His consciousness slowly surfaced from an endless darkness.
His hearing returned first.
Distant and indistinct, as though through a thick curtain of water, came the girls' hushed conversation.
"Has the Thunder Hashira still not woken up?"
"Shh... Lady Shinobu said he exhausted himself badly this time. He needs quiet rest."
"His eye... really bled? That's so scary..."
Noisy.
Sasuke's brow furrowed slightly.
He tried to open his eyes, but a searing pain deep within his right eye made him suck in a sharp breath. The little strength he had just gathered instantly scattered.
His last memories flashed wildly through his mind like fragmented images.
Kyojuro's back, burning like the Sun.
Akaza's punch, breaking through layer after layer of blazing flames, certain to strike home.
The distance that kept him from reaching Kyojuro in time, and that bone-chilling helplessness.
And... the roar from the depths of his soul, refusing to watch anyone else die before his eyes.
Then came the soul-rending pain, and the three tomoe in his vision merging into an eerie pinwheel.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
Those black flames that had appeared out of thin air, forcing Upper Rank Three to sever his arm to survive...
Amaterasu.
Those unfamiliar words now surfaced clearly in his mind, like instincts etched into his blood. Alongside them came another name.
Kagutsuchi.
That was... the power to control the shape of Amaterasu's black flames.
So that was it.
Was this what lay beyond the Three-Tomoe Sharingan? A cursed power that could only be unlocked with a tremendous emotional shock as the key, at the price of a dear friend's brush with death.
Sasuke slowly opened his left eye.
The familiar ceiling of the Butterfly Mansion came into view. A faint scent of medicinal herbs filled the air, and sunlight streamed through the window, warm and