Below Expectations, Flaws

"Amaterasu!"

Minamoto Takuya was startled when he saw the Shadow Clone and the "unfamiliar" surroundings. In the next instant, he tried to use the Mangekyō Sharingan's ability.

However, the black flames of Amaterasu he had expected did not appear on the Shadow Clone.

Minamoto Takuya froze for a moment, confusion appearing in his eyes. He held his forehead as he sorted through the extra thoughts in his mind.

"Were you trying to kill me?" the Shadow Clone asked with an amused smile.

Although all of his memories would return to the original body once he dispersed, while he existed separately, he was an independent individual with thoughts of his own.

Even as he joked, a trace of gravity appeared in the Shadow Clone's eyes. It seemed the aftereffects of this Sealing Jutsu meant to assist in awakening the Sharingan were indeed rather severe.

Minamoto Takuya simply closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead without replying. After a long while, he finally calmed down and said, "It was just that the impact on my original memories was a little too great the moment I woke up."

Compared to those test subjects, he was undoubtedly much better off.

Because his memories included the experimental process, and he knew what he would experience in those Illusionary Realms afterward, it was easier for him to break free from them.

But even so, it was impossible for there to be no effect at all.

"Since you've already woken up, shall I disperse?" the Shadow Clone asked.

"Wait." Minamoto Takuya took a deep breath, then pulled out a blank scroll and began writing on it.

The Shadow Clone watched with some curiosity, but since he would learn everything once he dispersed, there was no need to rush to look.

After writing everything down, Minamoto Takuya frowned, seemingly considering whether he had overlooked anything.

Only after a long time did he hand the scroll to the Shadow Clone. "Give this to me later."

The Shadow Clone froze for a moment, then saw his original body begin setting up a Sealing Jutsu expressionlessly.

He naturally recognized it at once. This was... the Sealing Jutsu for a Memory Seal?

Was the original body planning to seal away all memories related to the Illusionary Realm again?

The Shadow Clone's pupils contracted as he began to think.

That made sense. The Sharingan had already evolved. Though the result was not particularly ideal, the memories of that Illusionary Realm should no longer be of use.

As Minamoto Takuya inscribed the Sealing Jutsu, his eyes were so cold that not a shred of emotion remained in them.

Since those extra memories had already affected him, what did it matter if they were his own memories? What needed to be sealed had to be sealed.

In fact, sealing them away would not be enough. He would have to consider a solution afterward.

But that could be left to his self after the Memory Seal, rather than worrying about those matters now.

Very quickly, Minamoto Takuya finished setting up the Sealing Jutsu. As he looked at it, a faint resistance seemed to rise in his mind. That was perhaps the influence of those extra memories.

Unfortunately, that voice was too faint to obstruct his actions at all. Soon, he activated the Memory Seal.

The seals flashed instantly. Lines of seals flowed into Minamoto Takuya's body before finally vanishing into the depths of his mind.

When Minamoto Takuya opened his eyes again, there was a hint of bewilderment in them, but it quickly returned to his usual calm.

He looked toward the experimental chamber. Since the experiment was complete, it was his turn next.

At that moment, the Shadow Clone said nothing. Under his puzzled gaze, it handed him a scroll, then dispersed itself, passing its memories to Minamoto Takuya.

"Hmm? I've already completed the experiment?" After receiving the Shadow Clone's memories, Minamoto Takuya frowned as he held the scroll.

He actually needed to use a Memory Seal to completely seal away the memories of that Illusionary Realm?

Since he had made that judgment at the time, it proved that those memories would affect him if left unsealed.

Minamoto Takuya walked over to the mirror and looked at the calm, unruffled gaze reflected within it.

At that moment, the Chakra in his body flowed into his eyes. His originally black pupils turned blood-red, and two pairs of tomoe appeared in them.

Minamoto Takuya fell silent as he looked at the two tomoe.

Only Two Tomoe?

Sasuke Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Though their emotional fluctuations were on entirely different levels, Minamoto Takuya had originally believed he could at least use this to awaken the Three Tomoe.

Yet it was only Two Tomoe.

Minamoto Takuya rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. This awakening had fallen completely short of his expectations.

Of course, it was not entirely bad. At least it proved that this device could assist him in awakening the Sharingan. Although he had only reached Two Tomoe this time, what about next time?

There was still plenty he could simulate from his memories—Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and even... other more depressing healing anime, such as Akame ga Kill! and so on...

As long as there were enough of them, he refused to believe he could not awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!

Now, then, he would see exactly what information his pre-Memory Seal self had left behind for his current self.

Minamoto Takuya opened the scroll.

First point.

'An Illusionary Realm is only an Illusionary Realm. It has some effect, but it is extremely limited. My actions and thoughts in the Illusionary Realm were completely different from those of the real Sasuke Uchiha, yet the device lacked any ability to extrapolate, causing his actions in the Illusionary Realm to be restricted.

The me in the Illusionary Realm also noticed the problem and even began to suspect that this entire life was only an Illusionary Realm, or perhaps that I was merely an NPC.'

Minamoto Takuya considered this. Even after falling into the Illusionary Realm himself, he still lacked Sasuke Uchiha's emotions. His own emotions were so muted, and he had also discovered a flaw in the Illusionary Realm's world.

No wonder the effect of awakening his eyes had been so poor.

To solve this, it seemed he could only set certain key points, then continuously simulate the subsequent process for it to be effective...

But the difficulty of developing a Sealing Jutsu capable of constantly simulating the future went without saying. At the very least, he had no clue where to begin. Did he have to create an Infinite Tsukuyomi?

He could not even awaken Mangekyo yet, and it was uncertain whether his ability would even be Tsukuyomi. Wanting Infinite Tsukuyomi was nothing more than a fool's dream.

Minamoto Takuya rubbed his temples. Still, he had suspected this issue before. No matter how familiar he was with Sasuke Uchiha, he could not possibly simulate his entire life, much less change his own thoughts to match the other's exactly...

Then he looked at the second point.

The me in the Illusionary Realm also developed independently. Although I did not grow into another Sasuke Uchiha, my personality differed somewhat from reality, so it also influenced my real personality.

Even though reality has already undergone a Memory Seal, personality is something very difficult to study. Besides, it likely began changing as soon as the device was created. The Memory Seal is merely closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.