Amane did not answer Sasuke. He only watched him quietly.
Just as he had said before.
To him, Sasuke right now was a sweet, lovable little brother.
His change of character came later, goaded by Itachi on the night of the massacre.
That twist and the raging hunger for revenge were not there at the start.
Some say Sasuke loves to posture and make trouble.
Amane felt the opposite. If you never receive something, you cannot know what that feeling is, what it tastes like. Never having it might even be easier.
But once you bask in family and friendship, then lose them, even cut them off yourself, the pain needs no words.
He had known a family's warmth, yet it all scattered like smoke on the night the clan fell.
So when he turned extreme after the loss, that only proved he could not let go.
"You want to learn?"
He let the moment breathe.
Amane snapped his fingers. Hot flame slipped between them.
Then he narrowed his eyes, gentle and kind as he looked at his brother.
As one of the protagonists who command red flame in the world of the Fist King, even with barely over ten percent of the template unlocked, his control of fire was monstrous.
This world already had Fire Release, and paired with Kyo's power the effect doubled for half the effort.
In short, his opening hand was excellent.
He was, however, painfully clear-eyed.
Golden finger or not, he was not yet six. He was only at the age to enter the Academy.
Stopping the massacre by his own power, or flipping the board so the Uchiha could seize the village, was almost impossible.
He did not fret. He had been laying plans since the day he crossed.
Everything was under control.
He rubbed Sasuke's hair and smiled.
Perhaps his brother would still taste some pain. Yet Amane would grant Sasuke and Itachi a new ending, a brand new road.
Seeing the hope in Sasuke's gaze, Amane led him to the small river beside the training ground.
It looked unremarkable, yet it was the famed Naka River in Uchiha history.
The God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, and the clan leader of old, Uchiha Madara, had once loosened their sashes and taken it out on this stream, tinting it yellow more than once.
The diving prince, Uchiha Shisui, had also met his end here.
Of course, the river was long, and the leap was not at this spot.
Many things had happened along this water.
It was so in the original story, and it was so now.
Sasuke's heart pounded as he looked at Second Brother.
He had long known Amane was strong, but not like this.
That training post had been taller than him, yet it shattered in a few punches. The flame blooming on those knuckles, the easy flourish, all of it made Sasuke burn with envy.
He would learn it, then go show off to Itachi.
He would perform it for Father and win his approval.
A child's thought was simple.
With a genius brother known across Konoha and the Land of Fire, the pressure on a younger brother was not small.
Uchiha Fugaku was strict, yet he was also a father who loved his sons. A father's love was quiet, but vast.
Like in the story, when Fugaku and Mikoto waited to meet death at their son's hand, they stood with their backs turned so Itachi would not see their faces.
As parents, they had done all they could.
"By the way, at this hour, shouldn't you be pestering Itachi to teach you shuriken?"
Calmly rolling up his sleeves as if brewing a major move, Amane glanced at Sasuke and asked.
By his count, Itachi should have returned from a mission.
"Big Brother said he had no time."
Sasuke sighed, helpless.
"He feels busier and busier. I don't know what he's busy with, but something seems off."
"Not just him. Father too."
Even Sasuke had noticed.
Amane pushed his glasses up, thoughtful. Since the Nine Tails' havoc, the rift between the Uchiha and Konoha had fully surfaced.
It had even shifted from the shadows into the open.
Konoha had brazenly set Uchiha Itachi to watch the Uchiha.
Using your own to watch your own was a cruel art.
Only within the Uchiha could you feel that pressure that seeped into every corner.
The village felt unlike a village. The clan felt unlike a clan.
The Uchiha seemed to have become an isolated being.
No one wanted to accept them. No one wished to be their friend.
They walked alone.
But were all the problems the clan's fault?
Could Konoha truly claim to be justice?
Amane let the questions drift away with a smile.
Right or wrong no longer mattered. He knew only that this conflict had smoldered since the Warring States and now needed a verdict.
Unfortunately.
He was not yet six. He lacked the power to decide this civil war. He could only scheme from the dark.
Konoha.
A flash of anger lit his mild face.
It came from his blood.
By now, blame meant nothing.
He had come to this world bearing the name Uchiha.
His gentle gaze sharpened. Facing the stream, the scholarly boy loosed a roar.
"Ninja Body Arts!"
"Grand Fire Fist Rush!"
BOOM!
Scalding flame gathered at both fists.
He slammed them forward. Fireballs burst from his knuckles and hammered the river. Water flashed into steam, white mist billowing skyward.
He drew back.
Amane let out a breath.
At five, this was his limit.
This so-called ninja body art used the same idea as Chidori and Rasengan, an upgraded form of the Great Fireball.
Unlike the Great Fireball which spewed chakra at once, the flame hurled by the fist was smaller than a Great Fireball, yet larger than the pure taijutsu of Morning Peacock.
It was a modified move tailored to what his age could handle.
With Kyo's red flame control, it fit his hands like a glove.
So this was Second Brother's strength.
Sasuke swallowed, a little dazed.
Before, he had felt a twinge of resentment for the brother born a few minutes earlier. He sometimes thought that if he had just squeezed a little harder during birth, maybe he would have been the older one.
Then he could have had a younger brother too.
Now those thoughts had vanished like smoke.
This Second Brother was absurdly strong.
Amane took his time, lit a cigarette again, and smiled at his foolish little brother.
Then he spoke four words.
"Little brother, learned it?"
"Second Brother, if you ask me like that, am I allowed to swear?"
"No, you are not. And do not tell Father and Mother I smoke, or I will use that move on you."
"Second Brother."
"Mm?"
"You are such a jerk."
"Thank you."