Winter...
It was still the severe cold of late winter.
After the New Year and the festival ended, everyone returned to their normal work. To cover up Lord Jun's disappearance, everything in the Land of Whirlpools continued as usual, and the New Year's Eve party was not cancelled either.
It could be said that the life of the citizens of the Land of Whirlpools was becoming more and more interesting.
Early morning...
The cold was the biggest enemy of waking up early. Snow had accumulated throughout the night. Looking into the distance, the entire Land of Whirlpools was covered by a thick layer of white snow.
"Chief, why did you call me here?" Obito looked around and asked, puzzled. "Why do you all like chatting on the rooftop so much?"
In the middle of winter...
It was really freezing him, especially on the rooftop...
The thick snow and the cold morning wind made him shiver.
"Indoors there is heating, so why come up here in the middle of winter?" Obito hugged his arms tightly, rubbing his whole body, and complained, "You'll catch a cold here."
"Shut up and listen." Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Obito and said flatly, "Lord Jun placed a restriction on this rooftop. You cannot enter without a specific hand seal."
Otherwise...
Why would they come up to the rooftop for no reason?
For fun?
You should know...
He was cold too!
"So that's how it is!" Obito nodded in understanding and said, "No wonder Chief Fugaku asked me to come to the rooftop in the middle of winter. I thought you weren't afraid of the cold!"
So it's because there's a restriction here!
Obito immediately put on a serious expression. It seemed...
Chief Fugaku had important matters to discuss today!
"I am leaving here." Chief Fugaku said calmly, looking at the Land of Whirlpools in winter. "You will take my position then."
The Land of Whirlpools...
It really makes one reluctant to leave!
Even Konoha hadn't given him this feeling. Perhaps his father's decision back then was correct. Leaving the older generation behind and having him lead the younger generation to the Land of Whirlpools was to help them integrate quickly.
Looking at it now...
How fortunate!
A faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of Uchiha Fugaku's mouth...
Because of the development of television and movies, especially the few movies made by Lord Jun, many in the Uchiha clan had also awakened their Sharingan!
Intense emotional fluctuations were the reason the Uchiha clan awakened the Sharingan...
The Second Hokage wasn't wrong back then...
"Remember to change your careless, forgetful character! From then on, you won't just be responsible for yourself. Behind you..."
Uchiha Fugaku turned his head and looked quietly at Obito...
"There will be a group of comrades and colleagues. You must be responsible for them. Any wrong decision could plunge them into danger."
Originally, he had considered someone else. Perhaps Sosuke would be suitable, but...
He was already the chief of the New City branch.
"Ah?" Obito scratched his head and looked at Fugaku, puzzled. "Why? Are you retiring, Clan Chief?"
That won't do!
"The Land of Whirlpools explicitly states that aside from the Uzumaki clan, who retire at 80, everyone else must reach 60 to apply for retirement. Otherwise, they won't get a pension."
Retiring early is not advisable!
Clan Chief!
"..."
This idiot!
Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath to calm the urge to hit someone. Every time they discussed serious matters, this fool would change the subject...
"Don't interrupt!"
He glared fiercely at Obito...
"I'm not retiring. I am defecting!!"
As soon as the words fell...
"?!"
Obito looked at Uchiha Fugaku in horror, his hand reaching behind his back...
He forgot his ninja tool pouch again!!
"Why?!"
Is the pay in the Land of Whirlpools not high enough, or are the benefits not good?
"Revenge." Uchiha Fugaku looked calmly at Obito. Sure enough...
He forgot his ninja tool pouch again...
He sighed helplessly and said, "The Land of Whirlpools cannot help me with this."
Hatred...
He had never forgotten it, just like his Mangekyō Sharingan...
When these eyes appeared because of hatred, the hatred was not something that could be easily erased.
"The Land of Whirlpools might go to war with Konoha!"
"But..."
"No matter how the fight goes, the Third Hokage and Danzo will not die!"
Matters between nations are never solved by simple words of revenge. Moreover...
"And to investigate the disappearance of Lord Jun!"
That Black Zetsu seems to know something. Although he could try to use his Mangekyō to see if he could control him...
Lord Jun said that Black Zetsu is as slippery as a loach and not easy to catch. So, to be absolutely sure, he must join Black Zetsu now to see what that thing...
Is trying to do!
From what Lord Jun said back then, it seemed he knew something, but he never told them.
"Spy?" Hearing the Clan Chief's words, Obito seemed to understand what he wanted to do. He frowned and said, "Hatred..."
"Can it really not be let go?"
Immersed in hatred...
One ultimately cannot see the light. Besides, the Uchiha clan lives quite well now. Why...
Let hatred remain hidden in your heart?
"Let it end with me." A flash of relief passed through Uchiha Fugaku's eyes as he said, "That is also why I did not promote hatred within the clan. Everything..."
"I will end it with my own hands. Whether I succeed or not, let the Uchiha clan forget it all in the future!"
His clansmen were both the hope that supported his survival and the good medicine that soothed the hatred in his heart. But...
Now his clansmen had already integrated into the Land of Whirlpools and settled into peaceful, stable lives.
Hatred was...
The ending of his life!
Because...
He simply could not forget that night, when his father personally killed clansmen of the Uchiha and knelt before the clan, quietly awaiting Konoha's judgment...
"I..." Obito fell silent upon hearing Uchiha Fugaku's words, then said, "Why me?"
There are so many people in the bureau more outstanding than me. Why was he chosen to inherit the chief's position?
"Because..." Uchiha Fugaku gazed intently at Obito, his eyes shifting, until finally...
"You also possess these eyes!"
The Mangekyō...
"Although I don't know how you awakened them, you are undoubtedly a genius."
Even if you are forgetful and muddle-headed...
It cannot hide the fact that you are a genius!
"Moreover..."
Uchiha Fugaku turned back, leaned on the railing, and looked down below with his Mangekyō...
You...
Are kind, earnest, stubborn, honest...
Possessing all the... virtues of the Uchiha clan!
It's just that being forgetful really isn't like an Uchiha.
So...
"Sometimes I really wonder if you are actually from the Uchiha clan..."
"Ah?" Obito scratched his head sheepishly upon hearing Chief Fugaku's words and said, "I don't know how I awakened it either. I just watched that movie, felt angry and sad, and then unconsciously awakened it."
At that time, he felt just like Menma in the movie...
Heartbroken, guilty, regretful...
Then, while fiercely cursing the screenwriter's cruelty, he unconsciously awakened it.
He was also rather confused about the whole thing.
"This..." Uchiha Fugaku suddenly took out a small box and said, "Don't let anyone else find it. If you are ever in danger..."
"Take this and go find Director Hiruko!"
Then...
He vaulted over the railing and leaped down...
"And about my defection, aside from you, I haven't told anyone else."
"..."
Hearing Clan Chief Fugaku's words, Obito's eyes froze, and he shouted, "Aren't you just setting me up??"
Damn!
Was he supposed to personally arrest the Clan Chief?
But...
Even if he wanted to say something now, he could no longer see the Clan Chief's figure.
Obito looked down helplessly at the small box in his hand...
"This..."
What is it??
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