"Are you... an Uchiha?"
Sasuke was the first to speak. His blunt tone erupted from the first word that sprouted from his lips.
Tatsuya frowned. Perhaps it was because he had been classmates with Suguru, but he was very sensitive to a person's gaze. The way Sasuke looked at him was filled with wariness.
"Yes," Tatsuya's answer came cordially. "I am the only son of Uchiha Noboru and Asuka. You're Uncle Fugaku's second son, correct?"
He was very much unlike the arrogant older Uchiha before him.
Hearing the way Tatsuya addressed his father, Sasuke's expression softened. A conflict of emotions collided in his mind.
"How did you survive?"
This was the question that bothered Sasuke very much. With how confident Itachi had been, he fully expected that he was the only survivor of that terrifying night. To encounter someone from the same clan four years later...
Sasuke suddenly felt a little lost.
Tatsuya shook his head, "I followed my instincts and hid outside the village. Itachi couldn't kill someone who wasn't present."
Then, Tatsuya's gaze hardened. "How about you? Why didn't your brother kill you?"
To Tatsuya, this was a point of suspicion. Why had Itachi spared only his younger brother? Itachi had killed his own parents and the entire clan.
Why spare one measly Uchiha?
Suddenly, Sasuke's demeanor changed. A pure and unbridled hatred oozed out of him like a suffocating grasp.
It wasn't bloodlust, no.
But a hatred so pure that it was palpable.
"He..." Sasuke's voice was laced with venomous desires, "He said that I was not worth killing."
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke's eyes turned crimson and the one-tomoe Sharingan he bore became visible.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan... Itachi said that we can only gain it by killing our closest friend, just like the way he killed Shisui. And that I could only face him once I have been able to do exactly that."
Hearing these words, Tatsuya's frown deepened. His eyes were also dyed crimson, and his two-tomoe Sharingan appeared before Sasuke. The hardships that he had gone through in the past four years gave him confidence despite being younger.
Seeing such eyes, Sasuke was momentarily shocked. This moment gave Tatsuya a chance to speak.
"To kill our closest friend... How can such a thing unlock this so-called Mangekyou?"
Both Sasuke and Tatsuya were unaware of the stone tablet hidden in the Naka Shrine.
To Tatsuya, the person closest to him was most likely Suguru. However, he didn't understand how one event could cause the other.
Killing Suguru? What could that achieve?
In all honesty, Tatsuya felt that if he tried doing something as crazy as that, he would be the one to die first. Although he hated Itachi, he didn't hate him enough that he would risk his own life.
'I'd be better off asking for Suguru's advice.'
In the brief time that the two seatmates were reunited, Tatsuya had come to know of one thing:
The boy known as Hiryu Suguru had a brain that even the Hokage acknowledged.
Furthermore...
Tatsuya's instincts were once again telling him something. His gut feeling told him that something was wrong with how the Mangekyou Sharingan had to be unlocked. If he asked Suguru about it, the layers beneath Sasuke and Itachi's beliefs would surely reveal themselves to him.
Thus, he spoke with conviction.
"There's something wrong with Itachi-san's words, Sasuke." Tatsuya shook his head, "Why do you believe the words of the guy you thought was your brother? For all we know, he could be lying yet again."
Sasuke went silent upon hearing Tatsuya's cold reasoning.
"If we want revenge, then we need to be more careful. Don't believe everything that people tell you."
'At least, that's what Suguru would say.' Tatsuya thought about all the betrayals he had seen over the last four years.
Recalling those memories made a certain desire well up within him. There was a warmth in his gut, telling him not to waste time.
'I need to get stronger.' He thought. 'And fast,'
"So, as the last of our clan..." Tatsuya held out a hand for Sasuke to shake, "I say we work together."
"...As long as I get to kill Itachi in the end, we can." Sasuke nodded, acknowledging the wisdom in Tatsuya's words.
The two shook hands.
After which, Sasuke grinned. A certain kouhai with silver hair and silver eyes appeared in his mind. Tatsuya's two-tomoe Sharingan reminded him of Suguru's talent and that one time the latter came to him, calling him brother.
Now, another talented kid had appeared before Sasuke, making his competitive spirit itch. Furthermore, Tatsuya was an Uchiha just like him.
Therefore, the conclusion was simple:
"Do you want to spar?"
***
Choosing one of the clan's old training grounds, Sasuke and Tatsuya faced each other under the afternoon sun.
Their Sharingans were already active, carefully watching their opponent's movements. They scouted for any twitching muscles or deep breaths.
For a moment, all was still.
Then, when the breeze blew...
—Clang!
Two kunai struck each other in midair, negating their respective trajectories.
—Clang, clang, clang, clang!
A rapid stream of kunai and shuriken clashed between the two Uchiha. Sasuke moved first while Tatsuya responded.
Every attack had been read through by the latter, allowing him to slowly overwhelm his older counterpart.
However—
[Snake » Ram » Monkey » Boar » Horse » Tiger].
'Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!'
Sasuke somehow weaved hand signs in between each volley of attacks.
Tatsuya's eyes perceived the suddenness of the situation, long before anyone else could. He thus responded in kind.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!'
Spitting a large amount of flames, Tatsuya poured out a significant amount of his chakra.
Seeing his jutsu get canceled out, Sasuke was shocked. He did not notice Tatsuya making any hand signs. All he saw was the sudden fireball that met his own.
The clash of two, dense chakra fires created a wide explosion of flames.
Both Sasuke and Tatsuya had to leap backward.
'An opportunity,' Tatsuya rushed forward the moment the flames disappeared. Unexpectedly, Sasuke did the same.
With one fist being parried by the other, Tatsuya realized something upon feeling the bizarre impact caused by Sasuke's strikes.
"Hm?"
From the vague, weighted softness of his limbs to the optimal posture to flicker right afterward.
It was similar to the way a certain silver-haired chuunin had fought — a brutish form of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist.
'This Taijutsu!'
Similarly, Sasuke was also shocked.
'Do they know each other?!'
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