In his memories of the original story, during the Nine-Tails incident, the Fourth Hokage died, Jiraiya refused to become Hokage, and Tsunade didn't return.
As a result, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, resumed the position, much to Danzo's frustration at the time.
Now, that situation hadn't changed.
'So… were those two old schemers were targeting the Fourth Hokage?'
'But since the name "Uchiha Madara" was already being whispered around, could it be tied to me as well?'
'Or… maybe Shisui?'
'No.'
Yun suddenly recalled what Shisui had asked him by the Naka River earlier:
"Your eyesight… how bad has it gotten?"
After these years of subtle change, Shisui's political awareness was clearly sharper than of the original story, he must have sensed something.
It seemed that ever since the end of the war with Kumo, the reports about Kakashi and Itachi's eyesight had made those two old men restless.
And indeed, to men like them, the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't truly terrifying.
After all, every use came at the cost of sight.
The life of a shinobi was dangerous, that kind of degradation was inevitable.
If all Uchihas who awakened the Mangekyō eventually went blind, then they would lose their influence once again.
But then came him, a complete anomaly: an Uchiha whose Mangekyō Sharingan suffered no deterioration.
That fact wasn't hard to discover, and there was no way he could pretend otherwise.
Even now, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane still held their positions as village advisors.
Comparing Itachi's condition with Yun's unchanging eyes made it obvious something was off.
'Were they afraid another Madara was emerging?'
Yun smiled faintly. He wondered what role the Third Hokage was playing in all of this.
According to the intel Shikaku provided, the Third had gone into isolation ever since Yun had returned with Karin and her mother.
As for the Third himself…
When Tobirama died during the diplomatic mission to Kumogakure, Hiruzen's ascension to Hokage hadn't been so simple.
There must have been many details behind that rise, and perhaps the man he became wasn't who he had always been.
"Naruto?"
The curtain lifted, revealing the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, standing at the door.
He smiled apologetically at the group.
"Sorry to interrupt your dinner. Yun's shadow clone told me you were here, so I came straight away."
As the clone dissipated, Yun realized Minato had been working at the Hokage Tower just moments earlier.
"Why not join us for a bite? You're still working this late, won't Kushina scold you when you get back?" Yun teased.
At this, Tokuma and the others stood up and bowed.
"Hokage-sama."
Minato waved them off with a smile. "No need for that. Please, continue. I'll pass, if I get home any later, Kushina might not even open the door for me."
He then turned to Naruto. "Naruto, time to go."
Naruto wiped his mouth and stood up politely. "Thank you for the meal, Yun-nii. Sorry for the trouble."
As they were leaving, Minato paused and said, "Since you're back, Yun, report to the Hokage Tower tomorrow to submit your mission report."
Yun nodded. "There's been a lot going on since I returned. I planned to come tomorrow anyway, the C-rank mission got bumped up to B-rank midway."
Minato nodded again and left with Naruto.
Afterward, the dinner ended soon. Yun paid the bill and headed home with Izumi.
As they left, Tokuma and Hana hesitated, as if wanting to speak.
Between Hiashi's invitation, Hana's mother's mysterious scroll, and the Hokage's sudden visit, they realized their teacher might be caught up in something big.
"Hey now… don't look at me like that. It's nothing serious," Yun said with a grin.
"Focus on your training. Strengthen yourselves. Right now, there's no need for you to know everything, you're not ready for that weight yet. Got it?"
Leaving them with those words, Yun walked away with Izumi.
On the road, Izumi couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Brother, I feel like-"
Yun nodded before she finished. "You're right. From what I overheard earlier, someone's targeting the Uchiha, or maybe just me for now."
He didn't hide things from her. Being both an Uchiha and his sister made her situation very different from Tokuma and Hana's.
Izumi thought for a moment, then asked, "Is it… the same people who targeted the Uchiha before?"
"Oh?" Yun looked at her and chuckled. "So you've heard about that?"
Izumi nodded. "I didn't know before. But after Shisui became clan head, I found out about that clan meeting. So…"
Yun tapped her forehead lightly. "Ever since Shisui became clan head, things have been improving for the Uchiha day by day."
"The clan now isn't something a few schemes can undo."
"Don't worry. I just told you this so you'd be aware, I'll handle the rest."
Izumi pouted. "Then I'll train harder! Next time, I'll be strong enough to help you."
Yun smiled. "We'll see about that…"
Night fell. Yun still hadn't rested.
