Walking toward him was Uchiha Itachi, his short black hair framing his calm face. Beside him was a girl with long, flowing black hair, a beauty mark beneath her right eye, and a violet kimono draped gracefully over her form.
The two of them chatted cheerfully while sharing a skewer of dango.
The girl's smile was radiant as she said,
"Itachi, let's call this dango a celebration for you joining the Anbu. Consider it your welcome feast."
"Joining the Anbu at just eleven—you really are a genius."
The Anbu were directly under the Hokage's command, its members chosen from the very best of the village.
For Itachi to be accepted at only eleven marked him as a prodigy without equal.
Uchiha Itachi smiled faintly.
"Thank you for celebrating with me."
"You're a genius too. You've already awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan."
Izumi chuckled softly.
"Of course! I awakened my Sharingan earlier than you, and my taijutsu is pretty solid too."
"One day, I'll become a powerful kunoichi."
It was at that moment that she noticed someone approaching—Uchiha Ryosuke.
To her, he was one of the few who had treated her kindly.
Her father had defied the clan to marry a Senju woman. But he'd died tragically in the Nine-Tails' attack.
With the Senju in decline, her mother had no choice but to bring her back to the Uchiha compound.
But there she had been met with disdain, sneers, even harassment from radicals in the clan. Each time, it had been Ryosuke who stepped in to protect them.
Though his strength was ordinary, he was the grandson of Uchiha Shin, the clan's great elder. His status was far above that of a nobody like her.
"Ryosuke-nii."
"What are you doing here? Don't you have patrol duty with the police force?"
Itachi regarded the two of them calmly.
He and Ryosuke had little to do with each other. To him, Ryosuke was nothing more than an unremarkable shinobi.
Ryosuke, however, looked at Itachi with cold eyes.
So these two really were childhood sweethearts…
But Itachi didn't deserve her.
On the Night of the Massacre, he had shown no mercy.
With his brilliance, there was no way he didn't know Izumi was still in the compound.
Yet he still raised his blade.
Even against such a gentle, lovely girl.
On that night, Izumi had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Those eyes had been destined to be gouged out.
It was tragic.
Utterly inhuman.
The so-called "Will of Fire" had twisted everything.
No—this delicate, beautiful girl deserved someone to protect her.
"Izumi," Ryosuke said firmly, "be with me."
Izumi froze, her lips parting in shock.
She was a girl, after all—and Ryosuke-nii's words sounded so much like a confession.
Tentatively, she asked,
"Ryosuke-nii… are you confessing to me?"
Ryosuke nodded.
It was a confession. He wanted to take her away from Itachi.
Itachi, who had no right to such a childhood companion.
Izumi's heart fluttered.
Being liked felt… wonderful.
Ryosuke-nii was indeed kind, handsome, and dependable.
But deep down, she still liked Itachi more.
They were the same age. During the Nine-Tails' attack, he had saved her life.
He might not be as strikingly handsome as Ryosuke, but his quiet charm drew her in.
Yet… could she reject Ryosuke in front of Itachi without wounding his pride?
After all, Ryosuke-nii was a good man.
As she wrestled with the dilemma, Itachi finally spoke.
"Uchiha Ryosuke, you've gone too far."
"Izumi isn't even of age. She won't play your little love games."
Izumi was only eleven years old—still a year away from adulthood at twelve.
In his heart, she was a precious friend, and he couldn't bear the thought of her being with another man.The idea left him deeply unsettled.
Uchiha Ryosuke, however, spoke with complete indifference.
"It's fine. I can wait until she's grown."
He remembered that before the Third Great Ninja War, adulthood was set at twelve, though it was later raised to sixteen.
Back then, the war claimed countless lives, and the village needed manpower. Children as young as twelve were sent to the battlefield and were even permitted to marry and have children.
Ryosuke couldn't accept the idea of marriage at twelve.
But Izumi was undeniably an exceptional girl.
He couldn't let her remain by Uchiha Itachi's side. The deeper she fell in love, the more it would destroy her in the end.
Even if he saved the Uchiha clan, her heart might never belong to him.
Worse, Itachi was the kind of man who would slaughter even the woman he loved.
Abandoning family and love alike—what sort of man was that?
Trash. A bastard.
Itachi hadn't expected Ryosuke to be so resolute. But he would never allow anyone to steal what he held dear.
His gaze locked on Ryosuke.
Ryosuke showed not the slightest trace of fear. Instead, his eyes narrowed in mockery.
"You don't have what it takes to protect Izumi."
"And you do?"
Itachi's voice was sharp. "You're nothing but a bottom-feeder. Your Sharingan has only a single tomoe."
Though there were many Uchiha, not all awakened the Sharingan. Yet awakening a single tomoe at sixteen? That was no genius.
Normally, Itachi would never mock someone for their strength.
But when this man dared to question his ability to protect Izumi, his fury ignited.
He was the clan's true prodigy after Shisui Uchiha.
Though often praised, he had never let it swell his ego.
But now—this rival trying to take what was his? That was intolerable.
Just as Ryosuke, empowered by his dual systems, prepared to snap back, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
"Your Sharingan has been insulted. Fast-tracking cultivation… Two-Tomoe Sharingan awakened."
The words he'd meant to speak froze on his lips.
Joy surged through him. So this is how the auto-cultivation works?
A faint electric current seemed to flow through his eyes, sharpening them further.
Ecstatic, the corners of his mouth curled upward. Perhaps this auto-cultivation system wasn't so useless after all.
And now—his Sharingan had reached two tomoe.
His pupils flared, turning crimson. Two black tomoe spun into existence.
At that moment, his vision became razor-sharp.
He could see the legs and eyes of a tiny insect fluttering in midair as clearly as daylight.
The Sharingan truly lived up to its name as the "Eye of Insight."
Itachi was taken aback by the sudden display.
He remembered Ryosuke had only awakened a single tomoe before.
Now he bore two.
Is this why he claimed I couldn't protect Izumi?
But still—did Ryosuke really think so little of him?
He was a prodigy, already a wielder of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
He was just about to awaken his eyes when—
Izumi, who had been watching in growing unease, finally stepped in, her voice trembling with urgency.
"Please, don't fight because of me. You'll only ruin the peace between you."
After all, one was the son of the clan head, the other the grandson of the clan elder.
If the two of them fought over her, it would be no small matter—more like stirring up a disaster she never intended.
At the same time, she sighed heavily.
When had she become such a prize?
Not yet even of age, and already two of the Uchiha's most prominent heirs were clashing because of her.