Chapter 305: 305.I Just Want to Keep Up with the Elder’s Pace!

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After some consideration, Kazuki decided not to restrict Itachi from telling others about his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Fugaku certainly had the right to know—after all, he was the clan head and Itachi’s father. As for everyone else, it depended on how many people Itachi truly trusted.

Whether or not he chose to share the news was up to him.

The only condition was that he didn’t recklessly abuse the power of the Mangekyō.

In the original timeline, Itachi had developed a terminal illness largely due to overusing his Mangekyō. Otherwise, Sasuke wouldn’t have had such an easy time obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō.

“Father, he…”

Itachi, who had just deactivated his Mangekyō, felt his pupils contract slightly.

“His vision wasn’t as sharp as before…”

This meant Fugaku had been overusing his Mangekyō, draining a significant amount of his ocular power.

Kazuki nodded slowly.

“The Patriach’s Mangekyō ability is rather unique—it allows him to glimpse fragments of the future. The strength of a Sharingan’s ocular jutsu is directly tied to the intensity of its power consumption. He’s grown somewhat reliant on his Mangekyō’s abilities.”

Seeing Itachi’s growing concern, Kazuki reassured him:

“Of course, it’s only affecting his vision slightly. He’s not at risk of going blind yet. As long as he doesn’t overuse it from now on, things will be fine. As for how to wield the Mangekyō, come to my place tonight. I’ll give you some guidance. As for the Patriach and Shisui…

…Just ignore them.”

Fugaku depended on his Mangekyō’s abilities, and Shisui was no different.

The only reason Shisui didn’t abuse his was because his Kotoamatsukami was too overpowered to use carelessly and the drawbacks prevent him.

But in private, Shisui had been experimenting with his Mangekyō quite a bit—he was trying to master Susanoo.

Kazuki knew all of this.

He just couldn’t be bothered to call them out on it.

Back then, they were desperate to grow stronger, but now? If they still insisted on pushing themselves like this, going blind would be their own fault.

The Uchiha clan was thriving now. Whether they had one more or one less Mangekyō user didn’t make much difference.

As long as they didn’t actually blind themselves, Kazuki couldn’t care less.

After all, he himself wasn’t going to go blind.

“Understood.”

Itachi was sharp. From Kazuki’s dismissive tone, he could tell that both Shisui and his father had been overusing their Mangekyō Sharingan—hence Kazuki’s irritation.

“Then, Elder, I’ll take my leave now.”

Itachi was eager to return home and speak with his father. And with Sasuke.

Even with Kazuki’s reassurance, he needed to have a proper talk with Sasuke. Orochimaru was far too dangerous.

If possible, he really didn’t want Sasuke to become Orochimaru’s disciple, learning under his guidance—especially since Orochimaru’s training methods tended to be extreme.

But he had no choice. Once again, he could only place his trust in Kazuki.

“Go ahead.”

Itachi bowed before leaving the office, carefully closing the door behind him.

As he stepped out of the Hokage’s office building, he noticed Shisui was still there.

Seeing Itachi emerge, Shisui smiled and explained:

“I was going to head back to work, but then I realized we haven’t had a chance to catch up in a while. So I waited for you here. How about some barbecue?”

Shisui extended the invitation.

After a moment’s thought, Itachi agreed.

As they walked toward the barbecue restaurant, Shisui removed the glasses from the bridge of his nose and chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“If I don’t wear these, a lot of the kids think I look intimidating. Seriously, do I really seem that scary?”

The thought of children shrinking back when they saw him made Shisui sigh.

I don’t look that menacing, do I?

“But…”

Shisui raised a hand, measuring Itachi’s height with a nostalgic smile.

“Itachi, you’ve grown up.”

Back then, Itachi had been his little shadow, barely reaching his waist. Now, Itachi was nearly as tall as him.

In another year or so, he might even surpass him.

“People always grow up.”

Itachi’s words were fewer than before—perhaps the price of maturity.

Inside the private room of the barbecue restaurant, the two ate while reminiscing about old times. Most of the conversation was led by Shisui, with Itachi listening quietly.

It was clear Shisui was in a good mood today—he was far more talkative than usual.

“The elder said you’ve been overusing your Mangekyō’s power.”

“…”

The moment those words left Itachi’s mouth, Shisui’s smile froze.

It took him a while to recover before he let out a bitter laugh, rubbing his face.

“I didn’t think I’d been caught, even after being so careful. The gap between me and the elder must be getting wider.”

“Why?”

Itachi didn’t understand.

Back when the Uchiha were struggling to survive, Shisui’s relentless efforts could be justified as fighting for the clan.

But now, with the Uchiha’s crisis resolved and the clan thriving like never before, why was Shisui still pushing himself like this?

“Because I’m afraid of falling behind the elder’s pace.”

Shisui sighed.

“I still remember when he sincerely invited me to work together for the sake of the Uchiha. He kept his word. I wasn’t wrong about him. But before I knew it, he had left us far behind. I just want to keep up with him.”

Shisui’s mood grew somber.

“We have the same eyes now.”

After a long silence, Itachi dropped this bombshell.

Shisui was stunned—his expression a mix of joy and concern.

“Really? When did this happen? Has anything major occurred in the clan recently? The clan has been stable lately. Everything’s progressing well.”

Itachi knew what Shisui was worried about—that he had awakened his Mangekyō after witnessing someone dear to him suffer.

“The process was… strange. It just happened naturally. Similar to how it was for you, Shisui.”

“Phew—you scared me for a second.”

Shisui exhaled heavily in relief.

Just as he was about to share some advice with Itachi, the younger Uchiha spoke again:

“The elder told me not to listen to you or Father, because what you’re doing is harming yourselves. He said I should go to his place tonight, and he’d teach me how to use these eyes properly.”

“…”

Shisui’s smile froze again.

His gaze at Itachi turned slightly aggrieved.

Do you have any idea how much that hurts to hear?

Once wasn’t enough—you had to say it twice!

“Alright, alright. I’ll be more careful with these eyes from now on.”

Shisui understood Itachi’s intentions—he was warning him not to abuse the Mangekyō’s power, lest he go blind one day.

The sentiment was good.

But the delivery was downright brutal.

This kid really gets less and less likable as he grows up.

After the meal, Shisui left in low spirits, while Itachi’s mood actually improved.

Once home, he immediately sought out Fugaku and confessed everything about his Mangekyō Sharingan.

He even repeated some of Kazuki’s words verbatim—just to give his father a little shock.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Fugaku choked on his own breath.

“That brat! How dare he say such things? I only used these eyes for the sake of the Uchiha!”

Despite his grumbling, Fugaku was pleased that Kazuki had allowed Itachi to share the news with him instead of keeping it a secret.

He was also glad Kazuki had taken the initiative to mentor Itachi.

Both he and Shisui had shared the same mindset, only to be bluntly rebuked.

What’s wrong with using the Mangekyō?

Why does it have to be such a point of contention?

Why target us like this, with words so sharp they sting?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep