Hearing Yuzuru's words, the expressions on Fugaku and the others' faces turned complicated.
After a moment of silence, Fugaku finally spoke slowly. "Yuzuru, I've told you before, you really aren't suited for comforting people."
The Third Raikage patted Yuzuru on the shoulder and asked, "Yuzuru, what should we do next?"
Ever since Yuzuru had come to the Hidden Cloud Village, he had never made a wrong decision. By now, the Third Raikage had grown accustomed to consulting him before making any major move.
Yuzuru answered calmly, "First, pull our shinobi out of the Land of Rain."
"Our priority now is to annex the smaller neighboring nations and prepare in advance for taking over the Land of Fire."
This was a plan Yuzuru had already devised long ago.
Considering Minato Namikaze's fighting style, sheer numbers meant little against him. Keeping Cloud shinobi in the Land of Rain was only helping Minato rack up achievements—it would be better to withdraw early.
Besides, after years of war, Konoha had long been a spent arrow.
Even if Minato had appeared out of nowhere, with Yuzuru here, his influence would be limited.
Under these circumstances, even if the Hidden Cloud attacked the small nations bordering the Land of Lightning, Konoha no longer had the strength to intervene.
Hearing this, the Third Raikage didn't ask further. He simply nodded. "Then I'll make the preparations right away."
"A, Killer B—you two come with me."
Though the broad plan was decided, the details still needed to be worked out.
The Third Raikage left the ward with A, Killer B, and the others in tow.
In the blink of an eye, only Yuzuru and Fugaku remained.
"Yuzuru, there's something I need to tell you."
Yuzuru glanced at him and smiled. "Fugaku, did you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Fugaku looked at Yuzuru in surprise. "Yuzuru, how did you know?"
Back in the Land of Rain, after seeing Minato, he'd grown overconfident and charged in alone.
But he never expected Minato to have mastered space-time ninjutsu.
Caught off guard, Fugaku had nearly had his throat slit by a kunai.
To cover his retreat, Himura and Chika had stayed behind, sacrificing their lives.
The deaths of his comrades and closest friends struck him harder than any wound.
He kept thinking—if he could think ahead like Yuzuru, if he could foresee the outcomes of his choices—then that tragedy would never have happened.
Racked with guilt and regret, Fugaku had run endlessly, and by the time he came to his senses, the Mangekyō Sharingan of Uchiha legend had already opened within him.
But as far as he knew, no one else was aware of it.
Seeing Fugaku's confusion, Yuzuru explained, "After the Mangekyō Sharingan awakens, the Sharingan cannot be closed voluntarily for a period of time."
Fugaku gave a wry smile and sighed. "Nothing escapes you, Yuzuru. I was hoping to surprise you with it."
Yuzuru chuckled. "So? What's the ability of your eyes?"
Fugaku didn't hide it. "My left eye's ability is Amaterasu—it can generate black flames within my line of sight. The black flames never go out and burn the target to nothing."
Yuzuru's lips twitched.
Amaterasu…
It sounded impressive—"black flames that never die out"—but in the original timeline, its actual combat performance was pathetic.
It had barely ever killed anyone, and could be countered in countless ways.
When he'd seen Madara take off his burning cloak and walk away unharmed after being hit by Amaterasu, Yuzuru had almost fainted.
Its performance wasn't much better than a Fireball Jutsu.
Still, he didn't say that aloud. Instead, he asked, "What about your right eye?"
"Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto."
"Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto?" Yuzuru repeated, frowning slightly. Could it be Tsukuyomi?
Before he could ask further, Fugaku explained, "Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto is a genjutsu that creates a perfectly realistic illusionary world. Anyone drawn into it will live out an entire lifetime inside. Once they believe they've died in that world, they die instantly in reality."
Yuzuru raised a brow. "Can you interfere with what happens inside that illusionary world?"
Fugaku pinched his fingers together. "A little, but only slightly. Once the target enters the illusion, the world is basically fixed. Most of what happens depends on the target's own choices, leading to different endings."
Finishing his explanation, Fugaku sighed in disappointment. "Unlike Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto doesn't have much killing power. What a shame…"
Yuzuru stared at him, momentarily speechless.
This guy was really something else.
Compared to Amaterasu, Yuzuru found Tsukuyomi far more promising.
Its power was practically a single-target Infinite torture—and eerily similar to his own Life Simulator.
Perhaps it wasn't that lethal, but it was a divine eye indeed.
He could even use it to help other Uchiha awaken their eyes—just let the talented ones suffer inside the illusion until they broke!
Thinking of this, Yuzuru said seriously, "Fugaku, your Mangekyō abilities are very useful. Keep them secret. And try not to use the Mangekyō's power unless absolutely necessary. I'll find a way to solve the blindness issue."
Hearing this, Fugaku nodded firmly, his heart swelling with emotion.
Ever since leaving Konoha with Yuzuru, he'd felt the gap between them growing wider and wider.
He'd almost believed he had nothing left to offer.
But now, things were different.
At last, he could once again stand proudly behind Yuzuru's back.