Chapter 113: Awakening
Let's rewind time a bit.
Actually, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto had awakened last night, not long after Naruto's shadow clone left.
When Crazy Diamond's power to restore everything completely erased all the wounds on their bodies, their consciousness finally broke through the bonds of darkness.
What they first recovered were their last memories before losing consciousness—that bone-chilling betrayal and despair, the moment when their own daughter Uchiha Itachi, into whom they had poured countless efforts and hopes, mercilessly struck them down.
The violent emotional impact, especially for Mikoto, who remembered being burned by those ominous black flames from her beloved child, instantly overwhelmed her with heartbreak and grief, making her cry out in anguish.
Fugaku, after a brief period of confusion and shock, quickly forced himself to calm down. While comforting his devastated wife, he surveyed their surroundings—the familiar hospital environment and the incredible, completely recovered state of his body.
But those eyes had lost all their sharpness, leaving only the weathered exhaustion and deep sorrow that comes after experiencing great upheaval.
Based on limited clues and his final memories, he quickly and accurately deduced their current situation.
First, the Uchiha clan had not truly been massacred. That mysterious leader of the "Ember" organization, that man with incomprehensible power, had pulled them back from the brink of death.
He had even used some unheard-of, bizarre ability to "create life," manufacturing a convincing fake death scene that fooled everyone, completing this "pseudo-massacre" performance.
But...
Even if most of the clan members survived, the Uchiha clan within Konoha village was, in practical terms, already finished.
The Ember organization had gone to great lengths to save those people and would never easily return them to Konoha. And those rescued clan members, having learned the truth about the "massacre," had probably already completely lost faith in Konoha and himself as their clan leader.
He, Uchiha Fugaku, was no longer the Uchiha clan leader who controlled Konoha's greatest noble house.
He was now merely... one of the few Uchiha survivors remaining in Konoha, a "survivor" who had lost his clan's foundation and political power.
Then there was the matter of his abilities...
Fugaku could sense that in his eyes, which should have contained vast Yin Release power and ocular abilities, there was only emptiness.
The unique chakra fluctuations of those Mangekyo Sharingan—symbols of the Uchiha's supreme power that had awakened alongside great pain and responsibility—had completely disappeared.
What remained in his eye sockets were merely healthy eyes with good vision, but utterly ordinary ones.
It seemed that after the Ember organization's leader had saved him, he had not only healed his injuries but also... taken his Mangekyo Sharingan. Then, using his incomprehensible abilities, he had regenerated a pair of ordinary eyes for him.
This discovery didn't cause much of a stir in Fugaku's heart. He had never been like Shimura Danzo, someone with a pathological obsession with power.
For him, the strength or weakness of power was more about tools and leverage for realizing the clan's ambitions and protecting his people.
And now... there were no longer... any clan members for him to lead...
There was also no longer anyone who would pressure him, encourage him, or expect him to launch that coup that was destined to result in rivers of blood...
These eyes that had once carried too much weight and expectation, this power... for his current self, had completely lost their purpose.
Fine... if he wanted them... then let him take them...
Using these eyes that were no longer needed to repay this heavy debt of saving his life, as well as... the grace of preserving most of his clan members' lives... was perhaps the most appropriate thing to do.
After making this decision, Fugaku felt the last thread connecting him to his past power and status quietly snap.
In the end, only the relief of surviving disaster, confusion about the future, and the heavy sense of responsibility as a father and husband—how to protect these remaining family members—remained in his heart. He looked at his crying wife in his arms, his gaze finally turning toward home—where their youngest daughter, Satsuki, still was.
Under the shocked gazes of medical ninja who looked like they'd seen ghosts—expressions full of "This is absolutely impossible!"—the newly awakened Fugaku and Mikoto were forced by the hospital to undergo an extremely thorough physical examination.
The results left all the participating medical ninja stunned—the previously fatal injuries and bizarre burns in their bodies had vanished without a trace, and all their physiological indicators had returned to healthy levels, except for some slight weakness and mental fatigue.
After repeatedly confirming this multiple times and finally having to accept this fact that defied medical common sense, the hospital reluctantly allowed them to leave, still full of doubts.
Walking out of the hospital gates, both husband and wife knew that the Third Hokage would likely summon them soon to inquire in detail about the events of the "night of the massacre" and the reasons for their "miraculous survival."
But at this moment, they set aside those troublesome political matters and interrogations—what they most urgently wanted now was to immediately return to their possibly shattered home and confirm their youngest daughter's safety.
However, when they rushed home with heavy yet urgent hearts and gently pushed open the traditional room's door, what they saw was a scene completely beyond their expectations—
Their daughter Satsuki was not curled up in a corner crying or overwhelmed by fear as they had imagined.
She was sleeping peacefully in laid-out bedding, breathing steadily, even with a trace of rare tranquility on her face. Not far from her, a blonde kid they hadn't seen many times but were quite familiar with...
Uzumaki Naruto was sitting against the wall. Although his eyes were also closed as if taking a short nap, his posture clearly showed he was watching over the sleeping Satsuki.
Fugaku and Mikoto instantly understood.
It seemed that during the time they were unconscious, Naruto had been taking care of and accompanying their daughter.
Fugaku felt an indescribably complex emotion surge through his heart.
After some simple pleasantries and expressions of gratitude, Fugaku, thinking that Naruto must be tired after staying up all night, tactfully suggested he go home to rest first.
However, Naruto refused without hesitation, his reason simple and direct: "I promised Satsuki I would stay with her until the sun rose tomorrow."
This statement made Fugaku's feelings even more complex. Later, when settling the still-sleeping Satsuki and preparing to rest a bit himself, Fugaku clearly heard his daughter, even in her sleep, occasionally and unconsciously murmur a name with dependence and comfort in her voice:
"Naruto..."
Finally, in this extremely complex and indescribable mood, Uzumaki Naruto spent the night at the Uchiha clan leader's residence.
And then came this morning.