Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 392 Using Illusion to Stimulate the Inner Self

Beside Uchiha Kagami, that legendary figure stood with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

The man was dressed in a simple, dark purple high-necked robe, with his white hair casually draped over his shoulders. Even just standing there quietly, the pressure emanating from him made all the elites with three-comma-level skills present feel immense pressure.

Madara Uchiha.

Without needing to say a word, he simply stood there, and an invisible pressure enveloped the entire area. All whispers vanished instantly, and even the wind seemed to stand still.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment.

"....."

Uchiha Kagami stepped forward and said in a deep voice to his clansmen, "Today, Lord Madara has enlightened us, which is the greatest honor for our Uchiha clan. You must listen attentively and try to understand."

After saying that, he respectfully stepped aside.

Madara Uchiha slowly opened his eyes.

The moment they looked over, everyone felt as if they had been completely seen through, inside and out.

"The Sharingan, the bloodline of the Uchiha, is both a curse and a gift."

The voice was flat, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

"Many of you take pride in these eyes, believing they represent power and superiority."

He scanned the entire area and noticed that many young people had unconsciously puffed out their chests.

"madness."

"What you see is merely the most superficial appearance of power. What you pursue is only a shortcut to destruction."

Ban didn't say anything more, because he knew that no words could be as profound as personal experience.

This was also Hiruzen Sarutobi's suggestion: to educate the Uchiha using the methods the Uchiha were best at.

The next moment, his cloudy eyes changed instantly.

Purple ripples spread outwards in concentric circles from the center of his pupils.

Rinnegan!

Every Uchiha clan member present who met his gaze trembled violently, and then their world began to distort and peel away.

Fugaku only saw a blur before his eyes, and the solemn wooden structure of the training ground vanished instantly, replaced by a sea of ​​fire. No, it was Konoha! The burning Konoha!

Familiar streets and buildings were reduced to charcoal in the raging flames. The villagers' wails and the ninjas' roars intertwined to create a tragic song of despair.

"Mikoto!"

He turned around in terror, only to find his wife was not beside him. He ran frantically through the fire, calling out his wife's name, his heart gripped by fear and despair.

Suddenly, a huge burning beam fell from the sky and crashed down on a little girl who was terrified not far away.

That's too late!

Without a second thought, Fugaku's body rushed forward before his consciousness could register it.

He spread his arms, trying to shield the girl with his body.

Just as the beam was about to crash down, the three tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, and an unprecedented power surged from the depths of his bloodline.

"For...to protect!"

He let out a roar.

Meanwhile, in another part of the illusion.

Uchiha Yogen was facing a residential building that was about to collapse due to an explosion.

"Obito! Yozuki!"

He saw his wife and children trapped on the second-floor balcony, the only staircase already engulfed in flames.

Without hesitation, Ye Xian rushed toward the deadly building. Flames burned his skin, and thick smoke nearly suffocated him.

But he ignored everything and used all his chakra to leap onto the balcony.

"Hurry up!"

He forcefully pushed his wife and son onto the roof of a relatively intact building next to him, while the balcony beneath his feet collapsed completely at that moment.

In the instant his body plummeted, he saw the faces of his wife and children, their eyes filled with a mixture of tears and relief, after they were safe.

"Very good……"

Ye Xian's eyes were blood red, and the magatama spun rapidly.

The same scene played out simultaneously in the minds of hundreds of Uchiha clan members.

They faced a crisis involving the people they cherished most—whether it was their parents, their spouse and children, or their closest friends.

That intense emotion, born of love and the desire to protect at all costs, transformed into the purest nourishment, frantically stimulating the power hidden within their blood.

The one-comma jewel becomes a two-comma jewel.

The two-tomoe jade pendant becomes a three-tomoe jade pendant.

There were even a few exceptionally talented young men who jumped directly from the one-tomoe level to the three-tomoe level!

