace. They soon passed a flower garden.
Fugaku stopped. "Jin, pick a few flowers for your deceased uncles, aunts, and siblings."
As he spoke, the man led by example, bending down to personally pluck several stems and bundle them into a bouquet.
Roy dithered for a moment. He suddenly remembered when his great-grandfather Maha told him to bring a pot of his grandfather Zigg's favorite chrysanthemums when visiting his grave. A thought surfaced in his mind: the joys and sorrows of humanity are universal.
Whether they were Hunters, Demon Slayers, or Ninjas, they were all made of flesh and blood. Where there was joy, there was sorrow; where there was hope, there was despair; where there was a goal, there was confusion. They were existences defined by both contradiction and unity.
The youth bent down and picked a few white chrysanthemums. As he stood, his lips moved silently, whispering the word "contradiction." He felt a faint inkling that he had been overlooking something important. Yet when he tried to grasp the thought, it felt like grasping at mist.
As they neared the shrine, they encountered many Uchiha clansmen.
"Clan Head."
"Lord Fugaku."
"Jin is here too..."
Faces greeted them and moved on. Among them were several familiar names: Uchiha Tekka, Uchiha Inabi, Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Obito, and...
Uchiha Shisui, who came sprinting over on his short legs the moment he spotted Roy.
"Brother!" Shisui was only five years old, but he already showed the flair of the future 'Shisui of the Body Flicker.' He wasn't as lean as his future self yet; his face still held a trace of baby fat. Carrying a blade on his back, he rushed up to Roy and excitedly held up five fingers. "Five, Brother!"
"I used the swordsmanship you taught me to kill five enemies!"
[HINT: ONE "POTENTIAL BELIEVER" DETECTED...]
[POTENTIAL BELIEVER: UCHIHA SHISUI. DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR THE HOST'S LIFE-SAVING GRACE AND TUITION, HE GREATLY ADMIRES THE HOST.]
[LOYALTY: ABSOLUTE LOYALTY. HE WOULD ENTRUST HIS LIFE TO YOU. STATUS CAN BE CONVERTED AT ANY TIME.]
Roy looked at the boy with a smile. Ever since he had saved Shisui and started teaching him [Flame Breathing] after the boy pestered him relentlessly, Shisui's progress had been meteoric. He had quickly mastered the essence of the breathing style. With [Total Concentration: Constant] combined with his innate talent, he had already begun to distinguish himself on the battlefield at the age of five. This also proved a grim reality.
Konoha was truly short on manpower. Not just him and Shisui, but even Itachi would likely be sent to the battlefield by next year to resist the Hidden Cloud's invasion—especially now that the Cloud had deployed the "AB Combination" of A and Killer B to ravage the front lines. The situation was growing increasingly dire.
"Stop showing off. Let me see if you're hurt." Roy reached out and grabbed Shisui by the collar, lifting him like a rabbit and giving him a shake. The poor boy's pants nearly fell off, and he hurriedly clutched his crotch.
"Brother, I'm a big kid now. Can't you leave me some dignity?"
With so many people coming and going in front of the shrine, it was embarrassing. Shisui pulled up his pants with a look of grievance.
Roy ignored his complaints and gave him a playful kick in the rear. "Go on, go play."
Shisui feigned pain but nimbly dodged. He bowed respectfully to Fugaku. "Uncle Fugaku."
Then, as usual, he followed Roy like a little tail.
Fugaku watched the youngsters play, the gloom in his heart dissipating slightly. He said nothing, merely patting Shisui's head in encouragement before glancing at Roy. His mind drifted back to the night Sakumo Hatake had visited him. The man had said, "If you give the word, I will immediately report to the Hokage and request to become Roy's mentor."
Fugaku looked at the snow-white blade hanging at Roy's waist. According to the boy, it was a trophy from the battlefield. Fugaku had never denied his son's talent in swordsmanship, but it wasn't until the White Fang visited that he realized he had still underestimated it.
"Self-created swordsmanship. Roy has the strongest talent for the blade I have ever seen in my life, without exception." That was the candid evaluation Sakumo Hatake had given after witnessing Roy's skills on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, Sakumo's wish was impossible. The man likely knew it was wishful thinking. Fugaku's expression darkened. Neither the Hokage nor the three advisors would ever allow the Hatake and Uchiha families to get too close. The heavy casualties of the clan's youth in this war had likely been orchestrated by those moving the pieces behind the scenes.
Hayek's invisible hand was the most lethal.
As more clansmen greeted Fugaku and entered the shrine, the atmosphere grew heavier.
Fugaku took a deep breath and led Roy and Shisui across the threshold. They entered the main hall, where rows of coffins were neatly arranged. They contained the bodies of the Uchiha who had died in battle.
