Mangekyō Sharingan, Awaken!

Itachi was confined to his home. Although he had no idea what had happened, the clan members had been acting very strangely these past few days.

For some reason, Itachi felt vaguely restless, but he could only keep it bottled up and continue studying and training as usual...

That day, Fugaku brought a young man and said he would be Itachi's teacher from then on.

"This is Body Flicker Shisui, a prodigy of the clan who awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age."

After introducing him, Fugaku turned to Shisui and said, "I'm leaving Itachi in your hands. Don't disappoint me."

"Yes, Clan Head."

After Fugaku left, only Shisui and Itachi remained on the training ground.

"I'm Uchiha Shisui. I look forward to working with you~"

Shisui had a cheerful and gentle personality, and his smile easily made people feel favorably toward him.

But Itachi was not in high spirits. He merely returned the greeting calmly, then hesitated before asking, "Have you really awakened the Sharingan—and the Three Tomoe at that?"

Shisui did not seem much older than him, which was why Itachi had asked.

After all, not every Uchiha could awaken their eyes. Some were already in their twenties or thirties and still had not awakened even a single tomoe. People like that could not truly be considered Uchiha.

Faced with Itachi's question, Shisui merely smiled faintly. Then his originally gentle eyes suddenly transformed into the scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Seeing was believing. Demonstrating it was far more convincing than saying anything.

Itachi was clearly astonished!

Even as the Clan Head's son and someone many called a genius, he could not guarantee when he would awaken his eyes, let alone when he would evolve them to the Three Tomoe stage.

After confirming this, Itachi began to believe that Shisui was capable of teaching him.

But Itachi did not yet know that the Three Tomoe were not the Sharingan's limit. Nor were they everything possessed by the kindhearted person before him!

The Mangekyō Sharingan was the true power of the Uchiha Clan!

"Shisui... Big Brother, may I call you that?"

"Call me whatever you like. Though I think we can just call each other by name. What do you think, Itachi?"

Itachi nodded. At least he no longer considered Shisui a stranger.

Still, Shisui noticed his troubled expression. "You seem to have a lot on your mind. Would you mind telling me about it? Perhaps I can offer you a little advice or help."

Whether Shisui's friendliness had taken effect or Itachi truly wanted to know, he actually asked, "I want to know what has happened in the clan recently. Why won't Father let me leave the compound?"

Shisui's smile noticeably faded when he heard this. After pondering for a moment, he decided there was no reason he could not tell Itachi. He explained that Uchiha Han had ambushed a civilian child and even used ninjutsu in an attempt to kill him, only to be caught red-handed by the Anbu.

"After the incident escalated, Fugaku Clan Head personally went to take responsibility and executed that clan member himself. He then ordered the clan members not to cause any more trouble for the time being. That may be why Fugaku Clan Head confined you to the compound. He was probably worried that you would be in danger if you went outside."

After finishing, Shisui suddenly noticed that Itachi's face had turned deathly pale, as though he had suffered a severe shock.

"Was the child who was almost killed named Shimiya Aoba?"

The instant Itachi asked this, the aura around him became terrifying. Within the pupils of his eyes, it seemed as though a tadpole was desperately trying to wriggle out from each side!

Shisui's expression immediately grew solemn. Having experienced something similar, he naturally knew that this was the sign of an impending eye awakening!

All Itachi needed now was a slight stimulus, and he would be able to awaken the Sharingan!

This Shimiya Aoba must be very important to him...

Shisui suddenly understood.

After hesitating for an instant, he still chose to nod.

"Mm..."

Buzz!

The Single Tomoe Sharingan instantly condensed!

Although he had not heard news of Aoba's death, Itachi had only just left, and then one of his own clansmen had tried to kill a friend he acknowledged. The impact this had on him was simply too great!

After returning home, Fugaku had immediately questioned him, forcing Itachi to wonder whether the order had come from his own father.

Under the intense mental turmoil, the Sharingan, which had been only one step away from awakening, finally opened. Although it was not the Double Tomoe Sharingan he had awakened immediately in the original story, it had appeared a full three years earlier!

This showed how violently Itachi's emotions had fluctuated!

If Shisui had not told him the truth at that moment, he would still have remained foolishly unaware of everything.

Throughout the entire incident, from beginning to end, the father he respected had not mentioned a word, as though nothing had happened.

He had even calmly searched for a teacher to guide him...

This inevitably caused Itachi's heart to ache!

He had clearly promised that he would never meet Aoba again. Why had he still done this!?

"Is he... all right?"

"His injuries were severe, but he was rescued in time. He should be fine now. Fugaku Clan Head also gave him generous compensation."

After taking several deep breaths, Itachi finally managed to calm himself. The signs of the Sharingan slowly faded as well.

Fortunately, Aoba had survived. Otherwise, Itachi would have felt guilty for the rest of his life.

Awakening his eyes for the first time left Itachi extremely exhausted, but what troubled him even more was his heart.

"Shisui, I hope you can keep this secret for me. I don't want to tell Father about my awakening just yet."

Looking at Itachi's stubborn yet serious expression, Shisui seemed to guess what had happened. He silently nodded. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about what happened today."

"Thank you." Itachi seemed to relax, but in the next instant, his legs nearly gave out beneath him.

