After setting out his two-year training plan, Rokuro immediately began to take action.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, through Uchiha Setsuna's connections, Rokuro obtained a considerable number of medical texts and even consulted several veteran medical-ninja, learning a great deal about medical theory and practice.
Changes were also happening within the Uchiha clan. Under Setsuna's leadership, the more militant members began bringing their younger kin—those with potential but who had yet to awaken their Sharingan—and used ninja tools to forcibly awaken their eyes.
Most only reached the single tomoe stage, but a few exceptionally gifted ones managed to awaken double tomoe Sharingan right away. Clearly, Itachi wasn't the only genius within the clan.
The reason most of them had gone unnoticed in the original timeline was simple—Itachi was the clan head's son, born into privilege. With the best resources and never having to worry about learning techniques, he outshone the rest.
Now, with Rokuro—an unpredictable outsider—disrupting the course of fate, many talented but overlooked Uchihas were finally seeing their chance to rise.
Thanks to Rokuro's insight, every one of these Uchiha youths who used ninja tools to awaken their eyes was branded with a cursed seal, ensuring they could never reveal anything about the tools—or about Rokuro himself.
If they even felt the urge to speak about it, the curse would paralyze their entire body, making it impossible to talk or even write. It was an effective way to prevent leaks.
Of course, both Rokuro and Setsuna understood that the cursed seal could only delay the inevitable.
Once a large number of newly awakened Uchiha started to stand out, Danzō's Root and the Hokage's Anbu would certainly notice—let alone Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader. But for now, what the clan needed most was time. Even one extra day mattered.
As for Rokuro's personal life, Uchiha Kei finally graduated early. Like most clan shinobi, she joined the Konoha Military Police.
Half a year ago, Rokuro would have strongly objected. After all, the Police Force was a dead end—a "pig farm" where even the brightest got complacent.
But now, his views had shifted. Kei was already his chosen partner. Once she came of age, he planned to take her into the woods—figuratively and literally. There would be no secrets between them.
His future goal was to achieve the body of an Ōtsutsuki. Naturally, Kei would undergo the same transformation—and even her mother, Uchiha Ashikaga, was part of his plans. However, since she wasn't an Uchiha by blood, modifying her would be more difficult.
Since the path of "bloodline transcendence" had already been set, conventional training no longer mattered much.
In fact, letting Kei continue as a normal shinobi—going on missions, exposing herself to danger—was riskier. No one knew when the old wolf, Shimura Danzō, might come lunging for the kill.
After weighing everything, Rokuro decided not to stop Kei from joining the Police Force.
Time flowed on. The year was now Konoha Year 53. Rokuro, born in Year 45, had turned eight—just like Itachi.
That day, Itachi and two of his teammates, led by their jōnin instructor, accepted a mission to protect a merchant.
Much like Team 7's mission to the Land of Waves in the original timeline, it was classified as a simple C-rank mission. But not long after departure, they were ambushed by a masked man.
In an instant, their instructor and one of the genin were killed. The merchant collapsed in terror, while Itachi and his remaining teammate drew their kunai, trembling.
Thunk!
An arrow shot into the sky, firing a distress signal.
Normally, when missing-ninja saw the flare, they would retreat immediately—no one wanted to face the Leaf's reinforcements so close to the village.
But this masked man didn't panic. He walked forward calmly, his killing intent pressing down on the boys.
"Run! I'll hold him off!" the genin shouted to Itachi before charging with his kunai.
Itachi froze. His sharp eyes had already seen the impossible gap between their strengths. Knowing they couldn't win made the fear even worse.
As expected
With a flash of steel, the genin was nearly cut in half. He didn't even have time to scream.
The shock of death—the brutal, visceral impact—ignited a violent surge of emotion in Itachi's heart. His black eyes turned scarlet, and two tomoe swirled into being.
That's right—Uchiha Itachi had awakened his Sharingan. And it wasn't a single tomoe—it was double tomoe, matching Rokuro's level.
With his Sharingan active, Itachi's dynamic vision sharpened drastically, and his chakra surged.
In a fluid motion, he leapt into the air, flipped upside down, and threw eight kunai in a single breath.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The kunai collided midair, changing trajectories to seal every angle of escape around the masked man.
To Itachi, the fight was already decided—no one could survive his perfectly calculated kunai formation.
But when the weapons hit, his victory smile froze.
Each kunai passed clean through the man's body as though hitting a mirage, embedding themselves harmlessly in the ground.
"Genjutsu—Release!"
Still falling, Itachi formed the seal and tried to dispel it. But his chakra flow remained perfectly normal—he wasn't caught in any illusion.
This can't be…
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
With blistering speed—five hand seals in a second—Itachi's fireball erupted almost instantly, blasting toward the masked man.
The man didn't even move, walking straight into the roaring flames.
Boom!
Just like before, the fireball passed through him. The two-meter sphere of flame exploded against a nearby tree, splintering it in half and setting it ablaze.
"So it's a space-time ninjutsu!"
Even at eight, Itachi's battle intellect ranked among the top three in Konoha—and could rival Minato's. Two moves were all it took for him to deduce the enemy's technique.
A masked man using a space-time ability that made attacks pass through him—there was only one shinobi in the world who fit that description.
Uchiha Obito—the clan's other traitor, and a man half lost to madness.
Seeing Itachi's gleaming Sharingan, Obito gave a chilling sneer.
"All Uchiha deserve to die. Especially the gifted ones. I won't give you the chance to grow stronger."
With that, he lunged forward, blade drawn, intent on ending the boy's life.
But just as he was about to strike, he sensed multiple chakra signatures rapidly approaching—the sound of swift movement cutting through the air. Among them was one he recognized well.
"Tch. You're lucky today," he said with a cold laugh. "Next time we meet, you die. Live well… under the weight of your fear."
And with that, Obito vanished, slipping into another dimension.
Moments later, several masked Anbu operatives arrived on the scene. At their head—Hatake Kakashi.
It was Kakashi's chakra signature that had made Obito retreat.
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
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