"Will these events be enough for you to give me your full support, elders?"
Toyoma watched them closely as he finished recounting what was yet to come.
Both elders sat in silence, their bodies heavy against their chairs, eyes fixed on the ceiling as if searching for answers written there.
Worry lined their faces—deep, familiar worry born from experience.
When Toyoma's question finally reached them, Elder Kohaku let out a slow sigh.
"If even half of what you say comes to pass," he said, turning toward Toyoma with a wry smile, "then we would be fools not to believe you."
Elder Kazuto spoke next, his voice far more measured.
"For now, I will support you," he said.
"But only as long as you don't turn the entire clan—and the village—into your enemy. The idea of the Uchiha becoming a merchant clan can wait. Many will oppose it… especially Fugaku's most loyal supporters."
Toyoma already knew this.
Both elders did.
They had lived long enough to understand what kind of storm awaited the Uchiha.
And yet—
A small hope remained.
The hope that a peaceful life within the village was still possible.
For that hope, they decided to wait a little longer.
Hearing this, Toyoma smiled and turned toward Grand Elder Setsuna—who was smiling as well.
At least now, we are not alone, Setsuna thought with quiet relief.
And perhaps… that dark future will not destroy everything.
Knowing the future had weighed heavily on him.
The burden had been unbearable at times.
If not for Toyoma's warning, there was a chance—
small chance—that he might have chosen mutual destruction with Konoha.
But now, there was another path.
A path where the clan could survive.
What more could an old man ask for?
"I guess you're relieved now, Grandpa,"
Toyoma said, looking at the elder's face—lined with age, yet finally free of tension.
Toyoma understood this well.
For an elder, the greatest fear was never hardship itself, but the fate of their descendants—so they would never have to suffer as they once did.
He had seen that heavy expression on Grandpa Setsuna's face many times before.
A quiet pain, carried deep inside.
It was the shadow of the future Uchiha massacre—the fate Toyoma had revealed to him.
As the oldest elder of the clan, Setsuna wanted to stop it at any cost.
That resolve had been clear, even when he never spoke it aloud.
And that was why Toyoma had taken this step.
He knew problems would arise.
This decision would challenge three different ideological factions, and convincing them would be far more difficult than this meeting.
But still—
He had chosen to try.
If nothing else, when facing his future self, he could say one thing with certainty:
At least I didn't stay silent and tried.
"Well, son, you've cleared my greatest worry," the Grand Elder said, his face relaxed, a genuine smile appearing for the first time in a long while.
"You may not know how heavy it felt—to know the future and yet be unable to do anything."
The two elders looked at the Grand Elder's relieved expression and sincere smile.
Seeing it, they smiled as well.
"Don't worry, Elder," Kohaku said gently.
"We understand. The survival of the clan is far more important than fame or respect. You had every right to feel that pressure—and you've done your best until now."
Toyoma looked at them for a moment before speaking again.
"Well… now I should tell you why I need all this gold," he said, glancing at the pile that covered nearly half the room.
Hearing this, both elders—and the Grand Elder—turned their full attention to him.
"I was curious about that myself," Grand Elder Setsuna said slowly.
"You asked for an enormous amount of gold, yet never explained its purpose. What exactly do you need it for, Toyoma?"
He had wondered about it ever since Toyoma made the request.
Toyoma met their gazes calmly."The gold is connected to my second ability," he said.
"An ability called Sacrifice."
The room fell silent.
"I can sacrifice gold to summon things… or abilities," Toyoma continued.
"Just like the sword technique I showed before, or my teleportation."
Shock spread across the elders' faces.
An ability that turned wealth into power—wasn't that far too dangerous?
"Doesn't that mean," Elder Kazuto said slowly, eyes wide, "that as long as you have gold, you can keep growing stronger every day?"
For a moment, even he thought of legends—of power rivalling the greatest ancestors.
"No," Toyoma replied immediately, shaking his head. "That's not how it works."
He looked directly at Kazuto.
"I can only use this ability once every year. I tried to activate it again in the past—but nothing happened. I don't know the exact reason, but the limit is absolute."
The room grew quiet once more.
This wasn't limitless power.
Elder Kohaku listened quietly and nodded in understanding.
