Chapter 66: Meeting Uchiha Hakan Again

Early morning.

A drowsy Uchiha Jin was jolted awake by a persistent knocking on his door.

As he shuffled to the door, Jin couldn't help but wonder who would be so inconsiderate as to disrupt his early morning peace.

Upon opening the door, he found none other than Uchiha Fugaku standing there with a grim expression.

Jin took one look at him, then promptly slammed the door shut, frowning inside.

"Did I just see Fugaku at my door?"

Maybe I opened the door wrong, he thought.

Jin opened the door again.

Uchiha Fugaku, now rubbing his nose, quickly straightened his face the moment Jin opened the door. If only it weren't for the red mark left on his nose.

Just as Fugaku was about to say something—

Bang!

The door shut again.

"Why is that dour-faced Fugaku standing at my doorstep?" Jin wondered, sinking into thought.

This guy hadn't bothered him in ages, so why show up right when he returned?

Finally, Jin opened the door one last time to find Fugaku still standing there, his entire face now flushed, a clear imprint of the door visible on his forehead.

Maybe Jin had closed the door with a bit too much force.

"That's enough!" Fugaku called out urgently, before Jin could close the door again.

Any more of this, and his face might not recover.

"It really is you," Jin muttered, eyeing Fugaku with disbelief, as if spotting a rare creature.

"Did the sun rise in the west today? You didn't just sneak into my place?"

Certainly not the usual demeanor of a clan head.

Fugaku's face remained impassive at Jin's jab.

Sneak in? He did everything openly, or so he'd tell himself.

He considered correcting Jin's choice of words, but instead, he went straight to the reason for his visit.

"The Elder wants to see you."

"Again?"

Jin frowned. He didn't hold the Uchiha clan in high regard, and after the last time they had nearly sacrificed him, his already limited goodwill was completely spent.

"After all, you bear the Uchiha name."

Fugaku reminded him in a serious tone.

It was a name Jin could never shake off.

Jin glanced past Fugaku, landing on the villagers chatting and laughing nearby.

The Uchiha clan… a clan destined for tragedy in Konoha.

A reality he couldn't escape.

"Fine. Lead the way," he relented, curious to see what that old man had in mind this time.

Within the Uchiha clan, Jin didn't align with either the radicals or the moderates.

He represented only himself.

Following Fugaku, he arrived at a secluded courtyard.

Several clan members were working around the area.

In the backyard, he spotted Uchiha Hakan, dressed in loose clothes, sitting on a rock with a fishing rod in hand.

Jin watched the red koi swirling in the pond.

Was this even edible?

"Elder." Fugaku knelt on one knee.

Jin, however, remained indifferent, even taking a seat beside Hakan, observing his unmoving fishing rod.

"A failed angler."

A vein began to throb faintly on Hakan's forehead.

He despised being called a "failed angler."

Fugaku wanted to caution Jin against disrespect, but knowing Jin wouldn't listen, he could only sigh, swallowing his words.

Hakan exhaled slowly.

"Jin, what do you think of the village?"

"Don't speak so familiarly. We're not close."

Jin shot him a sideways glance, disappointed that he didn't see any discomfort in Hakan's expression.

Hakan merely watched the fish in the pond.

"I understand you resent our clan, and justifiably so. We wronged you first."

The creator of the basic internal energy technique.

When Hakan heard this news, he realized he had underestimated Uchiha Jin.

His actions had, in fact, driven Jin to the other side.

Initially, Hakan had never thought he'd have to swallow his pride; no Uchiha had ever dared treat him this way.

But then reports from the frontline confirmed that Jin had awakened his Sharingan.

This established Jin as a true Uchiha prodigy.

Alas.

He had, ultimately, made a critical mistake.

"It's not that I hold a grudge against you," Jin responded, before shifting his tone.

"After all, it's not worth my time to be upset with idiots!"

Crack! Hakan's fishing rod snapped.

Despite knowing Jin was unlike other clan members, Hakan still struggled with his biting sarcasm.

But since Jin was now a figure on par with Tobirama Senju, Hakan had no choice but to suppress his irritation.

"However…"

Jin looked at the ripples on the water, his face impassive.

"As for the village, I think it's merely a construct that limits shinobi."

This piqued Hakan's interest. He'd never heard it put that way before.

"Could you elaborate?"

Jin glanced at him, then at Fugaku, who hadn't yet left.

These two, at least, wouldn't spread his words.

So, Jin began to explain.

"The world is vast. Beyond the door lies the village; beyond the village, the Land of Fire; beyond the Land of Fire, the shinobi world; and beyond the shinobi world lies the universe.

"But the village, in essence, restricts shinobi's ambitions, confining them here. The 'Will of Fire' is merely a trick to fool people, asking them to give for the village without realizing that it's the people who make the village, and without them, it's just an empty shell."

"You're all fools, and the other shinobi in this village aren't much better."

"The Will of Fire is the foundation of this village!" Fugaku couldn't hold back, retorting, "Without the village, there is no us."

He couldn't grasp Jin's perspective, much less accept it.

"Shut up!" Hakan ordered sharply.

Though reluctant, Fugaku complied, closing his mouth.

"See? The fools raised by the village," Jin scoffed, pointing at Fugaku like one would at a trained monkey.

It was ironic.

Fugaku's face flushed in embarrassment.

"Your thoughts are quite interesting."

Though Hakan didn't agree with Jin's views, he could understand them.

As someone from the Warring States Period, he knew well the stability the village brought.

If only the Hokage of Konoha was a Uchiha.

But disagreement didn't mean he couldn't comprehend it.

Young people were always like this, weren't they?

"Still, the village is ultimately your foundation, and the Uchiha clan is your home," Hakan remarked with a sigh.

"What is it that you really want to say?" Jin sensed Hakan had a hidden message.

"I can feel my life nearing its end," Hakan admitted wistfully.

Jin merely glanced at him. If Hakan had practiced the basic internal energy, he could have lived to see the time of Uzumaki Naruto.

But for reasons unknown, Hakan hadn't chosen to learn it.

Even Fugaku hadn't practiced it.

"I hope that, in the future, you can support Fugaku to uphold the honor of the Uchiha."

Unlike last time, Hakan's tone now held a pleading note.

It was a request from the heart.

Jin listened in silence, his gaze landing on the impassive Fugaku.

He looked up at the sky.

A white dove soaring overhead was suddenly caught by a net that came out of nowhere, dragging it down into the distance.

What a pity.

He was not that white dove.

"Why must Fugaku be the clan head?"

"Why can't it be me?"

Jin's voice was slow and steady.

To the two of them, however, it struck like thunder.