Forbidden Technique--Izanagi

After the Shadow Clones returned, Ensei Uchiha felt truly miserable for a long time.

Having three or four days' worth of memories crammed into his brain was indeed quite agonizing; had the duration been any longer, it would have been dangerous.

As expected, the Multiple Shadow Clone technique was classified as a forbidden jutsu for good reason.

With so many vast and disparate memories flooding back, if Naruto hadn't been such a thick-headed person, he likely would have suffered a mental breakdown long ago.

After setting a time limit for his own use of Shadow Clones, Ensei Uchiha summoned a Ninja Cat and instructed it to notify Fugaku Uchiha of the general situation regarding his recent excursion.

Immediately afterward, Ensei Uchiha received the scroll delivered by the Cat Ninja Village and began to busy himself in his laboratory.

This was the first piece of flesh and blood from a Mangekyo Sharingan; it had to be cultivated with care, or it might grow malformed.

If he could successfully cultivate a Kamui Mangekyo Sharingan...

Just thinking about it made Ensei Uchiha feel a surge of excitement.

On the other side, after hearing the Ninja Cat's report, Fugaku Uchiha's expression turned grim.

Subsequently, a series of special training sessions commenced within the Uchiha clan, with the primary goal of learning a forbidden jutsu that had been sealed away for a long time—Izanagi.

However, Fugaku Uchiha also established a strict rule: unless facing a life-or-death crisis, anyone who used Izanagi would have their eyes gouged out and be imprisoned until death.

The reason for this rule was that, historically, the Uchiha clan had nearly been wiped out because of Izanagi, which was why it had been declared a forbidden jutsu.

Yet, for the sake of the clansmen's safety, even a forbidden jutsu had to be utilized.

Every ninja who used Izanagi would have their reasons judged by the Council of Elders.

If it were determined that someone had disregarded the rules and used the forbidden jutsu without cause, the outcome would naturally be the gouging of their eyes, the destruction of their Chakra, and imprisonment until death.

Perhaps because he could not locate the whereabouts of Shisui Uchiha, Fugaku Uchiha, as clan head, appeared extremely agitated, to the point that he even disseminated the forbidden jutsu of Izanagi.

But without any news, his anxiety was of no use.

As time dragged on, almost everyone defaulted to the assumption that Shisui Uchiha was dead.

The only one who still held onto hope was likely Itachi Uchiha.

At this moment, Itachi Uchiha's reputation within the clan was not particularly good; it wasn't that others were isolating him, but rather that he had isolated himself from the entire clan.

The root of all this was simply the Sharingan; for the Uchiha clan, anyone capable of awakening the Sharingan was a source of glory.

As for what happened during the process of awakening the eyes, no one cared at all.

Precisely because of this, Itachi Uchiha believed that the Uchiha clan's capacity for empathy was too narrow, and that they were all people who would stop at nothing in the pursuit of power.

Ironically, those in the Uchiha clan who truly did not understand love were incapable of awakening the Sharingan at all.

Facing this white-eyed wolf who had already quietly grown up, Ensei Uchiha had no intention of educating him.

He knew very well that some fools could not be reasoned with through words.

What he didn't expect, however, was that Itachi Uchiha would actually seek him out, asking him to go and rescue Shisui Uchiha.

"Not going! No time! Won't save him! Can't save him!"

Ensei Uchiha brushed him off with a few perfunctory words, but it was clear that Itachi Uchiha would not be dismissed so easily.

"Father once said that you are currently the strongest person in the Uchiha clan."

"Why? Why are even you willing to abandon him?"

Facing Itachi Uchiha's accusations, Ensei Uchiha couldn't help but sneer.

"And you would know?"

"How do you know I didn't go to save him? And how do you know that the people in this clan only value power?"

"For a foolish brat like you, educating you should be your father's job, but it is a pity that your father is incompetent."

"Since that is the case, I will let you understand the origins of the Uchiha clan."

Having said that, Ensei Uchiha cast a genjutsu upon Itachi Uchiha.

With the massive disparity in ocular power, even though Ensei Uchiha was not particularly skilled in genjutsu, he was still able to make Itachi Uchiha experience what true power was within the illusion.

The content of the genjutsu was simple; it merely forced Itachi Uchiha to experience the plot of the anime.

If this could cause Itachi Uchiha to awaken his Mangekyo, it would be very useful for his subsequent research.

Several hours later, Itachi Uchiha finally woke up.

But unfortunately, despite experiencing the entire original plot of the anime within the genjutsu, Itachi Uchiha still did not awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Impure World Reincarnation... no, was I just under a genjutsu? It was so real, this kind of power..."

Itachi Uchiha was dazed for a moment, but he quickly recovered, though he still found it hard to believe what was reality.

"After experiencing something like that, he still hasn't awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. It seems genjutsu really isn't enough; it must be a real experience."

"No wonder my Mangekyo cloning always fails; it must require a genuine experience."

Ensei Uchiha muttered to himself, completely ignoring the Itachi Uchiha standing before him.

After a long while, Itachi Uchiha finally came to his senses, and the look he gave Ensei Uchiha was tinged with a trace of fear.

"Th... that genjutsu just now..."

Itachi Uchiha wanted to ask something, but looking at this person of the same age across from him, he felt as though a chasm of heaven and earth lay between them.

"If it weren't for me, the events within that genjutsu would have been your personal experience."

"Is this kind of future exactly what you hoped for?"

Listening to Ensei Uchiha's inquiry, Itachi Uchiha found himself unable to provide an answer for a long moment.

The experiences in his memories were so vivid, as if he had truly lived through them himself.

"Since the punishment has already been meted out, I can also provide an answer to your initial question."

"The Uchiha Clan will never abandon any of its kin, but sometimes, human power is limited; even I cannot foresee every possible future."

"Not long after Shisui went missing, clear information reached us."

"At that time, I knew it was a trap, yet I went anyway."

"It is a pity that although it was a trap, there was no bait within it."

"If you wish to save Shisui, you had best find a way to increase your own strength."

Itachi Uchiha left in a daze; as for what impact that genjutsu might have on him, Ensei Uchiha did not care.

This world is truly quite surreal; a few years ago, he was anxious about the arrival of the Uchiha Clan Downfall and worried that his own growth in strength would not keep pace with Itachi Uchiha.

But now, he could completely disregard such threats.

Although he had encountered some trouble with the cloning of the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Three Tomoe Sharingan had been successfully cloned, and next...

It was time to learn some forbidden techniques; Izanagi would be quite excellent.

As it happened, Fugaku Uchiha was currently promoting the study of forbidden techniques within the clan, so it should be quite easy to learn.

As for the location of those cloned Sharingan...

It was simple; one only needed sealing techniques. One had to admit, sealing techniques were truly a great invention.

However, to want a second type of seal when one already existed within the body...

It seemed it was time to communicate with the higher-ups of Konoha.

The sealing techniques of the Uchiha Clan were still not comprehensive enough; it was a pity that the Uzumaki Clan had vanished.

Requesting Izanagi from Fugaku Uchiha went very smoothly; it didn't take much persuasion, and he even received his careful instruction.

That made sense; Ensei Uchiha was now the most important genius in the clan, and as the clan head, he would absolutely not allow any accidents to befall this genius.

In the eyes of Fugaku Uchiha today, the status of Ensei Uchiha likely surpassed that of Itachi Uchiha.

Otherwise, why had Itachi Uchiha not returned home for several days, yet he hadn't noticed in the slightest?