Uchiha Hikaru's words hit Uchiha Ang like a hammer to the heart, plunging him instantly into a pit of despair.
His face turned as pale as paper, and his eyes flickered with panic—the Mangekyō reflected in them spun wildly.
His heartbeat quickened, thudding so loud it felt like it would burst from his chest.
In that moment, he finally understood why those Uchiha he'd tricked before always looked at him with such complicated expressions.
The joy of awakening the Sharingan mixed with the soul-crushing shame of social death created an emotion too bizarre to describe.
He stood frozen in place, trembling slightly like a leaf in the wind—fragile and exposed.
Uchiha Ang took a deep breath, trying his best to calm the storm raging inside him.
He closed his eyes tightly, attempting to suppress the chaos in his heart.
Watching Uchiha Ang's face cycle through expression after expression, Uchiha Hikaru understood—this was a good place to end it.
You couldn't push things too far. What had happened today would be unforgettable enough.
He casually let go of the camcorder in his hand, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Alright, alright. Don't worry. It was just a prank."
As soon as he finished speaking, flames engulfed the fallen camcorder, incinerating it on the spot.
Seeing this, Uchiha Ang finally let out a sigh of relief.
However, the faint smirk on Uchiha Hikaru's face made his heart clench again.
He suddenly realized… that camcorder might not have been real at all.
Maybe this was just Hikaru giving him a way out.
But what choice did he have?
All he could do was accept it—treat the whole incident like a joke.
"Haha, I see now! Just a joke, right? No problem, of course I'm not bothered!"
Forcing out a smile, he turned his head toward Uchiha Noboru and the rest of the Uchiha clan members.
He couldn't do anything to Uchiha Hikaru… but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything to the others—especially that ultra-filial Noboru.
His gaze turned sharp as blades, falling on the others like icy arrows piercing their hearts.
Uchiha Noboru, bearing the full brunt of it, felt a deep unease swell inside him.
His eyes began to dart nervously, unable to meet Uchiha Ang's stare. Cold sweat slowly seeped from his forehead, sliding down his cheeks and into his collar.
The other Uchiha could also sense the pressure in the air. Their throats tightened, and they began swallowing hard, eyes shifting all around.
"Uh, right—my wife's due any day now. Gotta go!"
"Ah, yeah yeah yeah, mine too! I'm off!"
"Same! I'll tag along!"
They all understood Uchiha Ang's situation far too well.
After all, he wasn't the first Uchiha to awaken his eyes like this.
They'd seen the rage before—the fury that came with awakening. And none of them wanted to be the poor soul it was unleashed on.
So, armed with the flimsiest excuses imaginable, they scattered.
Even Uchiha Setsuna, who usually had a rocky relationship with Uchiha Ang, didn't stick around. Especially not now that Ang had activated his Mangekyō.
Setsuna had no interest in getting beaten up—especially when it'd be by someone who now had Mangekyō. If he got thrashed, who would even listen to his complaints?
The others might've fled, but Uchiha Noboru… had no such luck.
With a helpless sigh, he resigned himself to the storm that was coming.
He kept a strained smile on his face, but terror flickered in his eyes.
This version of Ang reminded him of the fear he'd felt as a child—when he was still under his father's thumb.
As for Uchiha Hikaru, he disappeared the instant Ang turned his head.
In his original plan, Nonō Yakushi and Tsunade were supposed to escort Uchiha Ang here, while Noboru was assigned to report everything to the Hokage.
That way, Noboru could at least claim he knew nothing about what happened.
But for some reason, Noboru had insisted on tagging along—he wanted to watch the drama unfold.
And since he was asking to be entertained, Uchiha Hikaru didn't stop him.
Whether Noboru ended up becoming the entertainment… well, that wasn't something Hikaru could control.
Once the crowd had dispersed, Uchiha Ang's smile vanished in an instant. His face darkened like a sky before a storm.
He slowly pulled off his belt and began walking toward Uchiha Noboru.
Noboru, watching his father draw near, tried one last desperate appeal to his emotions.
"Father, come on now. Mangekyō Sharingan! Isn't this the thing you dreamed of unlocking?"
At those words, Uchiha Ang let out a cold chuckle—and raised the thing in his hand.
"Aaaaaaah—!!"
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the forest, making the Uchiha who had just fled all shiver in unison.
Then they bolted even faster.
It's said that after this incident, no one saw Uchiha Noboru for a whole month.
And from that day on, every Uchiha who awakened their eyes like this… ended up with a certain videotape that wasn't in their own hands.
…
After the event, Uchiha Ang no longer interfered with Chiri's affairs, allowing him to return to his class-cutting crew.
Although, every now and then, when he looked at Uchiha Hikaru, there was a strange expression in his eyes—one that Hikaru couldn't quite read.
He just scratched his head and let it go.
Meanwhile, after much contemplation, Orochimaru eventually sought out Uchiha Hikaru.
He asked him to seal his parents.
Once Orochimaru found a way to cure them, he'd have the seal lifted—this way, he could preserve their lives.
He was thinking clearly: the path he was on would demand more resources than all the ninjutsu he'd ever studied before.
So, he wished to join the Senju faction in exchange for those resources.
Orochimaru was a true genius. Even though he had only recently begun studying ninjutsu, he had already successfully modified several techniques.
He altered the C-Rank Fireball Jutsu into an E-Rank Fireball Jutsu. Although its power dropped, the difficulty level plummeted as well—making it comparable to the Clone Transformation techniques.
When Mito Uzumaki found out, she approved these E-Rank modified jutsu for use in the ninja academy.
Like the Clone Transformation techniques, they became part of the exam curriculum.
Thanks to this achievement, Orochimaru successfully joined the Senju faction and gained access to abundant resources.
From then on, his path shifted toward the biological sciences.
Uchiha Hikaru didn't mind. He believed Orochimaru would succeed in whatever field he pursued.
And who knew—maybe starting bio-research this early would eventually lead him to develop a cracked version of Sage Mode someday.
As for Jiraiya, he had already begun his training under Fukasaku, progressing rapidly.
At this rate, he might even surpass his original self from the canon.
Nonō Yakushi and Tsunade, on the other hand, were now studying medical ninjutsu under Uchiha Hikaru's guidance.
At this pace, the entire class-skipping crew looked like they each had a bright future ahead.