Hearing Uchiha Yoru's seemingly casual remark, Uchiha Ayumi was startled.
"Big Brother Yoru, you know this person?"
Yoru replied irritably, "You idiot. If I didn't know them, how could I have specifically ordered you to investigate them?"
"Uchiha Obito is one of our clansmen and the orphan of an elder from the previous generation. That was why, when I was still a chūnin, the clan head assigned me a mission to teach him ninjutsu."
"But while carrying out the mission, I discovered that Obito's fundamentals were terrible. I forced him through several days of basic training before finally teaching him a few commonly used ninjutsu."
Uchiha Ayumi thought for a moment before asking, "From the way you spoke, Big Brother, it sounds like you're more familiar with Shinichi."
Yoru said helplessly, "Uchiha Obito is a complete oddball. My mission was clearly to teach him, yet he insisted on dragging his teammate along no matter what. He used my time and effort to fulfill his own kindness."
"So I trained him half to death."
"But because of that, I discovered that his teammate Shinichi was a pretty good ninja. I taught him a few genuine skills, so you could say we have some history."
Uchiha Yoru smiled and asked, "Ayumi, aren't you curious why I've been so tolerant of Obito?"
Ayumi immediately replied, "I am. Big Brother Yoru, I truly don't understand why you pay so much attention to him."
"His individual strength is decent, but this 'oddball,' as you called him, is a useless burden who constantly drags others down."
"I didn't even need to leave the village. A simple investigation showed that he has held his teammates back more than once."
"Even through those lines of text, I could feel Shinichi's frustration."
"If I were that ninja named Shinichi, I would have beaten Obito's mouth to a pulp."
Uchiha Yoru glanced around. After confirming that no one else was nearby, he lowered his voice.
"Uchiha Obito is one of the two people in the clan with the greatest potential—and the highest likelihood of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan."
At Yoru's words, Uchiha Ayumi's pupils suddenly widened.
His mouth fell slightly open, and it took him a long time before he managed to ask, "Big Brother Yoru, what is the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Is it a special kind of Sharingan?"
Uchiha Yoru abruptly turned his head.
His eyes widened slightly as he stared at his most loyal subordinate. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "I never told you what the Mangekyō Sharingan is?"
"No. This is the first time I've ever heard the name."
"...Fine."
"You're the person I trust most, so I'll tell you."
However, Uchiha Yoru did not immediately begin explaining.
Instead, he blinked and activated his three-tomoe Sharingan. He met Uchiha Ayumi's eyes and pulled him into a genjutsu.
The moment Ayumi realized he was inside a genjutsu world, he couldn't help swallowing nervously.
He was sitting on a rigid chair with a backrest.
In front of him stood a desk only seventy-five centimeters wide, complete with a storage compartment beneath its surface.
This was the most terrifying nightmare imaginable.
It was the standard setting of their dreams about studying and examinations. Merely sitting here was enough to make the younger Uchiha members' livers tremble.
Every single one of them had sat at this same desk and chair in their nightmares, forced to study with inhuman intensity.
Just thinking about that brutal process of working themselves to death filled them with unbearable agony.
However, Uchiha Yoru soon appeared inside the genjutsu world and explained, "What I'm about to tell you is confidential."
"At present, only the upper ranks of Konoha and the Uchiha clan know about it."
"That's why I chose to tell you inside a genjutsu."
Hearing those familiar words, Uchiha Ayumi immediately relaxed.
He nodded at once.
"I'll keep it secret, Big Brother Yoru."
"Mm. I trust you."
Uchiha Yoru began his explanation.
"I learned of the Mangekyō Sharingan's existence through ancient books and manuscripts in the clan's archives."
"In the records left behind by our predecessors, the Mangekyō Sharingan is called 'the strongest heavenly eye that sees through the Three Realms,' while its dōjutsu are described as 'earth-shaking ocular techniques.'"
"Simply put, when the three-tomoe Sharingan breaks through once more, it becomes the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"However, the difference in ocular power between the three-tomoe Sharingan and the Mangekyō is enormous."
"A Mangekyō user can deal with a three-tomoe user even more easily than a three-tomoe user can deal with an ordinary person."
"Furthermore, once the Mangekyō Sharingan awakens, its pattern varies from person to person, and each awakener gains completely different exclusive dōjutsu."
