"So... that was a very long dream," Sasuke murmured, opening his eyes. After a long silence, he let out a long, slow breath.
Even after waking, the world before him still felt hazy and unreal, like a lingering dream.
His method of advancing to the Mangekyō Sharingan had been extraordinarily dangerous, arguably the most perilous in the entire history of the Uchiha clan.
Though only three days had passed in reality, to him it felt like centuries. That endless solitude and emptiness threatened to plunge him into a vegetative state if he so much as paused his thoughts.
The scenes born from his overwhelming negative emotions blurred the lines between reality and illusion, truth and fiction. Any wavering, any moment of doubt, would have condemned his consciousness to eternal darkness, transforming his body into a mere beast, driven only by unrestrained instinct, indulging its desires to the fullest extent.
Even now, the polar opposites of absolute apathy and unrestrained desire continued to flicker and intertwine within his mind, warring for dominance over his thoughts and threatening to unravel his very being.
Amenominakanushi and Takamimusubi, two flowers that bloomed from the barren soil of solitude and primal desire, were the most beautiful and alluring blossoms, but also the most dangerous and terrifying man-eating flowers.
Just as a Chakra Crystal represents the extreme purification of Chakra, Amenominakanushi embodies the very essence of solitude and nihilism, while Takamimusubi embodies the raw instinct of primal desire.
Whichever path Sasuke chose, a drastic transformation of his personality was inevitable.
If he were to choose both, Sasuke couldn't even imagine the consequences.
He might end up as some kind of homicidal maniac who revels in killing people in his dreams.
Or perhaps he'd become a soulless humanoid vessel for the Divine Tree Ten-Tails.
Yet, because these two Dōjutsu were overwhelmingly powerful, Sasuke couldn't help but covet them.
Though he refrained from fully merging with these alluring flowers, he left behind two tiny seeds within his mind. He hoped that one day, he could master these Dōjutsu without any drawbacks.
Of course, this action came with its own risks. The incessant whispers in his mind, attempting to disrupt his thoughts, were a constant reminder of the price he might yet pay.
His mind raced like lightning, thoughts flashing through his consciousness in rapid succession. Sasuke's heart stirred.
His Mangekyō Sharingan eyes snapped wide open, spinning at dizzying speed.
Suddenly, massive flames erupted around Sasuke, coiling around him like living serpents.
The fiery glow radiated outward in pulsating waves, awe-inspiring, as if a god of flame had descended to the mortal realm.
Suspended in mid-air, the flames swirling around him intensified, their temperature soaring. The color deepened from dark red to a pitch-black hue, gradually transforming into something sinister.
'Yin Fire—Black Flames!'
The moment the Black Flames materialized, they automatically coalesced behind Sasuke, forming a pair of obsidian wings of fire, resembling a pair of demonic pinions.
'Spread your wings and soar!'
'Bang!'
In an instant, Sasuke transformed into a streak of black flame, vanishing from his spot and shooting straight upward into the heavens.
Where the Black Flames swept, the thick green miasma and humid air that blanketed the Grass Lizard Swamp's upper reaches were instantly incinerated, reduced to nothingness.
Sasuke continued his relentless ascent into the sky.
The awakening pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan's Dōjutsu corresponds to the user's area of expertise.
For example, Shisui, a master of Genjutsu, awakened the ultimate illusionary technique, Kotoamatsukami.
Itachi, proficient in both Genjutsu and Fire Release ninjutsu, unlocked Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu upon awakening his Mangekyō.
In the original timeline, Sasuke, proficient in manipulating various forms of ninjutsu, awakened Kagutsuchi.
The Dōjutsu Sasuke uses now is also called Kagutsuchi, but it differs significantly from the original version.
In the original timeline, Kagutsuchi focused on controlling the shape and extinguishing the Black Flames, serving as an auxiliary Dōjutsu that complemented Amaterasu.
Sasuke's Kagutsuchi, however, encompasses all Fire Release techniques, granting him three primary abilities:
Shape Manipulation: Freely control the form of Fire Release techniques, such as shaping flames into razor-sharp blades for focused attacks or creating a fiery shield for defense. As demonstrated, he can even transform flames into wings for flight.
