[Read advance Chapters on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/SlytherinManor]
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Patriarch's Mansion, Uchiha Compound—
That afternoon, while Kanzou, after returning from the Naka Shrine, had resumed checking clan-related affairs, a person suddenly appeared at the courtyard of his house with a panicked look.
"Kanzou-sama… It's no good… s-something happened!" he exclaimed loudly with a tense face.
Kanzou frowned, immediately sensing that something was wrong. Satoru would generally not show such a tense expression. Narrowing his eyes, he put down the pen in his hand, and after telling Satoru to calm down first, he questioned, "What happened that has gotten you so worked up?"
Satoru stammered, "Tadayoshi-sama… Tadayoshi-sama is dead!!!"
"Huh? What? What did you just say? Tadayoshi-sama is… dead?" Kanzou shot up from his seat, his frown deepening as he stared at Satoru in disbelief.
Crash!
Mikoto, who had just entered the room with his lunch, lost her grip. The tray slipped from her hand and shattered against the floor, spilling food everywhere on the tatami mats…
But that was not important at the moment. What was important was the information she just heard.
"So… Sofu-sama is… dead?" she stuttered.
Just the weight of the words made her face go pale, her breathing seemed to stop for a moment, and her knees began to buckle, losing all their strength.
Kanzou immediately reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her and preventing her from collapsing on the spilled food.
But Mikoto didn't seem to have the mind to care about any of that. She looked at Satoru and asked him, "You… are j-jesting, right?" She turned to Kanzou, asking him, "Kanzou-sama… this is… this is just you trying to stimulate me, right? To see how I'd react to such news… isn't that the case?"
"..." Kanzou was silent, not knowing what to say. Although the idea of tormenting her like this wasn't bad, this time, he himself was caught off guard by this sudden piece of news. How could he be fooling her or trying to stimulate her?
Noting his silence, Mikoto's heart clenched. There was no usual sadistic or playful smirk on his lips. It made her feel that he wasn't playing with her this time. "Please… please tell me that you are playing with me…" she pleaded to him with a choked voice, her expression turning desperate, tears gathering in her eyes…
"Mikoto… I am not… playing with you this time…" he replied honestly.
But those honest words made Mikoto tremble, and she shook her head. "No… no… You are trying to fool me… definitely… definitely…" she repeated again and again, trying to deny what she heard as nothing more than another cruel act of his upon her.
Kanzou scowled and, clamping her mouth shut with his hand, he turned to Satoru. "What happened? Tell me everything. How did Tadayoshi-sama die?" he questioned.
The elder wasn't supposed to die like this out of nowhere… it was supposed to be Mikoto who'd kill him!
That's the only reason he was kept alive for so long by him… he was supposed to die from Mikoto's blade so that she could carry the trauma of parricide, thus breaking her completely, which would have helped with her evolution… but now Satoru was telling him that he was dead?
"It was that bastard Shinkurou… he killed Tadayoshi-sama," Satoru replied.
"Shinkurou?" Not only Kanzou but also Mikoto paused upon hearing that. "Why would he kill Tadayoshi-sama…?"
Shinkurou has been living honestly for a while now… so Kanzou has even dropped surveillance on him. Why did he suddenly come into the picture…?
'Could this be Fugaku's instruction?' he thought, trying to figure out why Shinkurou would suddenly kill the elder, bringing trouble for himself.
"The exact reason… it is unknown, but it seems that Tadayoshi-sama went to meet with Shinkurou at his house… and…" he trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid since it was already obvious what happened after that.
"Where is he now? Has he run away from the compound?" questioned Kanzou.
"He was trying to… but he was caught before he could by Makoto-san… They are currently at Shinkurou's place…" Satoru answered.
The moment she heard that Shinkurou was being held off by Makoto, Mikoto struggled out of Kanzou's arms and jumped into the courtyard before taking a leap out of the mansion, running off.
"Sofu-samaa…!!!" she murmured bitterly, her tears flowing as she jumped from house to house, not even caring that she was barefoot.
Kanzou didn't stop her… rather, he allowed her to go and followed after her.
