Chapter 103: The Beginning of the Mangekyō
Buzz!
In an instant, every image in Asuka's mind vanished, leaving nothing but a blank void.
The saliva in his mouth gradually dried up, and even his tongue became parched.
He sat frozen in his chair for a long while before slowly turning his stiff neck toward the black ninja cat on the table. A strained smile appeared on his face as he stammered,
"Uncle Black-Black… what did you just say?"
The black ninja cat looked up at Asuka.
Seeing the disbelief in his eyes, it silently lowered its head.
It didn't want to believe it either.
But when it had seen Ryoichi's body lying on the ground at that moment, it had no choice but to accept the truth.
"Asuka, go see for yourself."
Boom!
The ground instantly cracked like a spiderweb, and a deafening explosion echoed throughout the entire street.
Nearby pedestrians crouched on the ground, covering their ears with their hands. Their faces were twisted in pain as they stared in disbelief at the collapsed section of the hospital.
Boom! Boom!
A series of thunderous roars followed.
They turned toward the source of the noise and saw a black figure seemingly incapable of walking normally, continuously leaping and charging into the distance.
Every time the figure landed and launched itself into the air again, it produced a thunderous boom, kicking up enormous clouds of dust that swept across the street.
The rumbling soon reached the Hokage's office.
Everyone who had been discussing the details of the upcoming negotiations turned toward the window.
"Who is that?"
"Such powerful chakra…"
"Hey, hey! Does your Konoha have no sincerity at all when it comes to negotiations? Why do we keep having to see people like this again and again?"
Hearing the Cloud ninja's complaint, the Konoha higher-ups remained silent.
They watched the black figure leap dozens of meters into the air with every jump.
One by one, they fell silent.
Because they didn't know who that person was either.
Terrifying physical strength.
Enormous chakra.
"Uchiha Asuka!"
At that moment, Danzō suddenly lowered his telescope and spoke with certainty.
He watched the black figure gradually disappear into the distance, his eyes narrowing.
Although he couldn't make out the person's features through the telescope, the strange markings on his body belonged to only two people in the entire village.
Uchiha Asuka.
Tsunade.
And the ability to release such an enormous burst of chakra in such a short period of time…
"Send someone to the Uchiha compound."
The moment the Fourth Hokage learned the person's identity, Minato ordered the shinobi standing beside him.
Afterward, Minato turned toward the window, a trace of unease appearing in his eyes.
For a member of the Uchiha clan to disregard Konoha's rules and cause such a huge disturbance meant that something significant—something he didn't know about—must have happened.
When the rumbling reached the Uchiha compound…
Everyone looked up and saw a black figure hurtling toward them at incredible speed.
Boom!
Asuka's right foot slammed into the ground.
His entire body shot forward like a cannonball, breaking through the air as he flew straight ahead.
"Old bastard, I hope you died of natural causes."
After saying that, Asuka landed once again, his expression grim as he stared at Ryoichi's house ahead.
As one of Konoha's foremost medical ninja, he wasn't worried about Ryoichi dying from natural causes.
At worst, he could dig out one of the old man's eyes—or one of his son's eyes—and then use a resurrection technique.
But…
He was worried that the old man's death wasn't natural.
If someone had removed his organs, things would become troublesome.
With that thought, Asuka kicked the door open and barged directly into Ryoichi's house.
Bang!
The sound of the shattered door echoed through the room.
The Uchiha elders gathered inside all turned toward the entrance.
When they realized the person who had arrived was Uchiha Asuka, they silently stepped aside and let him pass.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
As he listened to the words of consolation around him, Asuka's eyes swept across everyone in the room.
Ryoichi's son.
The Grand Elder.
Elder Mado.
They were all here.
Asuka took a deep breath, walked around the crowd, and stepped into the center of the room.
He looked at Ryoichi, who was lying face-down with a sword embedded in his back, and inhaled deeply.
"How did the old man die?"
The Grand Elder looked at Asuka, who stood frozen in place with a chilling aura radiating from his body, and spoke softly.
"Suicide."
Damn it.
The corner of Asuka's mouth twitched.
A sword was stabbed into his back.
And that was suicide?
He took a deep breath, bent down, picked Ryoichi up, and said coldly,
"We'll talk about this 'suicide' later."
"Asuka, calm down!"
"The dead cannot be brought back to life."
"We'll definitely uncover the truth and give Ryoichi an explanation."
Whoosh!
Asuka's Sharingan opened instantly.
A terrifying ocular pressure swept over everyone in the room before his gaze finally settled on the Grand Elder.
"Old man, when I come back, prepare a list of everyone who had a grudge against Old Ryoichi."
Feeling the terrifying power emanating from Asuka's eyes, the Grand Elder instinctively activated his own Sharingan.
Has he reached the limit already?
It seems that with just a little more stimulation, he could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Uchiha clan had finally gathered the courage to speak with Konoha's higher-ups once again.
Looking at Asuka's crimson eyes, the Grand Elder remained silent for a moment before nodding.
"Didn't the clan head come?"
"I heard the clan head's wife wasn't feeling well, so the clan head took her to the hospital."
"Something this serious happened, and the clan head still hasn't come to deal with it."
Listening to the discussion behind him, Asuka licked his dry lips and carried Ryoichi upstairs to the bedroom.
Bring him back to life.
Then everything will become clear.
A moment later.
After examining Ryoichi's injuries, Asuka couldn't help frowning.
There were no signs of a struggle.
There was only a single penetrating wound through his back.
Suicide?
Would an old man who cherished his life so much really commit suicide?
He looked much more like someone who had been ambushed from behind by someone he knew.
With that thought, Asuka pried open Ryoichi's eyes.
