"Kai?! Why are you back?!"
The moment he heard the voice, Itachi turned his head—and when he saw who was standing in the doorway, his sharp cry sliced straight through the night.
It was ear-piercing.
Yet inside the Uchiha compound, almost no one heard it.
"How could I not come back?" Kai replied calmly. "This is my home."
He casually grabbed the wooden door and walked inside.
As for the clan members outside?
Let them enjoy themselves a little longer.
Tsukuyomi lasted seventy-two hours, after all.
Even a certain famous Konoha "technician" had needed a full week in the hospital after getting hit by it.
The clan members would fare far worse.
Kai then plopped himself down directly in front of Fugaku, picked up the freshly poured tea, and downed it in one gulp.
"Peh."
He smacked his lips, spat out a tea leaf, and said with clear disdain,
"Old Fugaku, your tea-making skills have really gone downhill. Didn't even steep it properly."
Fugaku: "..."
Itachi: "..."
Both men twitched at the corner of their mouths.
Yes.
That was very Kai.
The thick, tragic atmosphere of father and son about to kill each other instantly evaporated.
Fugaku frowned, glanced at Itachi, then said in a firm voice,
"Kai, go back to your room. No matter what happens tonight, don't come out."
"Yes," Itachi added, restraining a bit of his killing intent. "Kai, go back first. Tomorrow, I'll explain everything to you."
But the hand gripping his blade tightened unconsciously.
At some point, every time he saw Kai's fearless attitude, a prickling sense of unease crept up his scalp.
"No… that's not right!"
"I'm the big brother!"
Itachi took a deep breath and barked in a low voice,
"Kai! Go back now, or—"
"Or what?" Kai interrupted, spitting out another bitter tea leaf. "You'll cut me down too? Tch."
He looked at the man across from him with open curiosity.
This thirteen-year-old "man."
In his previous life, someone this age would still be grinding away for a high-school entrance exam.
Yet here he was—tasked with wiping out his entire clan.
Feel sorry for him?
Tch.
Feeling sorry for him wasn't worth feeling sorry for a stray dog.
At least dogs knew better than to bite their owners.
"You…" Itachi exhaled heavily. "Since you already know… I'm sorry, Kai. Just sleep for a bit."
"Sleep it off. When you wake up, everything will be over."
He closed his eyes, inhaled twice, then opened them again.
Only crimson remained.
Tsukuyomi—activate!
Hummm—
An invisible ripple spread across the ancestral shrine.
Flash.
In that instant, three tomoe appeared in Kai's eyes.
"So it's three-tomoe after all," Itachi said with faint admiration.
"You really hid it well."
"I don't know when you awakened it, but—three tomoe alone can't block big brother's genjutsu."
His left eye bulged slightly, blood vessels crawling outward like a spider's web.
The might of Tsukuyomi, the strongest genjutsu of this era, fully unfolded.
Then, without even looking at Kai, Itachi raised his blade again toward Fugaku, his voice filled with apology.
"I'm sorry, Father. You're a target the village must eliminate. I—"
"Itachi."
This time, Fugaku didn't close his eyes.
Instead, his expression was… strange.
Strange?
Itachi immediately sensed something was wrong.
As if something completely outside his control was about to happen.
But… what?
He frowned slightly, listening.
Fugaku's tone remained casual, like a father chatting with his son.
"Do you know when Kai awakened his eyes?"
That relaxed tone threw Itachi off balance.
His impatience rose, his voice quickening.
"When he awakened them…? How would I know?"
"For the past six years he's either been sunbathing, talking nonstop, or teasing Sasuke. How could he have awakened—"
His voice stopped abruptly.
His crimson eyes shrank violently.
A sharp cry burst out again.
"Don't tell me—"
"That's right," Fugaku said calmly.
"Kai awakened his eyes six years ago. The same year you did."
"H-how is that possible…"
Gulp.
Itachi swallowed hard. The deep lines beneath his eyes looked even more pronounced.
He knew his younger brother was talented—but that was in cultivation alone.
But awakening at two and a half years old?
Even the gods of the Uchiha couldn't do that.
After a long moment, he steadied his breathing and looked at Fugaku again.
"Even so," he said slowly,
"Father should know—only a Mangekyō can resist a Mangekyō."
"Three tomoe… is still just three tomoe."
His hands tightened once more around the blade.
The cold steel grounded him.
"Over there."
Fugaku merely tilted his chin.
Confused, Itachi followed his gaze to the left.
Kai was chewing on a tea leaf, looking at him with amused interest.
"…He's not under genjutsu?" Itachi was stunned.
"Did Tsukuyomi fail because I used it on too many people earlier?"
Instinctively, he poured even more power into his left eye.
But what increased wasn't Tsukuyomi—
It was the mockery curling across Kai's lips.
Cracking outward.
Until it filled his entire face.
And most striking of all—
Those eyes.
Enlarged tomoe.
Enlarged—
Three tomoe.
Itachi's eyes narrowed, realization crashing down on him.
His breathing finally broke rhythm.
Step—step—step.
He stumbled backward until he hit the doorway, then cried out in disbelief:
"You… you also have the Mangekyō?!"
"But—when?!"
His brows knotted tightly. The calm composure he'd always worn completely collapsed.
Only now did Itachi truly realize—
Something was no longer under his control.
Kai.
His younger brother.
The one who loved sunbathing and teasing Sasuke.
Had awakened the Mangekyō without anyone noticing.
Huff.
Huff.
Itachi's breathing turned heavy, almost beast-like.
He slowly raised his blade, holding it horizontally in front of him.
"You see?" Kai shook his head and stood up, spitting out the last tea leaf.
"I told you how many times—one against seven."
"And yet you still picked the wrong choice."
He stepped forward, his forehead pressing lightly against the blade's edge.
Clatter—
Just as he was about to speak—
The door suddenly burst open.
"What are you all doing in the middle of the night?!"
Uchiha Mikoto, rubbing her sleepy eyes, walked in with an irritated tone.
But the moment she saw the scene inside the shrine, she froze.
Her eldest son was holding a blade to her second son's head.
Her husband—Uchiha Fugaku—was calmly drinking tea on the side!
Rage exploded.
In that instant, morning temper mixed with maternal fury, blowing away all reason.
She stormed straight up to Itachi.
Though shorter, her presence was like a tiger unleashed.
"Uchiha Itachi—what do you think you're doing?!"
Smack!
Her palm swung out—
A single, resounding slap.
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