Uchiha Itama felt as if he had fallen into darkness.
He could not see his own hand.
Nothing at all.
A strange chorus of sounds rose from every side.
"What is this?"
His brows knit.
Suddenly, a chill wind swept past.
His body shivered on its own.
Then the feeling came.
A sickening rush.
As if something were being poured into him.
A surge of savage emotion erupted without warning.
Rage, jealousy, hatred.
Tangled currents crossed within him.
HUFF!
He snapped his eyes open.
In his pupils, three tomoe turned slowly.
He felt the change immediately.
"Three tomoe."
He was a little shocked.
He grabbed a mirror, confirmed it, then set the mirror down.
"I did not expect to reach three tomoe like this."
He had planned on two more months.
That goal matched his body's talent, already faster than most of the clan.
Fugaku's amazement was only natural.
Itachi, Fugaku himself, Shisui, Kagami, even Izuna.
Fugaku had never seen a talent like Itama's.
Based on his gifts and work, Itama had mapped his progress up to the Mangekyo.
Until today, it had tracked well.
Only the Mangekyo was different.
Beyond chakra and physique, it demanded a sharper shock to the spirit.
To witness the death of someone dearest.
That would not be easy for him.
They had to be truly dear.
He held resentment toward Itachi. Even if he killed him with his own hands, that would not open the Mangekyo.
The only ones who fit were Fugaku, Mikoto, and Sasuke.
And he would never kill those three.
Otherwise he would be no different from Itachi.
His awakening now had exceeded all predictions.
Spurred by a bizarre dream.
He knew the kinds of power in this world.
Chakra from the Otsutsuki line.
Sage arts from the summoning sanctuaries.
Those were the main currents.
There were other, stranger things.
Like the evil god Hidan worshiped, or the Uzumaki sealing that summoned the Shinigami in Reaper Death Seal. Those did not belong to the chakra system. They were not born of Otsutsuki.
This dream, he felt, was kin to those.
"But not the evil god, and not the Shinigami."
"Something else."
He did not dwell on it long.
For him now, awakening three tomoe early was good. It gave him more time to think about the Mangekyo.
And, after awakening it, how to solve the Uchiha problem.
How to face the village elders.
Assassinate them?
Lead the clan away?
Or fight them head on, to the death?
He put the strange dream aside.
A sigh sounded.
Fugaku's face showed deep worry.
"Fugaku, what is wrong?"
Mikoto watched him with concern. In these past months he had visibly withered, as if years had passed in mere weeks.
"The Uchiha have no support."
"That chance Itama created by accident... even then the Hyuga chose to wait and see. They do not dare risk it. As for the other clans, even less so."
Mikoto took his hand.
"Has it gotten worse between the clan and the village?"
"Yes."
Fugaku nodded. "I do not know when the rupture will explode. The elders press us harder and harder."
"And our people grow more and more angry. I can no longer hold it down."
"But the key is..."
Mikoto frowned.
"What is it?"
Fugaku let out a long breath.
"I fear I cannot change Itachi's mind. If we split with the village and stand opposed, Itachi will likely stand with them, not with us."
Mikoto blanched.
As ninja, they did not fear death so much.
But father and son as enemies.
That was something she would never, ever accept.
"What should we do?"
"I do not know either..."