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The sharingan is an ability that is passed down the Uchiha family bloodline and grants several abilities to its user. It can copy the techniques of an opponent perfectly, allowing the user to steal their abilities. It can also predict the movements of a person, providing a limited form of reading the future. Finally, it can see through illusions, although the success of this would depend on the user's skill.

I am Madara Uchiha of the Uchiha clan, one of the oldest families in the village of Incognito. The sharingan has made us one of the most powerful and influential families not just in the village but the entire country. It is passed down the male genetic line and has secured our dominance. I would like to keep this ability exclusive to our gene pool, and must constantly fight against the greatest threat to our power: horny young teenagers.

It is difficult to prevent teens and other young people from "spreading their royal oats" and passing our abilities to competing clans. Expecting them to practice abstinence is like expecting a silly childhood hobby such as comic books to make successful transitions into movies: it's too unrealistic, and I would be laughed at for trying. Encouraging safe sex is unreliable at best in the pre-modern world. Condoms break easily, and people rarely use them when caught in the heat of the moment. Other clans competing against us would love to have the sharingan in their possession, and would aim to encourage this and actively seduce our members.

How can I protect our birthright and prevent this from happening?

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    $\begingroup$ Preventing bastards in noble families is something many books were written about. And there is no way to judge answers better or worse now. $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Nov 2, 2018 at 12:03
  • $\begingroup$ "It can copy the techniques of an opponent perfectly, allowing the user to steal their abilities." Just like Rogue in X-Men... $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Nov 2, 2018 at 14:30
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    $\begingroup$ "I am Madara Uchiha of the Uchiha clan, one of the oldest families in the village of Incognito." Typically, village = clan. Thus, these young people would rarely see each other. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Nov 2, 2018 at 14:32
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    $\begingroup$ Do you specifically want this to be a social problem in your story, or would you accept genetic solutions that make this a non-issue in your world? For instance, you could make it so that the abilities are only active in the males, but the mother also needs to pass on a trait which would activate or enable the abilities. Sort of like how male pattern baldness is often passed on from the mother's side. $\endgroup$
    – David K
    Nov 2, 2018 at 16:40
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    $\begingroup$ Note that if you'd made the ability pass down through the female line instead of the male, the answer would be trivial (because pregnancies and maternity are pretty obvious). Perhaps this is a situation where a minor tweak in your pre-conditions would be worth it to save a ton of difficult work elsewhere? $\endgroup$
    – T.E.D.
    Nov 2, 2018 at 21:31

8 Answers 8

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You can forcibly "adopt" all children with your bloodline ability into your clan. Make a very big deal that only your clan can teach how to use your ability safely. One step of that is spreading rumors of fatal training accidents that could have been prevented by proper supervision.

Any that you cannot adopt due to political reasons all seem to die from such a "training accident", further enforcing your point.

There is no need for the newly adopted bastards to get a high position, unless they actually get there by proper merit. Being adopted into the clan should be honor enough. What you do with the mother depends on how generous you are feeling.

To prevent your males from breeding with captured enemies that may escape (or raping the villagers) you claim responsibility of the internal security and policing of the multi-clan settlement. That way only a few individuals will be near the frontline where they could spread uncontrolled seed. You then select only those that can keep it in their pants for frontline duty and perhaps send along a designated seed receptacle on missions for when the urge cannot be controlled.

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    $\begingroup$ Won't rival tribes have a problem with you forcibly adopting the children of their (presumably unmarried) daughters? If this tribe has the power to just kidnap children at will, then they aren't one of the most powerful tribes, they are the ruling tribe. $\endgroup$
    – kingledion
    Nov 2, 2018 at 15:06
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    $\begingroup$ @kingledion that's what the "training accidents" are for. The child is either adopted or dies before he reaches breeding age. $\endgroup$
    – ratchet freak
    Nov 2, 2018 at 15:16
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    $\begingroup$ @kingledion as another point claiming responsibility for the result of a night of unprotected sex creates quite a bit of goodwill with the clans that are not as well off. Raising a unplanned child takes a lot of resources. $\endgroup$
    – ratchet freak
    Nov 2, 2018 at 15:47
  • $\begingroup$ Still doesn't prevent the issue where other clans from distant places manage to capture your frontline duty ninja and/or infiltrate your multi-clan settlement long enough for a quickie. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Nov 2, 2018 at 15:51
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    $\begingroup$ If it passes through the male-line only, is there any reason why the clan wouldn't be patriarchal and thus any children would be considered a member of that clan anyways? $\endgroup$
    – eques
    Nov 2, 2018 at 17:55
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Sex Slaves

Alright, listen up son. If you knock up a girl from a rival clan, I'm going to have to castrate you. Nothing personal, but it is important to maintain the power of the clan.

