Chapter 149 – Mangekyō and Escape
A jōnin was still a jōnin.
Once they adapted to Taichi's combat patterns, the four remaining jōnin coordinated flawlessly. Even with Flame Transformation negating lethal damage, Taichi was now barely holding the line.
But the moment he sensed Yōhei and Saori approaching—
He knew the end was near.
You've adapted to Fire and Water?
Fine.
Let's try something new.
A skill point shifted.
Wind Nature Transformation → Level 11.
A torrent of insight surged through his mind.
Taichi steadied his breathing and continued fighting as if nothing had changed.
It didn't take long.
The island was small.
Yōhei and Saori soon appeared on the battlefield's edge.
"Damn it… how is she already back in combat?!" the Kumogakure leader cursed.
He had assumed the reports about Taichi's healing were exaggerated.
They weren't.
If anything—
They had been understated.
Their arrival was the final weight tipping the scale.
The Kumogakure squad was forced to split manpower to intercept them.
And Taichi exploded into motion.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
A violent gale swept outward, wind blades slicing through the air and forcing the nearby jōnin back.
Taichi formed seals rapidly.
Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets.
Compressed spheres of air shot forth like gunfire.
Faster than fire.
Faster than water.
At close range—
They were nearly impossible to dodge.
Countless wind bullets tore into the jōnin known as Yunshui.
Within seconds, his body was riddled with holes.
Dead.
"…He has Wind Release too?" the leader muttered hoarsely.
At this point, he understood.
The intelligence wasn't wrong.
Taichi simply hid too much.
With another jōnin gone, only two remained—both low on chakra.
They knew.
This was likely their end.
And so they chose dignity.
If they were to die—
They would die fighting.
Taichi felt it.
And despite everything, a flicker of respect stirred within him.
Those who accept death calmly—
Deserve it.
---
On the other side—
Yōhei met the charging jōnin head-on.
He had conserved strength until now.
Now—
He unleashed everything.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation.
A roaring inferno surged forward.
His Sharingan locked onto every micro-movement.
Before the enemy finished countering the flames—
Yōhei charged straight through them.
The Kumogakure jōnin hadn't expected such recklessness.
Yōhei's mind sharpened as the fight intensified.
The faster he moved—
The clearer everything became.
The three tomoe spun wildly—
Then—
Connected.
The pattern shifted.
A shuriken encircled by two rings formed in his eyes.
Chakra surged violently through his body.
His vision burned—
Then sharpened beyond anything he had known.
The world became impossibly clear.
Bright.
Alive.
He froze for half a heartbeat.
He had never been told—
That beyond three tomoe—
There was another realm.
But battle did not wait for enlightenment.
The power inside him demanded release.
He turned toward Saori.
Two chūnin were attacking her—
Alongside Kizuna.
Yōhei flicked the blood from his kunai.
Shunshin.
The world blurred—
Yet slowed.
Everything moved as if through water.
Before arriving—
A Great Fireball was already mid-flight.
As one chūnin dodged desperately—
Yōhei was already there.
His kunai slashed toward the throat.
Every twitch.
Every muscle contraction.
Captured.
Adjusted.
Corrected mid-motion.
The enemy might as well have run into the blade himself.
One clean kill.
Yōhei steadied his breathing.
For the first time—
He felt overwhelming strength.
For a fleeting moment—
He even wondered if he could challenge Taichi.
---
He glanced toward Saori.
She was beating Kizuna mercilessly.
No elegance.
No restraint.
Fist after fist.
Pure fury.
Each strike landing solidly.
Yōhei winced watching it.
She had been deeply wounded.
And deeply betrayed.
When Kizuna finally collapsed, battered beyond recognition—
Saori ended it with a sharp chop to the throat.
Silence.
---
Meanwhile—
Taichi finished his own opponents.
The planned ambush—
Was over.
The three regrouped.
The first thing Yōhei and Saori noticed—
Was Taichi's clothing.
Shredded.
He had taken at least twenty blade strikes.
The fabric surviving was a miracle.
Saori rushed forward in panic, pulling at his torn clothing, searching for wounds.
There were none.
Between Taichi's medical skill—
And Flame Transformation—
Nothing remained.
She had simply forgotten in her worry.
But her own body faltered.
Blood loss.
Overexertion.
She swayed.
Taichi caught her gently.
Warm Yang chakra flowed from his palm, stabilizing her condition.
Only then did he look up at Yōhei.
He opened his mouth—
Then froze.
His eyes locked onto Yōhei's.
Saori followed his gaze.
And gasped.
"Yōhei… your eyes!"
Saori did not fully understand the advanced forms of the Sharingan or their power, so her reaction was nowhere near as intense as Taichi's.
Only after her exclamation did Yōhei realize something was wrong. The battle had felt too exhilarating—he had completely forgotten about his eyes.
He hurried to the shoreline and crouched down, staring into the rippling reflection.
Within the trembling surface of the sea—
A pair of scarlet eyes burned brightly.
At their center, a triangular pinwheel rotated slowly.
Two black rings encircled it.
"This… this…" Yōhei looked up at Taichi in disbelief, searching for answers.
Taichi had already composed himself, though his gaze remained complicated.
Other Uchiha schemed and suffered their entire lives chasing the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And this fool had awakened it so casually.