They never imagined that the evolution of the Sharingan does not necessarily require hatred and loss; the determination to protect can also achieve this!

Just as everyone was filled with excitement, the illusion shifted again.

The burning leaves disappeared.

Instead, a cold, muddy battlefield appeared.

The sky was raining cold rain, and the rainwater carried an indelible smell of rust.

Corpses were everywhere—Senju, Uchiha, and many more clans whose names I couldn't recall.

Hatred, like a maggot clinging to the bone, is etched on the face of everyone who survived.

Fugaku saw a young Uchiha child, with eyes full of hatred, plunge a kunai into the chest of an equally young Senju clansman.

The next second, the Uchiha child was also attacked from behind and fell into a pool of blood.

This is... the Warring States period.

An era with no winners.

They witnessed countless moments.

A young man who awakens the two-tomoe jade to protect his fallen best friend.

A mother whose eyes turned into three tomoe in order to protect her child and fight to the death against the enemy.

Every evolution of the Sharingan is accompanied by a profound act of protection and love. Those cold legends are imbued with burning warmth at this moment.

This lesson is an experience that requires the soul.

Uchiha Tetsuka, the impartial and incorruptible head of the security forces, clenched his fists tightly as he saw the shadow of his father in the illusion.

In the illusion, Ban's old and weary voice slowly rang out.

"This is the world we used to live in. Every day, we lose. Every day, we hate."

The scene shifts again.

The dark clouds dispersed, and the sunlight shone through.

On the muddy battlefield, a man in red armor reached out his hand to a man in blue armor.

Hashirama Senju. Madara Uchiha.

Behind them were their respective family members, their faces showing confusion and wariness, yet also a glimmer of hope.

Then they saw a vast, cleared plain.

Two legendary figures stand side by side on a cliff, looking down at the land below that carries the dream of peace.

"Let's call it Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village)."

Hashirama's hearty laughter seemed to transcend time and space, echoing in everyone's ears.

The illusion ends here.

"call--"

As the scene faded away like the tide, everyone suddenly came to their senses and found themselves still standing in that solemn training ground.

Many people had tears streaming down their faces and were panting heavily, as if they had just experienced a long and real cycle of reincarnation.

They instinctively looked at their companions and saw the same shock and lingering fear in the other's bloodshot eyes.

"What is the purpose of the Sharingan's power?"

Ban's voice rang out again, calm yet filled with a power that questioned the soul.

He didn't wait for a reply, but continued talking to himself.

"It can be used to detect lies and maintain order and justice in the village."

He raised his hand and pointed to a crossbeam in the ceiling of the training ground. "Like that beam, it already has tiny cracks on the outside. Used here, it's the eye of maintenance, shaving away the decay and damage."

Following his gaze, everyone noticed that fine lines had indeed appeared on the seemingly intact crossbeam.

"It can be used to precisely control the temperature and shape of the flame."

Madara continued, "Firing a single brick or tile requires over a thousand degrees; one degree too high and it becomes brittle, one degree too low and it becomes porous. Using fire-style techniques to sinter chakra concrete is an extension of this method. When applied to this, it becomes the craftsman's eye."

On the platform, Ban looked at the refreshed expressions on the faces of his people below. It was no longer just pride or ambition, but a sense of belonging and purpose.

A rare, almost imperceptible smile, resembling a smile of relief, appeared on his wrinkled face.

The lecture has ended.

When the Uchiha clan members returned to the bustling crowds of the expo, their demeanor was completely different.

Night had fallen sometime earlier, and the electric lampposts designed by the Second Hokage on both sides of Hokage Avenue emitted a bright and warm light, illuminating the entire village as if it were daytime.

The air was filled with the domineering aroma of Akimichi BBQ, the elegant fragrance of the mountain flower shop, and the sweet scent emanating from the Uchiha dessert shop, all perfectly intertwined.

Children, holding cotton candies of various shapes, chased and played among the crowd, their laughter ringing out like silver bells.