UTBW: Ch. 75

"I am right, aren't I?"

Junichi smiled and shook his head. 

"Kakashi, you're still far from being able to play in the upper echelons of power. You'd better just stay a good elite ninja." As he spoke, he tilted his chin toward the three clan members. The three Uchiha immediately stepped forward and restrained Kakashi.

"What are you doing!?" Kakashi's expression changed as he tried to dodge.

But Junichi's light, offhand remark froze him in place. "Last night, you used a summoning beast to deliver a message to Hiruzen, informing him about our actions, didn't you?"

Kakashi's face went rigid.

Junichi sighed. "You think we can't calculate when Hiruzen arrived at the Sarutobi compound? My clansmen warned you not to get involved. But you didn't listen. That's unfortunate, your privilege of being the student of the Fourth Hokage no longer protects you."

He raised his hand and gestured toward Kakashi's left eye.

"That eye… hand it back."

As he finished speaking, the two Uchiha beside Kakashi pressed him down. The third reached for his forehead protector.

Kakashi's entire body tensed. From left, right, and front, three pairs of Sharingan bore into him.

There was no escaping this.

"Is this how you behave as a clan leader?" Kakashi could only turn to him and shout, "You forcibly brought me to the Uchiha clan, and now you're taking my Sharingan? How do you think the others will see this? Don't you think you're being too tyrannical?"

The Uchiha who had reached out paused and looked at Junichi.

"Funny. When have I ever followed the rules? When have I ever cared about how others see me? When have I ever not been tyrannical?" Junichi spoke with a slight smile. "Take the Sharingan out."

"Yes!" The third clan member resumed his action, swiftly removing Kakashi's forehead protector.

"Stop! That's Obito's eye!"

Thud!

The Uchiha on the right slammed his knee into Kakashi's stomach. His stomach spasmed instantly.

Kakashi bent over in pain, his face flushing red like a boiled shrimp.

Shing!

The Uchiha on the left drew a kunai and held it to his neck.

"This isn't a negotiation," the Uchiha in front said as he pried open Kakashi's left eyelid and thrust his fingers in roughly.

"AHH!!" Kakashi let out a cry of unbearable pain. The optic nerve, blood vessels, and tissue were all severed violently.

A Sharingan was extracted and placed into a prepared nutrient container.

The Uchiha wiped the blood off and presented the container to Junichi with both hands.

"Hmm." Junichi nodded, accepted the vial, and a faint, unreadable smile formed on his lips.

This Mangekyō Sharingan now belonged to him.

"Give Obito's eye back!!" Kakashi suddenly roared, chakra erupting violently, and with a burst of strength, he broke free from the hold of the two Uchiha ninjas.

But the one in front turned back with a cold smile. His Sharingan locked eyes with Kakashi's right eye.

Kakashi was instantly paralyzed, as if invisible chains had sealed his body. In his perception, heavy, golden shackles appeared out of thin air, stabbing into his limbs and torso like stakes, nailing him firmly in place.

"Always relying on Obito's eye made you too complacent about defending against genjutsu," Junichi said. "To get caught so easily... You're not even as good as a special jonin anymore."

Kakashi's veins bulged in anger, and his breathing grew heavier.

"And another thing, the eye wasn't taken by me. You lost it because of your own actions," Junichi declared as he put the glass vial away.

Kakashi stared at the vial, his right eye wide open, until it disappeared from sight.

His gaze suddenly turned dull, as if the light had been extinguished from his world, plunged completely into darkness.

First his father.

Then Obito.

After that Rin.

And finally his teacher.

Kakashi's entire life had been a series of losses, as if drowned in endless sorrow. The only thing that kept him going, like a walking corpse, was the Sharingan Obito left behind.

But… What did that have to do with Junichi?

If our paths differ, we don't work together, Junichi thought. Empathy is one of the most meaningless things there is in this world.

Tragedy, there's no end to it.

To endlessly empathize is just letting yourself be held hostage by someone else's suffering, an excuse for cowards to run away from their own lives.

"Kakashi…" He looked down at him with a faint smile and commanded, "Your Chidori suits the Uchiha clan well. Tell me the hand signs for it."

Kakashi stared in disbelief.

He struggled to lift his head, looking at Junichi with utter incomprehension. The three other Uchiha clan members were also visibly shocked. To take the Sharingan and then demand Chidori?

That was going too far.

Even the three clan members thought so in their hearts.

Chidori was Kakashi's original creation, a personal technique meant only for his heirs or disciples. It was essentially on par with a bloodline or clan secret technique, absolutely not something outsiders could covet.

"Are you joking?" Kakashi laughed bitterly in fury. "You think I'd give it to you?"

"I think you should," Junichi replied with the same calm smile. "You overestimated yourself by getting involved in the Fifth Hokage's affairs, tried to control the ANBU, and chose to oppose the Uchiha clan. To me, that means you've chosen to be our enemy. And I never show mercy to my enemies."

He slowly turned and looked toward the clan grounds beyond, and raised his hand and pointed into the distance in four directions.

With each point, he uttered a name.

"Shimura…"

"Mitokado…"

"Utatane…"

"Sarutobi…"

With every name spoken, Kakashi's body trembled slightly. The rage in his eyes was snuffed out as if drenched in cold water.

"Kakashi, the Hatake clan still has thirty members—men, women, and children," Junichi said as he turned back to face him. "Do you want your clan to end up like those four clans from last night?"

Kakashi felt all strength leave his body, as if his spine had been ripped out. He collapsed completely.

"If you don't want that, then give me the hand signs for Chidori," Junichi said coldly. "And from now on, just be an elite ninja. Don't involve yourself in the village's power struggles. If you do that, I'll spare your life, and the life of the Hatake clan. If not…"

He didn't finish the sentence. He simply turned and resumed feeding his fish.

The air was dead silent.

The three Uchiha members stared at Junichi in awe.

Clearly, this was a case of stealing someone's treasured jutsu, yet from his mouth, it sounded like a generous act.

Give the technique, and you live. Refuse, and your whole family dies.

Drip.

Blood dripped from Kakashi's lowered head, from the empty socket of his left eye. But he made no response.

Inside, he was drowning in regret and self-blame.