[Read up to Chapter - 80 on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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That afternoon, while Kanzou was still engrossed in planning reforms for the Uchiha clan, Satoru suddenly burst in with a look of panic on his face.
Sensing something was wrong, Kanzou narrowed his eyes and asked with a frown, "Calm down… tell me what happened?"
Satoru stammered, "Tadayoshi-sama… Tadayoshi-sama is dead…!"
"Huh? What? What did you just say? Tadayoshi-sama is dead?" Kanzou shot up from his seat, his frown deepening as he stared at Satoru in disbelief.
Crash!
Mikoto, who had just entered the room with a tray of tea and snacks, lost her grip. The tray slipped from her hand and shattered against the floor, spilling tea everywhere on the tatami mats..
Seeing her face go pale and her knees begin to buckle, Kanzou immediately reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her and preventing her from collapsing on the spilled tea.
Turning back to Satoru, he asked with a scowl on his face, "What happened? Tell me everything."
The Elder had just visited him the very morning. And now Satoru was telling that… he was dead?
"How did Sofu-sama die?" Mikoto asked in grief and pain as her Sharingan activated.
"Shinkurou killed him," Satoru replied. "The Elder went to meet with Shinkurou. For reasons we still don't know, an argument broke out between them—and it escalated. In the end, Shinkurou killed him."
"Right now, he has been captured by Makoto and currently they are at his place."
Uchiha Makoto was also an Elite Jōnin of the Uchiha clan. However, during the conflict between Kanzou and Fugaku, he had chosen to remain neutral and refrained from getting involved.
Hearing that Shinkurou was being held off by Makoto, Mikoto struggled out of Kanzou's arms and quickly ran off.
Kanzou didn't stop her… but chose to follow her.
The reason why he didn't stop her was the change that her Chakra was going through, which made him wonder, 'Is she going to awaken it?'
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They soon arrived at Shinkurou's residence. The moment they reached, they were met with a gruesome sight—bloodstains splattered across the ground and the dismembered body of Elder Tadayoshi lying there.
Upon seeing her grandfather's corpse, Mikoto collapsed to her knees.
"Sofu-sama…" She had just seen him that very morning. She never imagined that would be the last time.
Grief, pain, and hatred surged through her, and with her Three Tomoe Sharingan that was already activated, she glared furiously at the man responsible—Uchiha Shinkurou.
"You… you killed Sofu-sama!"
"It wasn't like that! He sought death on his own!" Shinkurou, who was tied up, replied defensively, distressed by her rage.
"That old man… he suddenly came to me and started questioning whether I'd surrender to Uchiha Kanzou. I don't know what got into him…"
Shinkurou, assuming that Elder Tadayoshi had come merely to lobby on Kanzou's behalf, responded rudely and told him to leave. However, the elder was enraged by his attitude and lashed out first.
Faced with an unexpected attack, Shinkurou didn't hold back.
When Elder Tadayoshi came at him with a blade, Shinkurou moved to counter—but to his shock, the elder suddenly stopped defending, allowing himself to be cut down.
The blow landed, and the elder was killed on the spot.
Shinkurou stood frozen, stunned by what he'd done. Though he had acted in self-defence, he had never truly intended to kill Elder Tadayoshi. In a sense, it felt like the old man had chosen suicide.
Mikoto listened to Shinkurou's explanation, but her mind was already overloaded.
Her grief, rage, and hatred had reached their peak.
Her Three Tomoe Sharingan had already begun spinning wildly—faster and faster—until the three tomoe merged and a beautiful four-petal pattern emerged.
That overwhelming emotional storm finally unlocked the next stage of her dōjutsu.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was awakened!
Watching her transformation in silence, Kanzou nodded to himself, 'She really awakened those eyes.'
No wonder Kanzou had felt earlier that the elder was planning something—turns out, he was preparing a future for his granddaughter.
Shinkurou was just the unfortunate pawn. The elder had indeed sought death on his own terms, and Shinkurou had unknowingly become the chosen instrument.
The elder's true aim had been to help Mikoto awaken her Mangekyō Sharingan—because strength is the only true safeguard in their world.
He also understood Kanzou's nature well: Kanzou only valued people who were useful to him.
