Chapter 55: Uchiha Tajima: The Self-Directed and Self-Acted

"No, his eyes tell me that he was betrayed."

Uchiha Yao said this almost through gritted teeth,

"And the one who betrayed him was the person he trusted most, his brother-in-law, Uchiha Tajima!"

His own father was killed by his own uncle? This news was even more explosive than knowing his old man was a super genius, making him gasp in shock.

"If I hadn't later discovered the images recorded in Jin's eyes before he died, I wouldn't have dared to believe that Uchiha Tajima, who cried until he nearly fainted at the funeral, could actually be such a despicable villain!"

Uchiha Yao said with resentment.

"When you were eight years old, your parents led a small team to carry out an assassination mission. Unexpectedly, the enemy was prepared and had laid a trap. In the end, your father fought a bloody path out with your mother and Uchiha Tajima. Just as they were about to escape, Uchiha Tajima attacked and severely wounded your father, which caused your father to be caught by the enemy. Your mother was unwilling to abandon your father, and in the end, both of them died for love."

Uchiha Yao slowly revealed the truth about the original owner's parents' deaths.

"These images are stored in Jin's eyes."

Uchiha Jin's body was later recovered, and the one who performed the autopsy on him was his father, Uchiha Yao.

Uchiha Yao sensed something wrong from the lingering ocular power in his son's eyes, so he painfully removed them temporarily and took them back to the laboratory for research.

One day, many years later, he finally saw the aforementioned images from his son's Sharingan.

"My son was a genius! And you, my grandson, you are an peerless genius with even greater aptitude than your father."

Uchiha Yao shifted his gaze, and after a slight struggle in the corners of his eyes, his single black eye flickered with an inexplicable light as he looked straight at Uchiha Gin and said with certainty.

"Huh?"

Suddenly being mentioned, Uchiha Gin was a bit confused. Didn't he know how trashy the original owner was? Peerless genius? Peerless "sweet beet" would be more like it. You old man must have recognized the wrong person.

Seeing his grandson's face full of disbelief, Uchiha Yao continued,

"When Uchiha Tajima told you the news of your parents' death in battle, you, at only eight years old, awakened the Sharingan."

"???"

Uchiha Gin felt his brain wasn't working right. Wasn't the original owner's Sharingan awakened by himself?

"And it was the most powerful of the Uchiha clan, the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Uchiha Yao said something shocking.

"??????"

Uchiha Gin's brain crashed directly. At this moment, he wished he could slap himself a few times to ask where that massive Mangekyo had gone.

"Uchiha Tajima witnessed the birth of your Mangekyo Sharingan with his own eyes, and from that moment on, he set his sights on you."

Uchiha Yao ignored Uchiha Gin's "changing face" and continued.

"Moreover, there wasn't just one Mangekyo at that time."

Uchiha Yao's face showed a look of nostalgia, "There was another child, just like you."

"Who is it?"

A flash of that hidden photograph crossed Uchiha Gin's mind.

"It was the child of your neighbor; her parents were the team members who sacrificed themselves along with your parents."

"After that child awakened the Mangekyo, her emotions were extremely unstable, and the people in the laboratory called her Nameless."

Uchiha Yao did not know much about the other child's family.

"Because the two of you were too young to control the power of the Mangekyo, the elderly clan leader at the time appointed me to take care of you and simultaneously conduct research on Mangekyo ocular techniques."

Uchiha Yao seemed to be recalling happy times, and a smile even tugged at his cold lips.

"Originally, you two children were very happy in the laboratory, but two years later..."

Uchiha Yao changed the subject, and his expression turned cold again,

"The old clan leader passed away due to illness, leaving the clan without a leader. At that time, the leader of the militant faction, Uchiha Yan, and the second-in-command of the laboratory, Uchiha Miao, publicly recommended Uchiha Tajima to succeed as clan leader. They also advocated for Uchiha Tajima to marry the daughter of the former clan leader, and I, not knowing the truth, also cast a vote in favor."

"I didn't expect that the first thing Uchiha Tajima did after taking office was to have Uchiha Miao replace my position and demote me to other departments to do research."

