Arata ignored Naruto's complaints.
Instead, he calmly shifted the topic.
"Focus. We came here for a reason."
"Look for anything related to the Sharingan."
Only then did the others snap back to reality.
They immediately spread out and began searching the chamber.
Arata himself didn't move.
His gaze had settled on the massive stone slab beneath the Uchiha clan crest.
Strange symbols were etched across its surface—ancient, dense, and unsettling.
So this is the Uchiha stone tablet…
The one Black Zetsu tampered with.
The one that turned Uchiha Madara's life-long plan into a joke.
Soon, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura returned, stacking the books they'd found in front of him.
"This should be everything in this chamber," Sasuke said.
"We didn't miss anything."
Arata glanced at the pile, then looked at Sasuke.
"Are you sure it's okay for us to read these?"
"These are your clan's records."
Naruto, who'd already been reaching for a book, immediately pulled his hand back.
Sakura did the same.
Both of them looked to Sasuke for confirmation.
Sasuke's expression didn't change.
"The Uchiha clan is gone."
"Leaving these locked away is meaningless."
"If we don't read them, then there's no point in them existing at all."
Then he added, almost indifferently,
"There might even be something useful for you two."
For Sasuke, the clan was already dead.
Only one thing mattered now—
Becoming strong enough to kill Itachi.
With Sasuke's permission, Arata nodded.
"All right. Then let's read."
They each took a book.
Arata chose the Uchiha clan history.
Naruto grabbed a catalog of Uchiha techniques.
Sakura selected a volume on genjutsu theory.
Sasuke took the book dedicated entirely to the Sharingan.
For a long time, no one spoke.
Only the soft crackle of the oil lamps filled the chamber.
Eventually, Arata closed his book.
He now understood the Uchiha's history far more clearly than before—details even his old memories had lacked.
He exhaled quietly.
"Madara really was the greatest Uchiha."
"He alone takes up nearly a tenth of the entire clan record."
The Uchiha history spanned over a thousand years.
Yet Madara occupied one-tenth of it by himself.
That alone said everything.
Arata turned to Sasuke.
"So. Do you know what comes after the three-tomoe Sharingan now?"
Sasuke looked up, confused.
His attention had been completely absorbed by the methods for developing the Sharingan. He hadn't even read that far.
Arata pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Your priorities are backwards."
"Before thinking about how to develop it, you should first understand what the Sharingan actually is."
"Its stages. Its traits. Its limits."
"That's the foundation."
He paused, then asked,
"Your father never taught you this, did he?"
Arata remembered clearly—
Fugaku had focused on Fire Release training.
As for Sharingan theory, Sasuke hadn't awakened it yet back then. There'd been little reason to go deeper.
Sasuke's ears reddened slightly.
"There were so many development methods in this book… I got absorbed."
Naruto and Sakura both glanced over.
Naruto looked completely lost.
He recognized the words individually—but once they formed sentences, his brain gave up.
That was the Academy's dead last.
Sakura, on the other hand, was fully immersed.
She was especially drawn to the genjutsu techniques.
And the more she read, the more stunned she became.
So this is the Uchiha…
No wonder they were considered Konoha nobility.
Most of the illusions required the Sharingan—
But not all of them.
And those exceptions were exactly what Sakura cared about.
Seeing all eyes on him, Arata spoke.
"I finished the clan history."
"It states that above the three-tomoe Sharingan exists another form."
"The Mangekyō Sharingan."
"A strange eye… one with abnormal power."
"It conceals terrifying dōjutsu."
His gaze sharpened.
"I'm almost certain Itachi's eyes are Mangekyō."
"If that's true, he's going to be extremely dangerous."
He continued calmly.
"In the Uchiha's thousand-year history, only a handful of people ever awakened it."
"Before Konoha was founded, there was an Uchiha named Uchiha Madara."
"He awakened the Mangekyō."
"His power was so overwhelming that shinobi across the world couldn't even meet his gaze."
"Those eyes carried power close to divinity."
"Power capable of destroying a nation…"
"…and even controlling the Nine-Tails."
Sasuke froze.
He had never heard any of this.
Not a single word.
Naruto and Sakura were just as stunned.
Naruto swallowed hard.
"Destroy a nation…?"
"And… the Nine-Tails can be controlled?"
Naruto knew better than anyone how terrifying the Nine-Tails was.
Even if his memories of rampaging were always blurred or missing—
The destruction left behind never lied.
And now he was being told that someone could control it.
Worse—
Itachi had those eyes.
And the Nine-Tails lived inside Naruto.
Naruto's voice trembled.
"Then… doesn't that mean…?"
Arata spoke calmly.
"Don't panic."
"If you earn the Nine-Tails' acknowledgment, the Mangekyō won't be able to control you easily."
That was the truth.
Genjutsu could be broken from within—especially with a tailed beast's help—
But only if the beast wanted to help.
Most jinchūriki were hated by their beasts.
Naruto was different.
Arata glanced at Naruto's abdomen.
"And even if you were caught in Sharingan genjutsu, the Nine-Tails would help you break free."
"If you fall, it falls with you. It won't allow that."
Naruto finally exhaled.
He didn't like the fox—
But knowing it had a reason to protect him made all the difference.
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