On the Proper Way to Awaken the Sharingan

The Sharingan was a Kekkei Genkai passed down through the Uchiha Clan's bloodline from generation to generation. It was the foundation of the Uchiha's standing, and after the Senju Clan withdrew from the world, it became the basis for the Uchiha Clan's undisputed position as the Number one clan in the Ninja World.

As the hereditary manifestation of a Yin Style bloodline, awakening the Sharingan depended first on talent and second on intense, extreme emotional upheaval within a short period, which stimulated the sublimation of Yin Style power and thus drove the Sharingan's awakening. In terms of how difficult they were to awaken, the Uchiha's Sharingan was inferior to the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan. But in terms of the boost to an individual's combat power, the Byakugan was far inferior to the Sharingan.

Yet no matter what, even after a thousand years, even though the Sharingan's Kekkei Genkai traits had stabilized, and even though the Uchiha Clan possessed no shortage of secret Yin Style cultivation methods, there was still no safer method of awakening the Sharingan beyond emotional stimulation. Even in the present-day Uchiha Clan, several Jonin had failed to awaken the Sharingan yet were renowned for their ninjutsu or swordsmanship.

So when Uchiha Tokimitsu, seemingly speaking without restraint and fearlessly pointing at the black-clad ninja's Three-Tomoe Sharingan to say, "I want to learn that," Elder Setsuna felt no ripple in his heart. He even found it a little amusing.

But then an inexplicable spark of hope arose within him. What if it really could be learned and passed on through ordinary means?

After all, based on Uchiha Tokimitsu's performance over the past two short days, his talent for ninjutsu and Chakra manipulation was nothing short of astounding, unmatched among his generation. If... if he truly could comprehend the method to awaken the Sharingan...

Elder Setsuna took a deep breath, trying to make himself appear calm. He waved for the black-clad ninja to leave, then spoke to Uchiha Tokimitsu with a kindly smile.

"Little Tokimitsu... do you know what that is?"

"The Sharingan!"

"The Sharingan is the clan's most important and most powerful Bloodline Power. Only the finest Uchiha ninja, those who have undergone rigorous training, can awaken it. Are you confident you can learn it now?"

Elder Setsuna deliberately misrepresented the method of awakening the Sharingan.

"Grandpa Elder, I want to try!"

Uchiha Tokimitsu knew Elder Setsuna had not told the truth, or at least not the whole truth, but he did not mind. No matter how gifted he was, he was still only a four-year-old child. It was far too early to turn that talent into actual strength. Trying to experience the terror between life and death now in hopes of stimulating the Sharingan's awakening would simply be courting death.

"Good. Then I'll teach you how to cultivate the Sharingan. But this is a clan secret, so don't tell anyone else, all right?"

"Mm!"

"You can't tell your father and mother either, okay?"

"Okay!"

Hearing Uchiha Tokimitsu's firm and decisive answer, Elder Setsuna nodded in satisfaction. He rose and returned to the inner room, where he took out a scroll.

"This is a secret Yin Style cultivation manual passed down through our Uchiha Clan for generations. It is also our clan's most important method for cultivating the awakening of the Sharingan..."

Elder Setsuna's voice lacked some of its usual force. Perhaps even he felt a little ashamed for a sixty-year-old man to deceive such a small child.

Uchiha Tokimitsu did not expose him. He merely appeared to listen earnestly as Elder Setsuna rambled on.

After talking for a long time, perhaps because his mouth had gone dry or because he had run out of lies to make up, Elder Setsuna finally handed the scroll to Uchiha Tokimitsu and began explaining Yin Style cultivation.

"Yin Style" represented the power of the spirit, while "Yin Style techniques" could create form from the unseen. "Yang Style" represented the power of the body, and "Yang Style techniques" could imbue form with life. The union of the two was Yin-Yang Release. In the Ninja World, the Uchiha Clan represented Yin Style power, and the Sharingan, manifested through their Kekkei Genkai, was renowned far and wide. Yang Style, meanwhile, was represented by the Senju Clan, the Uchiha's thousand-year archenemy, renowned for its formidable life force and enormous Chakra reserves.

The union of Yin Style and Yang Style was the so-called "Yin-Yang Release," which could create form from the unseen and imbue that form with life. Combined with the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai, the union of Yin Style and Yang Style would become the Rinnegan.

Compared with the material taught in general education and ninjutsu classes, the Yin Style secret technique was rather vague, both in its illustrative examples and its specific training methods. Elder Setsuna could not offer any examples either, so his explanation was somewhat halting and dry. Still, Elder Setsuna did not care, and Uchiha Tokimitsu listened with unwavering focus.

Simply put, this "secretly transmitted" Yin Style secret technique of the Uchiha Clan mainly used a meditation-like method to sense one's own Spiritual Power and control it, forming Yin Release Chakra to sense the hidden ocular power within every Uchiha's eyes, then guiding it out to form the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai.

Although the Yin Style cultivation method itself was not wrong, Uchiha Tokimitsu could not help muttering inwardly. Elder Setsuna's improvised nonsense had far too many holes in it.

This time, the progress of the Yin Style secret technique lesson finally became normal. Uchiha Tokimitsu did not master this "Uchiha secret Yin Style technique" in just a few attempts, which left Elder Setsuna somewhat wistful but also relieved.

Teaching a genius child was rather stressful, after all. He feared that in just a few days, everything he had learned in his lifetime would be emptied out. Though Elder Setsuna did not hide anything, spending more time with a gifted child would also help cultivate the child's sense of belonging toward the clan and its faction.

Just like this, once Elder Setsuna had finished explaining the scroll's contents, he let Uchiha Tokimitsu study it at his leisure. He even had someone bring in a tea set and began boiling water to make tea.

