When Did I Ever Say I Didn't Have the Sharingan?

Midsummer.

Beside the Naka River.

In the woods, Kaminazuki swung his unsealed heavy sword until it became a blur, each strike seemingly intent on cleaving the air in two. Sweat poured down him like rain, and the muddy ground beneath his feet was churned into a chaotic mess.

Orochimaru leaned against a tree trunk, his finger hooked through a kunai, spinning it in circles.

Whoosh—

The kunai flew out with a sharp whistle, stabbing straight toward Kaminazuki's face!

Bang!!!

Kaminazuki pivoted his sword into a shield, and the kunai shattered into pieces upon impact with the heavy blade.

The next instant, Orochimaru appeared before him, landing a solid kick to his stomach that sent Kaminazuki flying into a tree trunk.

Crash—!!

Kaminazuki burst through the splintered wood, clearing the dust as he slammed his shoulder and elbow into Orochimaru's chest.

Orochimaru, who had raised his hands to block, was knocked back several steps, his feet carving two shallow furrows into the earth.

Kaminazuki gave him no chance to recover, his fists raining down like a storm, each blow aimed at a vital point.

Orochimaru covered his hands in chakra; he dared not clash head-on with Kaminazuki's physical body.

Half a year had passed, and while Kaminazuki's stature hadn't changed much, his bone density and muscle fiber resilience had grown significantly.

His fists, devoid of chakra, possessed the immense kinetic energy to pulverize rock.

By utilizing the propulsion generated from stomping the air with powerful leg strength, he could achieve speeds comparable to the Body Flicker Technique.

His defensive capabilities were not to be underestimated, either.

Ordinary senbon and shuriken could not pierce Kaminazuki's skin, and this body also possessed a high resistance to toxins.

Pure.

That was Orochimaru's assessment of Kaminazuki's abilities.

Normal ninjas would enter a standby state after refining and storing chakra, waiting to refine more once their reserves were depleted.

Simply put, once the mana bar was full, they would use their skills and then slowly recover.

Abnormal ninjas, like Tsunade, could use the Yin Seal to continuously accumulate mana, allowing them to unleash massive amounts of chakra in a short time once the seal was released.

Kaminazuki was the other extreme.

He had abandoned the process of accumulating mana, converting his mana bar directly into a health bar. Furthermore, this ability was more akin to a passive trait; it did not require the deliberate infusion of chakra into a Yin Seal as Tsunade's did.

Beneath this physique... lay pure violence!

By virtue of these elements, Kaminazuki's combat power was already enough to rival an average Special Jonin, and even some veteran Jonin who relied heavily on ninjutsu might be defeated if caught off guard.

"Heavenly Restriction..."

Orochimaru laughed in a low voice, "Abandoning the external manifestation of energy to focus entirely on the self."

"You call it a restriction, but I am more inclined to see it as an alternative form of evolution!"

"I once saw a ninja with the Steel Release Kekkei Genkai; he could harden parts of his body to withstand physical attacks, and in terms of hardness alone, he was even above you."

"But that was merely superficial; his internal organs, muscles, and bones were no different from those of an ordinary ninja."

"You are powerful in every aspect—your physical strength and endurance are far beyond that of a normal person!"

"If your physical intensity didn't affect your lifespan, I might even think you are the more perfect human!"

The light that had just flickered in Orochimaru's eyes quickly dimmed.

"It is a pity... your perfect puzzle is missing a piece."

"Perhaps that is why you named it a restriction; it has blocked your possibility of obtaining the Sharingan."

"Do you feel lost, Kaminazuki?"

The probability of the Uchiha clan awakening their eyes was far lower than that of the Byakugan, but for those with talent, they should be awakening them by the age of ten.

Not long ago, Mikoto had awakened her Sharingan after a training session.

Orochimaru, who had been away on a mission, learned of this news and rushed back immediately.

He feared that Kaminazuki might feel lost because someone close to him had awakened the Sharingan while he could not.

Because he had such a person by his side, Orochimaru couldn't help but think this way.

Hiruko was a peer and friend to the three of them, but because his aptitude was inferior to theirs, he harbored deep resentment.

Orochimaru had noticed it, but hadn't paid it much mind, thinking that Hiruko was an adult who would eventually face reality.

