Seigen slowly raised his head, his eyes half-open.
The three tomoe in his crimson Sharingan spun wildly before merging into a new pattern—four overlapping ellipses blooming within his scarlet irises.
If Seigen had looked into a mirror at that moment, he would have been shocked to discover that his Sharingan resembled the atomic structure diagram from his previous life.
“This is…?!
Seigen…
you…”
The moment Itachi saw the pattern in Seigen’s eyes, a complicated expression crossed his face.
He had never imagined that his childhood friend would awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan at a time like this.
When Itachi himself had awakened his own, it had only been after watching Shisui fall from the cliff.
So…
Seigen couldn’t accept reality…
and that’s what awakened his eyes…
Although Itachi was surprised that Seigen had awakened the same eyes as him, he wasn’t particularly worried.
Compared to someone who had only just awakened the Mangekyo, Itachi believed his own mastery of its powers was far beyond Seigen’s.
After awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi had studied the stone tablet within the Uchiha compound.
It recorded the clan’s deepest secrets as well as the methods of mastering the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Years of training had allowed him to wield its abilities with ease, though the excessive strain had already begun to damage his eyesight.
What Itachi didn’t know was that the eyes before him weren’t an ordinary Mangekyo at all.
They were the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan—the legendary evolution described on the stone tablet, said to be obtainable only by transplanting the Mangekyo Sharingan of a close blood relative after both had awakened it.
It was only natural that Itachi failed to realize the truth.
Having grown up with Seigen, he knew his friend had no close relatives.
Ever since they first met, Seigen had told him that his family had died during the previous war.
The instant the Eternal Mangekyo awakened, Seigen also understood the abilities he had gained.
His left eye possessed a spatial ability, allowing him to instantly teleport to any location he envisioned.
It was undeniably an overpowered technique.
His right eye was even more terrifying.
It allowed him to manipulate atoms on a microscopic level.
In other words…
He could casually turn a stone into gold.
If used properly, this ability was absurd enough that the entire ninja world combined might not be enough to stop him.
He could practically build nuclear fusion with his bare hands.
If anyone disagreed…
They were welcome to come reason with him.
After blowing everything up, he could simply escape using the spatial ability of his left eye.
At the same time, Itachi activated his own Mangekyo Sharingan and charged forward, short blade thrusting straight toward Seigen.
“So we really have to fight before we can have a proper conversation?” Seigen sighed helplessly.
The Naruto world respected strength above all else.
Only when your power surpassed—or at least matched—your opponent’s would they be willing to sit down and talk.
Itachi’s blade pierced directly through Seigen’s body without the slightest resistance.
That feeling…
No resistance was exactly what was wrong.
It was as though he had stabbed empty air.
Seigen’s body slowly crumbled away like drifting ash before Itachi’s eyes.
“A Mangekyo ability…?”
A headache crept over Itachi.
He was relieved that his friend had escaped alive, yet at the same time he blamed himself.
If Seigen had escaped, then the village’s mission had failed.
And if the mission failed…
Even Sasuke’s life could no longer be guaranteed.
At that moment, Seigen silently appeared behind the Root shinobi outside.
“Who’s there?!”
“Sorry…
it’s my first time.”
Puchi!
Before the Root operative could even turn around, a kunai pierced straight through his chest.
The searing pain quickly blurred his consciousness.
“Ghk…
I-it’s…
you…”
After securing his first kill, Seigen’s body once again dissolved into drifting ash.
About a minute later, just as Itachi was preparing to leave, Seigen reappeared before him, his body covered in blood.
“Seigen…
don’t tell me you…” Itachi left the sentence unfinished, but he already understood.
Every Root operative assigned to monitor him tonight had been killed by Seigen.
What exactly are you trying to do?
“Show me the measure of your resolve, Uchiha Itachi.”
Seigen had already decided.
First, he would beat some sense into this misguided kid.
After that…
They could have a proper conversation.
Itachi sheathed his short blade, his hands flashing through seals.
“Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!”
A massive fireball burst from his mouth, instantly engulfing Seigen.
Yet within the flames, Itachi caught sight of a wisp of drifting ash.
What an annoying ability…
Moments later, Seigen calmly reappeared before him once again.
“That’s it?
Is that all you’ve got?”
Seigen deliberately taunted him, trying to provoke Itachi.
Even someone as composed as Itachi felt the corners of his composure cracking.
People always said awakening the Sharingan drastically changed a person’s temperament.
But what was with this guy’s endless trash talk?
Looks like I’ll have to use that technique…
“Amaterasu—”
Whoosh!
Black flames instantly erupted throughout the confined room, surrounding Seigen from every direction.
But Seigen had expected this.
He calmly raised his right hand.
The power of his right eye activated, altering the atomic structure of the Amaterasu flames.
An invisible ripple spread through space.
The black fire, which moments ago had distorted the surrounding air with its terrifying heat, instantly transformed into ordinary water as the ripple passed.
Splash—
“What?!”
“How could Amaterasu be extinguished?!”
Itachi had imagined countless ways Seigen might escape Amaterasu.
But never—not even once—had he imagined the legendary black flames, said to burn forever…
…would simply become water with the casual wave of Seigen’s hand.
The sight completely shattered his understanding of the world.
How…
is that possible…?
“The flames that never go out…” Seigen said with a faint smile.
“Do they really never go out?”