"My foolish little otōto—"
Just as Sasuke stood frozen in shock, Jin appeared before him at some point, lifting a finger to lightly tap his brother's forehead.
"Does this technique look familiar?"
Whoosh.
The moment the words fell, Sasuke's ears instantly flushed red.
Of course he recognized it!
Lately, he'd been clinging to Itachi every day—wasn't it precisely because he envied that shuriken trajectory–changing control?!
And just this very morning, before leaving the house, Itachi had finally agreed—
And personally led him through the practice twice in the courtyard!
He had practiced it again and again under Itachi's guidance; that was the only reason he'd barely managed to hit the bullseye this afternoon.
But—
This lazy bum, Jin!
When did he learn it?
He'd never seen Jin practice before!
Don't tell me he—
Used the time he spent sunbathing this morning… and just glanced once and learned it?!
The moment that possibility crossed his mind, Sasuke suddenly felt his legs go weak.
If that were true, then the talent of this lazy older brother was downright terrifying!
"Could it really… have something to do with sunbathing?"
His thoughts abruptly stalled. Then, almost unconsciously, he followed the sunlight and looked toward the top of the courtyard wall.
In his heart, an impulse began to stir.
Should he… lie up there and bask for a while?
"Jin, you're bullying Sasuke again!"
Just then, Uchiha Mikoto's reproachful voice came from the veranda.
She walked over slowly, carrying a plate of three-colored dango and fruit.
When her gaze swept over Sasuke—who looked like a human pincushion—her steps quickened instinctively.
Only after she got closer and realized that they were just holes, that her younger son was completely unharmed, did she finally let out a small sigh of relief.
But the astonishment in her eyes couldn't be suppressed—
Those shuriken impact points were clearly the very technique Itachi had taught Sasuke that morning.
She had watched for a while earlier, found it boring, and left.
But that didn't mean she didn't remember.
Then—
Who had made those hits?
Could it be… Jin?
Her brows flickered slightly, and her mind recalled Fugaku's earlier words:
Mikoto, Jin… if nothing's wrong, don't disturb him. He has his own ideas.
Because of that, she'd never really understood—thinking Fugaku was just indulging Jin.
But now…
Her eyes shifted, and she shook her head with a wry smile.
They were all her children—what nonsense was she thinking?
She handed the plate up to the courtyard wall, then tugged Sasuke back toward the house.
"Your clothes are all torn up. Hurry back inside and change."
Sasuke: "But—Jin—"
Mikoto: "Don't call him Jin. Call him big brother."
That familiar tone shut Sasuke up completely.
He could only turn his head back, looking toward the wall under the lingering sunset glow, lost in thought.
Drip.
When moonlight climbed up the eaves of the great house, Itachi flipped into the courtyard, his body still carrying the scent of blood.
Because of the tense relationship with Kumogakure, he'd been sent to the battlefield immediately after graduating.
Every day was reconnaissance duty.
Occasionally, there were skirmishes.
Today, after an unexpected clash with a small squad, he'd barely managed to retreat.
In the darkness, the Sharingan in his eyes glimmered with a tired crimson glow.
"Today's ten minutes."
Just as he landed, a lazy voice drifted down from the courtyard wall.
His movements paused.
Turning around, he saw Jin sitting atop the wall, legs swinging idly.
In his hand, an apple was tossed up and down, shimmering faintly in the moonlight.
Still just as ghostlike and elusive as ever.
Itachi sighed, trying to negotiate.
"Jin, I'm pretty tired today. How about tomorrow?"
"So that's how it is."
Jin flipped down from the wall and tossed the apple with perfect accuracy into Itachi's arms, then turned his head with a grin.
"Father—Itachi said the stash you hid in the second guest room's cabinet—"
Thunk.
Itachi's hands froze midair as he caught the apple.
In the next instant, with lightning speed, he stuffed the apple straight back into Jin's mouth.
"Fine! Let's talk!"
"That's more like it."
Jin laughed as he patted his brother's shoulder.
If he let it drag to tomorrow, wouldn't the cooldown just add another day?
Then what about all the people he still had scheduled to chat with tomorrow?
His daily itinerary was packed, you know!
"Stop frowning."
He reached out and smoothed the crease between Itachi's brows, ordering him around like a little adult.
"Your tear troughs already look bad enough. If you add forehead wrinkles, Sister Izumi won't like you anymore."
With that, ignoring Itachi's reddening cheeks, he picked up a skewer of three-colored dango and stuffed it into his mouth.
Smiling, he said,
"So—why are you so tired today? Looks like… you killed someone, huh?"
So he noticed after all!
Itachi's heart jolted.
This little brother of his wasn't just impossible to detect—his perception was just as terrifyingly sharp.
He gave a bitter smile and explained,
"These past couple of days, Kumogakure envoys have come to discuss peace talks."
"There've been a lot of shady figures lurking around."
As he spoke, he continued, recounting everything in detail.
Clearly, he'd already prepared what to say.
Ever since four years ago, his brother didn't care much for anything else—
Except pulling him aside once a day to talk.
Just once a day.
As Jin listened, the smile on his face slowly faded.
Peace talks with Kumogakure.
Envoys visiting Konoha.
Unexplained gatherings of Lightning Release ninjas along the border.
These words gave him an eerie sense of déjà vu.
It felt like—
In the original plot, this was all part of a conspiracy.
As he hesitated, a prompt suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Conversation target: Uchiha Itachi]
[Analyzing copyable entries…]
[Copyable entries: Brother-Complex (Black), Too Wise, Dies Young (Black), Disease-Ridden (Black), Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Purple), Triple-Nature Master (Purple), Fire Release Mastery (Blue)…]
After several years, Itachi had fully grown into a ninja proficient in three elemental natures.
His strength far surpassed what it had been before.
Of course, the only thing that hadn't changed—
Were the three pitch-black entries sitting right at the top.
Just looking at them made one's vision darken.
[Conversation with Uchiha Itachi exceeded ten minutes. Attempting to copy entry…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host, on obtaining Epic Entry: Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Purple).]
Success!
Seeing the message, Jin smiled faintly.
The wait tonight hadn't been for nothing.
The system really pulled through.
He immediately thought to himself,
"System, feed this entry to my Sharingan."
Naturally, he already had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
In fact, he'd awakened it a full year earlier than Itachi!
[Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Purple) is fusing…]
[Feeding successful. Congratulations, host, on obtaining Three-Tomoe Sharingan.]
"Still didn't upgrade?"
Seeing that it still hadn't evolved into a Mangekyō, Jin's little face instantly scrunched up.
Unhappy.
Very unhappy.
Damn system!
He'd fed it at least twenty Three-Tomoe Sharingan entries by now, and it still wouldn't upgrade!
That said, he could clearly feel the difference in his eyes.
The surging ocular power felt strong enough that he could easily bind the brother standing before him…
What he didn't know—
Was that this very expression, in Itachi's eyes, carried a completely different meaning.
"Hm? He's frowning? Did I fail to interest Jin?"
Itachi paused, then smoothly changed the topic.
"Oh, right—apparently those Kumogakure envoys also paid a special visit to the Hyūga main house."
Crack!
"Oh?"
"Kumogakure visiting the Hyūga?!"
In an instant, lightning flashed through Jin's mind.
He finally remembered—
What that conspiracy was.