Chapter 179: The Weight of a Name
Night fell, blanketing Konohagakure. Within the revitalized Uchiha Clan Territory, the district was brightly lit. Paper lanterns bearing the red-and-white fan crest cast a warm glow on the clean streets, a sight of prosperity unimaginable just a year prior.
Inside Fugaku's silent study at his residence, the atmosphere was far colder.
Uchiha Fugaku knelt in the main seat, alone in the shadows. A cup of long-cold tea sat on the low table before him. He was oblivious to it.
His gaze passed through the window, looking toward the Hokage Residence, the tallest structure in all of Konoha village. The light in the top-floor office was still on, even at this late hour. A tireless beacon of power.
He is still working.
Fugaku's mood was complex, a roiling sea of feeling beneath a calm surface.
As the former Clan Head, it was he who had personally, with his own hands, handed over the position to Uchiha Akira.
Looking back now, this was perhaps the most correct decision he had ever made in his life.
Uchiha Akira had not disappointed him. He had not disappointed the entire Uchiha Clan.
He had, with overwhelming force and unimaginable brutality, eliminated Danzō, that lingering old dog, and even forced the Third Hokage to abdicate.
He had seized the throne of the Fifth Hokage.
Under his leadership, the Uchiha Clan had escaped the predicament of being monitored, ostracized, and hated. They had ushered in an unprecedented era of glory.
The power of the Konoha Military Police Force (Konoha Keimu Butai) was expanded, now holding jurisdiction over the entire village, not just a fraction.
[Inorin's Note: The Konoha Military Police Force (Konoha Keimu Butai) was traditionally run by the Uchiha, but their jurisdiction was restricted, which bred friction. This expansion of their power is a massive sign of new trust and authority.]
Clan members faced no obstacles entering Anbu and core Village departments. The family's businesses, once quietly boycotted, now flourished.
Today's Uchiha Clan was, without a doubt, the foremost noble family in Konoha.
All clan members could walk the streets of the Village with their heads held high, enjoying the respectful, and sometimes fearful, gazes of other villagers.
All of this... all of it was brought about by Uchiha Akira.
Fugaku was filled with gratitude and admiration for him.
But... human thoughts are always complex.
Amidst the gratitude and admiration, a hint of unwillingness and buried ambition quietly sprouted in his heart.
He, Uchiha Fugaku, had once been the Clan Head of the Uchiha. A powerful ninja who had, in desperate battle, awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had also once fantasized about leading the Uchiha Clan to the pinnacle of power in Konoha.
However, he lacked Uchiha Akira's courage. He wavered. He hesitated.
And more so, he lacked his absolute, world-breaking strength that could crush all opposition.
He had failed.
And Uchiha Akira had succeeded.
Akira had turned his own unfulfilled ambitions into reality.
Fugaku had to admit that he was inferior to him. He was the weaker Uchiha.
Yet, he was, after all, Uchiha Fugaku.
He had his own pride.
Since he could no longer reach that height himself, all his hopes were now placed on his son.
Itachi was already dead.
That eldest son, on whom he had once placed great hopes but who ultimately betrayed the family—slaughtering dozens of their own kin in an unforgivable madness—was personally executed by Uchiha Akira.
Akira had nailed him to the Uchiha's pillar of shame for all to see the fate of traitors.
Fugaku felt a grim relief at the act. It was justice.
Now, he only had Sasuke left.
"Sasuke..." Fugaku whispered the name, his eyes becoming incredibly deep, a cold fire lighting in their depths.
"My son, Sasuke."
[You must succeed. Not just for yourself, but even more so for me. For our name.]
[For the future of the Uchiha Clan!]
Fugaku knew very well that although Uchiha Akira was the Clan Head and Hokage, he stood too high.
It is lonely at the top. Akira was an anomaly, a walking god among men.
A family cannot rely on just one person, no matter how strong. Gods can leave. Gods can change their minds.
There must be enough strong ninja to truly support this glory. Pillars to hold up the roof.
And his son, Sasuke, must become the most solid pillar, second only to Uchiha Akira.
Therefore, when he learned that Sasuke had lost to Uzumaki Naruto, Fugaku's heart was filled with a cold anger.
