8. The truth about Madara Uchiha !!!

The New Year is an important festival for the people of Konoha Village, second only to the inauguration ceremony of Hokage.

Early morning.

Uchiha Fugaku put on a formal black kimono and returned to the bedroom after offering incense at the family shrine. He noticed the elaborate Tang-style clothing Mikoto was wearing.

"Huh? Didn't I tell you yesterday to stay home and rest? You're working too hard."

"It's less than three months… And as the wife of Lord Fugaku, it would be rude not to attend the clan's New Year's event!" Mikoto, who was pregnant, gently wiped her light makeup and asked, "Did you see Itachi just now?"

Last year, Itachi had already dressed himself neatly and waited in the hall. Children are naturally excited about New Year's festivals, as joining adult rituals symbolizes recognition of their maturity.

But this year was different...

Beiyuan was still curled up in the quilt, refusing to get up.

Beside him, Uchiha Itachi, dressed in a child's kimono, knelt beside the bed. "Beiyuan, wake up! The first day of the new year is the clan's first visit to the shrine! We need to go!"

"Gah!"

The muffled crow's cry came from under the quilt, showing a clear reluctance to get up on a cold winter morning.

Itachi frowned, grimacing slightly as he pushed Beiyuan through the quilt. "On the first day of the new year, you can't just stay in bed!"

The first visit of the Uchiha clan meant that on the first day of the new year, all members of the clan—men, women, and children—would gather at Naka Shrine to pay homage to the gods. As a clan famous for their fire-style ninjutsu and Sharingan, the gods they worshipped were a bit unusual.

Five minutes later...

After the Uchiha Fugaku family stepped outside, the Uchiha clansmen heading toward the shrine moved aside to make way for them. Some even shouted, "Lord Patriarch, many people are already waiting at the shrine! Please hurry!"

The corners of Fugaku's mouth twitched slightly.

"Dad is very respected…" Uchiha Itachi remarked while carrying the sleepy Beiyuan on his shoulders. The crow who had refused to leave bed earlier now rested lazily, half-awake.

"…"

Fugaku didn't reply, but Mikoto's gaze softened with a hint of amusement. "It's the same as last year… It looks like this year will be just as busy!"

Even Beiyuan, with his limited awareness, found the situation strange.

As they followed the flow of people, Beiyuan noticed that the event didn't seem particularly formal. Many children and younger members of the clan were dressed in simple home clothes. Yet, the patriarch's family appeared unusually elaborately dressed.

There were even people in ninja attire!

One such person stood out: a young man with sharp, confident eyes. Whenever others encountered him, they instinctively moved aside. His demeanor alone revealed his strength.

"Do you like ninjas too?" the young man asked casually as he approached Itachi, his voice calm yet engaging. "I'm Shisui, Uchiha Shisui."

The young boy straightened slightly. "Uchiha Itachi."

"Relax," Shisui chuckled, placing a friendly hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Dressed so formally for the new year? Well, that's to be expected—being the patriarch's son and all…"

"Itachi, go ahead with Shisui. Take your time," Uchiha Fugaku said, glancing back and seeing Shisui standing beside Itachi. He added with a faint smile, "Shisui, I'll leave him to you. Mikoto and I need to hurry ahead to host the first visit."

Shisui nodded respectfully to the couple. "Don't worry. I'll look after him."

Shisui was known as a rising star of the Uchiha clan. Despite his young age, he had already been promoted to Chunin due to his exceptional mission record and had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan. Many in the clan believed he would eventually awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and become one of the most powerful Uchihas.

The two young Uchihas seemed fated to meet. Itachi, still slightly groggy, hung his head in frustration. "It's all my fault. I forgot Father would be leading the first visit to the shrine…"

"Gah…"

The crow on his shoulder, who had resisted getting up earlier, seemed indifferent.

Shisui couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha… The patriarch won't blame you! Honestly, if someone else had insisted on hosting the first visit, he might've been even happier than he is now!"

Both Beiyuan and Itachi looked at Shisui curiously.

"The patriarch probably didn't tell you much about it, right?" Shisui began to explain the tradition of the Uchiha clan's New Year's first visit.

"According to legend, in a very distant era, it should have been farther than the Warring States period! The Naka Shrine used to have wizards and witches, and their status was very high. The former was responsible for presiding over the worship; the latter was responsible for distributing purified water. But later, with the rise of ninjas and the advent of war..."

"The powerless Wuzhu and the shrine maiden perished... Later, the person who presided over the first visit to the Naka Shrine became the patriarch's family. The patriarch replaced the Wuzhu, and the patriarch's wife replaced the shrine maiden... This is a very hard job."

"At the end of the Warring States period, the Uchiha clan became more and more powerful, and there were more and more clan members, so the process of first attainment was greatly simplified... However, new problems appeared... The then-incumbent patriarch, Uchiha Madara, he was the one who ended the war with the first Hokage and founded Konoha."

"The New Year's celebration is a grand event that unites all the clansmen. Every clan member was opposed to his decision to cancel the collective first visit and go to worship individually. However, the role of the witch is very important."

"Uchiha Madara decided that on the first day of the new year, after which clan is the first to visit Naka Shrine, him and his wife will be the ones to preside over the New Year's visit."

"During that time, many powerful people in the Uchiha clan wanted to preside over the first visit, so as to gain great prestige, so as to run for the next patriarch... "

Having said this, Uchiha Shisui paused for a while, then said helplessly: "Later...the patriarch did not break generations, and it became a chore to preside over many clansmen to participate in the New Year's visit... Everyone went back to the way of the past, and the default sytem was for the patriarch to preside over the first visit... There are few exceptions, and it is because there are important things in the patriarch's family that cannot be presided over..."

"…"

Both Beiyuan and Uchiha Itachi felt that their three views were impacted. This attitude of leaving the dirty work to the patriarch... Is it really Uchiha? No wonder Fugaku's expression after going out is not very good...

"Don't look like this!" Uchiha Shisui smiled and held Itachi's hand, led him across a step, and continued: "After all, this is also the responsibility of the patriarch! Future Itachi, don't run away!"