The lucky ones were whole; the less fortunate were missing limbs. Some were simply missing entirely, with only their favorite clothes placed inside the caskets to represent them.
Roy followed Fugaku through the path cleared by the grieving clansmen. At the very front, an old man, a middle-aged man, and two youths nodded toward them.
Fugaku stepped forward in silence, standing before the coffins. He closed his eyes to steady his emotions, then opened them and began offering flowers to each one. Roy followed quietly, doing the same. Then came the elder, the middle-aged man, the youths, and every other Uchiha in the hall.
Once the final bouquet was placed, Fugaku turned his back to the coffins and sat on the floor. The clan meeting began in this silent, sorrowful atmosphere.
Shisui was observant. Though it was his first time attending, he knew when to stay quiet. He sat cross-legged next to Roy, flanking Fugaku.
In the front row sat Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Inabi, Uchiha Tekka... and Uchiha Setsuna, who looked like a flickering candle about to go out.
As an elder active during the era of the Second Great Ninja War, Uchiha Setsuna was a contemporary of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo Shimura. Years ago, he had been detained for inciting a rebellion due to his dissatisfaction with the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's policies. Now, in his twilight years, his release wasn't an act of mercy, but clearly the result of some transaction between the clan and the village.
"Let us begin," Fugaku said tonelessly.
Sitting in the front row, just behind Setsuna, was Uchiha Yashiro—Fugaku's most trusted subordinate and advisor. In the heavy silence, he voiced the agenda of the meeting, which was the shared sentiment of every Uchiha present except for the children. "Clan Head, we cannot continue like this."
Yashiro frowned. "The mission assignments this time were very wrong. I suspect the higher-ups are intentionally suppressing our clan."
"He's right, Clan Head," Uchiha Inabi added, his shoulder wrapped in bandages. He spoke with suppressed rage. "I was assigned a B-rank mission, but once I reached the battlefield, I realized it was A-rank! If Lord Yashiro hadn't arrived in time, I wouldn't even be standing here talking to you!"
"Me too... and me... I took a C-rank, but it was actually a B-rank."
"There's no need to doubt it. For intelligence to have such massive leaks that cost us so many lives, the higher-ups must be involved!"
"Shh... don't talk nonsense!"
"Who's talking nonsense? What's there to hide? This is the Uchiha compound, not the Hokage building!"
"If Sarutobi Hiruzen does something this despicable, he doesn't get to stop people from talking about it! Ask your dead father if he agrees!"
The wind chime hanging in the corner of the Naka Shrine tinkled in the breeze.
Complaints, anger, and suspicion reached a fever pitch. The Uchiha who had lost relatives and friends all had bloodshot eyes. The intelligence failures were not something that could be dismissed with a casual "the battlefield is dynamic."
No one was a fool. Furthermore, ever since the Second Hokage took office and implemented various policies to isolate the Uchiha, the Third Hokage and Danzo had only intensified those efforts to weaken the clan.
Any clear-eyed person in the clan could see it.
But who could be blamed when the seeds of suspicion had been sown the moment Tobirama Senju killed Izuna Uchiha? Roy sat silently by Fugaku's side, listening. When it came to the conflict between the Uchiha and the village—and the eventual massacre—no one understood the truth better than him.
To call it a struggle between the Uchiha and Konoha was an oversimplification. It was the struggle between Indra and Asura, between Yin and Yang, between the spear and the shield. It seemed irreconcilable, yet both existed as part of the same reality, regardless of human will.
Contradiction... Yin and Yang... in truth, they were one.
The shouting in the hall continued, growing more intense. The grievances and dissatisfaction accumulated over years had finally found a vent, surging forth like a flood.
Fugaku listened in silence, saying nothing.
Below him, Setsuna also kept his eyes closed and remained silent, letting the situation ferment.
Roy watched it all, finally identifying the piece he had been missing.
He tilted his head and looked out the window. It was afternoon; the sun was slanting westward. Sunlight spilled down, casting shadows of trees on the ground, shadows of walls on the masonry, and shadows of people on the floor.
Ying and Yang, light and shadow, spear and shield... wherever the light touched, shadows followed. And as for him...
The youth lowered his gaze, lightly stroking the corner of his windbreaker, specifically the red-and-white Uchiha crest.
His pitch-black eyes grew brighter than they had ever been.
A realization dawned on him.
'So this is the "Naturally Evil Uchiha".'
'I used to instinctively try to kill off the "dark side", but I never thought about... utilizing it. I should master these negative emotions and turn them into the fuel for my progress, the tools I wield.'
[En] expanded, and his Heart Worms stirred.
As the saying goes: "Lone Yang cannot exist, and lone Yin cannot grow."
Roy looked up again. The complaints, anger, and dissatisfaction of the crowd suddenly transformed in his eyes. They became spiritual food, overflowing with fragrance.
'Eat, my Heart Worms!'