Not anger at Sasuke, but anger at the 'failure' itself. A stain on their record.
To lose to Akira's student, the Jinchūriki, the "dead-last." It was a symbolic humiliation.
"You cannot lose, Sasuke. Absolutely cannot lose." Fugaku clenched his fists.
He would use the most rigorous methods to train Sasuke, to unleash all his potential.
He wanted Sasuke to regard Uzumaki Naruto as his fated enemy. As a mountain he absolutely had to overcome.
Only in this way could Sasuke grow at the fastest possible rate. Only through rivalry and hatred, are true Uchiha forged.
...
On the Uchiha's private training ground, under the cold moonlight.
Sasuke's body had reached its limit.
His muscles screamed. His lungs burned. His chakra felt scraped raw, leaving only a hollow ache.
But he did not stop.
There were only two things in his mind.
One was his father's gaze—that look filled with expectation, yet incredibly stern and cold.
The second was Naruto's detestable face, sporting that idiotic grin.
"Dead-last... dead-last..."
He gritted his teeth, muttering the term like a curse. The taste of bile rose in his throat.
"How could I... I... possibly lose to you!"
Bang!
He once again exhausted his chakra, trying to form the seals for another jutsu. But nothing was left.
His body went limp, and he knelt on one knee on the ground, gasping for air.
Sweat and dirt mixed together, making him look disheveled.
"Why... why..."
Sasuke did not understand.
He was clearly a genius. He had received the most orthodox elite education since childhood.
And Naruto?
An unsupervised wild child. An idiot who only caused trouble at the Academy.
Why?
Why could he receive the favor of Hokage-sama?
Why would Uchiha Akira, the pinnacle of their clan, bother training such a worthless outsider?
Why could his strength improve so quickly?
Sasuke could not comprehend it, nor could he accept it. It was an injustice that burned in his chest.
"Get up."
Fugaku's cold voice rang out from the shadows behind Sasuke.
"You can't even continuously release the Great Fireball Technique ten times. Is this your pride as an Uchiha?"
[Inorin's Note: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique (火遁・豪火球の術, Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu) is the signature technique of the Uchiha Clan. It is a C-Rank jutsu that is seen as a rite of passage.]
Sasuke suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes filled with stubbornness.
"I... I can still do it!"
He struggled, trembling, trying to stand up from the ground.
But the fatigue in his body made him fall again, his hands sinking into the soft earth.
Fugaku walked over to him, his shadow falling over his son, blocking the moonlight. He looked down.
"Remember this feeling, Sasuke."
"This feeling of powerlessness. Of humiliation."
"Engrave it into your bones. Let it burn you."
"Then, stand up. And become stronger!"
"Use your power to wash away this disgrace!"
After speaking, Fugaku took a scroll from his pocket and threw it on the ground in front of Sasuke.
It landed with a soft thud.
"This is...?" Sasuke looked at the scroll in confusion, his breath still ragged.
"This is one of our clan's Fire Release Ninjutsu. Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique."
[Inorin's Note: Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique (火遁・龍火の術, Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu) is another C-Rank jutsu, but it requires greater shape control, guiding the fire along a wire or string.]
Sasuke's eyes instantly lit up.
Dragon Fire Technique!
This was a Ninjutsu more powerful and more difficult to master than the Great Fireball!
"Father, I..."
"I don't care what method you use." Fugaku's tone was devoid of emotion, as cold as the night air. "Within one week, I want to see you perfectly execute this Jutsu."
He paused, letting the ultimatum sink in.
"If you can't do it, you will no longer be worthy of calling yourself my son."
With that, Fugaku turned and left without looking back.
Leaving Sasuke alone, kneeling on the cold ground.
Sasuke looked at the scroll on the ground, then at his father's retreating back, his form disappearing into the darkness.
He bit his lip, hard, the coppery taste of blood filling his mouth.
Silently, he reached out a trembling hand and picked up the scroll.
He gripped it, his knuckles turning white.
"Uzumaki Naruto..."
"I will definitely make you look at me with new eyes..."
"I, Uchiha Sasuke, am the strongest!"
Sasuke opened the scroll under the pale moonlight and began to study every word on it, ignoring the screaming pain in his body, driven only by the new fire in his heart.
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