The reason why he didn't stop her was the change that her Chakra was going through.
Sensing that change, Kanzou wondered, "Is she… about to awaken it?"
…
They soon arrived at Shinkurou's residence. The moment they reached, they were met with a gruesome sight: bloodstains splattered across the ground, and the dismembered body of Elder Tadayoshi lying at the entrance of the house.
Upon seeing her grandfather's lifeless body, Mikoto collapsed to her knees.
"Sofu-sama…" She had just seen him that very morning and was very relieved that nothing had happened to him when he came out of the underground chamber of the Naka Shrine unscathed.
He was unscathed, and he was supposed to be alright… but… but now… he wasn't… he was lifeless… lying there in his own pool of blood.
Faced with this reality that was too cruel, grief, pain, and hatred surged through her. With her Three Tomoe Sharingan activated, she glared furiously at the man responsible, Uchiha Shinkurou, who was restrained on the side.
"You… you killed my Sofu-sama!"
"It wasn't like that! He… he committed suicide!" Shinkurou, who had his hands cuffed and his Chakra sealed, replied defensively, distressed by her rage.
"Suicide? Does this look like a suicide to you…?" Kanzou questioned.
Although Kanzou wouldn't rule out the possibility that the Elder might have really committed suicide, the state of Tadayoshi's body wasn't that of a suicide at all. Moreover, why would he specifically carry out suicide here… at Shinkurou's house?
"It's true… Patriarch… He really sought his own death!" Shinkurou said. He then turned to Makoto, "Ask him… he… he can tell the truth… Makoto-san… please… please explain to Patriarch… you saw it all, didn't you?!"
Kanzou and Mikoto both turned to Makoto.
Under pressure from both Kanzou and Shinkurou, he swallowed a little before explaining. "I did see Tadayoshi-sama arrive at the entrance here and—"
According to Makoto, from his house, which is opposite Shinkurou's house, he noticed the elder ring the doorbell of Shinkurou's.
Shinkurou had opened the door, and the two talked for a few seconds…
From his position, Makoto couldn't hear what they were talking about, and the angle also made it difficult for him to read their lips. Still, he watched, but then suddenly, Tadayoshi, holding a Kunai, attacked Shinkurou while shouting, 'Die… you traitor to the Clan!'
Shinkurou drew his blade to defend himself by meeting the elder's Kunai… however, at that moment, much to Shinkurou's shock, Tadayoshi let go of the Kunai, which caused his own blade to directly reach Tadayoshi… causing this gruesome sight.
Shinkurou stood frozen at that moment, stunned by what had happened.
So, in a sense, Tadayoshi did seek his own death… and Shinkurou only acted in his own self-defence.
But, of course, Shinkurou was afraid that he'd be punished, panicked at that moment. He thought of disposing of the corpse… but unfortunately for him, Makoto, who was watching from his house, had already arrived at the scene.
In fact, the change was so fast that Makoto had failed to react for a moment. Elder Tadayoshi had gone from just speaking to dying in less than a second, which was too much for even Makoto to react. He hadn't expected this turn of events...
With Makoto's arrival, Shinkurou knew that it was impossible to escape the blame and tried to run away… but Makoto, with his superior strength, restrained him…
He assured Shinkurou that he'd try to speak to Kanzou… Shinkurou knew that Kanzou wouldn't let him go… but what other choice did he have? He was already restrained!
Now, Makoto did plead for him… but was that pleading going to do anything?
Mikoto listened to Makoto's explanation and understood that perhaps Shinkurou wasn't to be blamed... but her mind was already overloaded… and there was only blind murder in her eyes…
If not for the fact that Kanzou was holding her hand, not letting her go despite her desperate attempts, Shinkurou would have already been killed…
Keeping her restrained, Kanzou asked, "But something still doesn't add up… why would Tadayoshi-sama come here to seek his own death?" He also added, narrowing his eyes, "And… why did he call you 'you traitor to the Clan?'"
"I… I don't know… I don't know what was going through his mind and why he suddenly attacked me… I was only trying to defend myself… Patriarch, you have to believe me!" Shinkurou responded.