Although Mikoto had chosen to stay with Kanzou, there was no guarantee he wouldn't eventually grow bored with her and cast her aside. After all, aside from her grace and refinement, she didn't fully meet his standards.
And when it comes to women, there's always someone younger, more beautiful, or more useful—there's never a shortage of men like Kanzou who know how to steal women for themselves.
Moreover, Kanzou didn't really have any real affection towards Mikoto… It's just that he fancies her beauty and refinement, that's it. Not to mention, one of the reasons he had targeted her was that he intended to humiliate Fugaku… now that was done… he might not even care much about her…
Even if he did care about her for a while… There was no telling that his interest in Mikoto would last long enough for a lifetime…
Which meant that once Kanzou lost interest in Mikoto or found someone more to his liking, he might very well discard her—especially if she no longer served a purpose.
But… all of that could change if she possessed the strength that matched his expectations.
With the Mangekyō Sharingan, Mikoto would no longer be just a decorative presence at Kanzou's side—she would become a real asset.
At the same time, the elder's death gave Kanzou a legitimate reason to move against Shinkurou.
"No wonder he said this morning that Mikoto wouldn't let me down..." Kanzou murmured.
Even if Kanzou wasn't a man easily moved, he couldn't help but admire Elder Tadayoshi at this moment. With his own death, he had carved out a brighter future for his granddaughter.
It seemed the old man had long understood the secret behind awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Among the upper echelons of the Uchiha clan, the method for evolving the Three Tomoe Sharingan into the Mangekyō Sharingan was no secret.
As for why so few had ever succeeded—well, the answer was simple: not everyone possessed the qualifications to awaken the Mangekyō.
Did people truly believe that witnessing the death of a loved one was enough? If that were the only requirement, the battlefield would have produced countless Mangekyō users by now. Many Uchiha had lost close relatives in war—yet the Mangekyō Sharingan remained exceedingly rare. If it were that easy, the Uchiha would've already dominated the ninja world.
So when Mikoto suddenly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, it shocked everyone.
Originally a Jōnin-level shinobi, Mikoto's strength surged to near-Kage-level after her evolution. With the awakening of the Mangekyō, her visual prowess skyrocketed—and along with it came three unique Mangekyō abilities and a significant increase in Chakra reserves.
"Tsukuyomi!" Mikoto coldly uttered the word.
The moment her eyes met Shinkurou's, his consciousness was immediately dragged into the Genjutsu realm. Within that space, Mikoto unleashed her fury, tormenting him with relentless, vengeful rage.
Regardless of how long the torture lasted inside the illusion, in the real world, it passed in less than a second. In Tsukuyomi, time, space, and perception—all were under the complete control of the caster.
All that people outside saw was that one moment Mikoto glared at Shinkurou, and the next instant, Shinkurou collapsed to the ground. His mind, utterly shattered, offered no resistance as a massive, turquoise colored Chakra arm slammed down, reducing him to a mangled heap of flesh—dead beyond question.
It earned her everyone's awe.
It was unbelievable—Uchiha Mikoto had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Only those born of the Uchiha truly understood what the Mangekyō Sharingan represented… and how lofty the status of its wielder became upon awakening it.
It could now be said that Mikoto's status within the clan was second only to Kanzou, the patriarch.
"Put away the Mangekyō," Kanzou's voice cut through the tension, snapping Mikoto out of her rage-fuelled trance.
Obeying his command, she deactivated the Mangekyō. Almost immediately, a stinging soreness spread through her eyes, along with a faint burning sensation.
That was the price of using the Mangekyō Sharingan. Although this was her first time, the toll on her eyes was already noticeable. The more frequently one used it, the more visual power it consumed—the pain would only worsen, sometimes to the point of bleeding.
Suddenly, Mikoto leapt into Kanzou's arms and burst into tears.
"Sofu-sama… he… is… is… uaaaaa…"
Her only remaining family was gone. Overcome with grief and confusion, she clung to Kanzou, seeking comfort from the only person who could give her that.
Even when Kanzou had threatened and coerced her, Mikoto hadn't cried like this.
Even when she helped Kanzou falsely frame Fugaku, she hadn't cried like this.
But now, her heart was truly shattered, and the tears that burst out of her eyes were genuine tears of grief and sadness.
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Read up to Chapter - 80 on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]