You're right, this is the Mangekyō Sharingan-Orochimaru says he's had enough looking

This is... the Mangekyō Sharingan.

After experiencing the power of Sakuya's eyes, Orochimaru felt as if Amaterasu had ignited something inside him.

That desire surged up in an instant, and there was no way to extinguish it.

How beautiful.

So beautiful it was almost suffocating.

Sakuya was already among Konoha's strongest. After awakening the Mangekyō, his strength had soared once again.

Now, just that mass of Black Flame made Orochimaru feel that the distance between them was utterly beyond reach.

Orochimaru had coveted the Sharingan for a long time. Now that Sakuya had awakened the Mangekyō, its power captivated him even more.

That power wasn't a difference in chakra reserves, nor in the depth of their mastery of ninjutsu. It was a leap to an entirely different level. It was as if Orochimaru had struggled to swim from a river into the deep sea, only to look up and see Sakuya hanging high above him in the heavens.

So... impossible to look at directly, yet so utterly captivating.

Orochimaru stared at Sakuya's eyes, which had returned to their ordinary black. Something deep in his golden eyes was trembling wildly.

He couldn't hold back anymore!

He had long coveted the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai.

And now, having witnessed the power of the Mangekyō awaken before his very eyes, that fascination had finally transformed into something even deeper.

I really want to possess... this wondrous power.

"Orochimaru?"

Sakuya's voice came from beside him, bringing Orochimaru back to his senses.

"Sakuya?"

"We're getting ready to leave."

Watching the flames grow ever larger in the direction of Amegakure, Uchiha Sakuya furrowed his brow.

"Amaterasu has already spread throughout the entire village. It won't be long before it spreads outward and reaches us. It's only a matter of time."

There was another drawback to this era: the Seal of Fire Suppression didn't exist yet.

Once Amaterasu started burning, no one could stop it.

The inextinguishable flames would consume everything around them that could burn, using it as fuel to keep spreading.

Even in Amegakure, where it rained all day, that was still the case.

The heavy rain falling on Amaterasu would also become fuel, making it burn hotter and spread farther!

"The Amegakure shinobi are putting out the fire right now. Their Water Release won't work, but at least they can buy us some time. We need to take this opportunity to leave the Land of Rain."

"Mm."

Orochimaru nodded. "Go get Tsunade. I... I want to watch Amegakure a little longer."

He wanted another look at the wondrous power unique to the Mangekyō Sharingan.

He felt that just by looking at it, he could almost possess that power himself.

He was getting his fill of it just by watching.

"Okay."

Sakuya could more or less guess what Orochimaru was thinking right now.

But it didn't matter.

At least for now, Orochimaru was still a Konoha jonin who cared about his village and his comrades. He was entirely trustworthy.

Even if he eventually became the man he would later turn into, that wouldn't happen now.

By then, Sakuya would probably be long gone.

Drip, drip...

Cold drops of water fell onto Uchiha Shisui's forehead, jolting him awake.

He pushed himself up, but when he looked around in confusion, all he saw was an unfamiliar place.

"Where am I...?"

At a loss, he climbed to his feet and walked around, feeling his way over the surroundings. Then he realized something and gently touched his eyes.

An unfamiliar pair of Sharingan now sat in his eye sockets.

"Heh heh, Shisui, you're awake."

A sinister chuckle rang beside Uchiha Shisui's ear, making him shudder.

Shisui whipped around and saw a long-haired, golden-eyed man slowly emerge from the shadows.

"Orochimaru!"

Uchiha Shisui's face turned ashen. He recognized the man at once.

The Cold Lord, Orochimaru. One of the former Sannin.

More importantly, he was a missing-nin from Konoha!

He had betrayed the village because of his human experimentation. He was a disgrace to Konoha!

So then, the Sharingan in his eyes had also...

In an instant, Shisui took up a fighting stance.

"Heh heh, don't be so tense, Shisui."

Orochimaru chuckled softly. "I did, after all, save your life."

"Save my life... You saved me?"

Shisui's expression darkened.

Why would a missing-nin save him?

Was he trying to torture information about Konoha out of him?

"I was simply carrying out a friend's request."

As if he had seen what Shisui was thinking, Orochimaru gave a sinister smile.

"A friend?"

Orochimaru's friend? Who was it?

One of the other Sannin? Or perhaps...

"He's also from your Uchiha Clan. Like you, he carries Kagami's bloodline."

Orochimaru spoke.

"Like me..."

A piece of information suddenly flashed through Uchiha Shisui's mind.

There was a rumor that during the Second Shinobi World War, one of the Uchiha elders had been extremely close to the Sannin. He had even been romantically involved with Lady Tsunade, one of the Sannin.

But the rumor was so absurd that the clan had always dismissed it as false and suppressed it.

Now, could that story have been...

"Seeing you reminds me of that person. A young genius, just like you."

Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Shisui and spoke calmly. "Still, your talent falls far short of his."

"What exactly are you trying to say, Senior Orochimaru?"

Uchiha Shisui was confused, but he remained on guard.

"...What is your Mangekyō's eye technique?"

Orochimaru considered the question for a moment, then asked.

"!"

The question startled Uchiha Shisui. The Three Tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, but before long, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

The new Sharingan in his eye sockets were Three Tomoe as well, but they weren't his original eyes.

On top of that, his body was incredibly weak. He couldn't use his eye technique, nor did he have enough ocular power to manifest Susanoo.

"Heh heh. I did save you, after all, and even gave you a new pair of eyes. You could at least be a little nicer to me."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Did you think I hadn't made any preparations to face an Uchiha who had awakened the Mangekyō?"

After all, I had witnessed that person's power with my own eyes.

Orochimaru left those words unspoken. He watched Shisui's expression shift between light and shadow, then said, "Let's make a deal. We'll exchange information. You tell me your Sharingan's eye technique, and I'll tell you about the current state of the Uchiha in Konoha. How does that sound?"

Shisui gave Orochimaru a long, searching look. Though he was reluctant, he understood his situation.

Orochimaru had done something to his body. In his current state, he had no way to escape. Better to play along for now.

Besides, he really did want to know what was happening in Konoha, and with the Uchiha.

He was silent for a moment, then said, "...All right. You go first."

"Heh heh, Shisui."

Orochimaru's expression made Uchiha Shisui's heart pound. "You seem to have forgotten that you don't have the right to choose."