Chapter 101: Isshin: "Appearance Means Nothing!" ...Wait, You Said Ancestral Blessing?
The Uchiha Estate.
Isshin Uchiha was humming a nameless tune from the Warring States period, his
mood better than it had been in years.
He had just received Fugaku's report on the clan's performance in the Grass
Village. They had fought with the ferocity of lions, proving that the
Three-Tomoe Sharingan remained the undisputed king of the battlefield.
While the feats of Minato Namikaze and Sakumo Hatake were impressive, Isshin
didn't care.
In his mind, their success only proved that his policy of "Strategic Patience"
was working. As long as the Uchiha were allowed to bleed on the front lines,
they could harvest the "Chakra of Conflict" from the enemy. One day, that
pressure would inevitably produce a miracle.
Isshin himself had never awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, nor had his late
brother, Setsuna. But he was a scholar of Uchiha history.
He understood a fundamental truth: Uchiha power doesn't grow linearly. It jumps.
The moment a member awakens those legendary eyes, they gain the "Third
Power"—the absolute offensive and defensive might of the Susanoo. They gain
"cheat-code" ocular abilities that make standard Ninjutsu look like Academy
tricks.
Teleportation? White Light Sabers? Isshin mused. All of it is just a temporary
gap. The moment one of our own reaches the peak, the hierarchy resets.
"Elder Isshin! Something has happened!" Fugaku burst into the room, his voice
frantic.
Isshin scowled. "Control yourself, Fugaku. You're a leader now. Breathe before
you speak!"
Fugaku took a ragged breath. "The Uchiha boy we rescued from the Grass... he
refuses to join the clan."
Isshin looked at him sideways. "That's it? Let him go. The Uchiha don't beg for
members. We have thousands."
"But Elder, his talent is staggering! He's only twelve or thirteen, and he's
already awakened a Two-Tomoe Sharingan! He's never had a day of formal training,
yet he slaughtered a dozen Grass ninjas with a scavenged blade! His combat
instincts are... they're primeval!"
"Lord Hiruzen and Danzo are already on the scene," Fugaku added. "You need to
see this for yourself!"
Isshin let out a dry, dismissive chuckle. "Look at you, acting like a Genin. So
he has two tomoe? So he killed some Grass trash? Big deal."
"Have you forgotten about Shisui? The boy is a descendant of Kagami, and though
he's too soft for my taste, his talent is a hundred times more terrifying than
this orphan's. To a true Uchiha elite, 'above average' is just the baseline."
Isshin leaned back, looking sagely. "Don't sweat the small stuff, Fugaku. If the
boy wants to stay in the village system, let the Hokage have him. It makes us
look humble. It makes Hiruzen think we have no ambition for expansion. It's a
perfect smoke screen."
Fugaku nodded slowly, his panic subsiding. "I see. I was being shallow."
"You were. Faces and ranks don't win wars, Fugaku. Strategy does."
Fugaku hesitated, then dropped the hammer. "There is one more thing. He looks
exactly like Izuna Uchiha. Like a mirror image."
Isshin froze.
A flicker of unease crossed his face, but he quickly waved it away. "Flesh is
just a vessel."
"The Uchiha line is ancient. Recessive traits appear every few generations. It's
a coincidence. If you had another son tomorrow, he might look like Izuna too.
Does a face put food on the table? No. Use your head!"
Under Isshin's lecture, Fugaku finally calmed down.
"You're right, Elder. I let my emotions get the better of me. I just saw him and
thought... after all our prayers for a 'Savior,' finding a boy with that face in
a Grass prison felt like destiny."
Isshin nodded. "I understand the sentiment. But the world has no room for
destiny. If we force him to join us, Hiruzen will see it as a threat. And if I
can see the resemblance, Danzo Shimura certainly will."
"Danzo is obsessed with the Second Hokage's history. He knows Izuna's face
better than his own mother's. If we make a move, we invite the 'Shadow' to
strike."
Isshin stood up, looking every bit the "Invincible Strategist."
At that moment, Shio Uzumaki rushed into the compound, looking frantic. "Excuse
me! May I have a word?!"
Fugaku looked at the girl in surprise. "How did you find this place?"
"I... I memorized your chakra signature," Shio panted, bowing deeply. "Please!
You have to help him! He wants to join the Uchiha—he really does! He's just too
stubborn to say it! He's proud and he's hurting!"
Fugaku shook his head. "The boy made his choice, Shio. This is village business
now. You should focus on finding your own kin—go to Kushina."
"No! You don't understand!" Shio screamed, her fists clenched. "The 'Shadow Man'
with the bandages... he's watching him! He looks at him like he wants to take
him apart!"
"Obito... he's special! He has a Guardian Blessing! You can't leave a 'Blessed'
kinsman to that monster!"
Fugaku remained stoic, but Isshin's entire body gave a violent, visible shudder.
Shio saw the reaction and doubled down. "He has voices in his head! Ancient
voices! He says they teach him things while he sleeps! That's how he learned the
blade! That's how he used a Fire Style he'd never seen!"
"He's a child of the ancestors! Please, don't let his pride destroy him!"
Isshin's hand began to tremble. "Voices? In his head? Multiple... 'Echoes'?"
Coincidence was one thing. A face was another. But The Guardian's Blessing
(Senzo no Shukufuku)?
Isshin had seen that term in the most restricted, moth-eaten scrolls of the clan
archives. It was a legendary phenomenon where the "Residual Will" of an Uchiha
ancestor anchored itself to a descendant with a matching spiritual frequency. It
was the "Uchiha version" of the Uzumaki's chakra-sealing inheritance.
A boy who looks like Izuna... who is being guided by voices... who mastered a
blade in a cage...
Isshin's brain went into overdrive. This wasn't a "sugar-coated bullet" from
Hiruzen. This was a Miracle.
And then there was the Danzo factor.
Shio's sensing was high-tier. She had seen Danzo's chakra—a twisted, parasitic
mess of "Naturally Evil" energy—and sensed his predatory interest in the boy.
If Danzo got his hands on an Uchiha with an "Ancestral Blessing," he wouldn't
just recruit him; he'd dissect him to find the source of the power.
"Elder, we should probably stay out of—" Fugaku started.
"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT!"
Isshin roared, standing up with the energy of a man fifty years younger. His
eyes burned with an ancient, leonine fire.
"Mobilize every Three-Tomoe user in the compound! Form an honor guard!"
"We aren't letting a 'Blessed Son' of the Uchiha rot in an Anbu cell!"
"MOVE! WE ARE BRINGING OUR SAVIOR HOME!"
☆☆☆
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