The atmosphere in the Uchiha Clan meeting hall was tense, heavy with the scent of incense and the grave formality of a council. Kenji sat before Uchiha Tadao and the five clan elders, their faces wrinkled like old scrolls, their eyes—some with latent Sharingan, others veiled by the wisdom of years—scrutinizing him with a mixture of respect, curiosity, and judgment. Itori was safe, asleep in the humble dwelling they had temporarily assigned him, under the care of one of the few available wet nurses.
"Kenji," Tadao began, his voice grave. "You have returned. And with a new life that is half Uchiha, half Uzumaki. The implications of this are... complex. But before we discuss Itori's future, we need the details of your mission. The fall of the Fushigane Clan Patriarch was a masterstroke, but your two-year absence is a question mark."
The elders nodded. The Fushigane Clan, an insular but formidable group, was known for their "Obsidian Eye" (Kokuyōgan) Kekkei Genkai, an ability that allowed them to harden their bodies to the level of volcanic rock, making them incredibly resistant to physical attacks. Their patriarch, a man named Kaito, was legendary for his toughness, and his assassination was a monumental feat.
Kenji nodded, his face impassive. "The mission was long, yes. But it required deep infiltration, gaining the trust of minor factions, and waiting for the opportune moment. The Fushigane Clan, with its Kokuyōgan, is resilient, but not invulnerable."
Kenji's Memory: The Obsidian Eye Patriarch
The fog lifted over the Fushigane valley. Kenji, camouflaged among the rocks, had spent weeks studying the security patterns, guard rotations, and weaknesses of Kaito's stronghold. The scent of damp earth and cold metal permeated the air. The opportunity came on the night of the New Moon, when a winter storm lashed the mountains. The rain, now an ally, masked his stealth, and the wind howled like a thousand demons.
He moved like a lethal shadow, his steps silent even in the mud that clung to his tabi. The interior of the Fushigane fortress was a labyrinth of narrow corridors and heavy rooms, built to withstand sieges, not infiltrations. Finally, he found him: Kaito, in his private chambers, meditating before an ancestral altar. The man was imposing, even sitting, his skin appearing harder than stone. His muscles were defined, his jaw tense; he was a wall of flesh and obsidian.
Kenji stepped from the shadows, his voice a whisper that cut through the air. "Patriarch Kaito."
The surprise on the Fushigane's face was fleeting, replaced by stony rage, his eyes, normally gray, now a deep black. "Uchiha!" he growled, as his skin began to darken, to harden, his muscles to tense, turning into pure obsidian. An ethereal aura of dense chakra surrounded him, an almost impenetrable barrier.
Kenji activated his Sharingan, his three tomoe spinning furiously, analyzing every fiber of the target's chakra, every tensed tendon, every blood flow. Kaito's Kokuyōgan was formidable; there was no way for a direct blow to penetrate it. The shuriken Kenji threw bounced off with a metallic sound, sparks flying from Kaito's hardened body.
The battle was a lethal waltz of steel and stone. Kaito, with his body turned into a living fortress, was immune to most of his physical attacks and even some low-level fire ninjutsu. His punches were pneumatic hammers, each blow capable of pulverizing rock. Kenji moved like a leaf in the wind, his Sharingan predicting every move, every tremor in Kaito's muscle, every fissure, however minuscule, in the obsidian defense. He unleashed a series of "Great Fireball Technique" (Gōkakyū no Jutsu), which Kaito withstood with a grunt, though the heat crackled on his skin.
The key was not brute force, but lethal precision and deception. Kenji remembered his father's training, the Uchiha philosophy of the "soul flame" that consumes everything, but also the power of genjutsu to disorient. He threw a kunai into the air, then another, creating a distraction. While Kaito focused on the projectiles, Kenji wove hand seals with a speed that was barely discernible. "Shunshin no Jutsu!" he whispered, and appeared behind Kaito, a deceptive shadow clone taking his place at the front. The real Kenji moved behind the obsidian giant.
Kaito, spinning with fury, launched a devastating punch that disintegrated Kenji's clone, but the Uchiha was already in his blind spot. He focused his chakra, not into an explosion, but into a single point. His hand, imbued with concentrated chakra, became a vibrating blade, a "Chakra Scalpel" (Chakura no Mesu) enhanced with the ferocity of his will. He didn't aim for the heart or the head, but the eye. The Kokuyōgan hardened the body, but the eye, the source of their Kekkei Genkai, was their most vulnerable, paradoxically softest, point.
With blinding speed, Kenji momentarily activated his Mangekyo Sharingan in his right eye. Not a genjutsu of pain, but one of its abilities: Shadow Tsukuyomi, a fleeting illusion that distorted Kaito's perception, making him feel as if the ground was crumbling beneath his feet, a microsecond of terror that made him hesitate, his obsidian muscles tensing in an unconscious reaction. That instant, that fraction of a second of disorientation, was all Kenji needed. With a surge of chakra in his hand, the blade of his palm plunged into the patriarch's eye socket with brutal force. Kaito's scream was drowned out by a wet sound and a burst, the hard shell yielding to the exact point of weakness. The obsidian chakra dissipated. Death was instantaneous.
