One-Tomoe Sharingan

"Especially Rin." Uchiha Makoto looked serious. "Girls can't keep their mouths shut. If she lets it slip, the whole class will know."

Obito thought of Rin's gentle face and decided Makoto was right.

Rin was so kind that she definitely couldn't keep a secret.

"Then I won't tell anyone." Obito clenched his fists. "Not even in my dreams!"

"You're a real brother." Touched, Uchiha Makoto patted him.

Over the next few days, Uchiha Makoto kept up his "my eyes feel uncomfortable" act.

He rubbed his eyes now and then, occasionally remarked that they felt swollen again, and sometimes spent ages staring into a mirror.

Obito watched it all, fretting inwardly.

Keeping it in was agonizing. Truly agonizing.

It was like knowing an earth-shattering secret but being unable to share it with anyone.

He held it in while eating, while training, and even while sleeping.

Finally, on the third night, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Grandma." Obito poked at the rice in his bowl, hesitating. "I..."

"What is it?" Obito's grandmother was a kindly old woman with graying hair and a smile always on her face. "You've seemed so troubled lately. Is someone bullying you at school?"

"No." Obito shook his head. "It's... it's about a friend."

"A friend?" His grandmother set down her chopsticks. "What happened to your friend?"

"It's just..." Obito opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I can't say."

His grandmother smiled.

"Then don't say it." She stroked Obito's head. "A ninja has to learn to keep secrets, especially a friend's secrets."

Obito looked up at her.

"But Grandma, keeping it in feels awful."

"You have to keep it in anyway," his grandmother said. "If you promise a friend something, you have to follow through. That's a ninja's rule, and it's how a decent person should behave."

Obito fell silent.

Looking into his grandmother's cloudy yet gentle eyes, he suddenly understood something.

"Okay." He nodded firmly. "I understand."

"Good." His grandmother smiled. "Now eat."

Obito picked up his bowl and shoveled rice into his mouth.

He had made up his mind.

He would take Makoto's secret to the grave.

He wouldn't tell anyone, not even Rin.

A week later, at the training ground.

Uchiha Makoto watched Obito, weighing the timing.

It's about time.

Obito was already utterly convinced that he might awaken his Sharingan at any moment.

And after holding it in for a week, Obito's emotions were primed, too.

It's time.

"Obito." Uchiha Makoto spoke in a serious voice.

"Hm?" Obito was doing push-ups and looked up at his voice.

"Do you think..." Uchiha Makoto pointed at his own eyes. "I've already awakened my Sharingan?"

Obito froze for a moment, then leaped to his feet.

"Definitely!" he said excitedly. "Makoto, your eyes have been itching for a whole week! It's got to be your Sharingan coming out."

"If you say you've awakened it, I absolutely believe you can!"

Uchiha Makoto watched him and silently recited:

[Lie-Into-Reality, activate.]

[Target: Obito Uchiha.]

[Lie: I have already awakened my Sharingan.]

[Trust: 100%.]

[Manifestation: 80%.]

[Manifestation begins.]

The next second, Uchiha Makoto felt his eyes grow hot.

It wasn't the heat of inflammation. It was the heat of... something burning.

Knowing what was happening, Uchiha Makoto immediately lowered his head and pretended to rearrange his ninja tool pouch.

Obito suspected nothing and went about his own business.

Chakra.

A vast amount of chakra surged into his eyes, swirling within his eyeballs before slowly settling, condensing, and finally...

Bzz-

The world before Uchiha Makoto's eyes changed. Not daring to raise his head, he stared at the grass beneath him.

The colors were more vivid.

The details were clearer.

So this is... the One-Tomoe Sharingan?

Uchiha Makoto blinked.

The world before him returned to normal.

But he knew his eyes were different now.

"Makoto?" Obito asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"

Uchiha Makoto came back to himself and quickly rubbed his eyes.

"Nothing," he said. "My vision just seemed a little blurry."

"Blurry?" Obito leaned closer. "Did you really awaken your Sharingan?"

"Awaken what?" Uchiha Makoto pushed his face away. "I'm just tired from training. Anyway, I've been working on a new technique lately. Want to hear about it?"

"A new technique?" Obito's eyes lit up. "What kind?"

"A technique for stepping on air."

"Stepping on air?" Obito was baffled. "How do you step on air?"

"Listen carefully."

"Basically..." Uchiha Makoto thought for a moment. "You concentrate chakra in the soles of your feet, then release it in an instantaneous burst to generate a reaction force. In theory, as long as you have enough chakra and step fast enough, you can walk through the air."

Uchiha Makoto laid out the entire principle behind Moonwalk.

"Walk... through the air?" Obito pictured it, his eyes shining even brighter. "Isn't that just flying?"

"Pretty much," Uchiha Makoto said. "But I can't do it yet. The technique's still in development."

With Iron Body as a precedent, Obito felt certain that Makoto could develop this new skill if he was given enough time.

"That's still amazing!" Obito circled Uchiha Makoto excitedly. "Makoto, you're a genius! First Iron Body, and now this! How did you come up with it?"

"It just... came to me," Uchiha Makoto said vaguely.

When the evening's training ended, he watched Obito walk away.

Perfect.

Uchiha Makoto was delighted.

One-Tomoe Sharingan acquired.

The groundwork for Moonwalk is in place, too.

Next, I just have to slowly "master" Moonwalk, then start on the next lie.

After training, Uchiha Makoto parted ways with Obito and strolled home.

Halfway there, his steps faltered. That feeling was back. Someone was watching him.

Not openly, but from the shadows, staring at him like a snake.

Uchiha Makoto didn't turn around. He kept walking, but he was already cursing inwardly.

Danzo, you sneaky old bastard. You really did send someone to watch me.

He had sensed this coming.

After all, his current persona was that of an Uchiha genius. Though he had been hiding his abilities all along, he had known Konoha High Command would react.

He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon, or for the surveillance to be so close. Uchiha Makoto quickened his pace and turned into the Uchiha Clan Compound.

The moment he entered the compound, the feeling of being watched vanished.

Just as I thought.

On the Uchiha Clan's turf, even Danzo wouldn't dare casually send people in.

At least not openly.

Uchiha Makoto breathed a sigh of relief, but he remained on edge.

He knew he was now under "special scrutiny."

I deliberately lowered my head when I awakened my Sharingan just now. They shouldn't have been able to see it!

If I ever get the chance, I have to kill Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi. Otherwise, as an Uchiha, I'll never have a peaceful life.

Uchiha Makoto shook his head. "I have to keep a low profile now. That's the way to go."