In front of a modest house sat a small boy no older than six. His black hair was a tangled mess as he lay back against the porch, eyes fixed on the drifting clouds above.
"Yuta!"
A female voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Dad is calling you. He wants to test your chakra affinity since you will be starting the Academy in a few days. Get over here now, or I will come drag you myself."
She stood with her arms crossed, waiting.
It had been over five years since Yuta reincarnated into this world. One fact still felt unreal no matter how much time passed. He was the younger brother of Mikoto Uchiha, the future mother of the weasel.
His own mother had died from an unknown illness only a few months after his birth. There had been no long grieving period for him. In his past life, he had been an orphan as well. All he could do was cry, then move forward.
From the moment he began crawling, Mikoto had been hovering over him. She nagged him, scolded him, and protected him in equal measure. In her own way, she had fulfilled the role of an elder sister completely.
"I am coming," Yuta replied lazily. "And you do not have to disturb me every time I am thinking, okay? Go on. I will meet that old man when I am ready."
Mikoto's expression darkened.
She had always felt that Yuta was overly pampered by their father. That belief only fueled her anger. She marched straight toward him, fists clenched and trembling.
"Huh?" Yuta said, tilting his head as her shadow blocked the clouds from view. "Why are you acting like a hen that just watched her chicks hatch?"
He already knew what was coming, but he refused to go down without a struggle.
Bang. Bang.
Moments later, Yuta lay sprawled on the ground, face pressed into the sand.
"You are coming with me," Mikoto snapped as she grabbed him.
Before she could drag him away, Yuta raised two fingers and swiped them toward the entrance of the house.
The figure she was holding vanished.
Instead, Yuta stood by the doorway, completely unharmed, smiling with his eyes closed.
"Genjutsu?" Mikoto realized immediately. She had been tricked, caught while her emotions were unstable.
"Yuta, you are dead today!"
She chased after him.
Yuta darted inside the house, barely clearing the doorway before sprinting toward the backyard. There, a man in his late thirties stood waiting.
His name was Mayuri Uchiha, their father.
He wore a perpetually emotionless expression, though Yuta shared many of his facial features.
"Where is your sister?" Mayuri asked calmly. "And why are you the only one here?"
He already knew the answer. Whenever Yuta arrived alone and in a hurry, it meant trouble.
"Genjutsu release."
Mayuri altered the flow of his chakra instantly.
He had been the first person Yuta ever trapped in genjutsu.
When Yuta was three years old, a visitor had stopped by and, before leaving, handed the boy some money. Later, Mayuri returned and demanded the cash. Yuta refused, insisting it was his.
Mayuri offered him meat in exchange. Yuta agreed, ate the meat, and handed over the money.
Something felt wrong.
Yuta had never once traded money for food before. Suspicious, Mayuri examined the cash and noticed something impossible. It cast no shadow.
Only genjutsu could do that.
As a three-tomoe Sharingan user, Mayuri dispelled the illusion immediately. What he held were nothing more than leaves. Yuta had already vanished.
From that day forward, Mayuri never dropped his guard around his son. He learned quickly that Yuta only needed brief eye contact to activate his technique.
"YUTA!"
Mikoto's scream echoed through the yard as she tackled him and proceeded to beat him until she was satisfied.
Once it was over, she explained everything to their father, detailing how Yuta had provoked her and used genjutsu against her.
Mayuri was secretly impressed. Yuta had changed his tactics intelligently. Still, he scolded Mikoto harshly.
"If that had been an enemy, you would be dead. You must learn not to be provoked so easily. Double your training in genjutsu. That is why the Uchiha are feared."
"Yes, Father," Mikoto replied stiffly.
"You should head to school now," Mayuri added. "Do not be late."
She left immediately.
Soon, only father and son remained in the backyard. One stood tall and unreadable. The other looked exhausted.
"You should try smiling once in a while," Yuta said. "Before you end up looking like Grandpa."
Mayuri's mouth twitched. He was long accustomed to Yuta's provocations.
"I intend to test your chakra affinity," he said. "You will be entering the Shinobi Academy soon."
"I already told you and Grandpa," Yuta replied. "I do not want to go there. I am too cool for school."
"It is not optional," Mayuri said firmly. "If you want recognition within the Uchiha Clan, you must prove yourself, just as I did, and as my father did."
An old man entered the yard, leaning on a walking stick.
"And here we go again with the Uchiha agenda," Yuta muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Yuta," Mayuri warned. "Show respect to my father."
He stood and bowed as the elder approached. The old man was one of the clan's senior elders.
"Leave us for a moment," the elder said calmly.
Mayuri shot Yuta a sharp look before handing his father the chakra affinity tester and stepping away.
"Tell me," the old man began, studying Yuta closely. "Why do you not want to become a shinobi? Why are you unlike your sister, who wishes for the village to respect the Uchiha?"
He already knew the boy was different.
Yuta was friendlier with common villagers than with children of his own clan. Months earlier, he had beaten several Uchiha boys badly for breaking a civilian child's toy. The fight had been so severe that the boys were hospitalized.