Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan

Uchiha Madara ultimately made his decision.

To him, waiting to go blind and become a cripple incapable of fighting was worse than dying quickly. He had spent half his life slaughtering on the battlefield; the title of Ninja Asura had been carved out stroke by stroke with a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan. If those eyes were ever to go completely blind, what meaning would there be in Uchiha Madara continuing to live?

He would replace his eyes.

Even if there was only the slightest hope, he had to try.

Uchiha territory, inside Madara's residence.

The three of them sat together—the doors and windows were tightly shut, while trusted Uchiha Clan ninja guarded the courtyard outside. No one was permitted to approach.

Uchiha Yan spoke first, explaining the principles of the transplant surgery one by one.

After listening, Izuna's brows furrowed tightly.

"Yan, are you certain this will work?"

When his brother had summoned him, he had thought they would be discussing clan affairs at most—perhaps Konoha's political matters and the follow-up arrangements for the Uzumaki marriage alliance. Yet the moment he entered, Yan had said they needed to replace their eyes.

The matter was far too shocking.

"Lord Izuna, it is absolutely true. The Mangekyo Sharingan must be transplanted between blood-related brothers to prevent blindness forever. Unfortunately, I have no brothers. Otherwise, I would certainly undergo the transplant as well. These eyes of mine are destined to go blind."

Uchiha Madara was silent for a moment before speaking.

"I believe Yan, Izuna."

Izuna looked at his brother, then at Yan, before finally nodding.

"I believe Yan too." He paused. "But replacing one's eyes is no small matter. To prevent unnecessary panic, Brother must make absolutely certain that nothing can go wrong."

Uchiha Yan took over, saying, "Please rest assured, Lord Izuna. During the operation, I will appear in Lord Madara's place. I'll handle his usual appearances and simple administrative matters, so neither the clan nor the village will notice anything."

"As for Lord Izuna, you need to speak with Miss Uori. She is your wife now. You will inevitably be absent from public view for several days during the surgery, and you won't be able to hide it from her. Moreover, this concerns the future of the Uchiha Clan. Only the three of us may know of it."

"Don't worry. I'll make arrangements with Uori."

Three days later.

Inside an underground secret chamber of the Uchiha Clan.

The technical requirements for the eye replacement surgery were not actually high. In the original work, Uchiha Obito had still managed to complete Sasuke's eye transplant inside that ruined cave. And later on, Obito and Madara casually plucked out eyes and plugged them in for immediate use—it was more convenient than a charger.

The surgery lasted roughly four hours.

Uchiha Yan wiped the blood from his hands and let out a long breath.

"Lord Madara, Lord Izuna, the surgery was a success. For the next week, do not expose yourselves to light or use chakra. Rest and recuperate in peace."

One week later, inside the secret chamber.

Uchiha Yan personally removed the bandages over their eyes.

The white gauze was unwound layer by layer...

Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes.

Madara's Mangekyo Sharingan had now taken on the Eternal Mangekyo pattern from the original work.

"Lord Madara, Lord Izuna, how do you feel?"

Uchiha Madara rose to his feet and looked around.

"Excellent. My eyes have never been this clear."

"Brother, it's not just my perception." Izuna rose as well. The Sharingan in his eyes spun rapidly as a visible wave of chakra surged from his body. "I feel like my ocular power has grown significantly stronger too."

"Indeed." The corner of Madara's mouth lifted slightly. "My ocular power has truly increased. I want to fight Hashirama again right now—I can't wait to see the surprise on his face. This time, I absolutely will not lose."

Uchiha Madara was a proud man, and that had never changed. Though he acknowledged Senju Hashirama's strength and even regarded Hashirama as his only friend and rival, losing to Hashirama was a pain he could never let go of for the rest of his life.

The Rose of the Battlefield—the Ninja Asura.

Uchiha Madara had never been someone willing to stand beneath another.

"Lord Madara, Lord Izuna, your eyes are still in their recovery period. Your chakra and ocular power are currently merging with your new eyes. Once you have fully recovered, it won't be too late to spar with Lord Hashirama."

"Hahaha..." Madara laughed heartily for once, his laughter filled with unrestrained delight.

Izuna laughed as well.

He turned toward Uchiha Yan, his eyes filled with sincere gratitude. "Yan, thank you so much."

"Hmph—" Izuna clenched his fist, a flicker of fighting spirit flashing through his eyes. "If I fight that old ghost Senju Tobirama again..."

Uchiha Yan looked at the two brothers before him. They really were cut from the same cloth.

If Izuna fought Senju Tobirama again, Uchiha Yan favored Izuna. Izuna's strength had already been on par with Tobirama's, and now that he possessed the Eternal Mangekyo, Izuna had an overwhelming chance of victory.

But Madara was another matter.

Senju Hashirama stood at the pinnacle of beyond-Kage-level strength, and Madara had never defeated him. Even the Eternal Mangekyo would not be enough, nor would it be enough with the Nine-Tails added in—unless it was Madara with the Rinnegan.

"Lord Izuna, it isn't that you have become stronger." Uchiha Yan smiled as he corrected him. "It is the Uchiha who have become stronger."

Madara was slightly stunned, then nodded.

"That's right. The Uchiha have become stronger."

"Too bad I don't have a brother. Otherwise, I'd have swapped them too."

Without a blood-related brother, the Mangekyo's blindness issue could never be resolved. One day, Uchiha Yan's Mangekyo would completely lose its light.

"Yan." Madara spoke. "Don't use your Mangekyo again from now on. As for the blindness issue, we'll see if we can find another solution later."

There was, of course, a solution: Senju Hashirama's cells.

In the original story, after Obito transplanted White Zetsu's body tissue, he had played Kamui to its fullest, using it almost every day. Not only did it not affect his eyesight, Uchiha Yan even felt that Obito's ocular power had grown stronger. It was the same Kamui, yet Kakashi's performance had been utterly lackluster.

But that method was too dangerous.

Hashirama's cells were far too invasive. Not a single one of Tobirama's human experiments had succeeded. Orochimaru had only happened to succeed once—with Yamato. Later on, Danzo had barely managed to suppress the cells' erosion with a whole armful of Sharingan, yet he was still assimilated and turned into a tree after one careless mistake.

Before obtaining Senju Tobirama's human experimentation data, and without sufficient safety guarantees, he would not attempt it lightly.

Senju Tobirama had already begun conducting human experiments in secret. He thought no one knew, but in truth, Tobirama had begun his experiments earlier than in the original story because Uchiha Yan had left him no choice.

Uchiha Yan's string of outrageous moves had crushed him until he could barely breathe. An alliance with the Uzumaki had originally been meant to ease the Senju Clan's decline, but Uchiha Izuna had unexpectedly married Uori as well. With nowhere else to turn, Tobirama had no choice but to begin human experiments ahead of time.

Uchiha Yan was now simply waiting for Senju Tobirama to produce results. When the time came, he could not only condemn that old bastard from the moral high ground, but also use it to coerce the Senju Clan into a marriage alliance with the Uchiha. Senju Tobirama thought he stood on the first floor, but unfortunately, Uchiha Yan stood on the second.