At that moment, Sasuke stood frozen beneath the tree, his eternally icy face filled with question marks.
Sarada's excitement caught halfway. Her face flushed crimson, her hand froze on the rim of her glasses, and her mind went completely blank.
Obito stood there with his mouth open, utterly windblown and disoriented.
Kakashi covered his forehead and sighed, quietly shifting two steps to the side. "You bastard, do you have any bottom line left as a human being...?"
Sasuke took a deep breath and forcibly kept his cold expression in place as he looked at Ye. "Thanks for the reminder, but there's no need. My daughter doesn't need to take that path."
Ye shrugged, looking deeply regretful.
"I was just offering the most efficient shortcut. After all, our clan specializes in emotional stimulation."
"Look, didn't Obito awaken his eyes back then only after watching Rin die at Kakashi's hands?"
"Though it later turned out she'd only faked her death, the emotional impact was there, so his eyes awakened."
"Theoretically, as long as the stimulation is strong enough, what Mangekyo couldn't be awakened?"
"Senior... I'd better not take this kind of morally outrageous shortcut..." Sarada's mouth twitched wildly as she repeatedly waved her hands.
Inside his head, the system notification sounded like it was having a seizure, ringing nonstop.
Red plus signs formed a sea, and the points pool received a massive windfall.
[Ding! Guard-Break Points from Sasuke: +30000!] [Ding! Collapse Points from Sarada: +25000!] [Ding! Disorientation Points from Obito: +10000!] [Ding! Fright and Laughter Points from Boruto: +14000!] [Ding! Helplessness Points from Kakashi: +4000!]
Listening to that string of gains, Ye's mood soared.
With a blink, all the scarlet of his Mangekyo faded away, returning to those utterly ordinary black eyes.
The instant the sense of restraint vanished, Sasuke