Awaken, Mangekyō!

Uchiha Kei accepted the Shock Value Itachi had given him with a cheerful smile.

"Ding! 1,000 Shock Value. You can exchange it for a random beginner-level ninjutsu. Exchange?"

The system prompted him at just the right moment.

"Obviously! I'm about to show off, aren't I?"

Uchiha Kei chose to exchange without hesitation.

"Ding! Ninjutsu exchange successful. 1,000 Shock Value deducted."

"Obtained: Three-Tomoe Sharingan."

Uchiha Kei abruptly straightened, his face lighting up with barely restrained excitement.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan!

The strongest Kekkei Genkai in the early days of Naruto!

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kei."

Itachi hadn't noticed the excitement on Uchiha Kei's face. He pretended to be calm, but his gaze had grown unfocused.

He couldn't understand why an ordinary little guy had changed so much in a single day.

"Ah, I see." Uchiha Kei forced himself to calm down. "Then I'm sure Big Brother Shisui will understand what I mean. After all, his eyes have an ability that's impossible to counter."

"You!"

"Ding! Received Shock Value from Uchiha Itachi. Shock Value +99."

"Ding..."

"Ding..."

In an instant, Uchiha Kei had gained nearly 500 Shock Value!

Uchiha Kei beamed.

What a wonderful day! First Naruto, then Itachi.

If every day went like this, he'd need at most a year before he could challenge Obito to a one-on-one fight!

And beat him to a pulp!

"What else do you know?!"

Itachi no longer tried to hide his shock. He stared at Kei in disbelief.

"I definitely know more than you do."

Uchiha Kei wore a calm smile.

"The Uchiha Clan is a cursed clan. Even Shisui—his eyes really do have an ability that's impossible to counter, but it's still no use!"

Itachi didn't want to dwell on the matter. When he heard Uchiha Kei mention Shisui, the last of his resistance finally crumbled.

"A curse?"

Uchiha Kei scoffed at the idea.

The Uchiha Clan's methods of awakening and evolving their eyes were indeed cruel, but that was only because they didn't know how to use them properly.

At the very least, as a viewer, Uchiha Kei had known countless ways to awaken the eyes without anyone getting hurt.

"Look at me."

Uchiha Kei's voice suddenly turned hollow. Itachi was already somewhat dazed, so he obediently looked up.

A pair of scarlet eyes met his gaze. Three Tomoe turned slowly, like a bottomless whirlpool.

"Boom!"

Itachi's body jolted. A deafening roar filled his ears, mixed with heart-rending screams.

"Why did you kill us?!"

"We're the Uchiha Clan! We're part of Konoha!"

"Why?! Why?!"

Itachi looked around in confusion and realized he was in the Uchiha Clan's compound.

What... what was going on?

Hadn't he been talking with Kei just moments ago?

Just then, a familiar sob broke through his thoughts.

"Waaah... No, no!"

Sasuke!

Itachi panicked. He hurried toward the sound at a run.

He entered a familiar courtyard. He knew this was his home.

But the house was no longer peaceful as it had been before. Blood streamed out from inside, staining the entire floor red.

Itachi walked forward unsteadily and gently pushed open the door.

"F-Father... M-Mother..."

Itachi stared blankly at his parents' motionless bodies. Scarlet blood flowed from beneath them.

"How could this happen... How could this happen..."

Itachi stared in disbelief, his mind throbbing as if pierced by needles.

"Ah!"

At that moment, another scream rang out from the inner room.

"Sasuke!"

Itachi shouted and drew the Ninja Blade from his back, charging wildly into the room.

"Swish!"

As soon as Itachi opened the door, a flash of cold light appeared before him. The Ninja Blade slipped from his grasp and hit the ground.

Inside the room, a thin figure gripped a blade and sliced a child's head clean off.

Blood sprayed wildly from the neck. On the floor lay a terrified-looking head, facing him directly.

"Sa... Sasuke!!"

Itachi stumbled forward, unable to believe what he was seeing. He reached out and touched the head.

It was soft and still slightly warm.

"Impossible! Impossible! It's fake, all of it!"

Two streams of bloody tears ran from his eyes. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated on its own, its patterns beginning to turn along a certain path.

The tails of the Three Tomoe began to spread. More and more mysterious patterns gradually appeared.

"How could it be fake?"

The thin figure crouched down, its voice utterly cold.

"This was your mission. Have you forgotten?"

"M-My mission?"

Itachi looked up in confusion, only to see a familiar face.

His own!

"That's right. Your mission." The other Itachi's face was ice-cold, without a hint of emotion.

"Your mission was to eliminate the rebellious Uchiha Clan..."

"Every last one of them!"

Itachi's mouth hung open. A hoarse "kh-kh" sound came from his throat, and the scarlet patterns in his Sharingan grew denser and denser.

"No! That wasn't my mission!"

Itachi's voice was hoarse. "I have to protect the Uchiha Clan and protect Sasuke! I could never do something like this! Never!"

"But you already did."

The other Itachi coldly picked up the head from the ground. "You killed them all!"

"It was you!"

"Uchiha Itachi!"

The changes in Itachi's Sharingan accelerated. In a few breaths, it transformed into a complex polygonal pattern.

"No!"

Itachi sprang to his feet. Blood poured faster from his eyes, and red bones enclosed his entire body.

"Wake up!"

Uchiha Kei was suddenly knocked down by the initial form of Susanoo. His vision went black, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.

Itachi dispelled the illusion at the same moment and stared at the Susanoo in confusion.

"This is... this is..."

"Phew." Uchiha Kei took a long breath and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "The initial form of Susanoo."

"Susanoo!"

Itachi suddenly stood up. The enormous skeleton immediately burst through the thatched hut.

"I told you, there's more than one way to awaken the Uchiha's Sharingan."

Uchiha Kei calmly looked at the utterly demolished hut, his heart sinking.

At least he'd had a place that could more or less keep out the wind and rain. Well, now he'd have to sleep on the streets...

"My... my eyes..."

Itachi couldn't believe it. He touched the area around his eyes.

Susanoo was an ability that only the Mangekyō Sharingan could use.

So did that mean he was now...

The proud owner of the Mangekyō Sharingan?

"Ding! Received Shock Value from Uchiha Itachi. Shock Value +999!"

The unprecedented amount of Shock Value left Uchiha Kei standing there in a daze.

One shock, one random ninjutsu!

What a bargain!

In that instant, Uchiha Kei suddenly felt that sleeping on the streets wasn't so bad after all.

After all, with strength, he could afford an even bigger house!

And not just a house—he could eat whatever he wanted!

Once he'd eaten his fill, he could find a beautiful woman to be his wife!

In just a few breaths, Uchiha Kei was already imagining his happy future.

PS: A lot of people have questioned whether it makes sense to call the Mangekyō beginner-level. I don't think so. The Mangekyō is indeed powerful in Shippuden, but is it more powerful than the Rinnegan? The Otsutsuki basically all have the Rinnegan, but does that mean the Rinnegan is the strongest? Not necessarily! I've classified the Mangekyō as beginner-level, the Rinnegan as intermediate-level, and anything above the Rinnegan as advanced-level. If conditions allow, I might even write about an ultimate level! After all, I don't plan to end this novel in the Shinobi World. I want to take it to Takamagahara. If the Mangekyō is advanced-level, would Kei be going to Takamagahara just to die?