Seeing that his Sharingan was completely intact, Asuka curled his lips.
"Old man, you're lucky to still be alive."
"From now on, I'll inherit half of your estate."
After saying that, he pulled the sword from Ryoichi's chest, then took a bottle of nutrient solution from his body and placed it beside the bed.
He reached toward Ryoichi's eye.
This old man definitely has some spare three-tomoe eyes.
I might as well let him trade one of his spares with me.
Slap!
The moment Asuka touched Ryoichi's eye, he suddenly felt a large hand grab his arm.
Confusion flashed across his face.
Then his expression changed into terror.
Bang!
After kicking the revived Ryoichi away, Asuka retreated to the doorway and leaned against it, staring ahead with lingering fear.
One hand pressed against his chest while the other wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He muttered,
"Damn it. There really are zombies in the shinobi world?"
"Do I need to buy a black donkey's hoof before I can save people?"
Then, seeing the old man trying to stand, Asuka gathered his courage, immediately drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist, and shouted,
"Old man, let me send you to the grave first, then I'll bring you back!"
The Kusanagi Sword in his hand instantly split into more than a dozen blades, swaying like willow branches in the spring breeze, their forms impossible to distinguish between real and false.
"Leaf Sword Style: Willow!"
"Wait!"
Hearing that Ryoichi could actually speak, Asuka's eyes widened in disbelief.
"The zombie technology in the shinobi world is really advanced."
"No, no way…"
"Could some damn transmigrator have possessed him?"
Anyone who dares to invade my second granduncle is getting killed.
With that thought, Asuka charged forward even faster.
"I'm not dead!"
Ryoichi stood up from the ground as he shouted.
He rubbed his aged back while glaring furiously at Asuka. That kick had nearly broken every bone in his body.
"How do you prove you're Ryoichi?"
"Prove it to me!"
Ryoichi sucked in a breath.
When he saw the three tomoe spinning in Asuka's eyes, he angrily said,
"Do I really mean so little to you?"
"Even my cousin said that you're only a tiny bit of stimulation away from awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, and I've already died once."
"Where's your Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"You've been calling me 'Grandpa' this and 'Grandpa' that, and Grandpa has already died once, yet you aren't even sad."
"If my cousin hadn't used a Transcription Seal beforehand to seal Izanagi into my eye…"
"I would have died for nothing!"
Seeing that the old man wasn't a zombie—and that one of his eyes had already turned white—Asuka let out a long sigh of relief.
Damn it.
He actually used Izanagi.
As Ryota's younger brother, how could he possibly not know about this?
With that thought, Asuka returned the Kusanagi Sword to its sheath at his waist and spoke in a somewhat exhausted tone.
"I was a little sad at first."
"But on the way here, I suddenly remembered that I have a forbidden technique, so I wasn't that sad anymore."
"Back then, I obtained a forbidden technique from Sunagakure. As long as the person hasn't been completely disintegrated, it can save anyone."
"??"
Ryoichi stared at Asuka in surprise.
Seeing his serious expression, Ryoichi felt that he probably wasn't lying and frowned.
"Can you use a forbidden technique whenever you want?"
Asuka walked forward a couple of steps before lying down on the bed where Ryoichi had been resting.
Feeling his aching, weakened body, he spoke wearily.
"I exploited a loophole in the rules, so there was almost no cost."
"Forget about that. I'm only one step away from awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan now."
Judging from the tremendous ocular power he could feel within his three-tomoe Sharingan at this moment, if it could be represented numerically…
It was probably something like 9,988 / 10,000.
Asuka wiped the cold sweat from his face with the bed curtain, then closed his eyes and called out internally.
"System!"
The moment his consciousness returned, he realized that his ocular power had already reached its limit.
Uchiha Madara had been right.
He really was only a tiny step away.
If he hadn't possessed a forbidden technique capable of resurrecting people, he would have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan today.
[Congratulations, Host! Through wisdom and strategy, you have successfully returned Uchiha Itachi to his original path—walking alone for the rest of his life, until death.]
"Would you like to claim your reward?"
"Yes!"
The moment he answered, a relatively small amount of energy instantly surged from Asuka's mind toward his eyes.
At that moment.
Asuka felt as though his eyes had been kicked dozens of times.
It hurt.
His eyes felt as though they were being boiled in hot oil—dry, burning, and unbearably uncomfortable.
The chain reaction caused by the pain made Asuka feel as though his temples had transformed into beating hearts, throbbing violently with every pulse.
"Asuka?"
Seeing him lying on the bed like a corpse while nobody paid him any attention, Ryoichi turned around several times before muttering,
"Was my tone a little too harsh?"
"Not harsh at all. Not harsh at all."
Damn it. Even if you can bring me back to life, you could at least cry and act sad for a while.
"I wasted a three-tomoe eye for nothing."
After saying that, he walked over to the window and looked down at Asuka lying on the bed.
"Forget it. If he doesn't wake up, he doesn't wake up. We'll think of another way."
"Don't take what I said to heart. I was only joking…"
Two streams of blood suddenly flowed from Asuka's eyes and dripped down his cheeks onto the pillow.
Ryoichi panicked.
"Are you all right?"
"Say something!"
"Don't scare me. Those harsh things I said just now were only words."
"Hey—"
Before he could finish, Asuka suddenly opened his eyes.
The three black tomoe in his eyes rapidly rotated several times before merging into an extremely strange pattern.
Ryoichi stared at those eyes, completely different from the ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan.
He rubbed his eyes vigorously, afraid that he was hallucinating.
After steadying himself, he looked again.
[Mangekyō…]
[Mangekyō! Did it… did it really awaken?!]