"From that day on, I didn't see the two of you for a long time. During that period, I asked Uchiha Miao, but I was given the cold shoulder; he told me you were undergoing secret experiments and could not easily go out."

Regarding the experience Uchiha Yao described, Uchiha Gin discovered with growing horror that there was not a single trace of the so-called laboratory in the original owner's memories, only memories of Uchiha Tajima adopting him and treating him like his own.

For a moment, he couldn't tell who was lying and who was telling the truth.

"Do you think I am deceiving you?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's confusion, Uchiha Yao said calmly.

"That's right. If what you say is true, why do my memories only contain images of Uchiha Tajima accompanying me as I grew up?" Uchiha Gin asked.

"That's because your memories, and even your perception, have been tampered with."

Uchiha Yao shook his head and said,

"By Uchiha Tajima's ocular technique."

Kotoamatsukami?! The unique genjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan, hailed as the "strongest genjutsu."

It can directly invade the opponent's brain and modify their will without the opponent noticing.

The effect of the technique is extremely powerful, allowing the opponent to be controlled unconsciously, achieving victory without conflict, but each use requires a cooldown of over a decade.

Appropriately showing a look of confusion, Uchiha Yao explained,

"Uchiha Tajima awakened the Mangekyo at some point, and his ocular technique can modify a person's memories and even their will. He used that technique on you, which is why your memories are skewed."

The original owner had actually been hit by Kotoamatsukami? Uchiha Gin was shocked. This genjutsu, which was hyped up in the future, actually existed now.

But thinking about it, it made sense. During the Warring States period, people who awakened the Mangekyo in the Uchiha clan were everywhere. The "strongest genjutsu" Kotoamatsukami, which would be passed down in the ninja world in the future, must have been recorded in books, known to the Third Hokage and others.

"What exactly happened when I was in the laboratory?"

Uchiha Gin couldn't help but ask.

"When I was there, I was only researching why you both awakened the Mangekyo at the same time," Uchiha Yao replied.

"I discovered that the compatibility between your Sharingan and Nameless's was extremely high. I speculated that it was caused by mutual attraction when your ocular powers were first stirring, and it also had a great deal to do with the deep bond between the two of you."

"What happened to me and that Nameless afterward?"

What Uchiha Gin cared about more was what research Uchiha Miao did on them after Uchiha Yao was kicked out of the team.

"I don't know. During the time you were imprisoned, I tried to contact you, but I was stopped by Uchiha Tajima and the others. Not long after, I saw you appear in Uchiha Tajima's home, but I didn't see Nameless."

"Until six years ago, when that incident happened to the clan."

After talking for so long, Uchiha Yao finally mentioned the tragedy at the clan grounds six years ago.

"Was it the Kaguya clan who raided the clan grounds?"

Uchiha Gin recalled the original owner's memories and voiced his guess.

"Heh, how could that be? A mere Kaguya." Uchiha Yao was very disdainful of the Kaguya clan,

"They have no brains and were just being manipulated."

"What do you mean?"

Hearing "manipulated," Uchiha Gin's curiosity was piqued again.

"Uchiha Tajima sent people disguised as wandering ninjas to send a piece of intelligence to the Kaguya clan, who had fled to the Land of Water."

"What intelligence?"

"The Uchiha clan grounds are empty, come quickly!"

Uchiha Yao said in a deep voice, his words chilling to the bone.

"For the sake of his reputation, Uchiha Tajima actually lured the Kaguya clan to attack his own home, preparing to descend like a divine soldier and save his clansmen from fire and water."

"Was Uchiha Tajima's strength enough?"

The Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai to some extent countered the Uchiha clan, who were weaker in taijutsu. How could Uchiha Tajima, who had not yet reached his peak, deal with the Kaguya clan, who were eyeing them and had mobilized their entire force?

"The two 'weapons' he controlled were his greatest confidence at the time."

Uchiha Yao's cold tone made the air around them frost over, making Uchiha Gin's body tremble slightly.

(End of chapter)