Mangekyo Dojutsu

As the notification that the fusion had succeeded rang out.

Sasuke closed and opened his eyes. His irises turned crimson, and he immediately understood the abilities of his Mangekyo Dojutsu.

"Izanagi?!"

"Using ocular power in place of blindness?"

Izanagi.

This technique had originally been a forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha Clan.

It recorded the user's state with the Sharingan. While the technique was active, any damage taken, even death itself, could be undone, restoring the user to the state recorded by the Sharingan. (Consumed chakra and ocular power could not be restored.)

The price was that the eye used to perform Izanagi would permanently lose its sight.

But Elder Nobuhiko's Mangekyo Dojutsu, Izanagi, used ocular power as its price instead!

The left eye could record his own state.

Once the technique's duration ended, it could not be activated again for ten minutes.

The right eye, meanwhile, could record someone else's state.

Using it a second time on the same person had the same ten-minute cooldown as the left eye.

Simply recording a state and activating the Dojutsu, however, had no time limit.

That meant, as long as he had enough ocular power, he could enter an invincible state once every ten minutes!

"Elder Nobuhiko, this Mangekyo Dojutsu is way too overpowered!"

Hearing this, Elder Nobuhiko stroked his beard with a beaming smile, never expecting Sasuke to add, "No wonder you've lived from the Warring States period all the way to today."

Elder Nobuhiko's expression stiffened. Then he bristled and glared. "You little brat! Is that any way to talk? If you don't know how, then shut up!"

Sasuke smiled mildly. "Was I right?"

"That's enough!" Elder Nobuhiko snapped. "Don't get cocky just because you got what you wanted, Sasuke!"

Apparently, Sasuke had hit the mark...

Elder Nobuhiko took a deep breath to calm himself. He realized Sasuke had figured it out by judging his eyesight, so he explained, "The Mangekyo's Dojutsu comes with a severe side effect. Every time I use it, my eyesight deteriorates drastically."

"Since I awakened these eyes, I've used the left eye's Dojutsu only three times, and the right eye's only once."

"I have a feeling that if I use them one or two more times, these eyes will go completely blind!"

"On top of that, my body was declining with age, so I had the clan's medic replace them with ordinary eyes."

So he could only use the Dojutsu five times, six at most...? Sasuke ventured, "Susanoo..."

"You really do know a lot about the Mangekyo!" Elder Nobuhiko raised an eyebrow. "Of course I've used Susanoo plenty of times, too."

"Using Susanoo once doesn't even consume as much ocular power as using the Dojutsu once."

"So be careful with these eyes, Sasuke."

Sasuke's heart stirred.

With a Dojutsu this overpowered, it makes sense that it would consume a lot.

Besides, who knows which stage of Susanoo Elder Nobuhiko was comparing it to?

And besides... Sasuke smiled and gestured toward the bottle in his hand. "Don't I have another pair right here?"

!!! Could it be...!

Realizing what Sasuke meant, Elder Nobuhiko's pupils contracted. He asked urgently, "You mean..."

"Exactly!" Sasuke nodded. "With these eyes, my plans for the future are more complete."

"But the time isn't right yet."

As he spoke, he looked toward Uchiha Izumi, who was still in Soul Space, practicing the Great Fireball Technique. "I don't know whether certain things will happen, so I'll keep these eyes for now. In a few years, I'll let her get used to them."

Elder Nobuhiko followed Sasuke's gaze and glanced at Uchiha Izumi. "You think she can awaken the Mangekyo?"

"Yes." Sasuke nodded. "I have faith in her."

"Before then, I'll have to trouble you to train her."

"Gladly." Elder Nobuhiko nodded, then asked gravely, "But Sasuke, who are these enemies you expect to appear?"

"I don't know." Sasuke shook his head, then added, "But I know that one of the people who betrayed our clan will definitely show up in the future."

Someone betrayed the clan...? Elder Nobuhiko's gaze darkened. "Who?"

"The mastermind behind the Night of the Nine-Tails!"

Night fell.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

A Great Fireball more than ten meters across erupted from Uchiha Izumi's mouth, lighting up the night as brightly as day.

Clap, clap, clap~

Sasuke, who had been chatting with Elder Nobuhiko nearby, applauded. "Not bad. You're improving fast."

After an afternoon of practice, she'd gone from releasing only two Great Fireballs a few meters across before running out of chakra to being able to release three more than ten meters across at full chakra. Her chakra control and understanding of the jutsu had both improved tremendously.

Of course, she still couldn't compare to Itachi Uchiha.

He'd started training much earlier and had built a strong foundation.

Uchiha Izumi, on the other hand, had only begun formal training after entering the Ninja Academy. Her fundamentals weren't very solid, and this was her first time learning a ninjutsu.

Being able to perform the technique successfully and make such great progress in just one afternoon was already impressive.

Pleased by the praise, Uchiha Izumi smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. She felt that all her hard work that afternoon had been worth it.

Then she noticed how dark it had gotten. "Huh~ Is it already this late?"

"Yes." Sasuke nodded with a smile. "It's almost dinnertime. Take a break."

"It's already dinnertime?" Izumi was taken aback. She turned to Elder Nobuhiko and bowed slightly. "Thank you for teaching me, Elder. But it's gotten quite late, so I should head back."

Elder Nobuhiko nodded. "All right. Go home and get some rest."

"Okay! Goodbye, Elder!" Izumi said farewell, then looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke shifted his thoughts.

Their consciousnesses left Soul Space.

Then...

"Hiss~"

When Uchiha Izumi's consciousness returned to her body, every muscle ached. She sucked in a breath, then her legs gave way and she stumbled. "Whoa, whoa, whoa~"

"Careful." Sasuke hurried over and helped her to a seat nearby.

"Phew~" Uchiha Izumi let out a sigh of relief. Her whole body was limp and weak as she panted, wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, and leaned against him. "Sasuke, let me lean on you and rest for a bit. I can barely stand."

"Sure. Rest for a while."

Most of Uchiha Izumi's consciousness had been in Soul Space. The small portion left in her body could only control it during training, unable to receive the signals of fatigue from her muscles. That was why she couldn't adjust when all her consciousness returned to her body.

Of course, that had its benefits.

Unable to receive the body's signals of fatigue, she didn't have to contend with her body's natural laziness, making it easy to push past her physical limits.

After all, a lack of willpower was what held people back.

Of course, that was only if the training was done properly.

Looking at Uchiha Izumi, drenched in sweat and panting, Sasuke reached out and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Feeling his touch, Uchiha Izumi murmured self-consciously, "Sasuke, do I smell sweaty?"

"Smell sweaty? I don't smell anything..." As he spoke, Sasuke instinctively leaned down toward her. Uchiha Izumi immediately pinched his nose and scolded him, "You can't smell me~!"

"How am I supposed to know if you smell sweaty if I don't?"

"You just can't!"

Watching Uchiha Izumi glare at him with mock ferocity, Sasuke rolled his eyes and teased, "You've changed. Where's the gentle Izumi-chan I used to know?"

Hearing him call her "my Izumi-chan," Uchiha Izumi blushed, then shot Sasuke another fierce glare. "You're just a little kid!"

"What's that got to do with me being a little kid?"

"It just does!"

"..." Sasuke was speechless.

Just then, Uchiha Izumi cupped his face in both hands and murmured softly, "Sasuke, can you grow up faster?"

Sasuke froze, finally understanding what she meant. Deeply moved, he smiled and nodded. "Okay."

At that, Uchiha Izumi smiled radiantly.

She shifted into a more comfortable position, wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck again, and rested her head on his shoulder. A smile still on her lips, she closed her eyes.