During the Warring States era, most Uchiha had been buried in coffins.
Later, cremation became common—after all, the Uchiha excelled in Fire Release.
Being cremated was said by the clan elders to symbolize returning to flame after death, bringing peace to the soul.
Clearly, Fugaku's body was gone—most likely burned to ash.
"You go…" Tamao turned to Minami beside him.
Minami blinked. "Why don't you go?"
"I'm afraid of ghosts," Tamao said uneasily.
"…You're afraid of ghosts, but not Edo Tensei corpses?" Minami was speechless.
"They're not the same!"
"…"
Minami shot Tamao a glare, then stepped out of formation and walked toward Fugaku's coffin.
He looked at Uchiha Yu and Mikoto.
With their silent approval, Minami opened the wooden box—inside, sure enough, was a small pile of ashes.
Mikoto turned to Sasuke, confusion flickering in her eyes. Sasuke had lived in the village all along; perhaps he knew something.
But Sasuke only stood there blankly, shaking his head.
"I… I don't know what happened."
Mikoto's emotions tangled within her chest.
She couldn't even tell whether Fugaku being reduced to ashes was good or bad news—but at least she wouldn't have to face that awkward situation anymore.
"Uchiha Yu," Orochimaru said, just as puzzled. He turned his head toward Yu beside him.
Back when he'd first visited the cemetery, Orochimaru had considered stealing Fugaku's remains.
In hindsight, he was glad he hadn't—otherwise, he'd only have taken home an urn. What a waste of effort that would've been.
Seeing everyone's curiosity, Uchiha Yu thought for a moment and then guessed,
"After the Uchiha clan was wiped out, the only one left in the village was Itachi. He arranged the funerals for the clan. This was his doing."
Mikoto froze, her scalp tingling.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and snarled, "Of course it was him! That damned bastard deserves to die a thousand deaths!"
Moments ago, Mikoto and Sasuke had worried that facing Edo-Tensei Fugaku might be unbearably awkward.
Now that worry had vanished—Fugaku was completely gone, reduced to ashes by his dear eldest son.
Mikoto stared at the coffin, and suddenly something came to her mind. Her pupils trembled slightly as she whispered,
"Uchiha Yu, there's something important I need to tell you."
Yu nodded, then turned to Orochimaru.
"Continue reviving the others."
"Understood. But a large-scale Edo Tensei will take some time. Please wait a moment, Uchiha Yu," Orochimaru replied with a smile before turning to command the Sound ninja to keep working.
"You've done well. We have plenty of time," Yu said casually, then followed Mikoto toward the edge of the graveyard.
As Uchiha Yu and Mikoto left, Tamao and Minami eagerly approached Orochimaru, asking him to teach them how to perform Edo Tensei.
After all, being able to summon the dead to work for you—workers who never got tired and didn't consume energy—was a dream come true for Tamao.
Seeing the Uchiha clan's growing enthusiasm, Orochimaru didn't hold back. He began giving a verbal lecture on the basics of the Edo Tensei technique.
Whether the Uchiha could truly master it, however, depended on whether they were willing to study under him in private afterward.
Young Sasuke wanted to join in too, hoping to learn Edo Tensei for himself—but Izumi pulled him back, saying he was still too young for that sort of jutsu.
Meanwhile, within the prison space, Tobirama was fuming.
"What the hell is he doing—teaching my forbidden technique to more people?"
Uchiha Yu smirked. "Oh? Should I arrange a copyright fee for you?"
"Bastard!" Tobirama roared, clenching his fists.
"Oh, you mean that bastard? His name's Orochimaru—he was trained by your excellent student, Hiruzen Sarutobi," Yu replied with a faint grin.
Tobirama fell silent again, spiraling back into despair.
Outside the cemetery, what was once a lush forest had been reduced to a barren wasteland by war—only a few weeds remained.
Seeing that the rest of the Uchiha were now completely absorbed in the Edo Tensei process, Mikoto finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she turned to Uchiha Yu, her tone serious.
"Uchiha Yu, all this time, I believed that once a person dies, they can never return. It wasn't until we came back to the shinobi world that I learned of Edo Tensei—a technique capable of bringing back the dead. That's why I never told you this before… Fugaku's eyes were the same as yours. He had the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Mangekyō…" Uchiha Yu's brows furrowed slightly, deep in thought.
So Fugaku had awakened the Mangekyō—then that confirmed the nature of this world.
"I see," he said at last. "I know."
Mikoto looked surprised.
"Uchiha Yu… you knew about this all along?"
She remembered clearly—very few even within the Uchiha clan knew that Fugaku possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Only a handful of his most trusted confidants were aware of it. It was one of the secret trump cards that gave the Uchiha high council the confidence to attempt rebellion.
The reason Mikoto had never mentioned it before was simple: she believed Fugaku was gone forever.
Itachi, who had remained in the village, would've buried him properly—and surely wouldn't have tampered with Fugaku's eyes.
But now, looking back—she had underestimated Itachi.
Of course, leaving such a pair of eyes in Fugaku's corpse was impossible.
Even if it was only to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Konoha elders, Itachi would have taken them for himself.
"I'm guessing Fugaku's body was cremated by Itachi," Uchiha Yu said calmly. "He did it to retrieve the Mangekyō Sharingan and keep it hidden from the higher-ups in Konoha."
"So… Fugaku's eyes have been with Itachi all along."
Itachi had always carried the eye technique Kotoamatsukami on him—he was truly patient and calculating.
Judging from Sasuke's description of how Itachi was humiliated and cornered by Konoha's shinobi,
Itachi had likely concealed the fact that he still held his father's eyes—keeping them as his final trump card.
In the original timeline, Itachi—and even Konoha—never took Fugaku's eyes. It was a massive hole in logic.
But now that Itachi had lost his own, there was no way he would let his father's Mangekyō go to waste.
"..."
Mikoto's expression softened into sadness. She sighed.
"I'm sorry, Uchiha Yu."
"This isn't your fault," Yu replied evenly. "I'll get those eyes back for you."
Mikoto shook her head. "No, Yu. If you manage to retrieve them… then you should use them.
I don't want to be involved in shinobi affairs anymore. I just want to stay home and wait for you to come back every day."
Fugaku would never again appear in the shinobi world.
And with that, Mikoto's worries were gone.
Now that Konoha was being rebuilt, she had already made up her mind—to become a homemaker once again, caring for Uchiha Yu's daily life.
That was the life she yearned for now.
"Alright," Yu nodded, not refusing her offer. He, too, was curious about what kind of power Fugaku's eyes held.
Just then, commotion erupted from the cemetery—the Edo Tensei ritual had officially begun under Orochimaru's hand.
This was his newly improved version of the technique—refined and reconstructed so that it no longer required the dead's flesh or blood, though it still demanded their bones.
Ashes, burned by flame, would not do.
As Orochimaru put it, the spiritual connection between cremated remains and the soul was far too weak.
°°°
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