By the time he had finished three cups of tea, Uchiha Tokimitsu put down the scroll. Following its instructions, he sat cross-legged, formed the Tiger Hand Seal with both hands, and closed his eyes in meditation.

Seeing this, Elder Setsuna set down his teacup and softened his breathing, lest he disturb the meditation.

After a long while, Uchiha Tokimitsu slowly opened his eyes. Silver rays flickered incessantly within them, like lightning. A moment later, the silver rays gradually contracted, forming a vortex like a galaxy that slowly revolved around his pupils.

"This..."

Elder Setsuna panicked a little.

Had he damaged his eyes through training? That scroll was clearly only a disguise for the preliminary portion of a rare Yin Style sensory ninjutsu.

"Grandpa Elder..."

"Little Tokimitsu... h-how are you? How do you feel?"

Elder Setsuna was at a loss. He had lived for more than sixty years and had never encountered anything like this.

"Uh... I feel... I feel much sharper..."

After a flurry of anxious questions and bewildered answers, Elder Setsuna finally understood. Uchiha Tokimitsu had used an incomplete Yin Style sensory ninjutsu to develop the ability to project his Spiritual Power outward for perception. As for the galactic vortex in his eyes, perhaps it was a manifestation of Spiritual Power that was too powerful and too concentrated.

"Whew..."

Elder Setsuna could not help letting out a sigh of relief.

"Grandpa Elder... have I awakened the Sharingan?"

Uchiha Tokimitsu asked with a hint of mischief.

Elder Setsuna casually formed the Rooster Hand Seal and conjured a water mirror, allowing Uchiha Tokimitsu to see his current appearance.

"Grandpa Elder, why does my Sharingan look like this... Isn't it supposed to be red with little tadpoles in it?"

Elder Setsuna smiled apologetically at Uchiha Tokimitsu and casually ruffled his smooth hair.

Uchiha Tokimitsu blinked, and the galaxy in his eyes gradually faded away.

"Little Tokimitsu, you will definitely become an extraordinary ninja someday."

After asking a few more questions and confirming that Uchiha Tokimitsu could sense an inexplicable power within his eyes through his Spiritual Power but could not guide it out, Elder Setsuna felt a little wistful.

The Uchiha Clan had also attempted to cultivate Yin Style secret techniques in hopes of guiding the Sharingan's awakening, but there had been very few successes, and no reproducible, effective experience could be formed. The only certainty was that the stronger one's Yin Style power, the stronger the ocular power would be after awakening the Sharingan.

Elder Setsuna then explained the truth to Uchiha Tokimitsu. When he heard that this was merely a preliminary cultivation method for a sensory ninjutsu, Uchiha Tokimitsu's little mouth puckered enough to hang an oil jug from it.

"Oh, Little Tokimitsu, don't be angry. How about Grandpa properly teaches you a few sensory ninjutsu?"

"No! Grandpa Elder is a liar!"

"Then... how about three techniques?"

"Okay!"

Elder Setsuna burst into laughter, took three small scrolls from his robes, and handed them to Uchiha Tokimitsu.

The three scrolls were respectively titled Heat-Seeking Sense Technique, Wind Movement Technique, and Hidden Technique.

Uchiha Tokimitsu briefly read the introductions at the front of the scrolls. The Heat-Seeking Sense Technique used the heat within nearby organic life forms to determine an enemy's approximate location. The Wind Movement Technique used the airflow generated by moving objects to determine the path of a person or object. The Hidden Technique was similar to an anti-sensory ninjutsu, mainly using the combination of Fire Style power and Spiritual Power to contain the body's heat and scent while distorting the airflow around oneself, thereby blending into the surroundings.

"But Grandpa doesn't know sensory ninjutsu either, so Little Tokimitsu will have to study the scrolls himself, okay?"

"Fine~"

Having gotten a bargain, Uchiha Tokimitsu felt rather pleased with himself.

"But... can I see Grandpa's Sharingan?"

"Uh... the Sharingan..."

Elder Setsuna felt somewhat uneasy.

"But Little Tokimitsu, don't be frightened. Grandpa's Sharingan is very fierce."

"Mm-hmm!"

Elder Setsuna gathered his emotions and calmed his heart, hoping his Sharingan would not look so frightening when he activated it.

His eyes slowly changed. His pupils shrank, his irises abruptly turned blood-red, and three tomoe spun rapidly before gradually slowing down.

Cold. Savage.

As though they would devour someone at any moment.

Whenever an Uchiha clan member activated the Sharingan, their entire aura underwent a qualitative change. Even though Elder Setsuna had tried his best to restrain it, he still seemed as vicious as an evil ghost at that moment.

Uchiha Tokimitsu's heart jolted. The ocular power that had been as still as dead water during cultivation surged forth like raging waves, merging with the vast Spiritual Power formed from his two lives.

Uchiha Tokimitsu felt a red haze envelop his vision, and everything he saw was immersed in a sea of blood-colored light.

But in Elder Setsuna's eyes, Uchiha Tokimitsu's pupils suddenly contracted. Blood vessels surfaced in his eyes, and a tomoe split from his pupil, beginning to rotate around it.

"Th-this... the, the Sharingan?!"

It had awakened!

Uchiha Tokimitsu's Sharingan had awakened!

Elder Setsuna felt the world spin around him, dazed by the overwhelming joy that had struck him. For a moment, he did not know what to do. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his own eyes spun chaotically, as though the tomoe might merge together.

Thud! Uchiha Tokimitsu's body went limp, and he fainted.

Elder Setsuna instantly felt as though the sky were falling. He flashed forward to catch him, then hurriedly examined him in a panic.

Fortunately, his Chakra had merely been exhausted.

At that moment, Elder Setsuna stared with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, grinning like a sixty-year-old child.