Chapter 9

Madness struck in a mere instant. The moment his younger brother closed his eyes, Mingye's own eyes began to spin frantically. Black energy surged throughout his entire body, swallowing the earth and everything that dared to draw near him. Within Mingye's mind, the scenes of his past life—the thousands who had reviled him—flashed back once more. Each flickering image stung, accelerating his heartbeat and causing the blood in his veins to surge. His entire body twisted, his features warping until he no longer resembled a human, but a demon crawled from the depths of hell. Gradually, those once-ordinary pupils began to change.

"It was you who killed my son!" A middle-aged man grabbed the collar of that familiar face, his face drenched in tears as he roared.

"Third Brother, play with me!" A youthful face smiled, pleading.

"You are a doctor, that was a surgery—why would you do this!" That was the cold gaze of his mentor, eyes filled with boundless disappointment.

"Third Brother, look at the firewood I gathered!" A fair face smeared with black soot, a child clutching a pile of branches taller than himself, smiling up at him.

"You aren't fit to be a doctor; no, you aren't even fit to be a human!" Cold-hearted colleagues, completely isolating that familiar figure from the hospital.

"Third Brother! Are you not coming to play with me today?"

"You aren't fit to be a doctor!"

"Third Brother, come play with me!"

Everything—every sealed memory and every ounce of infinite self-reproach—erupted at once. Unlike the others, Mingye's body housed the soul of a transmigrator; his emotions were as complex as those of an adult. That obsession, that madness, that despair—it was the perfect catalyst for the full awakening of the Sharingan.

Black matter radiated from Mingye's heart, wrapping around his entire body. The next second, Mingye vanished from his spot, tearing through space to appear beside the Takigawa clan ninja who was battling Madara and Izuna. He struck out with one hand. The enemy sneered in disdain, intending to kill Mingye with a kunai, but the moment the blade touched the black energy, it dissolved into nothingness. Mingye's hand then slammed into the ninja's chest, piercing through his body in a single strike.

The enemy was killed instantly, yet Mingye continued to pummel the corpse with both hands. His pupils began to shift again, blood streaming endlessly from his eye sockets. The Swastika-Seal Sharingan seemed to struggle, but gradually, the void consumed it, and in the end, even the pupils vanished. Mingye's eyes turned completely pitch-black, and the final glimmer of light vanished from his world.

Blood splattered across Mingye's cheeks. Nearby, Madara and Izuna knelt on the ground, wailing in grief. Their young, innocent minds could not yet grasp the meaning of hatred, but in this moment, the three of them finally understood the weight of cherishing and loss. Though their minds were not yet those of adults, the pain was so agonizing that both Izuna and Madara awakened their Three Tomoe.

"Sigh! What is the situation now?"

"The clan hasn't suffered many losses, but the Lady, the Fourth Young Master, and the Fifth Young Master..."

"Our clan must care for the living, not the dead! There is no need to speak further of their affairs. Now, tell me, have you found those bastards?"

"The matter with the Takigawa clan... perhaps we were truly in the wrong. They had sincerely wanted to defect to us, but..."

"Hmph! What is sincerity? Is this what they call sincerity? I want to see all of their heads!"

"And the Hagoromo clan?"

"There is no longer a Hagoromo clan in this world."

"Will Third Son recover?"

"I do not know. The Third Young Master's pupils have vanished."

"I see. You may go."

Once the conversation ended, Tajima watched Shimizu depart before walking over to Mingye, who lay on a nearby bed. His voice was gentle as he said, "If you are awake, then get up."

"Father! This is... my eyes!"

He had assumed the darkness was merely because he had closed his eyes, but when Tajima called to him, Mingye realized his eyelids were wide open. Yet, he still could not see a sliver of light. The sensation made Mingye tremble; the fear of experiencing darkness for the first time was lonely and terrifying.

"Mingye, my son. Father will heal you." Watching Mingye twitch in what seemed like overwhelming grief, Tajima patted his shoulder, sighed, and walked out of the room.

"I am blind!"

"Third Brother! What is this...!"

Less than a minute after his father's sigh, Madara and Izuna rushed into the room. Seeing Mingye's vacant eyes, Madara waved a hand in front of his face.

"Big Brother!" Izuna, unable to bear watching Madara's actions while Mingye remained unresponsive, felt a sting in his heart and hurriedly stopped Madara from probing further.

"Don't worry, Mingye, it's nothing. Just wait—your big brother will definitely heal your eyes!" Madara wasn't oblivious; he sat by the bed and gripped Mingye's hand tightly with both of his own. He gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face, forcing his voice to sound as calm and cheerful as possible.

"I don't mind it. Where is Mother?"

Though he had vaguely heard the conversation between his father and Shimizu, he hadn't been certain. Mingye imagined the appearance of a smile in his mind, then, believing his current expression to be a smile, he asked the two of them.

A deathly silence followed. Because of Mingye's question, Madara and Izuna could no longer hold back their tears. They streamed from their eyes, yet they forced themselves to stifle their sobs to avoid causing Mingye further pain.

"Hoo! Mother... Mother is fine. She was just... startled. And Xiao Wu won't... stop crying, it's so... annoying! Big Brother and I... we just couldn't stand Xiao Wu's... crying, so we came to... see you! Alright, it's nothing major. Not being able to see now doesn't mean you won't see later. Get some rest! We... we... we have to go train!" Unable to bear the silence, Izuna covered his eyes with his hands as if to stop the tears. He started off calmly, but by the end, he couldn't keep up the facade. Choking back sobs, he left the room in a hurry. "Mingye! I swear I will heal your eyes! Believe me, I am your brother! You must believe what I say!" A strong-willed Madara gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot and fierce, his fists clenched tight. After saying this to Mingye, he too quickly left the room.

"As long as Mother is fine! As long as she is fine!"

Mingye sat on the bed. He didn't know how much time had passed, only that his legs had gone numb from sitting, so he lay back down, laughing and crying incessantly, as if in relief, or perhaps merely comforting himself.

"Clan Head."

A Uchiha clan ninja dressed in black appeared in Tajima's study, kneeling on one knee and holding a scroll above his head with both hands.

"Was Mingye's final pair of eyes truly like that?"

Tajima walked up to the ninja, took the scroll, and opened it, asking as he read.

"Yes! At the time, Lianhuo was right beside him, his entire body wrapped in a black substance. It wasn't fire, nor was it chakra, but that substance could devour everything it touched, reducing it all to nothingness. According to the clan's ancient records, only our ancestors once possessed pupils similar to that!"

The ninja nodded, pouring out everything he knew.

"I know that the Three-Tomoe Sharingan can continue to evolve, but I never expected Mingye to have already transcended this bond at the age of twelve. Yet, why is his current condition like this?"

Looking at the illustration of the ancestors' eyes recorded in the scroll, Tajima couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't expected his child to truly become the first person in hundreds of years to successfully awaken them.

"I am not sure. There isn't much relevant information in the clan's records, and those who have awakened these eyes are few and far between, so we don't know the specifics. We have flipped through many books, but there is no definitive proof. We only have one possibility that we can offer as an explanation, My Lord!" Seeing Tajima sigh and question him, the ninja remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.