UK:GSW Chapter 352 – World-famous Painting: Congratulations (Applause)
The "eye-opening" was complete, and naturally, this grand performance belonging to Uchiha Sasuke was about to end.
The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan was incomparably strong. Through the complete feedback of the mental network world, as Sasuke's hatred-filled and frenzied Mangekyō wept blood, black flames appeared.
At the sight of the black flames, Uchiha Kei was momentarily stunned. He thought that even with such a completely different experience, Sasuke's awakened Mangekyō ability was still the same—Amaterasu.
However, Uchiha Kei quickly realized he was wrong. Within those black flames was a pure white flame, forming a strange sight of black and white intertwined. The black flames occupied most of it, and in this case, black was more easily able to swallow "light," so at first glance, it seemed like only a sea of black.
Such flames were far stronger than the Amaterasu of the original story. Through his own authority, Uchiha Kei could clearly perceive the intense emotions contained within.
It was the emotion of extreme sadness and pain—but on top of that, there was surprisingly little hatred. Instead, there was another kind of feeling.
It was hope—expectation. The hope to save others.
Yes—for Sasuke at this moment, compared to destruction, hatred, or the desire for revenge against the Hidden Leaf after learning the truth in the original story, compared to the will to escape the life and future Uchiha Itachi had arranged for him and awakening Amaterasu and the control flame technique Kagutsuchi, Sasuke's current mindset was entirely different. Naturally, the Mangekyō ability he awakened was also different.
In his state of deep sorrow, Sasuke held the will to destroy the clown Itachi—but this destruction was not born of revenge. It was salvation.
He wanted to save Itachi, to prevent his identity from continuing to be desecrated, to end this ridiculous yet tragic deadly farce.
From this will was born the black and white flames that represented destruction and salvation.
Uchiha Kei didn't know what Sasuke would call this Sharingan ability, but it probably wouldn't be Amaterasu.
After all, Amaterasu already existed.
Of course, it wasn't certain—since Sasuke had never seen Uchiha Itachi's Amaterasu, he didn't know this ocular jutsu existed, so he might still name it Amaterasu.
Anyway, whatever the name, it would depend on Sasuke's own choice.
For now, under the burning of those intertwined black and white flames, the clown Itachi vanished into ash amidst mad laughter, leaving nothing behind.
Then, everything shattered—everything in existence collapsed at that moment.
Faced with this unbelievable sight, Sasuke was stunned. His tearful, grief-stricken expression turned to one of shock, and soon that shock became confusion.
Because the scenery around him had completely changed.
No longer was it the Gotham City shrouded in shadow—it was now a bright world of blue skies and white clouds. The place he stood on was no longer Gotham's streets, but a mirror-like water surface.
The sight left Sasuke utterly astonished.
What shocked him even more was that the reflection in the water was no longer Batman, nor "Bruce Wayne Uchiha," but his former self—seventeen-year-old Uchiha Sasuke!
"…What… is going on here?"
As he murmured, Sasuke realized his voice had changed. His memories were shifting as well.
It wasn't that he was losing memories—it was that his memories as Uchiha Sasuke of the shinobi world were resurfacing, overlaying the memories of being Batman, while his Batman memories were fading—just as his shinobi memories had faded back when he was Batman.
The memories of the two identities were undergoing a complete swap.
Then—at that moment—applause suddenly came from the side.
Startled, Sasuke looked up to see a handsome man appear before him, smiling as he clapped. Meeting Sasuke's eyes, the man said, "Congratulations."
Then, one person after another appeared around Sasuke, surrounding him. Each clapped and said "Congratulations," as if celebrating Sasuke's rebirth.
Among them were people Sasuke knew—like Karin and Tsunade—and people he didn't know—like Minato's three-man squad and Kushina Uzumaki.
But no matter who they were, all of them offered Sasuke their congratulations, forming a world-famous painting in tribute to Neon Genesis Evangelion.
What this brought Sasuke was utter bewilderment and a questioning of reality itself.
