Chapter 3: Disturbance in the Council Hall
Konoha, Year 39. Noon. Inside the Uchiha Clan Council Hall.
Several high-ranking elders stared with curious expressions at Kyosuke, who stood in the middle of the hall. Beside him stood Uchiha Hiroshi, now awake, his face flushed with shame.
Although they were slightly annoyed by Kyosuke's insolence, they were men of high standing. They wouldn't stoop to bickering with a five-year-old child.
The reason they watched Kyosuke so intently was because of his reputation within the clan, which had never been particularly good.
Timid, weak, mediocre—all these words had been used to describe his former self.
So what could have possibly happened to make such a child dare to storm the council hall?
The elders, who had been dealing with some troublesome matters, welcomed the distraction. With a sense of curiosity, they decided to see what the boy had to say.
"Alright, since you are here, explain yourselves. What issue has caused such a commotion that you would bring it here? If you can't provide a good reason, hmph." An old man with a full white beard and mustache looked down at Kyosuke, his voice stern.
Though the elder appeared to be well past sixty, the sheer pressure radiating from him left Kyosuke momentarily speechless. Just as panic began to set in, another, slightly younger elder spoke up with a laugh.
"Come now, brother. Don't frighten the younger generation."
The suffocating pressure that had made it hard for Kyosuke to breathe vanished the instant the second elder spoke.
"Hmph," the white-bearded elder, the Great Elder, grunted twice but said nothing more to Kyosuke.
"Alright, child. Go ahead and tell us what happened," the second elder said, smiling kindly at him.
Kyosuke knew the first elder to speak was the Great Elder, the most powerful figure in the Uchiha clan. The one who called him "brother" must be the Second Elder. The Third and Fourth Elders sat below the main platform in silence.
Kyosuke composed himself, mentally scolding his own recklessness. He gave a respectful bow and began to explain what had happened.
Of course, it was a heavily embellished version.
In his telling, Hiroshi was transformed into a malevolent tumor within the Uchiha, a bully who had plagued others for years. If he wasn't disciplined, Kyosuke argued, it would surely hinder the future prosperity of the clan.
When he finished, the elders exchanged glances, then shook their heads and chuckled. Just as they knew Kyosuke's history, they also had a clear picture of what kind of person Hiroshi was. While he wasn't a saint, he was hardly the villain Kyosuke had described.
"An interesting child," the Great Elder said with a laugh. He then turned to the Second Elder. "Second brother, aren't they from your branch of the family?"
The Second Elder glanced at Kyosuke with a peculiar look in his eyes before smiling and nodding. He understood his brother's meaning. Since they were both from his family line, the matter was now his to handle.
The Second Elder slowly rose from his chair and walked to the center of the hall. He looked down at Kyosuke and asked, "You've already taught him a lesson. What more do you want?"
As he spoke, he gave Kyosuke a subtle wink.
Kyosuke understood his meaning: he should quit while he was ahead. After all, the Second Elder wasn't the only one present. The fact that they were even entertaining this was only because Kyosuke was a five-year-old child. Anyone else would have been dragged away and disciplined long ago.
The Uchiha elders were famous within the clan—and throughout the village—for their severity. One only had to look at the fate of clan members who failed to meet expectations due to a lack of talent. Those who were deemed failures were forbidden from ever leaving the clan compound for the rest of their lives.
This was Kyosuke's greatest fear. Even without the system's mission, he probably would have chosen a similarly bold course of action. His goal was to establish a reputation as a prodigy. If he waited to grow up naturally and prove himself through missions and training, who knew how long that would take?
Therefore, he had no choice but to pretend he didn't see the Second Elder's signal.
"I want to defeat Hiroshi, fair and square, in an official duel. To get justice for all the people he has bullied," Kyosuke declared righteously.
"Hmph, in your dreams! If you hadn't ambushed me…" Hiroshi muttered under his breath, glaring defiantly at Kyosuke.
With the sharp hearing of the elders present, his muttering was clearly audible. Now understanding the full story, they simply shook their heads with amusement.
"Oh? But you do realize Hiroshi is three years older than you. In a direct confrontation…" The Second Elder's expression was no longer kind. They had indulged these children long enough; it was time to end this.
"He is not my opponent," Kyosuke said firmly, his eyes closed.
Just as the Second Elder was about to say more, Kyosuke's eyes snapped open, and the sight left the elder nearly speechless.
"How is that possible?!" The Second Elder's gasp was caught in his throat for a long moment before he finally managed to cry it out.
"What is it?" The other elders, seeing his shocked state, all rose and hurried over to Kyosuke.
Like the Second Elder, they too nearly cried out in shock when they saw Kyosuke's crimson eyes.
At that moment, a commotion erupted outside the council hall. The guards, hearing the unusual shouts from within, were about to rush in to see what was wrong. The unexpected interruption brought the elders back to their senses.
After waving the guards away, the Great Elder looked at Kyosuke with a grave expression. "When did you awaken them?"
"A few days ago," Kyosuke replied like an obedient child.
"Good! Good! Good!" the Great Elder repeated three times. He exchanged a look with the others, and they all broke into hearty laughter.
What they couldn't see was the faint, cunning smile that touched Kyosuke's lips as he lowered his head.
"Are you both ready?" the Second Elder asked Kyosuke, his kind demeanor having returned. He glanced at the growing crowd of clan members, silently calculating something.
"Ready."
"Re-ready."
The other clan members were astonished to see the elders acting as referees for a duel between two children. In their eyes, the elders were lofty figures who rarely deigned to acknowledge a greeting, let alone participate in something like this.
"Hey, is that really the Second Elder? The one who's always so stern?" one Uchiha clansman whispered to his companion.
"Shh, keep your voice down." The other man put a finger to his lips, then looked at the Second Elder, whose face was beaming like a blooming chrysanthemum. He hesitated before replying, "I... I think so?"
His voice was filled with uncertainty.
It was no wonder the elders were acting this way. The fact that Kyosuke had awakened his Sharingan at the age of five was simply astonishing. The average age for an Uchiha to awaken their Sharingan was around eighteen, if at all. Even Madara Uchiha, the most powerful Uchiha in history, had only awakened his at the age of fifteen.
One shouldn't look at the examples from the "original story"—Sasuke at seven, Itachi at eight, Obito at twelve—and assume every Uchiha was the same. The truth was, nearly two-thirds of the Uchiha clan would never awaken their Kekkei Genkai in their entire lifetime.
One could only imagine the magnitude of the surprise Kyosuke had given them.
And that was precisely why this scene was unfolding. Regardless of how things were handled later, Kyosuke's existence alone was a massive morale boost for the clan. That benefit by itself was worth the Second Elder humbling himself to act as a referee.