From the moment Yōhei first activated his Sharingan to now, only once—when their teammate Inuzuka Makoto died before him—had he evolved through true grief.
The rest? Emotional stimulus, yes.
But never absolute despair.
And this time?
After questioning Yōhei carefully, Taichi learned the truth—
It wasn't agony.
It was release.
The moment Yōhei killed his enemy and expelled the pent-up rage in his heart—
That was when it happened.
Taichi didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
What a ridiculously fortunate Uchiha.
---
"This is complicated," Taichi said at last. "But now isn't the time to explain everything."
He placed both hands firmly on Yōhei's shoulders, his expression unusually serious.
"Listen carefully. You must not tell anyone about this. Not even your parents. For now—no one."
Yōhei was startled by the gravity in Taichi's voice.
But he trusted him completely.
He nodded.
Taichi then looked at Saori.
She understood immediately.
"I won't tell anyone."
Only then did Taichi exhale in relief.
"Let's get out of here first. I'll explain when we're somewhere safe."
---
They circled the barrier's perimeter at high speed, inspecting it carefully. When they regrouped, all three wore grim expressions.
"The barrier is no longer being actively maintained," Saori said. "If left alone, it will collapse on its own within two days."
"We can't wait two days," Yōhei replied. "If they notice the team hasn't returned, reinforcements will come."
"Then we break it," Saori concluded. "It's large, and the caster wasn't a sealing master. The strength is finite. If we focus our strongest attack on one point—there's a chance."
Taichi agreed.
They began probing the barrier methodically—chakra sensing, light attacks, searching for the weakest node.
Tension thickened the air.
Only the sound of waves crashing against stone marked time's passage.
Finally—
Saori's eyes lit up.
"Here!"
Excitement flickered in her voice before caution returned.
"This point is noticeably weaker. But it's still strong."
"That's enough."
Taichi stepped back several paces.
"Yōhei. Saori. Move further back."
He inhaled deeply.
Chakra surged violently.
Both hands formed seals simultaneously.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
A colossal dragon of brilliant golden fire erupted forward. The air warped from heat as it smashed into the weak point.
The barrier rippled violently.
Golden flames clashed against invisible resistance, shrieking and sparking.
The entire dome shuddered, its outline becoming visible like a soap bubble on the verge of bursting.
But—
It held.
When the flames dissipated, the barrier restored itself.
"…Even that wasn't enough?" Yōhei whispered, fists clenched.
Taichi's eyes sharpened.
"Then we hit it harder."
A puff of smoke—
A shadow clone appeared.
No words exchanged.
The original formed seals again.
Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
At the same instant—
The clone unleashed Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
But this was no scattered gust.
The wind compressed into a spiraling vortex and injected itself into the fire dragon's tail.
Wind fed fire.
Fire rode wind.
The golden dragon swelled violently, flames compressed and intensified.
The combined technique struck the barrier like divine judgment.
This time—
The impact roared like heaven collapsing.
The island trembled.
Cracks spread outward from the impact point like shattering ice.
Under their breathless gaze—
The barrier reached its limit.
And exploded.
Fragments of light scattered across the island.
"No time to celebrate," Taichi snapped.
"Move!"
They fled immediately.
---
Two hours later—
A Kumogakure jōnin squad arrived.
They searched thoroughly.
But the island had been flooded earlier.
No bodies.
No clear battle traces.
Only ruins at the warehouse site.
"The barrier was forcibly destroyed."
"Whether from outside or inside—we don't know."
"We lost that many men… and we don't even know what happened."
"If Matsushita Taichi survived this…"
No one finished the sentence.
If that monster was still alive—
Kumogakure would never know peace.
---
By then, Taichi's team had already crossed deep into the Land of Hot Water.
Only at night did they finally stop to rest.
Exhaustion weighed heavily upon them.
Even Taichi didn't bother cooking.
They ate dry rations in silence.
After resting—
Yōhei could no longer contain himself.
"So… what exactly happened to my eyes?"
He asked it bluntly.
Only Yōhei would so casually ask an outsider about his own bloodline.
Taichi gestured.
"Sit. Let me examine them first."
Despite his calm tone, Taichi was tense inside.
Yōhei sat down immediately without hesitation.
That trust—
Unreserved and absolute—
Strengthened Taichi's resolve to help him completely.
Yōhei had no siblings.
And Mangekyō usage inevitably led to blindness.
But Taichi had ideas.
Green medical chakra enveloped Yōhei's head.
Taichi focused carefully.
When his perception reached the eyes—
He sensed it.
A chakra unlike normal chakra.
Pupil power.
Yet—
It lacked the cold, sinister aura described in legends.
Perhaps because Yōhei's awakening wasn't born from absolute despair.
Taichi felt relieved.
At least Yōhei wouldn't be consumed by it.
"You've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan," Taichi explained. "Your Sharingan's highest form."
Yōhei activated it again.
Three tomoe.
Rotation accelerating.
Merging—
Transforming into the triangular pinwheel.
As it awakened, Taichi felt the pupil power surge violently.
When fully activated—
It pressed against Yōhei's eyeballs.
And this was only the basic state.
If he used Mangekyō techniques—
Or Susanoo—
The strain would be devastating.
This…
Was likely why vision deteriorated with use.
Taichi withdrew his hands and closed his eyes in thought.
He had an advantage few ever would—
The chance to study a Mangekyō this closely.
And that meant—
There might be a solution.