Well… basically, everyone was doing this at Uchiha Kei's request. Though they all felt it was a bit weird, they were willing to cooperate with him. After all, celebrating Sasuke's Mangekyō awakening wasn't unreasonable.
The most conflicted one was probably Karin—after all, Sasuke was her comrade, and the one she liked. Watching him suffer in the illusion world had already left her guilty enough, and now with this display, it felt like Sasuke was being made a fool of. She knew how "cool" this handsome guy was.
But… circumstances were beyond her control. She, Karin Uzumaki, was just a poor, small, helpless Uzumaki. She had no power to change anything, so she could only go along with it.
Anyway—Sasuke had indeed obtained the power he dreamed of, the Mangekyō Sharingan, hadn't he?
After a while, as his restored original memories took hold, Sasuke finally understood what he had been through. His expression darkened, his voice hoarse and filled with fury:
"So, everything I experienced these days—Gotham City, Batman, the Uchiha clan, the identity of Bruce Wayne—was all fake? All just an illusion?"
Uchiha Kei smiled and nodded, lowering his clapping hands. The others stopped as well.
Then, Uchiha Kei spoke: "Yes. It was all an illusion I created just for you—to make you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. Well? Surprised? Unexpected? Don't you feel grateful to me?"
"No need to thank me—this is only natural. After all, as a senior of the Uchiha, it's my duty to look after and help a junior like you. So, really—no need to be polite."
As he spoke, he put on an air of great magnanimity, as if he were truly a senior caring for the younger generation.
This attitude earned side-eyes from everyone present. Many wanted to complain—especially Uchiha Obito, who wanted to the most.
But Obito didn't dare.
Because even now, he couldn't forget when Uchiha Kei had wanted him to awaken the Sharingan and had made him directly experience the horrors of Outlast. That had nearly killed him and left him with lasting trauma. He feared that if he complained behind Kei's back, Kei would make him a target and give him the same nightmare Sasuke had just endured.
So—better Sasuke than him. Let Sasuke alone bear this "deep love" from his "senior."
Unsurprisingly, Sasuke's temper flared instantly, and he was about to fight Kei on the spot.
And then—just like the classic scene in Bleach where a character gains great power and is about to show off, only to be beaten down the next second—Sasuke was instantly suppressed.
Senju Hashirama clamped a hand on his shoulder with cheerful ease, while Hatake Sakumo exuded a terrifyingly sharp killing intent.
Hashirama's was overwhelming physical power, while Sakumo's was the kind of blade aura that seemed ready to cut off Sasuke's head at any moment.
Both gave Sasuke the feeling he'd be finished in the next instant. His anger was forcibly extinguished, his body tense, unable to respond—only able to stand there in a daze.
Then Uchiha Kei stepped forward with a smile, telling Hashirama and Sakumo not to scare the kid. Once their pressure was withdrawn, he patted Sasuke's shoulder and said:
"The Mangekyō Sharingan is indeed powerful. But here, Mangekyō isn't much. This is no longer your shinobi world. The so-called Mangekyō power—while not common—is far from the ultimate."
"Whether it's you or your crazy brother who wiped out another Uchiha clan, you're both just relatively strong ninja."
"So, here's the first thing you need to learn—keep a low profile, Sasuke."
Though his tone was cheerful and caring, Sasuke felt the naked threat in those words—an unmistakable display of dominance.
The arrogance in his heart from obtaining the Mangekyō was instantly quenched. From Kei's words, he also understood other implications. His Mangekyō eyes widened as his mind raced.
Finally, this reincarnation of Indra took a deep breath and said in a low voice:
"So… other worlds really do exist… Gotham… that world called Earth—it wasn't purely an illusion, was it? Even with a Mangekyō Sharingan, it's impossible to create such a real world, one with things that don't exist in the shinobi world… because people can't imagine what they've never seen!"
Uchiha Kei smiled meaningfully at those words, neither confirming nor denying.
But that attitude alone said it all.
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