"Patriarch Kaito fell to a precise blow to his weak point, the eye, which his Kekkei Genkai couldn't fully protect," Kenji explained, without detailing the Shadow Tsukuyomi. "Without its leader, the Fushigane Clan descended into chaos. My mission was complete. However, their elite guard detected me the moment I escaped."
"And the retreat against twenty elite Fushigane clan members, how did you achieve that?" asked one of the elders, Uchiha Ryo, known for his skepticism. "It is said their trackers are relentless. And twenty of their elites are a battle force."
Kenji's Memory: The Relentless Siege and the Primordial Susano'o
The alarm had sounded. The Fushigane were like hunting dogs when their prey bled, and the rage over their patriarch's death was palpable. Kenji didn't wait. He knew the revenge would be brutal. He fled east, towards rocky, mountainous terrain that was familiar to him, a place where his fire element could be an ally. The twenty elite Fushigane shinobi, all with active Kokuyōgan, caught up with him in a narrow gorge, their obsidian bodies gleaming ominously under the scarlet moonlight.
"Uchiha! You'll pay for the blood of our patriarch!" one shouted, his voice echoing with stony fury. Kenji activated his Sharingan in both eyes, taking a deep breath. Twenty against one. It wasn't a battle he could win by frontal annihilation, but by survival and escape. His chakra, though drained by the mission, ignited with adrenaline.
The fight erupted. The Fushigane moved like a living rock wall, their fists and kicks clad in obsidian, each blow capable of pulverizing. Kenji moved with deadly fluidity, his Sharingan allowing him to anticipate every attack. He dodged obsidian fists by millimeters, launched shuriken and kunai that bounced harmlessly off their armor or splintered without causing damage. He unleashed a series of "Great Dragon Fire Technique" (Karyū Endan), a torrent of flames that engulfed several enemies, but their Kokuyōgan protected them, though it slowed them down and left them smoking.
A group of synchronized Fushigane launched a "Earth Release: Rock Prison" (Doton: Ganseki Rō), attempting to crush Kenji between two earthen walls. The Uchiha reacted instantly, his Sharingan predicting the trajectory. "Body Flicker Technique!" (Shunshin no Jutsu!) he murmured, disappearing in a flash and reappearing atop one of the rock walls before they closed.
But they were relentless. One of the Fushigane, a giant named Goro, caught him with a devastating punch that Kenji barely managed to block with a chakra-wrapped forearm. The impact sent him flying against a rock wall, two ribs fractured instantly, a searing pain engulfing him. Warm blood welled from a wound on his forehead.
It was then that Kenji made the decision. In his desperation and the need to break through an escape route, the Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes spun with unusual fury. The pain was immense, his vision blurred from overuse, but there was no other option. An ethereal aura of chakra began to materialize around Kenji, taking the form of a giant humanoid skeleton, a primordial, incomplete Susano'o, barely a skeleton of ribs and a bony arm. It was his last defense.
With his left eye, he activated the second ability of his Mangekyo: Mugen Enmu (Eternal Mist), an area genjutsu that didn't seek physical harm, but massive disorientation. The vision of the twenty Fushigane distorted. The gorge became a constantly shifting labyrinth, their own comrades transformed into grotesque monsters, and the ground beneath their feet felt like quicksand. The initial panic was followed by confusion; their movements became uncoordinated, their attacks erratic, hitting each other.
While the Eternal Mist plunged them into illusory chaos, the skeletal arm of Kenji's Susano'o rose. With a guttural roar, Kenji channeled the remaining chakra. The arm materialized with a translucent chakra fist. It wasn't an attack to kill, but to clear the way. The fist struck the rocky ground with seismic force, sending a shockwave that raised dust and rock fragments, opening a crack in the terrain. The force of the blow sent several of the Fushigane who were not yet completely immersed in the illusion flying.
Taking advantage of the confusion and the opening, Kenji plunged into the crack. The fall was brutal. He rolled, hitting rocks and branches, the Susano'o dissipating into fragments of light, until the dense foliage cushioned him. When he reached the bottom, he was bruised, bleeding profusely, but alive. He heard the frustrated shouts of his pursuers above, who were still struggling against the Eternal Mist and the altered terrain. He had escaped. The recovery would be long and painful, marked by the scars of battle and the immense cost of his Mangekyo.
"My knowledge of the terrain and the use of advanced evasion techniques allowed me to escape down a cliff. The injuries were severe, requiring months of healing," Kenji conveniently omitted the use of the Susano'o and the specific name of his Mangekyo abilities. It wasn't a total lie, just a strategic omission to maintain the advantage of his secrets before the elders. "I recovered in solitude, away from any eye, until my chakra and my body were ready for the return."
Silence settled again. The elders looked at each other. The story was plausible. An Uchiha of Kenji's stature, with his legendary skill, was capable of such feats. The prolonged absence, though unusual, had a justification in his injuries. The mystery of the Fushigane Clan's Kokuyōgan and how Kenji had managed to overcome it, only enhanced his reputation.
"We understand the mission, Kenji," Tadao said, his gaze softer, almost respectful. "Your service to the clan is unquestionable. Now, let's talk about Itori."
The atmosphere subtly shifted. The first battle, that of the mission, was over. Now the second began: that of the acceptance and future of his mixed-blood son.