"That is why it is called the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Within the genjutsu world, Uchiha Yoru accompanied his explanation with visual demonstrations, teaching Uchiha Ayumi the entire history of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He began with Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, who first opened the Sharingan.
Then came Indra, the Sage's eldest son, who inherited the Sharingan.
The bloodline continued to be passed down through the generations, eventually forming the Uchiha clan.
Yoru explained the traditional method of awakening the Mangekyō, as well as the awakening method he himself had theorized but had yet to test.
He also explained the Mangekyō Sharingan's flaw: continued use would gradually lead to blindness.
Throughout the lecture, Uchiha Ayumi listened with complete concentration.
Only now did he learn that the Uchiha clan's origins stretched back so far.
Their ancestor was actually the Sage of Six Paths.
The pride in Uchiha Ayumi's heart suddenly became far more substantial.
He felt as though his entire existence had gained a stronger foundation.
However, when he heard that awakening the Mangekyō would inevitably lead to blindness, a chill still rose in his heart.
Even though he did not believe he would necessarily awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan himself, he couldn't help asking, "Why does it cause blindness?"
"If it's an even more powerful Sharingan, why would awakening it make someone go blind?"
Uchiha Yoru answered, "There are two reasons."
"First, the Mangekyō Sharingan is incomplete."
"Second, the awakener is not powerful enough."
"Ayumi, you may not know about the previous clan head, Uchiha Madara."
"He fused his younger brother's Mangekyō with his own and achieved an even more perfected form."
"Not only did he solve the problem of blindness, he became even more powerful and earned the title of the Ghost of the Uchiha."
"Uchiha Madara's eyes were known as the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
Uchiha Ayumi's mouth opened wide.
He murmured, "Big Brother, I didn't know any of this."
"Has someone been hiding the truth?"
"What are they trying to do?"
Yoru explained, "It wasn't exactly deliberate concealment."
"Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage joined forces to establish Konoha, but he later changed his mind and became the village's first missing-nin."
"For both the Uchiha clan and Konoha as a whole, that was an extremely humiliating matter."
"Because of that, both sides intentionally or unintentionally avoided mentioning Uchiha Madara's name."
"As time passed, naturally, younger ninja like us stopped knowing about him."
"In any case, this is the only currently known effective solution."
"Unfortunately, the vast majority of Uchiha ninja are destined to be incapable of meeting that condition."
Uchiha Ayumi smiled.
"That's true."
"Like you, Big Brother, I'm an orphan without any siblings. We were born unable to take that path."
"Then what is the second path, Big Brother Yoru?"
"The second path is something I inferred based on the two people at the origin of our bloodline."
"Both the Sage of Six Paths and Indra possessed the Sharingan, but there has never been any record of them needing to awaken something like the Eternal Mangekyō."
"The only differences between those two ancestors and us are the purity of our bloodline and the enormous gap in strength."
"We may not have brothers who can compensate for the shortcomings in our bloodline purity, but we can become stronger through cultivation."
"No matter how vast the distance between us and our ancestors may be, as long as we continue cultivating and growing stronger, there is still hope."
A flash of sudden understanding struck Uchiha Ayumi.
He abruptly said, "But a difference that enormous definitely can't be overcome through ordinary training methods."
"Big Brother Yoru, can you teach me true cultivation?"
Uchiha Yoru stared at him in surprise.
Ayumi clearly wasn't the cleverest among the younger Uchiha, yet he never failed at critical moments.
Both he and Uchiha Ichiki had suffered severe injuries.
Uchiha Ichiki had been unable to control himself and awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan in one leap. From that point onward, he had locked his own upper limit at the Mangekyō Sharingan and gained an abnormal state that was prone to losing control.
Uchiha Ayumi, on the other hand, had remained emotionally stable even after losing both legs and one hand.
He had continued walking firmly along Uchiha Yoru's path.
And now, before Uchiha Yoru had even mentioned teaching him senjutsu, Ayumi had received a flash of inspiration and taken the initiative to ask.
This was no minor matter.
When asking someone for help, the first thing one needed to do was step into the water oneself.
One should help solve the problem of how the other person could extend a hand, while also accepting all the losses that might result from their assistance.
The greatest taboo was to ask someone else for help while remaining safely on dry land oneself, dumping all responsibility and consequences onto the other party.
