After thinking it over, Yan decided not to stop Itachi from telling others about his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Fugaku definitely had the right to know. After all, he was the clan leader and also Itachi's father.
As for everyone else, that was up to Itachi. He could decide who he trusted.
As long as he didn't overuse the power of the Mangekyō, it was fine.
In the original story, Itachi's illness was largely caused by excessive use of his Mangekyō. Otherwise, Sasuke wouldn't have had such an easy time obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō.
"Father, he..."
Itachi had just deactivated his Mangekyō when his pupils shrank slightly.
His eyesight wasn't great...
That meant Fugaku had been using his Mangekyō too much, draining his visual power.
Yan nodded slowly.
"The clan leader's Mangekyō ability is special—it lets him see glimpses of the future. The power of a Sharingan technique is directly linked to how much it drains the user's vision. He's become somewhat dependent on it."
Seeing the worry on Itachi's face, Yan reassured him.
"Of course, it's just affecting his eyesight a little. He's not going blind yet. As long as he stops overusing it, he'll be fine.
About using the Mangekyō—come to my place tonight, and I'll give you some guidance. As for the clan leader and Shisui...
Just ignore them."
Fugaku relied too much on his Mangekyō ability. Shisui was the same.
The only reason he didn't use Kotoamatsukami too often was because it was ridiculously overpowered.
But in private, Shisui had been using his Mangekyō quite a bit.
He was working on mastering Susano'o.
Yan knew all of this.
He just couldn't be bothered to say anything.
In the past, it was understandable to do everything possible to get stronger. But now? If they kept pushing themselves and went blind, that was their own problem.
The Uchiha clan was doing fine as it was. Whether they had one more pair of Mangekyō or one less didn't really make much of a difference.
As long as they didn't actually blind themselves, Yan didn't care what they did.
As long as he didn't go blind himself, that was all that mattered.
"Understood."
Itachi was sharp. From Yan's dismissive tone, he immediately realized that both Shisui and his father had been overusing their Mangekyō Sharingan.
That was why Yan was so unimpressed with them.
"Then, Elder, I'll take my leave."
Itachi couldn't wait to go home and talk to his father.
And to Sasuke.
Even with Yan's reassurance, he still needed to have a serious talk with Sasuke.
Orochimaru was simply too dangerous.
If possible, he really didn't want Sasuke to become Orochimaru's student, to learn from him, to be shaped by him.
Especially through Orochimaru's extreme training methods.
But he had no choice. All he could do was trust Yan, as always.
"Go ahead."
Itachi bowed, then left the office, carefully closing the door behind him.
As he stepped out of the Hokage building, he noticed that Shisui was still there.
Seeing Itachi come out, Shisui smiled and explained, "I was going to head back to work, but I figured we haven't hung out in a long time, so I waited for you."
"How about some barbecue?"
Shisui invited him.
Itachi thought for a moment, then agreed.
On the way to the barbecue place, Shisui took off his glasses and chuckled at himself.
"When I don't wear these, a lot of kids think I look scary. Seriously, do I really seem that terrifying?"
Thinking about the way kids shrank back when they saw him, Shisui was speechless.
He didn't think he looked scary at all.
"But..."
Shisui raised his hand, gesturing slightly, and sighed, "Itachi, you've grown up."
Itachi used to be his little shadow, always following him around. He was so small back then. But now, he was nearly as tall as Shisui.
Maybe in another year or so, he'd be the same height—or even taller.
"People grow."
Itachi spoke much less than he used to.
Maybe that was the price of growing up.
Inside the private room of the barbecue restaurant, they grilled meat and reminisced about the past. Most of the time, it was Shisui talking while Itachi listened.
It was clear that Shisui was in a good mood today. He was talking more than usual.
"The elders say you've been overusing your Mangekyou, Shisui."
"..."
As soon as Itachi said that, Shisui's smile froze.
It took him a while to recover before he rubbed his face with a bitter smile.
"Didn't think I was being that obvious… and they still noticed. Guess the gap between me and the elders is getting wider."
"Why?"
Itachi didn't understand.
Back then, when Uchiha was on the verge of destruction, it made sense for Shisui to push himself so hard.
But now, the crisis had passed. The Uchiha were doing better than ever. So why was he still like this?
"Because I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with the elders."
Shisui sighed.
"I still remember the way the elder sincerely invited me to work together for Uchiha's future."
He did it, and I wasn't wrong about him.
But before I knew it, he had already left us behind. I want to catch up to him.
Shisui's mood started to sink.
"We have the same eyes now."
After a long silence, Itachi dropped this bombshell.
Shisui was completely caught off guard. He looked both happy and worried.
"Really? When did this happen? Nothing bad happened in the clan recently, right?"
"The clan has been stable, and things are going well."
Itachi knew exactly what Shisui was worried about. Shisui was afraid that Itachi had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan after witnessing something terrible happen to someone important.
"The process was... strange. It just happened without me realizing it. It was kind of similar to yours, Shisui."
"Phew... You scared me there for a second."
Shisui let out a deep breath.
Just as he was about to share some advice, Itachi spoke again.
"The elders told me not to associate with you or my father. They said your actions are only hurting yourselves. They want me to meet them tonight so they can teach me how to use these eyes."
"..."
Shisui's smile froze.
His expression turned annoyed as he looked at Itachi.
Does this kid not realize how hurtful his words are?
Once wasn't enough, so he had to stab me again?!
"Alright, alright, I'll be careful when using these eyes in the future."
Shisui understood that Itachi said all this to remind him to be cautious and not overuse the Mangekyou Sharingan, or else he'd eventually go blind.
His intentions were good, but the way he said it made Shisui want to punch him.
The older Itachi got, the less cute he became.
After the gathering ended, Shisui left feeling frustrated, while Itachi's mood had actually improved.
When he got home, the first thing he did was find Fugaku and tell him everything about the Mangekyou Sharingan.
He also repeated some of Yan's words to give Fugaku a little shock.
"*Cough! Cough! Cough!*"
Fugaku couldn't help but choke.
"That brat... He really dares to say anything, huh? As if I didn't use these eyes for the sake of the Uchiha!"
Fugaku was glad that Yan didn't tell Itachi to keep it a secret and instead encouraged him to be honest.
He was also happy that Yan was willing to teach Itachi.
At first, he and Shisui had the same thoughts, but they ended up getting completely shut down.
What's wrong with using the Mangekyou?
Is it really that unacceptable?
Why do they have to target us like this? And why are their words so harsh?
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