Izuna's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan

Land of Rain, Amegakure.

Heavy rain shrouded the entire shinobi village. Inside Amegakure's tallest building, Hanzo of the Salamander and his trusted subordinates studied a map of the Land of Rain, discussing the current situation.

"Leader, this is the latest damage report. The Land of Fire's Ninja forces and the Land of Wind's puppet forces clashed in a village on the front line. The village was destroyed in the fighting, and our people only managed to help a small number of villagers evacuate."

As he spoke, the Ninja clenched his fists, his eyes filled with resentment and frustration.

This was clearly a conflict between two great nations. Why? Why was their small nation the one suffering? Just because they were trapped between these great nations, were they destined to become their battlefield?

Another Ninja stepped forward to report.

"Leader, we've contacted the sellers on the black market. They're willing to supply us with ninja tools and equipment. They've already given us ten percent of the goods, and the rest will keep arriving."

His trusted Ninjas continued reporting the latest intelligence. Hanzo of the Salamander sat in the seat of honor without a word, listening silently.

"Whew."

Behind his mask, Hanzo of the Salamander let out a long breath.

"This shinobi world is cruel. With the Land of Rain caught between three great nations, we're bound to become their battlefield. For their own interests, the great nations plunge Small Nations into suffering.

"But from this day forward, I, Hanzo of the Salamander, will no longer allow this to happen. I will repay all the suffering those great nations have inflicted on us twice over. Relay my orders: every Ninja in Amegakure is to prepare for war. Once the equipment arrives, we will declare war on these great nations! Even if Amegakure is destroyed, we will make them feel our pain!"

"Yes, sir!" they all shouted.

Outrage swept through them. They had endured far, far too much suffering.

In the past, even when they suffered, they had nowhere to vent their anguish. But things were different now. Hanzo of the Salamander's emergence had shown them a possibility—a completely new possibility.

The war continued, but none of the three sides fighting in the Land of Rain could have imagined that a fourth force was about to join the battlefield.

On the outskirts of the Land of Fire's capital.

In the wooded mountains where Tetsuya was spending his vacation.

An enormous blue Susanoo collided with an enormous golden Susanoo.

That single collision unleashed astonishing power. The terrifying shock wave tore through the woods, and the forest before them had already been reduced to a wreck by their battle—a testament to the ferocity of the two Susanoo's clash.

The next instant, both Susanoo drew their massive swords and slashed at each other.

Clang!

The instant the massive swords collided, there seemed to be a deafening crash, yet there also seemed to be no sound at all. Perhaps the sound unleashed by the impact had already exceeded the limits of human hearing.

"Hey, Izuna, how do you feel? Have your eyes changed at all?"

The Susanoo vanished, and Tetsuya bounded over to Izuna's side.

Izuna stood there, his entire presence transformed. If he had once been as calm as water and as aloof as ice, he now resembled a dead star, radiating a chilling, murderous aura.

His eyes in particular had changed. His original Mangekyō Sharingan pattern had consisted of a black ring within each blood-red iris, with three column-shaped spokes—one above and two below—connecting it to the iris's outer edge.

Now his Mangekyō Sharingan had changed. The hollow ring in the center of each blood-red iris had become three hollow tomoe linked head to tail.

Had Madara Uchiha been there, he would certainly have exclaimed in surprise. Izuna's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan looked almost exactly like his own had.

The resemblance was inevitable. After all, Madara Uchiha and Uchiha Izuna were brothers, and Madara Uchiha had upgraded his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan using Izuna's eyes. The kin-compatible Mangekyō eyes Izuna had used, meanwhile, were produced by Husky. In theory, they were the best possible match for Izuna and the perfect material for upgrading his eyes into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Still nothing. Can those cells you injected into me really make my Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan evolve into the legendary Rinnegan? Those are the Sage's eyes, you know."

"Oh, what's so special about the Rinnegan or the Sage Eyes? I even have a sage body."

Tetsuya rubbed his chin, closely examining Izuna's eyes.

"Really, no changes at all?"

"It's not that there haven't been any changes."

Izuna raised a hand to cover his right eye.

"I can feel the ocular power in both my eyes increasing every moment. It isn't like recovering after using up my ocular power. It's more like the upper limit of my ocular power is constantly rising. The change is very slight, but it's definitely there."

"Then that's what we're looking for."

Tetsuya nodded in satisfaction and patted Izuna on the shoulder.

"Maybe once the ocular power in your eyes reaches a certain limit, it'll trigger a fundamental change. Then they might evolve into the Rinnegan."

"You're right. Perhaps the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan really can evolve into the Rinnegan. It just needs time."

While Tetsuya and Izuna were studying the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the earth beneath their feet suddenly shifted.

A yellow weasel emerged from underground.

"Oh, Itachi, what brings you here?"

The yellow weasel called Itachi shook his head.

"Boss, that tentacle monster asked me to deliver a letter."

"Oh, a letter from Kakuzu? Did something happen in the Land of Rain?"

As he spoke, Tetsuya took the letter, then pulled out a Sealing Scroll and tossed it to Itachi.

"Thanks for the effort, Itachi. Here's your payment."

"Thank you, boss!"

Itachi hugged the scroll, overjoyed.

The reason was simple: the Sealing Scroll contained the Yellow Weasel Clan's favorite food—chicken. All sorts of chicken: roasted chicken, grilled chicken, hand-shredded chicken, chicken in chili oil, white-cut chicken, and more.

After coming into money, Tetsuya had never shortchanged the Yellow Weasel Clan, with whom he had signed a contract, and had sent them large quantities of food.

The Yellow Weasel Clan also respected the rules. Having accepted Tetsuya's goods, they had to work for him.

However, Tetsuya currently had no need for the Yellow Weasel Clan in battle, so Elder Huang simply sent the younger members of the clan to help him run errands.

The Yellow Weasel Clan excelled at stealth, transformation, and genjutsu. Having them run errands and deliver things could hardly have been more convenient.

That was also one reason the major shinobi villages had not discovered Tetsuya and his companions' large-scale buying and selling of grain and iron ore.

Tetsuya opened the envelope, curious about what had happened on the front line.

Izuna leaned over as well, grasping the gist with a single glance.

"This Hanzo of the Salamander is pretty impressive. He actually repelled the Land of Earth's offensive outright. The Tsuchikage has announced that he's withdrawing his troops and pulling out of the war!"