Underground of the Hokage Building, Anbu Base.
Located in a deeper layer of the base, the training ground was spacious, with walls and floor cast from reinforced special alloys capable of withstanding Jonin-level conventional Ninjutsu bombardment.
At this moment, the training ground was unusually quiet, only the low hum of the ventilation system echoing in the emptiness.
Sasuke, dressed in black tight-fitting short sleeves and shorts, sat quietly on a cold metal chair at the edge of the training ground.
This black outfit outlined the youth's lean physique, but his back was slightly hunched, his hands resting on his knees, his fingers unconsciously curling and uncurling.
His lowered bangs covered his eyes and also masked the expression on his face.
Yamato, having removed his animal mask, stood before Sasuke, arms crossed, silently watching the silent youth.
Both were waiting for something.
Time ticked by minute by minute in the silence.
Yamato did not urge him, nor did he interrogate him. He simply watched the youth before him with a somewhat serious expression.
After all, Sasuke had been training under him and Kakashi for the past six years, making him somewhat of a half-disciple. Yamato naturally did not want Sasuke to defect from Konoha.
Before long, the sound of footsteps came from the entrance of the training ground.
The footsteps sounded very casual, even carrying a hint of dragging laziness.
"Oh dear... so taking a vacation or something is really just a wishful thought, huh..." Along with the footsteps, a drawn-out, sleepy-sounding voice drifted lazily in.
Kakashi, hands in his pants pockets, walked with languid steps, swaying leisurely into the training ground.
Yamato turned sideways, and upon seeing Kakashi, the serious expression on his face visibly relaxed. He nodded slightly: "Kakashi-senpai, Hokage-sama sent you, didn't he?"
"Who else?" Kakashi walked up, raised his hand, and let out a big yawn. "My wonderful vacation officially ended the moment the Anbu 'invited' me out of my futon to see Hokage-sama this morning. Honestly, they promised to let me have a few quiet days before the exams..."
While complaining, he walked up to Sasuke and stopped.
Kakashi looked down, his single exposed right eye calmly regarding the youth who was still sitting on the chair, not looking up at him.
"I heard," Kakashi's voice was as languid as usual. "You awakened your Three-Tomoe Sharingan in the Forest of Death?"
The topic of the Sharingan broke through the shell of silence Sasuke had deliberately maintained.
Sasuke's shoulders tensed. He slowly raised his head, and beneath his bangs, those pitch-black eyes met Kakashi's gaze.
There was vigilance in that gaze, as well as a hint of pride, difficult to completely hide, that a young genius had after just gaining power.
He didn't answer, but responded with action.
Hum—
Sasuke's eyes instantly turned crimson!
Three pitch-black tomoes slowly rotated against that crimson backdrop!
Compared to when they had just evolved, these eyes seemed more stable, their Ocular Power more refined.
"Although the process was somewhat twisted and turned," Sasuke's tone carried a rediscovered confidence. "These eyes can already let me see... further places..."
He didn't continue, but the unspoken words and the cold gleam in his eyes fully revealed the determination in his heart.
With these eyes, Sasuke couldn't wait to face that guy Menma in the third exam!
This time, he would definitely win!
Kakashi quietly looked at the three pitch-black tomoes in Sasuke's eyes. There was no surprise or praise on his face, still the same lazy expression as if nothing really mattered.
Their eyes met. Under Sasuke's slightly puzzled and faintly challenging gaze, Kakashi slowly raised his right hand, using two fingers to gently pinch the edge of his forehead protector, worn diagonally, and then... bit by bit, lifted it up.
All along, that forehead protector had tightly covered his left eye, along with the scar that ran through his left eyebrow and left face.
The vast majority of Konoha's Ninja, including Sasuke, had long grown accustomed to Kakashi's appearance.
But in their spare time, they occasionally wondered what Kakashi really looked like under his forehead protector and mask.
And when the forehead protector was lifted, and that always-hidden eye was fully exposed under the pale white light—
Sasuke, as if struck by lightning, sprang up from the metal chair with a sudden motion!
His eyes widened, his face filled with incredulous shock.
For there, in Kakashi's left eye, was the familiar crimson backdrop and three pitch-black tomoes.
