Hibernation and Double Tomoe

The following days, Uchiha Sou spent on a hospital bed in the medical ward. Time seemed to become viscous and slow, every minute and second filled with the throbbing pain of his wounds and the bitterness of medicine.

The atmosphere within the clan grounds became noticeably more strained. Patrol teams were increased, and the vetting for missions outside the village became much stricter. Details regarding the incident that night and the resulting losses were kept under tight control, but rumors like "Tobirama Senju launched a sneak attack" and "targeting Uchiha juniors" continued to circulate in private, stirring up greater indignation and a sense of shared hatred among the clansmen.

As an eyewitness and one of the "focal points" of the event, Uchiha Sou received quite a bit of attention. Familiar clansmen would often come to visit, their words a mix of consolation and inevitable probing and curiosity. Tsang mostly dealt with them by citing his severe injuries and exhaustion, repeatedly emphasizing the strength and ruthlessness of Tobirama, and attributing his survival to Izuna's timely rescue and sheer luck, all while carefully hiding the uneasy conjecture in his heart regarding "causality."

He spent most of his time with his eyes closed, feigning sleep, while in reality, he sank all his focus into his body.

He could not change his physical weakness immediately, but he still had his eyes.

The ocular power ignited on the verge of life and death had not completely faded; instead, it was like tempered steel. Although its quantity had diminished due to his physical frailty, its "quality" had become purer and easier to control. He could clearly "feel" that Single Tomoe Sharingan rotating spontaneously and slowly in the darkness, absorbing the meager chakra he refined, like a dormant beast waiting for its next awakening.

He began to try, without activating the Sharingan, to recall and simulate the split-second insight of that night using only his perception. The trajectory of Tobirama Senju's kunai, the explosive form of the fire-style chakra during Izuna's rescue, even the angle at which the surrounding dust rose... every detail was replayed and dismantled in his mind.

This purely mental drill was extremely draining, yet it gave him a deeper understanding of the essence of the Sharingan's insight. It was not just about "seeing" more clearly or quickly; it was a high-speed reception, processing, and even pre-judgment of information.

At the same time, he also truly calmed his heart for the first time to carefully sort through and attempt to control the faint, instinct-like ability of "setting causality" that occasionally surfaced.

He had the medical ninja caring for him bring some withered leaves and tiny grains of sand.

When no one was watching, he focused all his spirit, staring at a dry, fragile leaf in his palm, attempting to infuse it with "intent"—not to destroy it, but to set a minute "cause": to have the next breeze blowing in from the window happen to blow it off his palm.

His eyes grew slightly warm, and his spiritual energy flowed out like fine threads, attaching to the leaf. The feeling was profound and elusive, and the success rate was pitifully low. Out of ten attempts, perhaps only once or twice would the leaf actually flutter off his palm just as an insignificant breeze passed by.

The attempts with sand grains were even more difficult, as the goal was to make the scattered sand present some extremely simple pattern. The results were even more remote, with almost no effect visible; instead, it consumed a massive amount of energy, leaving him dizzy after only a few tries.

As expected... is my current limit only able to deflect extremely minor events with near-certain probabilities by a negligible amount? And the consumption is huge, making it hard to control... Uchiha Sou rubbed his throbbing temples, looking at the withered leaf that had finally been "successfully" blown away, feeling both helpless and a glimmer of realization.

This ability was definitely not something he could rely on at his current stage. But it did exist, and it was closely related to his Sharingan, or rather, his "soul."

Perhaps... its power requires stronger ocular power and spiritual energy as support? He guessed to himself.

This discovery made his desire to evolve his Sharingan even more urgent.

Ten days later, thanks to the meticulous treatment of the medical ninja and the inherent recovery power of the Uchiha constitution, the wound on Uchiha Sou's chest finally healed and scabbed over. Although it still hurt during strenuous movement, he was already able to move freely.

He couldn't wait to apply to return to his own residence, refusing the suggestion to continue recuperating.

