A holiday afternoon.
Of course, this holiday was one Hakushi approved for himself.
After being busy with work all year round, he would occasionally want to live a relaxed life with his family and unwind a little.
Hakushi had always advocated a work attitude of combining work and rest. Not just for himself; for his subordinates as well, if their nerves stayed taut for too long, in the long run it wasn't conducive to development.
It was summer, but the weather today was especially fresh; the sunlight was warm and mild, scattering in colorful patches over the lush green grass of the park.
The park was full of children running around playing, with adults carefully watching over them and chasing after them from behind.
Asuka had joined them as well, but unlike those lively, energetic kids, he was in the sandbox, building castles out of sand with a few new playmates he'd just found.
His skill in building was very good, drawing a lot of praise from his peers.
That was only natural. From a very young age, Asuka had been fond of building blocks and all sorts of toys. Even with something as dull as sand, he could build many structures in different styles.
As for Aya, he was lying on the edge of the fountain next to him, staring at the various pretty stones in the water, reaching out as if wanting to grab a few out to play with.
Because of Ayane's forceful correction, Aya wasn't wearing girls' clothes anymore, but had changed back into boys' clothes.
With that, there was finally hope of correcting Aya's bad habit.
As long as they kept it up like this, straightening out that bad habit completely shouldn't be too big a problem.
With Aya's issue thus resolved, Asuka, as the older brother, naturally didn't have any major flaws.
The only problem was probably that he was a bit too ordinary.
Of course, this was from the perspective of a Ninja. In terms of talent, Asuka really couldn't be called particularly outstanding, but with resources tilted in his favor, reaching standard Jonin-level strength before thirty wouldn't be an issue.
However, compared to Ichihime, compared to Ruri, his prospects of taking over the Uchiha Clan Leader position in the future were truly worrying.
This was from the perspective of a Ninja.
Asuka's potential ceiling was already right there.
But in Hakushi's view, whether Asuka's potential actually had an upper limit was still an unknown.
Or rather, did humans really have limits?
In his previous life, Hakushi had heard a saying: the poor rely on mutation, the rich rely on technology.
The family he was in now could barely be considered a wealthy family.
So judging Asuka's future potential purely from a Ninja's standpoint was obviously a case of taking one side for the whole.
At the very least, in Asuka, Hakushi saw a certain possibility.
He would have to step down one day. Before that, helping his children grow up and become independent was what he really ought to do.
Ichihime had already found her own path, and she had the ability and potential to realize it. As long as she didn't make any fundamental mistakes going forward, Hakushi felt he had a chance to step down with peace of mind at forty, draw a pension, and retire.
Asuka… Thinking this, Hakushi raised his hand and waved at Asuka, who was building sandcastles over in the sandbox.
"Asuka."
Asuka, who was absorbed in playing with sand with his little friends over there, noticed someone calling him. His face instantly bloomed into a big smile and he quickly ran over to Hakushi.
"Dad, what is it?"
"So, are you having fun today?"
Hakushi smiled and gently ruffled Asuka's hair.
"Mm, it's really fun."
Asuka nodded vigorously.
There was sand on his clothes and on his face. Throwing himself into the game without caring about his image was clearly a sign that he was in a very good mood.
"I can't help feeling that whenever you see an interesting toy, Asuka, you always get completely absorbed in it."
That had happened before, too.
Like the time he finally managed to build a castle out of blocks, only for Ichihime to knock it over; he'd been sad about it for half a day.
When it came to toys and games, Asuka always managed to maintain the highest level of enthusiasm.
"Because it's so much fun."
"If only you could direct that kind of enthusiasm toward your studies."
Hakushi smiled.
"But Asuka is already studying very hard."
Asuka lifted his head, looked up at Hakushi with bright eyes, and answered earnestly.
"I was just joking. No matter what you're doing, being able to stay passionate is the best response."
"Mm."
"Alright, go on and play, but keep an eye on the time. Don't get too carried away."
"Got it, Dad. I'll go back then."
Asuka's face was beaming as he quickly ran back to the sandbox, continuing to build the unfinished castle with the friends there.
Just from the type of castle, one could see Asuka's talent in this area.
However, compared to his gift in this regard, that simple, single-minded pursuit of fun might actually be the most precious quality.
And that quality was probably something that even Ichihime didn't possess.
Compared to Ichihime's conquest and pursuit of power and ability, Asuka focused only on the discoveries made in the process of exploring fun.
Thinking about it carefully, wasn't that a very remarkable kind of talent?
"It's just that having talent in this area still isn't enough…"
Yes, merely preserving that nature was only the first step.
Even if they nurtured Asuka into an excellent scientific researcher, it would take more effort than most people had to put in.
And even then, success still wouldn't be guaranteed…
Talent was the most ambiguous and vague word of all.
But Asuka's mindset at least made Hakushi feel that he had found a path that looked suitable for Asuka. It would depend on how Asuka changed afterward.