There was no way he would admit the reason to Kanzou. It would ruin whatever plan Fugaku may have had.
Kanzou didn't believe Shinkurou. "You don't want to confess…? Fine, I can already sort of guess the reason, but no problem... torture will surely make you want to confess everything…" he said.
Mikoto interjected, "Kanzou-sama… he… he killed my Sofu-sama… I am going to—mff…. mfff…."
Kanzou clamped her mouth, shutting her off before he said. "First… I need to figure out how he is a traitor to the Clan…"
Mikoto argued, but with her mouth clamped by his hand, all that came out were muffled sounds…
"Satoru, Shin, take him to the Police station…" Kanzou instructed.
"…Understood," nodded Satoru and Shin, and began to take him away.
Shinkurou gritted his teeth… while he felt relieved that he wouldn't be executed immediately, he also feared that he'd be tortured… He'd have to keep quiet about it, no matter what, even if that results in his death.
While he thought so, Hazuki appeared at the scene. "Kanzou-sama…" she called out and hurriedly came to his side.
Keeping Mikoto from breaking out of his grip, Kanzou asked her, "Is there anything…?"
Hazuki held out two letters for him. "These were written by Tadayoshi-sama before he came here… Kaede gave them to me…"
"Letters…" murmured Kanzou and looked at the letters. One was addressed to him, and the other was to Mikoto.
Taking the letter that was addressed to him with his free hand, he unfolded it and began to read. Aside from the melodramatic nonsense, he searched for anything that'd give him any clue about why he called Shinkurou a traitor to the Clan. Sure enough, Tadayoshi had left behind information.
"Shin… Satoru... wait…" he immediately called out, stopping the two ninjas who were about to take Shinkurou away.
"Captain?" "Patriarch?" The two looked at him in confusion.
"There is no need for torture… Tadayoshi-sama has already left behind the reason why this guy is a traitor," said Kanzou and explained, "It's as I expected… he is working together with Fugaku and planning something against me…"
"Traitorous bastard!" Shin immediately kicked Shinkurou.
"Even though the Patriarch gave you a chance… You still want to work with that disgrace, Fugaku?" Satoru also threw several kicks at Shinkurou.
Since the matter was already exposed, Shinkurou hatefully shouted. "Why wouldn't I? He is the rightful—"
"He is the rightful cuck, is what he is. That's all he is, and that's all he'll ever be…!" Kanzou snorted and released Mikoto. "He is all yours…"
"Working with Fugaku… Killing my Sofu-sama…" she murmured, taking a step towards Shinkurou, her grief, rage, and hatred reaching their peak.
At that moment, her three tomoe Sharingan had already begun spinning wildly, spun faster and faster, until the three tomoe merged and a beautiful four-petal pattern emerged.
That overwhelming emotional storm she was going through finally unlocked the next stage of her dōjutsu.
Indeed, her Mangekyō Sharingan was awakened!
Originally a Jōnin-level Kunoichi, Mikoto's strength surged to near-Kage-level after her evolution. With the awakening of the Mangekyō, her visual prowess skyrocketed, and along with it came three unique Mangekyō abilities and a significant increase in Chakra reserves.
Watching her transformation in silence, Kanzou nodded to himself, 'She really… awakened those eyes.'
He had mixed feelings about this… True, he wanted her to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, but not like this… he wanted her to be the one to end Tadayoshi's life with her own hands and awaken those eyes…
It's just that she wasn't able to go through with it.
But Kanzou was certain that it was only a matter of time, and before long, under his constant pushes, she would go through it… But now, it seems there would be no need.
However… things went out of his control.
Tadayoshi had deliberately gotten himself killed. He died on his own terms, at the hands of someone who was working with Kanzou's enemy, and he also gave Mikoto the Mangekyō Sharingan without letting her go through parricide.
The elder killed three birds with one stone, and Kanzou couldn't even be angry about it.
'Tch… Tadayoshi-sama saw through my plan and ruined it…' he sighed. While he didn't lose, he still felt defeated, and that dissatisfied him.
