Deciphering the Uchiha Clan's Stone Tablet

"What is it?" Neji asked.

The two of them wound through the streets and alleys into the forest behind the Uchiha Clan compound.

"I want to take you to our clan's Shrine," Sasuke explained. "Something occurred to me recently. The Byakugan and Sharingan may be different, but according to you, they both came from the same person. I want you to look at our clan's Stone Tablet and see whether your Byakugan can decipher what's written on it."

"You've really thought this through." Neji's curiosity was piqued too. Now he wanted to know whether the Byakugan could decipher the tablet.

"How much can your Eye Power decipher now?" Neji asked.

Six months had passed, and he had no idea how far Sasuke's Eye Power had progressed.

His own situation was different from Sasuke's. Unlike the Sharingan, the Byakugan's Eye Power depended mainly on its purity. Training afterward merely brought out the power it had possessed all along.

The Byakugan's Eye Power was essentially fixed at birth. That was why the Neji of the original story had been such a staunch believer in fate, always talking about destiny. For someone born into the Hyuga Clan, their fate had effectively been decided at birth.

The Uchiha Clan was different. The Sharingan's Eye Power could grow stronger, advancing step by step from One-Tomoe to Two-Tomoe, Three-Tomoe, and finally the Mangekyō Sharingan.

In the Uchiha Clan, fate was not set from the beginning. Whether someone awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan depended not only on talent but also on circumstance, and the Dōjutsu that followed varied from person to person.

For that clan, fate was not decided at birth.

"I can make out most of our clan's history," Sasuke said.

"Your eyes are still at Two-Tomoe?" Neji asked.

Sasuke nodded. "My Eye Power has improved enormously, but my eyes are still at Two-Tomoe."

"Is your Eye Power still growing?" Neji asked.

"It is. But I feel like my eyes will evolve to Three-Tomoe before long." Sasuke's lips curved into a pleased smile. "Probably sometime before graduation."

"Congratulations, then!" Neji said.

"What about you? How's the Tenseigan coming along? Sometimes I envy you. You can just awaken a legendary eye," Sasuke said.

Neji shook his head. "I've pretty much hit a bottleneck. I don't know when I'll break through it."

A faint smile appeared on Sasuke's face. "Don't stop moving forward. At this rate, I'll surpass you sooner or later."

"Heh." Neji laughed. "You'd better worry about how to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. As things stand, you have nothing left to lose. You don't meet the conditions to awaken it at all."

Sasuke fell silent for a moment. He knew what Neji meant. "I'm not following the path Itachi laid out for me. He wants me to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and come after him, so I won't. I'd love to see his face when I beat him anyway."

Neji said nothing. He just patted Sasuke on the shoulder.

They arrived at the Shrine where the Uchiha Clan held its gatherings. Sasuke lifted a stone slab in a corner, revealing a passage down to the basement.

"Come on." Sasuke went down first.

Neji followed him into an underground chamber large enough to hold several hundred people.

Looking up, he saw an enormous Uchiha Clan Crest on the wall.

Beneath it stood a stone tablet the size of a gravestone, covered in a bewildering tangle of markings.

They looked like something a child had carved at random.

The two approached the Stone Tablet. Sasuke looked at it and said, "This is it. I can only decipher a small part of what's written on it."

Neji nodded, then activated his Byakugan. "Byakugan!"

With his Byakugan active, Neji focused on the Stone Tablet.

Something strange happened. Before, the markings had looked like a child's scribbles. Now they twisted for a moment, then resolved into words Neji could read.

The Byakugan's Eye Power can decipher this Stone Tablet too... Neji marveled as he read.

The Uchiha and Hyuga Clans really did share an ancestor. Even the Byakugan's Eye Power could make out the tablet's contents.

The opening was no different from what Sasuke had seen: an account of the Uchiha Clan's origins.

Unlike Sasuke, though, Neji's Eye Power could decipher more.

"Can your Eye Power read what's on the tablet?" Sasuke asked.

Neji nodded. "Yes. I can read more of it than you can with your Sharingan."

"What does the rest say?" Sasuke asked curiously.

Uchiha Itachi had specifically mentioned this Stone Tablet on the night of the massacre. Whatever it recorded had to be important.

"It goes on to describe a Secret Technique of the Uchiha Clan: Izanagi," Neji said.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan too. "Izanagi? Is it a Sharingan Secret Technique?" he asked eagerly.

Neji nodded. "It's an ultimate Dōjutsu used on oneself. It can directly distort reality, making anything unfavorable to the user as though it never happened, while turning favorable outcomes into reality. And it lasts for a period of time. It's a Ninjutsu that can distort reality for a while, not just once."

Sasuke swallowed as Neji spoke in that grave tone. This ultimate ocular technique, Izanagi, was terrifying.

"There has to be a price for an ultimate Dōjutsu like that, right?" Sasuke asked.

Neji gave Sasuke a long look. "Of course. The price is a Sharingan—one eye per use. How long it lasts depends on the user's Eye Power."

Sasuke drew a deep breath. The price was steep, but not unacceptable.

Neji continued, "The Hand Seals are Rabbit, Boar, Ram. Those three seals are enough to activate Izanagi."

Sasuke nodded. "I've got it. This will be a huge help!"

"Is the rest like the Stone Tablet of the Hyuga Clan?" Sasuke asked.

If Neji could decipher the Hyuga Clan's entire Stone Tablet, Sasuke figured he could probably do the same with the Uchiha Clan's.

Neji nodded. "There's more. The next part is about the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Oh?" Sasuke asked curiously. "Is it about the Mangekyō Sharingan's Dōjutsu?"

"No." Neji shook his head. "The tablet says that after the Mangekyō Sharingan awakens, its user begins to descend into darkness. In other words, using it gradually causes blindness."

"Blindness!?" Sasuke exclaimed.

"That's right. That's what the tablet says," Neji continued. "The Mangekyō Sharingan can't retain its sight forever. To gain eternal sight, you have to absorb the Eye Power of another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan. That grants you the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"So that's how cruel it is... Uchiha Itachi did all that for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan..." Sasuke murmured, stunned.

Neji left Sasuke to his thoughts and continued, "It also records a Ninjutsu for absorbing Eye Power. It's rather complicated, so I'll copy it down for you in a moment. Only by using that Secret Technique to take the Eye Power of another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan does someone have a chance of gaining the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."

Sasuke let out a long breath. "Thank you, Neji."

"You're welcome."