An even more despicable approach was to stand atop the moral high ground and use moral coercion as a weapon, forcing someone to help and driving them into a dead end from the very beginning.
By making the request himself, Uchiha Ayumi had handed over the initiative.
If Uchiha Yoru taught him now, it would no longer count as actively bestowing a favor.
Instead, he would merely be passively fulfilling his younger brother's request.
The difference between active and passive seemed tiny in this situation, yet in terms of cause and effect, they were worlds apart.
It was like an experiment involving a pendulum ball inside a cart.
Even when all other conditions were identical, releasing the cart's lock at different moments could make it move in two completely opposite directions.
After hearing Uchiha Ayumi's request, Uchiha Yoru suddenly felt much lighter inside.
For the first time, he gained a faint understanding of the saying, "Bodhisattvas fear causes."
In an excellent mood, Uchiha Yoru smiled.
"Very well. I'll teach you."
"However, from today onward, you may not pass anything I teach you to anyone else without my permission."
Uchiha Ayumi was overjoyed.
He nodded repeatedly and promised again and again that he would keep everything absolutely secret.
Uchiha Yoru did not teach him the true cultivation method inside the genjutsu world.
Instead, he continued explaining the Mangekyō Sharingan, eventually reaching the ultimate power residing within it—
Susanoo.
Through the genjutsu, Uchiha Yoru demonstrated Susanoo's overwhelming might to Uchiha Ayumi, allowing him to truly understand what it meant to possess power capable of crushing all ninja.
The moment Susanoo appeared in the world, it divided countless ninjutsu into two categories.
The first consisted of powerful ninjutsu capable of threatening Susanoo.
The second consisted of useless ninjutsu to which Susanoo was completely immune.
Just as Uchiha Ayumi's face flushed red with excitement and he began fidgeting uncontrollably, Uchiha Yoru asked, "Do you understand now why I ordered you to investigate Uchiha Obito?"
"I understand."
"If Obito possesses the potential to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, then no amount of attention paid to him would be excessive."
Uchiha Ayumi answered seriously, but then hesitated.
"However, Obito is clearly only a somewhat talented idiot with a muddled mind."
"What gives him that kind of potential?"
Uchiha Yoru immediately answered, "His rich emotions."
"And that stubborn, single-minded nature born from his muddled brain."
"Ayumi, you've been influenced by me."
"Subconsciously, you already believe that the traditional method of awakening the Mangekyō is wrong. That's why you made such a judgment."
"Now look at it from another angle."
"Among all the ninja of the Uchiha clan, who possesses the sincerest emotions and the most intense emotional fluctuations?"
Uchiha Ayumi thought carefully for a long time before finally answering with difficulty.
"Uchiha Obito..."
Uchiha Yoru nodded, then continued, "Now disregard shinobi status and lower the age requirement."
"Who else comes to mind?"
"Uchiha Shisui... Little Brother Shisui?"
"My God!"
Uchiha Ayumi was so shocked that the fragile genjutsu space shattered.
He and Uchiha Yoru instantly returned to consciousness.
After receiving one piece of earth-shaking information after another, Ayumi's head was spinning.
He stared at his big brother, not knowing what to say.
Uchiha Yoru patted him on the shoulder and ordered, "Keep these matters to yourself."
The pat instantly brought Uchiha Ayumi back to his senses.
He immediately replied, "Yes."
"Also, during the coming period, investigate two more people for me."
"This time, I want the investigation to be even more thorough."
"Who should I investigate, Big Brother Yoru?"
"The disciple of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin—Jōnin Minato Namikaze."
"And Chūnin Kakashi Hatake, son of Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake."
"I understand. I'll begin investigating immediately."
"Be careful during the investigation."
"Kakashi Hatake is a ninja receiving special attention from the Third Hokage."
"As for Jōnin Minato Namikaze, he is an extremely formidable ninja in his own right."
"So you should gather information as indirectly as possible."
"I'll be careful. Please rest assured."
"One final matter."
"Starting tomorrow morning, you must come to my house before sunrise."
"I'll teach you the true cultivation method."
Uchiha Ayumi shouted excitedly, "Big Brother Yoru, I definitely won't be late!"
…
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the end of Konoha Year 44 arrived.
