"My foolish little otōto…"
Just as Sasuke stood there frozen in shock, Ren had somehow already appeared in front of him. He reached out and lightly tapped his brother's forehead with one finger.
"Does this technique look familiar?"
Swish.
The moment the words fell, Sasuke's ears flushed crimson.
Of course he recognized it!
Lately, he'd been clinging to Itachi every day precisely because he'd been drooling over that shuriken trajectory-control technique.
And just this morning, before heading out, Itachi had finally agreed—
Personally guiding him through it twice in the courtyard.
He'd practiced again and again under Itachi's instruction, which was why he'd barely managed to hit the bullseye this afternoon.
But!
This lazybones Ren!
When did he learn it?!
He'd never once seen him practice!
Don't tell me he'd learned it just by glancing over while sunbathing this morning?!
The thought made Sasuke's legs go a little weak.
If that was true, then this lazy older brother's talent was downright terrifying!
"Could it really… have something to do with sunbathing?"
His brain stalled for a second, then his gaze unconsciously drifted along the sunlight toward the courtyard wall.
A bold impulse began to stir in his heart.
Should he… lie up there and sunbathe for a while too?
"Ren, you're bullying Sasuke again!"
At that moment, Uchiha Mikoto's reproachful voice came from the corridor.
She walked over slowly, carrying a plate of three-color dango and fruit.
When her eyes swept over Sasuke, who looked like a porcupine pinned by shuriken, her pace noticeably quickened.
After confirming up close that there were only holes and that her younger son was completely unhurt, she finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Still, surprise flashed uncontrollably in her eyes—
Those shuriken landing points were exactly the technique Itachi had taught Sasuke this morning.
She'd watched for a bit before leaving, bored.
That didn't mean she didn't recognize it.
But then—
Who had placed those shuriken so precisely?
Could it be… Ren?
Her brows flickered slightly as her husband Fugaku's earlier words surfaced in her mind.
Mikoto, if Ren is fine, don't disturb him too much. That child has his own ideas.
She'd never quite understood it back then, thinking Fugaku was just indulging Ren too much.
But now…
Her eyes shifted subtly before she shook her head and smiled wryly.
They were all her children—what nonsense was she overthinking?
She handed the plate up toward the wall, then tugged Sasuke back toward the house.
"Your clothes are all torn up. Go change."
Sasuke: "But… Ren—"
Mikoto: "Don't call him Ren. Call him Big Brother."
That familiar tone instantly shut Sasuke up.
He could only glance back toward the wall under the fading sunlight, thoughtful.
Drip.
When moonlight climbed onto the eaves of the estate, Itachi flipped into the courtyard with the faint scent of blood still clinging to him.
Because of the tense relationship with Kumogakure, he'd been sent to the battlefield immediately after graduating.
Every day was filled with reconnaissance missions.
Sometimes, there were skirmishes too.
Today, he'd encountered a small squad and only barely managed to withdraw after fighting with everything he had.
In the night, the Sharingan in his eyes glimmered with exhausted crimson.
"Today's ten minutes."
Just as he landed, a lazy voice drifted down from the wall.
His movements paused.
Turning around, he saw Ren sitting on the courtyard wall, swinging his legs idly.
A single apple bounced up and down in his hand, faintly glowing under the moonlight.
Still just as elusive and unpredictable as ever.
Itachi sighed and tried to negotiate.
"Ren, I'm really tired today. How about tomorrow?"
"So that's how it is." Ren flipped down from the wall and tossed the apple neatly into Itachi's arms, grinning as he turned his head. "Father, One-Strike-Seven said the thing you hid in the second guest room cabinet is—"
Thunk.
Itachi's hand froze in midair as he caught the apple.
In the next instant, he shoved the apple straight back into Ren's mouth at lightning speed.
"Alright, alright—let's talk!"
"That's more like it."
Ren laughed and patted his brother on the shoulder.
If he let you delay until tomorrow, wouldn't the cooldown just increase by another day?
Then what about all the people he had scheduled to chat with tomorrow?
His daily itinerary was carefully planned!
"Stop frowning so much."
He reached out and smoothed the crease between Itachi's brows like a little adult, issuing orders.
"Your tear troughs already look bad enough. If you add forehead wrinkles too, Sister Izumi won't like you anymore."
Ignoring Itachi's reddening cheeks, Ren picked up a piece of three-color dango and stuffed it into his mouth, smiling.
"So, tell me—why are you this tired today? You killed someone, didn't you?"
As expected!
Itachi's heart jolted.
Not only was this little brother of his impossible to track, his senses were frighteningly sharp too.
He gave a bitter smile and explained,
"Kumogakure's envoys have been here these past couple of days to discuss peace talks."
"There's been a lot of troublemakers lurking around the perimeter."
As he spoke, he continued in detail, as if he'd already prepared the explanation in advance.
Ever since four years ago, this younger brother of his hadn't been interested in much else—except dragging him into a daily chat.
Once a day. No exceptions.
Listening on, Ren's smile slowly faded.
Kumogakure peace talks.
Envoys visiting Konoha.
Unusual gatherings of Lightning Release ninja near the borders.
Those keywords gave him an oddly familiar feeling.
If he remembered right, in the original plot… this was part of a scheme.
While he hesitated, prompts suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Conversation target: Uchiha Itachi.]
[Analyzing copyable traits.]
[Copyable traits: Brother Complex (Black), Excessive Wisdom Leads to Early Death (Black), Chronic Illness (Black), Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Purple), Triple-Style Mastery (Purple), Fire Release Mastery (Blue)…]
After several years, Itachi had fully grown into a ninja proficient in all three disciplines.
His strength far surpassed what it had been back then.
Of course, the only thing that hadn't changed were those three pitch-black traits sitting at the top…
Just looking at them made Ren's vision darken.
[Conversation with Uchiha Itachi has exceeded ten minutes. Attempting to copy trait.]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained Epic Trait — Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Purple).]
Copy successful!
Ren smiled slightly when he saw the message.
Waiting today hadn't been in vain.
The system delivered!
He immediately thought to himself,
"System, feed this trait to my Sharingan."
Of course, he already had the three-tomoe Sharingan.
He'd even awakened it a full year earlier than Itachi.
[Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Purple) is fusing.]
[Feeding successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained Three-Tomoe Sharingan.]
"Still no upgrade?"
Seeing that it still hadn't evolved into the Mangekyō, Ren's little face puckered in displeasure.
Unhappy.
Very unhappy.
Stupid system!
It had already eaten at least twenty three-tomoe traits and still hadn't upgraded!
That said, he could clearly feel the difference in his Sharingan.
The steadily surging ocular power felt strong enough to easily bind the brother standing in front of him…
What Ren didn't know was that, in young Itachi's eyes, Ren's expression carried a completely different meaning.
"Hm? He's frowning? Did I fail to pique Ren's interest?"
He paused, then smoothly changed the subject.
"Oh, right. I heard those Kumogakure ninja also specifically visited the Hyūga main house."
Crack!
"Oh? Kumogakure visiting the Hyūga?!"
In an instant, lightning flashed through Ren's mind.
He finally remembered what this conspiracy was!
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