'A Three-Tomoe Sharingan!'
"You... you... how is this possible?!" Sasuke's voice changed pitch due to shock, almost a growl. "Your eye... how do you have a Sharingan?! That's impossible! You're clearly not an Uchiha..."
He had joined the Anbu and trained under Kakashi and Yamato for six years. Countless times in missions and training, he had been in close contact with Kakashi, even seen him fight, but never... never had he seen this eye!
Kakashi had never even mentioned the existence of this eye!
Seeing Sasuke's shocked expression, Kakashi remained calm.
He used his finger to gently point at his left eye.
"This eye," Kakashi's voice lowered. "Was a 'gift' given to me by a... very important friend of mine, in his final moments."
'Friend?'
'Gift?'
'A Three-Tomoe Sharingan?'
'How could the Uchiha Clan possibly give such a precious Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan that symbolized power and clan honor, to someone outside the clan?'
Sasuke's mind was in chaos.
In the education and understanding he had received since childhood, the Sharingan was the Uchiha Clan's supreme treasure, a symbol of bloodline, absolutely not to be lost to outsiders!
Nor was there any record in the clan's history of a clansman giving a Sharingan to an outsider!
Especially a Three-Tomoe!
Seeing the changing expression on Sasuke's face, Yamato timely spoke up, his tone carrying a hint of respect for his senior and a faint smile: "Sasuke, haven't you always been curious why Kakashi-senpai is called the [Copy Ninja] in the Ninja World? How do you think he got that title?"
'Copy Ninja... Sharingan... copying Ninjutsu!'
As if another lightning bolt flashed through his mind, Sasuke instantly understood!
'That's right!'
'The Sharingan possesses various abilities: insight, copying, Genjutsu, among which 'copying' is one of its signature abilities!'
'The reason Kakashi could copy an opponent's Ninjutsu after seeing it just once was precisely because of this Sharingan!'
'Although he only had one, the dynamic vision, Chakra observation, and copying ability it granted were enough to cause a qualitative leap in his practical combat ability!'
All the clues instantly connected.
So... Kakashi, who had been guiding him all along and whom he regarded as a powerful Jonin, had as one of the foundations of his power... the eye of his own clansman!
This information left Sasuke with somewhat complex feelings.
Kakashi didn't give Sasuke more time to digest this information.
He lowered his hand, pulled his forehead protector back down, covering that crimson left eye, and returned to his usual lazy appearance.
"Alright, enough idle talk." Kakashi turned and walked deeper into the training ground, casually waving his hand behind him. "Come with me. Over the next few days, I'll give you some special training, focusing on high-level applications of the Sharingan, advanced techniques, and... some 'risks' you need to be aware of."
He didn't ask Sasuke why he went to see Shisui, didn't dwell on the morning's conflict, and didn't offer any comment or explanation for the obvious suspicion and anger in Sasuke's eyes.
But precisely this 'not asking', this 'ordinary' attitude, slightly relaxed the taut string in Sasuke's heart.
Kakashi, as former Anbu Commander, and Yamato, as the current Anbu Commander, neither had 'censured' him for his morning's behavior in any form, which in itself already conveyed a clear signal.
This was the Hokage's attitude.
The higher-ups did not intend to delve deeply into this matter, or rather, their approach was mainly appeasement.
Sasuke silently followed Kakashi's footsteps, his heart beating steadily in his chest, but his mind was racing.
'Just as I thought...' He said to himself, remembering the reminder from the mysterious one-armed man in the Genjutsu last night.
'Just like that mysterious person said, in order to appease me, the 'orphan of the Uchiha', to stabilize me, and to prevent me from completely leaning towards the Land of Stars, Konoha is bound to give some 'benefits' and 'appeasement'. Kakashi's guidance might be one of them.'
But immediately, a surge of even firmer determination rose in his heart.
'But this appeasement is only temporary... it's just another form of surveillance and exploitation! They won't really tell me the truth, won't let me leave, and certainly won't let me possess power that could threaten them! The Three-Tomoe Sharingan... is not enough! Far from enough!'
Having seen Shisui's Mangekyo, felt its Ocular Power as vast as the ocean, and learned that that man also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke clearly recognized just how far he was from that man!