On the other hand, check out these sex slaves we just got. If you start getting any urges, they are right here in this tent...

Editors note: this doubles as a way to get more male descendants. Female children of the sex slaves.....don't have to survive.

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    $\begingroup$ And male children of the slaves can be castrated when they get old enough. You now have soldiers that can't be captured and used to sire your ability in other clans. $\endgroup$
    – jaxad0127
    Nov 3, 2018 at 1:35
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The power only manifests if those that control the power take a certain substance. This substance, however, also makes them temporarily sterile. They will need to opt-out of their magic temporarily if they want to father offspring, and they won't do this to be rebellious.

Alternatively, you can swap the magic/sterility opt-in for an opt-out - a drug that will suppress the magic for a few weeks, but also restores fertility.

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    $\begingroup$ Or even "the power doesn't manifest until you take a certain substance" - any children born outside the clan will have the potential for your special bloodline ability, but will never be able to unlock & use it without a Clan Elder providing them with the appropriate "trigger" $\endgroup$
    – Chronocidal
    Nov 2, 2018 at 15:13
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Cursed Seal (Juinjutsu)

type of techniques used to bring someone under the control of the user. By applying a seal to the victim's body, the user brings the victim's abilities and actions under his/her control.

Neji Hyuga Mark

As we see in manga and anime, you can put a seal on every male child at certain age and it can work from multiple approach.

Ejaculation ban Seal

Denying orgasm or pleasure to male.

Vasectomy Seal

the sperm will not contain spermatozoon. Seal can be broken or released only by the leader.

Two sides seal(Male-Female)

The Uchiha sperm will be only fertile in an Uchiha sealed female

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    $\begingroup$ We're talking about humans, not seals. $\endgroup$
    – kingledion
    Nov 2, 2018 at 14:49
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    $\begingroup$ +1; Vasectomy seal was my first thought. This has the nice side effect (well, nice for a totalitarian society) of limiting reproduction to "approved" male lines. $\endgroup$
    – arp
    Nov 2, 2018 at 16:30
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What is the medical tech like in your world? Many societies have rites of passage that involve genital changes. Make yours the insertion of a vasectomy tube. The kind that a doctor can later flip "on." You can bundle it with some other rite of passage if you wish, like circumcision or piercing or a night alone in the wilderness. Do it at the onset of puberty, or a bit before.

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Activating the sharingan requires specific training , exercises, and other preconditions, known only to the Uchiha.

It's not only a question of lineage, it's also a question of heritage.

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Pederasty.

man and boy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_ancient_Greece

The most common form of same-sex relationships between males in Greece was "paiderastia" (pederasty) meaning "boy love". It was a relationship between an older male and an adolescent youth. A boy was considered a "boy" until he was able to grow a full beard. In Athens the older man was called erastes. He was to educate, protect, love, and provide a role model for his eromenos, whose reward for him lay in his beauty, youth, and promise.

In your society, young lusty men are adopted by older lusty men. These "erastes" serve to educate and protect and also channel and expend sexual energies in a non-procreative fashion.

But your society has another method as well...

Ladies choice.

Women marry and the husband is the father of any children. But women are understood to be free to seek out sexual partners outside of their husband as the spirit moves them - as long as such partners are within the clan. Young beautiful men might, understandably, be a frequent choice.

This has the added benefit of improving the chance for conception. Inbreeding will be a problem in your society. If a woman is married to her first cousin, consanguinity might make it difficult for her to conceive or carry to term. Multiple partners improve the chance of genetic compatibility - and still within the clan bloodline.

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You could make it recessive, so that even if it was spread, there would need to be two copies for it to manifest itself in a person.

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    $\begingroup$ This actually makes the problem worse: The power can suddenly start popping up semi-randomly in civilians and your enemies' clans several generations down the line. To control the spread of your bloodline, you would need to screen the DNA of everyone who could possibly be descended from your clan, and as soon as your enemies acquired a male and a female they know that the offspring will have The Power. (N.B. Did not Downvote) $\endgroup$
    – Chronocidal
    Nov 2, 2018 at 15:16

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