The bond between father and son is never simple.
No matter how many arguments they've had in the past, no matter how deeply their views have diverged, at this very moment, Shisui cast all of it aside.
"He possesses the terrifying power to reshape the terrain in an instant—even alter the weather. That level of strength… it's like the ancient legends from our clan archives, of the First Hokage himself!"
Shisui spoke in a low voice.
"Standing before him, I felt like an insect… utterly insignificant…"
SLAP!
Uchiha Kōfū's palm struck Shisui clean across the face, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Shisui looked up, dazed—only to see his father's expression contorted with unconcealed fury, his face flushed red, his entire body trembling with emotion.
"Father…"
"The power of the Uchiha Clan is unmatched! It is beyond question!"
Kōfū's voice shook with anger and bitter disappointment.
"Don't look at me with those eyes! Uchiha Shisui—you are the clan's genius! The pride of our people! The future of the Uchiha—and above all, you are my son!"
"How can such thoughts even exist in your mind?!"
"Father, I…"
"I know what you're thinking, Shisui. Your three-tomoe Sharingan… even Fugaku's three tomoe…" cough, cough "…they were utterly powerless in the face of that boy's Ice Release…" cough "After all, that's a power strong enough to defeat even Jiraiya's Sage Mode…"
"But!" cough, cough, cough! "But who told you… that the three-tomoe Sharingan is the Uchiha Clan's limit?!"
Kōfū's fit of coughing intensified. Shisui reached forward in concern, but his father pushed him back.
"Listen to me, Uchiha Shisui! A man can lose many things—but never his conviction!"
"The three tomoe are not the end of our bloodline's power. Beyond it… lies an even greater force!"
"…What?" Shisui blinked in shock.
"This village, Konoha, was once founded by our ancestor and the First Hokage together! At that time, our forefather's power was equal to the First's. That—that is the true might of the Uchiha Clan! The strength that once quelled an age of chaos!"
"The Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Kōfū grabbed Shisui by the shoulders, his own eyes locked fiercely onto his son's face—his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning.
"If you awaken the Mangekyō, you will unlock the ultimate power of the Uchiha! Compared to that, this Yuki Yoru is nothing more than a paper tiger! Once you have that strength, the glory of the Uchiha will shine once again!"
"And you, Shisui… you are the most gifted of them all. Your potential rivals even that of the great ancestors recorded in our clan's history!"
"If anyone can awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan—if anyone can reclaim the power that once rivaled the gods—it's you, Uchiha Shisui!"
"I…"
Shisui opened his mouth to speak, staring at the face of his father—red with emotion, veins bulging, utterly consumed by conviction.
His father had placed all his hopes on him… but could he truly fulfill them?
After all… he had already lost one eye.
"I know what you're thinking."
Kōfū's voice broke through his thoughts. With a swift motion, he pulled away the bandages covering Shisui's eye socket, revealing the empty void beneath.
"Squelch!"
"F-Father!"
To Shisui's shock, Uchiha Kōfū gouged out his own eye—his remaining Sharingan—and without hesitation, pressed it into Shisui's vacant socket.
As chakra surged to connect the optic nerves, warm blood ran down both of their faces.
A pained smile formed on Kōfū's lips. His bloodied palm remained firmly pressed over Shisui's right eye as chakra steadily flowed in.
"We're father and son—there won't be any rejection between our eyes. This eye… it will help you see farther."
"Father, no—I can't…"
"Shisui!"
He tried to protest, his instincts urging him to return the eye, but Kōfū held his head firmly in place.
"I was already dying. You know that. I've been dying for a long time."
"I'm a useless man. I never gave you the love you deserved as a father. I never restored the Uchiha's former glory. But Shisui… did you know that your father was once something great too? I was once a genius of the Uchiha—a source of pride for your grandfather."
"But I failed. My will wasn't strong enough… After your grandfather died in that so-called 'heroic death,' the Uchiha were pushed from the village's inner circle."
Kōfū leaned his head against Shisui's, speaking words his son had never heard before.
"I… see." Shisui embraced his father.
In his memories, his father was always distant—arrogant, cold, obsessed with pride and prestige. He always preached about the Uchiha's superiority, how their clan must always stand above the rest of Konoha.
That stubbornness, that twisted pride… it had once made Shisui believe his father was nothing more than a zealot.
But now he understood.
It all began with the death of his grandfather—Uchiha Kagami.
After Kagami died in the First Great Ninja War, the Hokage faction had seized total control. The Uchiha were slowly pushed out of Konoha's power center, treated more and more like just another clan—no longer one of the founding pillars.
To resist that fate, his father had fought, protested, tried everything… but in the end, he failed.
And yet…
Shisui still couldn't quite understand. Wasn't it okay… to be just another part of Konoha?
Weren't they all Konoha shinobi?
Was it so bad to be equal?
But he didn't voice those thoughts—not now.
He knew his father's state. If he said the wrong thing, something irreversible could happen.
"Foolish! Foolish! Foolish!!"
Suddenly, Kōfū snapped. He seized Shisui's shoulders violently.
His bloodshot Sharingan and gouged-out socket glared at his son.
"How dare you think like that?! You think I don't know what's in your heart?!"
"The Sharingan synchronizes thoughts. With my eye in your body, do you really think I can't feel your doubt?!"
"Father—it's not what you think, I—"
"Uchiha Shisui! Understand this clearly!"
"We—Uchiha and Senju—founded Konoha together. Not the Sarutobi clan. Not the Shimura clan! So why did the First and Second Hokage come from the Senju? Why wasn't the Third from us?! Why not the Fourth?!"
"We are Uchiha, Shisui! Never forget that! Burn that pride into your soul! You must fight for the position of Fourth Hokage!"
"You must—!"
His voice suddenly cut off.
The hands gripping Shisui's shoulders slackened.
Uchiha Kōfū collapsed limply against his son.
Shisui froze. He looked down at his father's face—twisted in grief and fury, but now… lifeless.
His entire body trembled.
"Father… no—Dad, no, please don't die—Dad!!!"