A trace of disappointment flickered across Menma's face as he waved his hand, dismissing the chakra charged with intense emotion. His disappointment wasn't with Sasuke's failure, but with the boy's own lack of ambition.
Sasuke's eyes had practically spun like a pinwheel, yet he only managed to evolve them by a single tomoe? He had absorbed a lifetime's worth of condensed, negative emotions—the very core of his tragic childhood—and the result was even more pathetic than Obito, the perennial loser. That guy went from two tomoe straight to the Mangekyou Sharingan the instant he saw his crush betrayed by his best friend. And Sasuke, supposedly a genius? He got his first tomoe after his clan was massacred, his second out of sheer jealousy toward Naruto, and now, drowning in negative emotions, he only managed the third.
Honestly, it was just sad.
Just as Menma sighed and prepared to withdraw the lingering dark chakra, Sasuke—who had been clutching his head and howling—finally stopped. The oppressive gloom that had clouded his mind dissipated instantly. The vicious curses that had echoed in his ears, the feeling of being utterly alone in the world—all of it vanished without a trace.
"What... what was that?"
Sasuke collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. He pressed his index fingers against his lower eyelids, his face deathly pale. The aftereffects of those overwhelming emotions still reeled through him. The mental torment was no less intense than Itachi's Tsukuyomi on the night of the clan massacre.
After a long moment on the ground, Sasuke finally gathered his strength and shakily rose to his feet. His eyes, burning with fury, locked onto Menma. "What exactly did you do? Why is the tailed beast chakra you gave me so corrupting? It twisted my spirit!"
"This isn't what we agreed on!"
In response to Sasuke's accusations, Menma offered no explanation. He simply backhanded him across the face. The speed of the strike was pure, Elite Jōnin-level.
"What are you doing?!"
Sasuke was both shocked and enraged. The three tomoe in his eyes began to spin wildly. An attack speed he previously couldn't even track—he now saw the trajectory with perfect clarity! He didn't even need to dodge. He just had to channel chakra to his eyes, and the attack would miss.
The instant this thought crossed his mind, Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply. A surge of purple ocular power erupted from his eyes, crashing into Menma and disrupting his chakra.
Menma felt the fluctuation instantly. The world before him twisted, and Sasuke, who was standing still, appeared to shift slightly. The descending slap silently missed its mark.
"To use genjutsu the moment you awaken the third tomoe... You've got talent," Menma murmured softly.
With a thought, the fluctuating chakra settled. The illusion dissolved like smoke in the wind, revealing a smirking Sasuke standing motionless.
Menma adjusted his trajectory mid-swing. A backhand slap landed squarely across Sasuke's smiling face.
Smack!
"!!!"
Sasuke's head snapped to the side. His cheek swelled and turned an angry red instantly. His confident smile vanished, replaced by utter disbelief.
He had clearly seen the attack hit thin air.
But that disbelief shattered the second he registered Menma's next words, replaced by raw excitement.
"I awakened the Three Tomoe?"
"No wonder I could see his movements so clearly... and use genjutsu instantly!"
Only upon evolving to the three-tomoe Sharingan could one truly be considered a pillar of the Uchiha Clan. Terrifying perception, the ability to copy ninjutsu and taijutsu, and powerful genjutsu released without hand seals. Even a genin with basic taijutsu and ninjutsu could reach Jōnin-level strength just by awakening it. Sasuke, however, felt he was already at the level of an Elite Jōnin—no longer beneath Kakashi.
And if he used the tailed beast chakra Menma had granted him? Kakashi would be nothing more than a pushover.
This was just the three tomoe. If he used that stimulation method again, turning his eyes into Itachi's pattern...
Sasuke couldn't contain himself. He rushed toward Menma.
"Quickly! Give me that corrupting chakra again! I need more—more madness, more frenzy, to push my eyes further!" Sasuke shouted, face twisted by fanatical laughter and hatred for his brother.
"Itachi told me... he said you only awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan by killing your closest loved one! That's the only way to obtain that ultimate power!"
"He killed Shisui. Then, to test his own strength, he slaughtered the entire clan!"
"But I've found a better way! A way that doesn't require killing anyone close to me!" Sasuke burst into hysterical laughter, tears streaming down his face. "Hahaha! Tell me, Menma! If I go to him with the Mangekyou Sharingan awakened like this, what kind of expression will he have?"
Sasuke had always been averse to Naruto, or at least to making friends. A large part of that stemmed from Itachi's threat about the Mangekyou Sharingan. Deep down, he didn't want to gain power through such a monstrous method. But he was also terrified of succumbing to that temptation, which was why he kept everyone at arm's length.
Menma: "..."
Watching Sasuke excitedly recount how he could awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan without killing a friend, Menma sighed.
"You're getting ahead of yourself. Whether it actually works is still uncertain. But I have researched your clan's eyes."
"What you said is correct. Witnessing the death of a loved one can elevate the Sharingan. But the underlying logic is the massive psychological shock. The surge in emotional energy stimulates the eyes, giving birth to stronger power."
Hearing Menma's knowledgeable explanation, Sasuke stopped laughing. He stared intently. "Why do you know so much about the Mangekyou Sharingan?"
"I told you, I've researched it. There are records in the Hidden Leaf. It's not exclusive to the Uchiha."
Menma dismissed the question casually, then prepared to deliver the final blow—the words Itachi had left behind.
"And Itachi didn't kill you because he wanted you to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan. That wasn't the goal."
"He wanted something greater. The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."
"The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?" Sasuke froze. He hadn't expected the legendary Mangekyou to have a successor.
"That's right," Menma nodded. "The standard Mangekyou Sharingan causes vision to decline with use, eventually leading to blindness. But the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, created by transplanting another's Mangekyou, has no such side effects."
"It just requires a close blood relative for the transplant... such as you, Itachi Uchiha's younger brother."
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