Since the beginning of December, several snowfalls had blanketed Konoha.
The village's civilian livelihood problems became increasingly serious, while pressure from the war on the front lines continued to rise.
Several months had passed.
Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure had all finally caught their breath.
After adapting to Konoha's pressure, they could no longer suppress their eagerness to launch counterattacks.
As Uchiha Ayumi became more active, most people gradually grew accustomed to seeing him as an able-bodied ninja.
Eventually, someone finally connected him to the crippled man from several months earlier.
Unsurprisingly, once the Uchiha clan confirmed the matter, it caused an enormous sensation among Konoha's ninja.
Thanks to Tsunade's efforts, Konoha's medical-nin stood unmatched throughout the shinobi world.
As long as a Konoha ninja did not die on the spot, their life could usually be saved.
Medical ninjutsu was miraculous.
But it was not omnipotent.
Medical-nin could reattach severed arms and legs, but they could not make missing limbs grow back from nothing.
Because of this, Konoha had a vast number of ninja who had been forced into retirement after losing arms or legs.
There were so many disabled ninja that nearly every household in Konoha was connected to one of them through family or friendship.
The influence of the matter became so great that even Orochimaru and the Third Hokage had no choice but to personally intervene.
Considering Uchiha Yoru's status and strength, they ultimately settled on two treatment slots per month.
Furthermore, one of those slots would be given priority to an Uchiha ninja.
As compensation, Uchiha Yoru would receive a mission reward.
The mission rank would be determined by the rank of the ninja receiving treatment.
Treating a genin counted as a C-rank mission.
A chūnin corresponded to a B-rank mission.
A jōnin corresponded to an A-rank mission.
At the time, Uchiha Yoru had even asked, "Although Lord Third Hokage probably won't be injured, what if I ever have the opportunity to treat him?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had laughed loudly and replied, "Don't worry. Treating the Hokage would naturally count as an S-rank mission."
However, the first two disabled ninja selected were both genin.
They were obviously test subjects, chosen to verify Uchiha Yoru's true capabilities.
Then they could test him.
Uchiha Yoru didn't care.
The only thing he needed to do was disguise the process properly and prevent anyone from discovering that the Limb Regeneration Technique was actually Wood Release.
In truth, this was extremely simple.
He cultivated tree species in advance with Wood Release to serve as replacement bones.
Instead of using ninjutsu to shape them, he carved them manually.
Finally, he reduced the volume of plant tissue at the regeneration endpoints.
This slowed the regeneration speed, but also made it impossible for anyone to recognize the characteristics of plant growth.
After the two ninja underwent a full seven days of treatment and walked out of the treatment room on their own legs, every ninja placed in the queue after them was a jōnin.
One month earlier, the Third Hokage had even personally come to ask, "Can you regenerate an eye?"
Uchiha Yoru immediately rejected the idea.
He said bluntly, "The eyes are completely different from every other system in the body."
"They are absolutely independent systems."
"Once lost, they cannot be regenerated from nothing."
"The only option is transplantation."
He even asked in return, "Lord Third Hokage, as far as I know, Konoha's eye-transplantation techniques are already extremely mature."
"There is no need to consider regeneration at all."
"Who made such a pointless request?"
The Third Hokage sighed repeatedly.
"It was Maruboshi Kosuke."
"He lost his eye while carrying out a mission with me."
"I've always felt guilty about it and wanted to transplant a new eye for him."
"But that fellow refuses to accept someone else's eye."
"He doesn't want to take possession of a resource another ninja might still be able to use."
"I had no other choice, so I wondered whether I could persuade him by claiming the eye had been regenerated."
Only after repeatedly questioning Yoru did the Third Hokage finally give up.
He sighed with deep regret.
"What a pity."
Uchiha Yoru politely escorted the Third Hokage out.
He had to admit that the Hiruzen Sarutobi he had just seen gave him a very favorable impression.
His attitude had been sincere as he considered the well-being of a former subordinate and did everything possible to help the man regain his sight.
Even after failing, he showed no intention of blaming Uchiha Yoru.
Unfortunately, all of this perfection existed only on the level of personal virtue.
It would have been wonderful if Hiruzen Sarutobi could perform equally well as the leader of Konoha.
What a pity.
After muttering those words twice, Uchiha Yoru returned to his own work.
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