But if such a thing happened to his own disciple, he cared deeply, and he had hurried back to offer some guidance.

"Lost?"

Kaminazuki paused, realizing the reason for Orochimaru's question, and grinned: "I don't understand."

"Teacher Orochimaru, how did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"When did I ever say that I don't have a Sharingan?"

The sparring stopped, and Orochimaru frowned: "The Sharingan is a dojutsu Kekkei Genkai; its awakening and manifestation must rely on chakra as a medium. That is common knowledge, is it not?"

He didn't elaborate further, as having taken on an Uchiha disciple, Hiruzen had shown him the Second Hokage's research on the Uchiha.

When an Uchiha experiences intense emotional stimulation, a special chakra surges in the brain and acts upon the optic nerves, thereby awakening the Sharingan.

Simply put, chakra is the necessary key to unlocking the Sharingan. How could Kaminazuki, who could not perform this process, possibly possess one?

"It is indeed common knowledge, but have you forgotten something even more fundamental?"

Kaminazuki pointed to his own eyes: "Are eyes not a part of the body?"

Orochimaru was stunned for a moment, then replied earnestly from a professional perspective: "Although the eyeball and brain tissue belong to different systems, there is no doubt that the eyes are part of the body."

You know that much, and with that Steel Release ninja you mentioned earlier, you must have dissected quite a few people by now...

"Then, does the Heavenly Restriction that strengthens the entire body somehow exclude the eyes?"

Kaminazuki wiped the sweat from his face: "If I told you that I am currently in the state of an awakened Sharingan, would you believe me?"

Orochimaru stared into Kaminazuki's pitch-black pupils, saying nothing.

Guess whether I believe you or not.

Kaminazuki thought for a moment and said: "Teacher Orochimaru, you know about the Mangekyo, right?"

"I heard Hiruzen mention it—the realm once reached by someone of your clan, the final form of the Sharingan."

Orochimaru chuckled softly: "Are you trying to tell me that this black 'Sharingan' of yours is a Mangekyo?"

"...You're the type of person who, when asked to guess a price, immediately quotes an astronomical figure. You're no fun at all."

Kaminazuki curled his lip and continued:

"When I was four, my dynamic vision and insight suddenly increased by a huge margin."

"The difference between a single-tomoe Sharingan and that of an ordinary ninja lies in dynamic vision, which allows one to predict simple attacks and slightly disrupt an opponent's judgment."

"The two-tomoe is an enhancement upon that, but the difference is not significant."

Kaminazuki held up three fingers, and Orochimaru listened intently, as if he were the student now.

"The three-tomoe is the final form of the Sharingan known to the public. It possesses insight comparable to the Byakugan, can see through the flow of chakra, and can even copy an opponent's ninjutsu."

"Beyond that, it also possesses formidable genjutsu capabilities. Without countermeasures, one would be controlled the instant they made eye contact."

"That is why there is a saying that one must never face a three-tomoe Uchiha in a one-on-one duel."

"In terms of insight alone, my eyes are not at all inferior to a two-tomoe. As for the genjutsu aspect..."

A strange smile tugged at the corner of Kaminazuki's mouth: "Teacher Orochimaru, could you relax your chakra and lower your defenses?"

"Then you will understand."

"Experiencing it firsthand is worth more than anything I could say."

Orochimaru swallowed, a sense of foreboding washing over him.

"I shouldn't... end up in any trouble, should I?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!"

Receiving Kaminazuki's assurance, Orochimaru dropped his hands, sank his chakra into his abdomen, and tensed his muscles.

He knew there would be danger, but Kaminazuki's words had piqued his curiosity.

Kaminazuki's eyes churned, the pitch-black depths completely swallowed by a blood-red radiance.

A single, perfectly pure black tomoe slowly rotated within the scarlet pupil, like the interlocking gears of a blood-stained machine.

Sharingan—Activate!

A cold, eerie pressure surged outward.

The moment he touched that scarlet hue, Orochimaru's narrow golden pupils constricted, and his entire body froze.

In his field of vision, the world twisted and collapsed, his consciousness forcibly dragged into a void of deathly silence.

Within the darkness, a pair of enormous scarlet eyes cast a chilling gaze!