Having personally experienced Gaara's terrifying strength, he craved powerful strength even more.
'I need stronger power... need the power of the Mangekyo!'
'Only by possessing the Mangekyo Sharingan can I have true self-protection in Konoha, can I break out of this suffocating cage!'
His hands quietly clenched at his sides, his nails digging into his palms, bringing a slight stinging pain, yet making his mind even clearer.
'And then... I can take revenge on that man!'
'And then... go to the Land of Stars myself, find Mother!'
'And find out everything!'
The crimson tomoes in the youth's eyes slowly rotated, reflecting the seemingly lazy back of the silver-haired Jonin ahead, and also reflecting a path destined to be full of thorns, from which he could no longer turn back.
....
Land of Rain, Amegakure.
The continuous, unending rain seemed to be the eternal theme of this land. The gray sky shrouded everything in dampness and oppression.
Deep within the village, hidden beneath a large factory with an unremarkable exterior and a sign reading [Regenerative Biotechnology Co., Ltd.], lay unknown secrets.
The air here was thick with the smell of strong disinfectant.
Countless transparent pipes of varying thicknesses wound like blood vessels throughout the room, connecting to huge cylindrical glass cultivation pods.
The pods were filled with pale green nutrient solution. Naked, humanoid figures with their eyes tightly shut floated within… men and women, different appearances, but all showing an unnatural state of accelerated development. The contours of muscles and bones were clearly visible under the skin, clearly indicating the use of some kind of ripening technology.
Amado, wearing a white coat, his hair meticulously combed, and a pair of orange goggles, stood before the central control console.
His expression was focused and calm. His hands, clad in white gloves, quickly tapped on the control panel covered with complex buttons and screens, carefully recording the vital signs data and genetic stability of the experimental subjects in each cultivation pod.
Suddenly, the air beside him rippled without warning. Space was torn open, revealing a strange, constantly twisting rift with black and red edges.
A white figure stepped out from within.
The newcomer was tall, wearing a white feathered robe with a certain religious, mystical feel. He had a shaved head, no eyebrows, a cold expression, and empty eyes, as if nothing in the world could evoke the slightest emotional fluctuation in him.
It was Jigen.
Amado seemed long accustomed to this sudden space-time teleportation. He didn't even stop his work, only turning his head to glance briefly out of the corner of his eye, then naturally reached for a steaming mug from beside the control console and handed it over.
"Coffee, just brewed."
Jigen took the mug, brought it to his lips, and took a shallow sip.
The scalding liquid had no effect on him. His gaze swept over the flashing data on the control console, finally landing on the humanoid figures in the various cultivation pods.
"I have fully transmitted the theoretical core and basic framework of the cloning technology to you."
"All that remains is to rely on this planet's materials and technological level to carry out specific process improvements and equipment iteration."
"Progress?"
Amado pushed up the orange goggles on the bridge of his nose. His eyes behind the lenses remained fixed on the screen: "The cultivation of the basic clones is going smoothly. The combination of the life support system and rapid growth induction technology is basically stable. However..."
He paused, then continued: "Most of the high-quality cell samples we currently have come from ordinary Ninjas of mediocre talent."
"Even if successfully cloned, the upper limit of their individual strength won't be too high. At best, they can reach the level of a Special Jonin, and they lack growth potential."
"To obtain truly strategically valuable 'weapons', we need better 'raw materials'."
He turned his chair to face Isshiki directly: "Taking advantage of the chaos in the Amegakure last time, I managed to collect some valuable biological tissue samples."
"Including cells and tissues from one of the Sannin, Jiraiya, and the former leader of the Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander."
Hearing these names, an extremely subtle ripple seemed to flash through Jigen's empty eyes for an instant.
Jiraiya, contractor of Mount Myoboku, one of the Sannin… his cells contained the potential of Natural Energy and Senjutsu... Hanzo of the Salamander, the former [Demigod of the Ninja World]… his resistance to toxins and rich combat experience were valuable assets.
"Once the data from this batch of basic experimental subjects is completely stable and the cloning process is thoroughly verified," Amado continued explaining the production plan.