His eyes opened, the tomoe spun and morphed into a six-pointed star with a cross at its center.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
He already possessed it, and the mysterious Gelel Stone he'd long theorized about finally had a confirmed location.
The Akatsuki's didn't seem to have any missions at the moment either, which meant Yun could proceed with his plan.
If he could obtain a medium connected to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, perhaps he could reach the next stage immediately.
If he attained Sage of Six Paths level of power, he could act far earlier than expected, Nagato's Akatsuki might not even matter.
His eyes flared, and the vision-based ability that let him "see the future" began to activate.
"Kotodama"
A surge of power flowed, and his mind filled with visions.
The dots connected rapidly, fragments of Kaguya's existence forming an image.
The mother of Hagoromo and Hamura, the woman sealed within the Moon.
Then, a formless boom resounded in his mind. The world blurred, rewinding rapidly.
'The past?'
He saw a black shadow crawl from between the stones of the Moon's seal, the Chibaku Tensei.
It fell to the ground, then burrowed deep underground.
A pair of sorrowful eyes looked up at the swirling boulders above.
"Mother! I will save you!"
"Hamura, Hagoromo, you will pay for this!"
The vision ended.
Yun rubbed his sore eyes.
'Not the future… but the past?'
'So Black Zetsu was Kaguya's medium?'
'That made sense. Born from Kaguya's will and chakra, unlike her sons, it was part of her.'
'But to capture Black Zetsu as a medium… he'd need Six Paths–level strength.'
'The Six Paths level…'
In the original story, only a few ever reached it: Six Paths Obito, Six Paths Madara, Six Paths Naruto, Ōtsutsuki Toneri…
The Eternal Mangekyō alone couldn't reach it. Only the Rinnegan could, the eye that linked to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, the husk of the Ten-Tails.
But perhaps only Madara's Rinnegan did.
After all, the Sharingan and Rinnegan weren't the same lineage.
Madara's Rinnegan wasn't an "evolution" of the Eternal Mangekyō; it was born from the fusion of Asura and Indra's chakra, a genetic reversion to Hagoromo himself.
And Kaguya's third eye, the Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan…
Toneri, with his Tenseigan, gained Six Paths power, yet the Rinnegan alone didn't grant that state.
Even Sasuke's six-tomoe Rinnegan in Boruto didn't.
Maybe Kaguya… was different.
Toneri called her "Princess Kaguya." That title, "hime", implied nobility, divinity.
Yun's eyes gleamed. He had found his next target.
Late that night, Mitokado Homura's residence.
"Who is it, this late?"
A kneeling ninja replied, "Lord Third and Lady Koharu are here."
Homura rose. "Take them to the barrier room."
As the ninja left, he stared out the window.
"So… it can't be hidden anymore, huh?"
"Then, Hiruzen, what will your stance be?"
Inside the sealed room, tension was thick.
The Third Hokage's hands trembled as he held a scroll, veins bulging with anger.
Creak.
The door opened, Homura entered.
"Hiruzen, it's late. What is this about?"
Without a word, Hiruzen hurled the scroll. It hit the floor.
Homura didn't pick it up, and Hiruzen roared, "What are you trying to do?!"
Homura smiled faintly. "So you've found out."
The calm tone only enraged Hiruzen more.
"You know damn well only a few still alive understand the First Hokage's power! If you start this, everyone will know it's you!"
Homura's expression darkened. "I'm doing what's right. Konoha has strayed from its path. I'm correcting it."
Bang!
Hiruzen slammed the table and stood up. "If you expose Danzo and Orochimaru's human experiments, if you reveal the First's cell research, you'll throw Konoha into chaos!"
"You'll make every shinobi terrified of each other!"
Homura's eyes flashed red with rage. "And what about Uchiha Yun? Don't tell me you haven't noticed his 'abnormality'!
"If his Mangekyō Sharingan never deteriorates, he'll be the next Madara!"
"And Konoha… no longer has a Hashirama to stop him!"
The room fell silent.
After a long moment, Hiruzen spoke heavily, "I've seen how much the Uchiha have changed over this past year. Whatever he is, Yun is a Konoha shinobi."
Homura laughed bitterly. "You're still the same, indecisive with your students, your friends, your enemies alike."
He turned to Koharu. "What do you think?"
Koharu hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know anymore. The Uchiha's power always frightened me… but now…"
Homura silenced her with a raised hand.