Nature Transformation Enhancement: Dramatically amplify the inherent properties of Fire Release techniques, significantly boosting the flames' temperature, explosive force, and speed.
Yin Release Infusion: Infuse Yin Release chakra into flames to create Yin Fire Black Flames that burn eternally without extinguishing.
Sasuke's Black Flames couldn't match Amaterasu's instantaneous activation upon locking onto a target.
He still needed to deliberately control them to form the flames.
Conversely, Amaterasu's Black Flames couldn't be freely manipulated like Sasuke's, nor could they be summoned from any part of the body, let alone used to create fiery wings for flight.
Each had its own strengths and weaknesses.
Sasuke emerged from the clouds, the mountain-sized Great Lizard below shrinking considerably in his eyes.
'Unfettered freedom!'
A faint smile curved Sasuke's lips—this was the overwhelming feeling coursing through him now.
In his previous life, the dream of soaring through the sky had been universal.
Sasuke was no exception.
Though somewhat unrealistic, the yearning to fly freely above the blue skies and white clouds remained one of humanity's greatest aspirations.
'Buzz... buzz... buzz!'
The Kagutsuchi Blade, vibrating ceaselessly at his hip, abruptly interrupted Sasuke's reverie.
The blade hadn't just started vibrating now; the subtle tremor had begun immediately after he first summoned the Black Flames.
He had initially dismissed it as turbulence from flight.
"This..."
After drawing the Kagutsuchi Blade, Sasuke scrutinized its intensifying tremors and the increasingly powerful resonance between his own Fire Release and the blade.
A thought struck him, and the all-consuming Black Flames instantly devoured the Kagutsuchi Blade in his hand!
The moment the Black Flames devoured the blade, Sasuke's eyes began to spin rapidly and involuntarily.
Vast waves of dark purple Chakra erupted around him, coalescing into a half-bodied, skeletal giant that enveloped his entire being.
In the original timeline, Sasuke's Susanoo had been purple; now it was dark purple!
As soon as the dark purple giant materialized, it reached out and grasped empty air. A katana materialized in its palm, its blade resembling black glass wreathed in Black Flames, radiating endless, piercing black light and mystical fire.
"An Ethereal Weapon!"
Sasuke stared blankly at the sudden appearance of the black-flamed katana.
Only after sensing the explosive surge of Fire Release Chakra within him did he snap out of his daze, muttering softly, "An Ethereal Weapon..."
In the original timeline, only two Ethereal Weapons had ever truly manifested through the Susanoo, this ocular jutsu!
Uchiha Itachi possessed the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, a sword capable of sealing its victims into a dreamlike illusion, and the Yata no Kagami, a mirror that could defend against and reflect any physical attack.
Apart from Uchiha Itachi's Totsuka-no-Tsurugi and Yata no Kagami, none of the other weapons—whether Uchiha Madara and Sasuke's katanas, Hatake Kakashi's Kamui Shuriken, or Shisui's Lance Drill —qualified as true Ethereal Weapon.
(Sasuke's Indra's Arrow, however, might also be considered one.)
These were merely applications of the Mangekyō Sharingan manifested through their Susanoo.
Only Uchiha Itachi's Totsuka-no-Tsurugi and Yata no Kagami had minimal connection to his inherent abilities, particularly the Yata no Kagami, which was entirely unrelated.
Moreover, judging from Zetsu and Orochimaru's statements in the original timeline, they had either heard of or witnessed the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi and Yata no Kagami firsthand.
Now that Kagutsuchi had transformed into an Ethereal Weapon for Sasuke's Susanoo, Sasuke finally understood what an Ethereal Weapon truly was.
Centuries ago, an Uchiha ancestor who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan happened to wield a divine weapon similar to Sasuke's Kagutsuchi.
Through sheer coincidence, the two fused, creating a true Ethereal Weapon.
Uchiha Itachi had either stumbled upon the ruins of this ancestor by sheer coincidence, or inherited those two divine weapons through his bloodline.
Sasuke leaned more toward the latter, reasoning that...
At this thought, Sasuke's eyes flickered slightly. The colossal black flame blade in his Susanoo's hand vanished, and the Flaming Kagutsuchi reappeared in his palm.