"It may simply be a dōjutsu limitation," he said.
"Many such things have happened in the past. Even Elder Madara's eyes once went blind. This could be a similar side effect."
Hearing this, both the Grand Elder and Kazuto felt a sense of agreement.
"Even so," the Grand Elder said thoughtfully,
"being able to use such an ability once a year is still remarkable. Who knows—one day you might even obtain something like our ancestor Madara's skeletal armour… or perhaps an even more powerful form."
He smiled faintly as he looked at Toyoma.
Elder Kazuto then turned his gaze toward the massive pile of gold.
"So how do you use it?" he asked.
"It has been many years since we last witnessed a Mangekyō in action. Let us see how it works."
Toyoma looked at the elders' faces.
For a moment, they reminded him of children—quietly excited, waiting to see a trick.
He had already told them that this was not a Mangekyō ability, yet they still believed his six-tomoe Sharingan to be a mutated form of it.
Toyoma chose not to correct them.
"Alright," he said calmly. "Just wait a moment."
His eyes shifted toward the vast pile of gold.
As Toyoma's eyes shifted once more, the six tomoe rotated quietly within his Sharingan.
At the spot where the gold had been piled, a circular veil of dark fog suddenly formed.
It spread outward like ink in water,
swallowing the gold piece by piece until the entire mass was concealed within the mist.
Elder Kazuto and Elder Kohaku stared, shock and excitement mixing on their faces.
Even for them, this was a rare sight—something spoken of only in fragments of history.
"It is a mutated Mangekyō, without a doubt,"
the Grand Elder said quietly, watching Toyoma as he activated the ability.
Elder Kohaku frowned slightly as he listened.
"There is no other explanation," he said.
"But how did Toyoma awaken it? As you know, every Mangekyō requires either immense sacrifice or overwhelming emotion."
The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment, his gaze never leaving Toyoma.
"Perhaps," he said slowly, "he does not require such extremes."
Kohaku turned toward him.
"From Toyoma's behaviour—both now and in the past—it seems he possesses an unusual level of emotional control," the Grand Elder continued.
"Rather than being driven by loss or madness, he may have reached this state through restraint."
He paused, his expression turning thoughtful.
"If that is true," the Grand Elder said quietly, "then this could represent another path… a form of Sharingan evolution we have yet to understand."
A path born not from despair—But from control.
Elder Kohaku felt a chill run through him.
If this is real… he thought in shock.
Then, the belief that all Uchiha must descend into madness after awakening the Mangekyō may be wrong.
Before he could speak—
"Wait," Elder Kazuto said sharply. "What's happening?"
All eyes turned to Toyoma.
The dark fog had begun to spread.
It crept upward from the circle of gold, slowly wrapping around Toyoma's legs… then his torso.
Toyoma stood frozen, eyes widening.
This had never happened before.
For a brief moment, he considered stopping the ability—
But he didn't.
He forced himself to endure.
The fog swallowed him completely.
"Cough—!"
A sharp sound echoed as Toyoma spat blood.
At the same time, several gold pieces were violently expelled from the fog, clattering across the floor.
"Toyoma!" the Grand Elder shouted, panic breaking through his composure. "Are you alright?"
He couldn't see inside the fog.
But from Toyoma's strained breathing alone, it was clear—
something had gone wrong.
Both elders watched Toyoma with growing concern.
Elder Kohaku spoke first, his voice tense.
"Grand Elder… I believe there is also a limit to how much gold can be sacrificed at once. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened."
His gaze shifted to the scattered gold lying across the floor.
Hearing this, the Grand Elder turned sharply toward Toyoma, whose body was still shrouded in the thinning fog.
"Toyoma," he called out urgently, "stop this for now."
For a brief moment, fear crossed his mind—
the fear that this ability might harm Toyoma the same way the Mangekyō had once destroyed Madara.
Slowly, the dark fog began to recede.
Much of the gold had already vanished within it—offered up as sacrifice.
When the mist finally cleared, the elders saw Toyoma lying motionless on the floor.
Unconscious.
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Early access to 15+ chapters
Patr***n - hear_tteeth [18+]
"A lot of readers said the chapters were too short, so from Chapter 72 onward I've increased them from about 1,500 words to 2,000+ words."