"You've only just awakened the Sharingan, so it's normal to feel weak for a while. Once you adapt to this power, it won't happen again. Let's stop here for today. I'll take you home first."

Shisui had not expected that merely 'guiding' Itachi with a few words would cause him to successfully awaken the Sharingan.

The experience left him somewhat amused and exasperated!

At the same time, he grew even more curious about Shimiya Aoba...

P.S.: Researching this information gave me a headache. The main problem is that there is too little information about Shisui. Also, this chapter is rather long, so there was no room for the author's note. I put it below the main text instead. Since this is a free chapter, it doesn't matter. If you don't want to read the explanation, just skip it.

First, Kakashi entered the Ninja Academy at the age of three, graduated at five, became a Chunin at six, and was promoted to Jonin at twelve.

Kakashi and Obito were in the same class, and Obito was one year older than Kakashi, meaning he entered the Ninja Academy at around four.

From this, we can infer that children at that time—the war period—entered the Ninja Academy at three or four years old. Rin was around the same age.

Let's assume that Shisui also entered the Ninja Academy at three or four. According to [Itachi Shinden], Shisui became a Genin in Konoha Year 46. Before Itachi, no one had broken Kakashi's record for the shortest graduation time, so Shisui must have taken at least three years to graduate. In other words, Shisui should have been six or seven in Konoha Year 46, and he had already awakened the Sharingan by then. Guy also graduated at seven, while Yamato did so at six.

Next, also according to [Itachi Shinden], Shisui killed his best friend and awakened the Mangekyō in Konoha Year 47.

In Konoha Year 48, five-year-old Itachi first met Uchiha Shisui. (Some sources say that Itachi and Shisui grew up together. That is possible, but this novel follows the account in [Itachi Shinden], so please don't nitpick.)

That would make Shisui eight or nine years old at the time, about three or four years older than Itachi.

These figures generally line up and also fit everyone's understanding.

As for whether Shisui was already a Jonin at this point, I honestly can't say. Kakashi becoming a Jonin at twelve was already legendary. If Shisui had become a Jonin even earlier—and by that much—the original work would definitely have mentioned it. But as far as I know, it never did.

Then I found several posts claiming that Shisui had become a Jonin at seven. I also had no idea where that came from. Then, in one of those posts, I saw the claim that Minato Namikaze had become a Jonin at eight, and I was completely baffled.

As everyone knows, Minato graduated from the Ninja Academy at ten! So he became a Jonin two years before graduating? What kind of school was that? Tsinghua and Peking University?

Then there was an episode in which eight-year-old Itachi, who had awakened the Sharingan, participated in a training mission with Shisui. It mentioned that Shisui was already a Jonin at the time. So I'm guessing Shisui became a Jonin at eleven or twelve.

Therefore, I'm more inclined to believe he was twelve, the same age as Kakashi when he became a Jonin.

This was Konoha Year 51. Shisui was not yet famous, and even people in the Anbu did not recognize him.

Furthermore, in that episode, when Shisui carried Itachi home, he personally said that he regarded Itachi as his younger brother and hoped Itachi would see him as an older brother. From this, it is not difficult to tell that Shisui did not grow up alongside Itachi. Otherwise, he would not have said something like that. It is therefore more likely that Itachi met Shisui at five, and that they spent around three years together.

Based on all this, Shisui was probably born in Konoha Year 39, or slightly earlier—the same year Kakashi happened to graduate from the Ninja Academy.

And he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at only eight years old! That's insanely badass!

In Konoha Year 55, when Shisui committed suicide, he was sixteen. During the period from twelve to sixteen, he made a name for himself as "Body Flicker Shisui."

Of course, all of this is based on the limited information I could find, so it may not be accurate. It is only being used as a reference for this novel's setting, so please don't argue over it. If anyone has evidence to correct me, please point it out in the comments, preferably with the source and supporting evidence. Once it is confirmed, I will immediately correct it and offer my thanks. But if it is merely "I think" or "in my opinion"... I'll just ignore it. I really don't have time to argue, sob.

In any case, Shisui's age has always been a mystery. There's no need to take it too seriously, and it won't affect the later plot.

Considering how much effort Old Faceless has put in, could everyone send over a wave of recommendation tickets? And while you're at it, please give the novel a bookmark and an investment~

I revised this chapter more than a dozen times. Researching the information made my eyes ache. As for Itachi's reaction, I removed the version where he failed to awaken his eyes, and also removed the version where he awakened the Double Tomoe. In the end, I changed it to the Single Tomoe, which I feel better suits the situation at that time.

Although Itachi and the protagonist only met twice in total, those two meetings left a deep impression on both of them. Their feelings also developed quickly, and they came to acknowledge each other. This is very important.

After all, some people become friends the moment they meet, while others spend decades together and still dislike one another.

The other source of stimulation, meanwhile, came from Itachi's father. That was equally important.

The intense emotional turmoil caused by these two factors together was the true reason Itachi awakened his eyes.

In the original story, the squad leader and teammate who died before his eyes had only been on ordinary terms with him, yet he immediately awakened the Double Tomoe Sharingan. This was enough to prove that sensitive Itachi cared deeply about the people around him.