"Since the war with the Hidden Cloud, the Uchiha have fully integrated into the village," he said, unrolling a report.
"These are Root's records, showing how the clans have aligned."
"But when I learned Yun's eyes don't lose sight, my fear only grew."
"He's not just another soldier, he's the one who changed everything. Shisui, that idealistic boy, was never the real mastermind."
"The entire Uchiha transformation, came from that thirteen-year-old child."
He glared at Hiruzen. "Do you know what that means?"
Of course Hiruzen knew.
A boy with such power and political insight, in time, he could easily ascend to Hokage.
For the first time, Hiruzen understood his old friend's fear.
He was also a student of Tobirama, and Tobirama's doctrine was clear: An Uchiha must never become Hokage.
But that didn't justify throwing the village into chaos.
"Homura, stop this now," Hiruzen said firmly. "I'll handle the matter of Uchiha Yun myself. But end your scheme, immediately."
Homura sneered. "You really don't get it, do you?"
"The Fourth Hokage's reckless war with Kumogakure forced the revival of the First's cell experiments, used on Yun himself! That's why his eyes don't go blind! That's how he killed the Fourth Raikage!"
"When this leaks, the Fourth will have no choice but to step down. And when that happens, who better to stabilize Konoha than you, the retired Hokage?"
"You're insane!" Hiruzen shouted. "Even if the Uchiha are cursed, they are Konoha's Uchiha! You'll destroy the village!"
Homura's face twisted with fervor. "No, I'll save it. Under your leadership, Konoha will rise again. But if the Uchiha continue unchecked, Konoha will fall!"
Hiruzen's heart sank.
Finally, he sighed. "From this moment on, you are confined to your home. The ANBU will surround the compound."
Homura smiled grimly. "It doesn't matter. My plan's already in motion. Root's hatred for the Fourth and the Uchiha can't be stopped now."
Hiruzen stared at him for a long time, then left with Koharu as ANBU sealed the estate.
Outside, under falling snow, Koharu said softly, "Hiruzen… come with me. There's something you should see. You have been in isolotion for quite some time."
He shook his head. "I need to warn Minato. If word spreads about human experiments involving him and the Uchiha, the consequences will be dire."
At that moment, they passed a small tavern still open. Several drunk shinobi stumbled out, laughing.
"Hey, Heika, if it weren't for you, I'd be a name on the memorial stone by now!"
"Don't be ridiculous! With an Uchiha like me around, how could you die?"
"Ha! You've changed, but you're still the same arrogant bastard!"
"Don't sit in the snow, you idiots, you'll catch cold!"
"Kyouko!"
"Relax," Heika said, smiling. "As long as I live, none of you will die. I swear it, by the name of Uchiha."
His friend punched his arm. "You're such a pain, man. Stop saying such cheesy crap!"
Heika opened his eyes, twin tomoe gleaming faintly.
Covering one eye, he smiled. "Now I get it. This power isn't evil. It's born to protect the bonds we hold dear."
Their teammate sighed. "Ugh… you're hopeless!"
The three laughed and stumbled off into the snow.
Koharu watched them go and murmured, "Now even I'm starting to wonder… is the Uchiha's power really evil, or born from love to protect?"
She handed a scroll to Hiruzen. "These are the Uchiha's mission reports from the past year. Maybe you should see them."
Hiruzen read quietly.
At last, he sighed. The Uchihas recorded here were nothing like the clan of old.
At the end of the report, a line was quoted from the Uchiha clan archives:
"Only when one finds a bond worth dying to protect will the Sharingan awaken.
That power exists not to destroy, but to protect."
"Only an Uchiha who understands love can truly awaken it."
Hiruzen exhaled slowly. "You should've shown this to Homura."
Koharu shook her head. "It wouldn't have mattered. The shadow of Madara still haunts him. The thought of another Uchiha gaining that power terrifies him, he'd destroy anything to prevent it."
Hiruzen nodded lightly. "In that era… who wouldn't fear such power?"
He turned to leave. "Go home, Koharu. I'll speak with Minato. Whatever happens, Konoha must come first."
Koharu watched him go, then sighed.
After the war with the Hidden Cloud, both she and Homura had lost their influence as advisors.
At first, she'd felt hollow, but now, seeing Konoha thriving again, she wondered if perhaps trust truly did belong to the next generation.
After all… their time would soon end.
And maybe, just maybe, when their teacher, the Second Hokage, had left them behind, he too had believed in them once.