Gently stroking the blade, Sasuke noticed that after fusing the Flaming Kagutsuchi with his Susanoo, in addition to the explosive surge of Fire Attribute Chakra, he could now perceive every edge and intricate pattern on the weapon with perfect clarity, as if it were becoming more deeply connected to his soul.
It felt as though the Kagutsuchi in his hand wasn't merely a weapon, but an intrinsic part of himself, something that had always been united with his very being.
With this fusion complete, Sasuke could now materialize the Kagutsuchi as a physical weapon to wield in battle, or follow Uchiha Itachi's example by manifesting it as a phantom-like Ethereal Weapon, a weightless, ethereal enhancement for his Susanoo, to be used as a weapon.
"So, this is the mystery of the Susanoo's Ethereal Weapon," Sasuke murmured, examining the blade for a moment before retracting the Kagutsuchi—not into its sheath, but into his body.
Instead, Kagutsuchi itself transformed into a wisp of black flame and vanished into his hand, leaving only a katana-shaped flame pattern etched on his wrist.
"Since it's come to this, let's just fuse them all together!" Sasuke grinned, a slightly sinister smile spreading across his face as he retrieved a storage scroll from his waist.
With a puff of smoke, two broken blades and a blue-gold crystal materialized in his palm.
The Thunder God Sword and the Thunder Attribute Chakra Crystal!
Sasuke had originally planned to ask Granny Cat to forge these materials into a new weapon for him later, but now it seemed he wouldn't need to go through that trouble.
'Crackle, crackle!'
The Black Flames around Sasuke receded, replaced by the thunderous roar of surging lightning. Electric arcs flashed wildly around him, punctuated by constant peals of thunder.
In moments, the pure white lightning transformed into a dazzling purple hue.
Yin Lightning—Purple Lightning!
This was Sasuke's second Mangekyō dōjutsu, Takeomikazuchi, whose effects were similar to Kagutsuchi's.
Both techniques allowed him to control the shape and enhance the properties of Elemental Techniques, and both could be infused with Yin Release to create unique Bloodline Limits.
As soon as the Purple Lightning appeared, an eerie and mysterious aura began to emanate from its brilliance, creating a dazzling, kaleidoscopic spectacle that left observers disoriented and mesmerized.
If Yin Fire Black Flames were characterized by their eternal, inextinguishable nature, then Yin Lightning Purple Lightning possessed an innate Genjutsu-like effect.
When the Purple Lightning struck an enemy, it disrupted their Chakra flow and caused a momentary lag in their brain function.
Even the mere radiance of the Purple Lightning had a mesmerizing effect on the mind.
Sasuke never learned which attributes Kakashi's later version of Purple Lightning had fused with.
While Yin Release remained the most likely candidate, the stark differences in their effects suggested that Sasuke's Purple Lightning and Kakashi's Purple Lightning were fundamentally distinct.
At the very least, Kakashi's Purple Lightning lacked any Genjutsu-like effects.
Sasuke's crimson eyes blazed with electric intensity as the iridescent purple lightning erupted in a dazzling flash, surging toward the Thunder God Sword and the Thunder Attribute Chakra Crystal.
Perhaps because Kagutsuchi—both its material composition and the Fire Attribute Chakra Crystal at its core—had been passed down through generations of the Uchiha clan, it resonated deeply with Sasuke's bloodline.
As a result, fusing with Kagutsuchi required minimal effort.
When Sasuke attempted to fuse the Thunder God Sword with the Thunder Attribute Chakra Crystal, he encountered a formidable obstacle, leading to a prolonged stalemate.
Just as his vision began to blur and a dizzying sensation washed over him, Sasuke was contemplating whether to postpone the fusion until another time.
Suddenly!
A blinding light erupted!
A colossal, earth-shattering thunderclap boomed across the sky, reverberating for what felt like an eternity.
After an eternity, the thunder subsided. Sasuke's eyes flickered slightly as the dark purple Susanoo spontaneously materialized once more.
From the Susanoo giant's hand emerged a majestic, razor-sharp longsword, its brilliant blade crackling with endless arcs of lightning.
The Futsu-no-Mitama Sword!
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(Lots of explanation)
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