"Any new intel?" The Third Hokage knew that a late-night visit from Orochimaru meant something important had occurred.
Orochimaru said smugly, "The latest news. Uchiha Kawasaki was dispatched to the Land of Water battlefield and fought a fierce battle with Obito. He won, but it was a pyrrhic victory."
"Itachi was gravely injured and still hasn't woken up."
A sharp glint flashed in the Third Hokage's eyes. "When did this happen?"
"Just a short while ago."
Orochimaru's voice turned cold. "The delegates from the Land of Fire are about to arrive. I plan to have a showdown with Kawasaki."
The Third Hokage mulled over the current state of the ninja world. "We cannot provoke a large-scale war, no matter what!" Then he lowered his voice. "Are you confident you can make Kawasaki yield?"
Orochimaru smiled. "Don't worry, old man. The Uchiha have taken a loss they can't afford to complain about. They can't escape this one."
Orochimaru stated confidently, "The Uchiha won't dare to retaliate. Their Mangekyo Sharingan has a fatal flaw!"
The Third Hokage stared intently at him. "What flaw?"
A cunning smile spread across Orochimaru's face. "Every time they use the Mangekyo Sharingan, their vision deteriorates, eventually leading to blindness."
"Fugaku hasn't been seen since the last great war, and now Itachi has suffered a severe blow. I suspect his eyes are badly damaged as well."
"The Uchiha clan absolutely will not dare to turn on us."
After hearing this, the Third Hokage took a long drag from his pipe.
So that's how it was. No wonder Fugaku kept his Mangekyo hidden, and Kawasaki never used his in public.
"Old man, I'm going to need your cooperation."
...
In the Uchiha clan's territory.
On a bench outside the Uchiha Hospital.
Although Sasuke had insisted on waiting for Itachi to come out, Kawasaki put him to sleep with a simple genjutsu. He then had Iori take Sasuke back home.
Kawasaki also sent a message via a ninja crow to Shisui, telling him to remain at the four-country border and not to leave without further orders.
He didn't rest himself, turning back into the hospital.
By then, Itachi's treatment was finished.
In truth, Itachi had simply collapsed from stamina depletion; putting him on an IV drip with a nutrient solution was all that was needed.
However, the condition of his eyes deeply worried Tsunade.
It hadn't been long since her last examination of his eyes, but now they had deteriorated significantly.
Tsunade was certain that Itachi's vision would decline sharply this time. But with him unconscious, she couldn't yet determine the exact extent of the damage.
It seemed Kawasaki hadn't been lying to her; the Mangekyo Sharingan really did have this problem.
Tsunade sighed.
"Tsunade, how is Itachi?" Kawasaki asked as he pushed the door open.
Tsunade looked at Kawasaki with a complex expression. "Itachi's life isn't in danger, but his eyes..."
Kawasaki sat down by the bed, his expression somber. "Mm, I understand."
"Great power always comes with a price. If not for Itachi's eyes being able to suppress space-time ninjutsu, we both would have been in grave danger."
Tsunade shook her head helplessly. Her own Strength of a Hundred Seal was no different; under the strain of high-intensity combat...
"I expect Itachi will need to recuperate for some time."
"But this nutrient solution should help his body recover faster."
Kawasaki nodded. "Understood. Thank you for your hard work, Tsunade. You should go get some rest."
Seeing that Kawasaki intended to stay and wait for Itachi to wake up, Tsunade didn't press the matter. She stretched and yawned. "I'm going to get some sleep. I'll have Shizune cover my morning class for me."
"Alright, I'll arrange it."
After Tsunade left, Kawasaki closed his eyes to rest by the bedside as well. He wasn't too worried about Itachi, as he could check his status on the system panel. He just needed to be there the moment Itachi woke up to discuss their next steps.
He had passed the information to Orochimaru last night; there should be a move from that side soon.
With nothing else to do while he waited, Kawasaki closed his eyes and began a dream-simulation combat session.
...
In the dream, after defeating everyone else, Kawasaki left Sasuke alive, tying him up to the side.
He then began practicing with his Susanoo.
Only after reabsorbing the divided ocular power from Fugaku was Kawasaki's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan truly complete. With the enhancement of his Eternal Mangekyo's power and the aid of his Uzumaki Clan chakra, Kawasaki theoretically already possessed the ability to manifest a Perfect Susanoo.
Just like Sasuke, he had the necessary hardware.
But in practice, forming a Perfect Susanoo was far more difficult than Kawasaki had imagined.
Condensing such a massive amount of chakra and shaping it into its warrior god form required an astronomical amount of ocular power and chakra. A failed attempt would cause the Susanoo to dissipate rapidly.
Madara could do it because he was a veteran of countless battles and had lived a second life. As for how Sasuke managed it, Kawasaki couldn't understand. In the end, he could only attribute it to him being Indra's transmigrant.
After several failed attempts, Kawasaki finished off Sasuke in the dream and returned to reality.
Seeing that Itachi was still asleep, Kawasaki sat by the bed, lost in thought.
Training in the dream world consumed no resources, unlike in reality where he had to wait for his ocular power to recover. Kawasaki had practiced with his Susanoo far more than even Obito had.
Yet, at his current level, he was most proficient with the third stage of the Susanoo. In this stage, he could rapidly deploy the Sword of Kusanagi and the Eye of Susanoo.
Kawasaki had set a path of advancement for himself. First, he would continue to train his Susanoo until he could stabilize its Perfect form. Furthermore, after achieving the Perfect form, he needed to master the use of the Sword of Kusanagi and the Eye of Susanoo.
At the same time, he would simulate the training of the three types of Sage Mode in his dreams, searching for the one most suitable for the human body.
He would also master all seven chakra nature transformations.
"Chakra nature" wasn't quite the right term; it was more accurately the nature transformation of chakra. One needed a specific nature to train its corresponding transformation.
Kawasaki originally only had Lightning and Fire natures, with Fire being primary and Lightning secondary. Many advanced ninjutsu involved nature transformation. Without the corresponding nature transformation, one couldn't perform high-level jutsu.
Natures were typically innate and incredibly difficult, almost impossible, to develop later in life. Few people undertook such a thankless task. This was because deepening the ninjutsu of an existing nature transformation and developing a new one from scratch both took an immense amount of time. The former showed clear progress, while the latter could consume vast amounts of time with little to show for it.
But with his nature affinities, Kawasaki could turn this difficult training into a real possibility. That was why he would always consider any mission that could increase his nature affinity. As long as he acquired the affinity for a nature, training its corresponding ninjutsu became much easier, and developing its nature transformation would follow naturally.
Right now, Kawasaki was still lacking affinities for Wind and Yang. However, the Uzumaki constitution came with an innate Yang affinity, so if all went well, summoning Nagato should provide him with enough Yang. Although he already had Lightning, Kawasaki planned to train it further only after obtaining its affinity to make the process easier.
A Kekkei Mōra, like those possessed by the Otsutsuki clan, required the fusion of all seven nature transformations as a minimum requirement.
Kawasaki had no ambitions of becoming a member of the Otsutsuki clan. But he could strengthen himself by following their evolutionary path. Therefore, fusing the seven nature transformations was a fundamental goal.
Currently, Kawasaki's most valuable ability was undoubtedly the Six Paths Sage Mode he had acquired from Naruto. But the true value of this mode wasn't just its combat power, but the ability of the Six Paths Power to reshape the body.
Kawasaki was eagerly anticipating what form his body would take after a comprehensive enhancement of all his attributes.
As he was pondering this, Itachi stirred on the bed, showing signs of waking.
Kawasaki snapped back to reality and saw that Itachi had indeed opened his eyes.