While he pouted that things didn't go as per his plan, the others in the area, noticing the change in Mikoto's eyes, were gobsmacked.
"Mikoto-sama… your… your eyes…"
Mikoto was too blood-lusted to care about anyone else around her at the moment… the only thing she had in her mind was blind murder, and her target was Shinkurou, the one who took the life of her grandfather.
Gathering her Chakra and Visual Prowess, she used the Dōjutsu of her left eye.
"Tsukuyomi!"
The moment she activated the Genjutsu, Shinkurou's consciousness was pulled into the crimson Genjutsu realm.
"Wh-where is this?" Shinkurou, who suddenly found himself inside a blood-red realm, tried to understand the situation.
But no answer was given to him... all that was given to him was pain!
Indeed, after trapping him inside the Tsukuyomi realm, Mikoto unleashed her fury, tormenting him relentlessly.
Days must have passed inside the Tsukuyomi plane… but she showed no signs of stopping. It wasn't until Shinkurou was completely dead from the mind and unable to even utter anything, essentially becoming a vegetable, that she finally released the Genjutsu.
All that people in the vicinity saw was that one moment Mikoto glared at Shinkurou, and the next instant, Shinkurou collapsed to the ground, his mind utterly shattered…
"W-what happened to him? Was it Genjutsu?" Makoto murmured, too shocked by the sight.
But that still wasn't the end because after releasing the Genjutsu, Mikoto used another ability of her Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Haah... haaah... Susano'o!"
Suddenly, a turquoise colored chakra emerged from Mikoto, forming a translucent rib cage around her torso with a giant skeletal arm extending out.
"Die!!!" she shouted, hatefully slamming that clenched skeletal fist made up of Chakra onto Shinkurou.
Shinkurou, who was already put into a vegetative state, was unable to put up any resistance and was reduced to a mangled heap of flesh, as blood sprayed out of him.
Without any doubt, he was dead from both mind and body!
"Hiss… what kind of Jutsu is that?" Satoru murmured, sucking a cold breath.
"Is that… the power of Mangekyō Sharingan?" Araki mumbled, horrified by the gruesome sight and the kind of power that Mikoto displayed. He had never seen anything like that!
"It… It's too cool!!" Shin murmured, his breathing quicker.
'That should be… Susano'o… right?' Hazuki thought, trembling a little from the terrifying feeling.
Mikoto's usage of Mangekyō Sharingan… and especially Susano'o undoubtedly brought her awe and reverence from the Clansmen.
It was unbelievable; Uchiha Mikoto had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Only those born of the Uchiha truly understood what the Mangekyō Sharingan represented… and how lofty the status of its wielder became upon awakening it.
It could now be said that Mikoto's status within the clan was second only to Kanzou, the patriarch. No… perhaps in the eyes of a few, her status was even higher than Kanzou.
For those who didn't know that Kanzou also has the Mangekyō Sharingan, they even felt that perhaps Mikoto is now stronger than Kanzou.
Some even wondered if Mikoto, who is now stronger than Kanzou, deserves to be the Patriarch... oh no, the Matriarch.
Perhaps there would even be some who'd finally think that they finally have the chance to stand against the evil Patriarchy as well as its misogyny, so that the good Matriarchy can take over!
But putting the delusions aside—
"Deactivate the Mangekyō Sharingan," Kanzou's voice cut through everything, snapping Mikoto out of her rage-fuelled trance.
Obeying his command, she deactivated the Mangekyō. Almost immediately, a stinging soreness spread through her eyes, along with a faint burning sensation coursing throughout her body.
She felt as though her eyes, as well as the rest of her body, were being pricked by countless needles!
That was the price of using the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Although this was her first time, the toll on her eyes was already noticeable. The more frequently one used it, the more visual power it consumed; the pain would only worsen, sometimes to the point of bleeding.
But this physical pain... it was nothing in comparison to the pain that her heart was feeling. She felt shattered and was so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that she ended up fainting after exacting her vengeance.
"There... I got you again..." Kanzou murmured, wrapping his arm around her waist, holding her so that she wouldn't fall.
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Read advance Chapters on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/SlytherinManor]