He knew the clan would not give him much peaceful time. The friction with the Senju was escalating, and he needed to recover his strength as quickly as possible, or even become stronger.

He began a frantic regimen of recovery training.

At dawn, before the sky was even bright, he would rise, carefully moving his body to practice the refinement and control of chakra, feeling the sensation of strength slowly returning to fill him.

In the morning, he would practice throwing shuriken and kunai, no longer pursuing power, but focusing on the ultimate pursuit of precision and timing in his weakened state, repeatedly savoring that subtle state of integrating his mental will into the action.

In the afternoon, it was the slow recovery of taijutsu, avoiding the aggravation of old wounds, but every movement was performed with standard precision, combined with the insight of the Sharingan to review and optimize his techniques for exerting force and dodging.

At night, it was the unwavering nourishment of chakra and the tempering of ocular power. He no longer tried to "set" anything, but focused all his spirit on the eyes themselves, feeling that restless desire for evolution, nourishing it with pure chakra as if polishing a peerless weapon.

Izuna visited him a few times. Seeing him push himself so hard, he felt both gratified and warned him to take care of his body to avoid a relapse of his old wounds. But seeing the growing determination in Uchiha Sou's eyes and the Single Tomoe rotating with increasing fluidity and ease, he ultimately did not stop him, only secretly ordering people to send over more medicine to replenish his blood and energy.

Time passed day by day. Uchiha Sou's body gradually recovered, and due to the tempering after this severe injury, his chakra volume and control had even improved slightly. As for his Sharingan, the barrier had become as thin as a cicada's wing; evolution seemed possible at any moment.

He only lacked a catalyst, a stimulus that could ignite the final fuse.

That evening, he had just finished a round of shuriken practice and was sitting by the training ground to rest, wiping away his sweat. The setting sun cast his shadow long and thin.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the clan grounds, mixed with the sound of suppressed sobbing.

Another patrol team had returned. But the atmosphere was wrong.

Uchiha Sou stood up and saw several clansmen carrying stretchers, the people lying on them completely covered by white sheets. The other ninjas in the team were all wounded, their faces filled with grief and indignation, their eyes burning with frantic hatred.

"...It was the Senju! An ambush!" "...It was too tragic... the captain sacrificed himself to cover us..." "Those damn white-haired bastards! This hatred will not be shared under the same sky!"

The intermittent wailing and roars drifted over with the wind.

More and more clansmen gathered around, and the atmosphere became increasingly oppressive, increasingly filled with grief and indignation. The pain of losing family and comrades spread like a plague.

Uchiha Sou looked at the stretchers being carried away, looked at those blood-stained, teary-eyed clansmen, and looked at the bone-deep hatred on their faces.

A familiar, icy shiver crawled up his spine once again.

Hatred was breeding; pain was spreading.

This was the Warring States period, an endless cycle.

And right in the midst of this pervasive atmosphere of grief and hatred, he felt his eyes suddenly grow hot! That long-imprisoned barrier, stimulated by this intense emotional resonance, emitted the sound of shattering under the unbearable pressure!

He clutched his eyes tightly, his body trembling slightly.

It was not his own direct hatred, but the rich, negative emotions permeating the entire clan that became the final catalyst!

When he raised his head again and lowered his hands—

The world in his vision was clearer than ever before! His dynamic vision had improved by more than just a notch! He could even clearly see the flickering of tears in the eyes of the clansmen in the distance and the subtle twitching of their muscles due to anger!

The tomoe in his eyes was no longer a lonely one.

Two pitch-black tomoe, like living things, slowly rotated in the depths of his scarlet eyes, carrying a trace of cold and powerful force.

Double Tomoe Sharingan, activate!

A sense of power welled up, but following it was a deeper coldness and clarity.

He stood in the afterglow of the setting sun and the pervasive hatred, looking at everything before him, yet his heart was unusually calm.

He understood that the power of these eyes could never be separated from the hatred and pain of this world.

And his path had only just begun.