The early morning hush hung over the Hidden Leaf like a blanket of mist. Not even the birds had begun their song. Inside the renovated home, the only sound was the slow, steady breathing of those curled beneath warm covers.
Kakashi stirred.
One arm was wrapped around Tsunade, her golden hair spilling across his chest like silk threads. Kurenai lay draped along his other side, peaceful, her fingers loosely tangled in the hem of his shirt.
Mei had moved in her sleep, now curled behind him with her head nestled between his shoulder blades. Anko, of course, was sprawled across his legs, limbs a chaotic tangle, snoring faintly.
He smiled softly. This strange, messy life, so different from the blood-soaked solitude of his past, was warm in a way he could never quite put into words.
But today, something called to him.
Gently, carefully, he peeled Tsunade's arm from his chest and slid away from the others. She shifted with a faint mumble but didn't wake.
Kakashi rose, bare feet meeting the smooth floor with a whisper. He grabbed a loose shirt from the chair and slipped it on, then quietly made his way down the hall.
At the sink, he splashed cold water on his face. The reflection in the mirror was familiar now, his face unmasked, the faint lines of experience at the corners of his mouth and eyes, the scar down his Sharingan socket. He dried off with a towel and ran a hand through his hair.
There was a flicker in his Mangekyō when he looked at himself.
Today was the day.
He descended the hidden stairs beneath his house, a spiral of reinforced stone and chakra-treated metal. The passageway opened into the lower chamber, a lab of polished steel and scroll-lined shelves, lit with soft blue glowstones embedded into the walls.
The air was crisp and clean, filled with faint ozone and the quiet hum of chakra seals.
The Orochimaru clone was already there, perched on a stool beside one of the main workbenches. He had goggles on his forehead and a half-dismantled sealing core in his hands, long fingers expertly weaving tiny threads of chakra into the device.
He looked up as Kakashi entered.
"Kakashi-sama," the clone greeted, setting down his tools. His snake-yellow eyes shimmered with curiosity. "You're up earlier than expected."
"Couldn't sleep." Kakashi gave a single nod.
The clone tilted his head, intrigued, sensing something deeper. "Are you going to perform another synthesis?"
Kakashi walked past him toward the far side of the lab. A high-security wall seal shimmered as he approached, a complex spiral of interlocking formulas only he could undo. With a few silent hand signs and a pulse from his palm, the barrier parted with a low whir.
Inside the small storage chamber sat three sealed scrolls and one black case.
Kakashi picked up the case and carried it to the center table. His movements were smooth, unhurried, but the air around him began to shift, heavier, charged.
"Those are…"The clone's eyes widened slightly.
Kakashi unlatched the case.
Inside were three eyes: two belonging to Shisui Uchiha, and the third, his old Mangekyō Sharingan, preserved and stored long ago.
Even after all this time, the Uchiha chakra within them pulsed faintly, dormant but alive. Shisui's eyes were especially potent. One had been obtained from Danzo's remains. The other… had been gifted by Itachi himself, albeit reluctantly.
The clone stepped forward, his expression alight with scholarly awe.
"You intend to devour them with the Genesis Seal?"
Kakashi nodded. "I don't have a blood relative to exchange Mangekyō with. But I can still reach the Eternal state… by integrating their bloodline directly."
The clone murmured, "To think… that such a thing is possible. Even I couldn't have envisioned this method. Kakashi-sama, your genius, your seal, it transcends what we once believed was possible."
Kakashi didn't respond. His eyes were focused on the table.
With a flex of chakra, the Genesis Seal on his palm began to glow, fiery crimson with rotating black symbols. The air in the lab thickened.
Kakashi placed both of Shisui's eyes on the table. His original eye he set it aside for now.
He raised his hand above his eyes.
The Genesis Seal spun faster. A low hum filled the room.
Then, a black vortex of energy burst forth from the seal, like a miniature spiral galaxy forming midair. It hovered just above the table before pulling the two eyes upward.
They hovered for a moment, caught in the swirling energy.
Then, devoured.
The vortex snapped shut.
Kakashi's body stiffened. A sharp tingling shot through his head, no, through his eyes. A heat that wasn't pain, just… movement. Chakra twisted through his optic nerves, rewiring, reshaping.
His Sharingans activated on reflex.
The pupils spun rapidly, faster and faster, as if the Mangekyō itself were shifting, realigning, rebuilding.
"Kakashi-sama…?" The clone took a cautious step back.
Kakashi's hands gripped the edge of the table. His body healed instantly from the strain, thanks to his Wood Style regeneration, but the sensation in his head was intense.
It felt like a storm was unfolding behind his eyes, a torrent of memories and chakra from Shisui merging with his own.
Then…BOOM.
An invisible wave of pupil power burst out from Kakashi's eyes, shaking the lab walls slightly. The sealing scrolls nearby rattled in their racks.
He gasped softly.
The spinning slowed.
And then… his vision stabilized.
His Mangekyō was no longer the same.
What had once been angular, sharp tomoe shapes now seemed smoother, darker, more… complete. The jagged lines had resolved into an elegant new pattern, shimmering with depth, like a black sun surrounded by red flame.
Kakashi blinked. The power in his eyes felt stable. Eternal and limitless.
He had done it.
He had awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
And more than that… he could feel it.
Kotoamatsukami. Shisui's fearsome genjutsu technique, the ability to insert commands into another's mind without detection, without resistance.
It pulsed faintly behind his right eye, dormant but there. Ready to be used at any time.
He took a long breath, steadying his pulse.
"The compatibility… the synchronization… no rejection, no mutation…! Incredible." The clone, meanwhile, was scribbling excitedly into a scroll with trembling hands.
"One more." Kakashi stepped back to the storage case.
He opened the scroll marked with a red flame seal.
Kamui.
Kakashi knew its power well. He had used it many times through Obito's eye in the past. But this would be different. He wasn't borrowing it now. He was becoming it.
He placed the eye on the table. The seal in his palm flared again.
This time, when the black vortex consumed the eye, there was no pain. No storm. Just a gentle coolness that flowed through his optic nerves like a breeze across still water.
He blinked.
No physical change this time.
But he felt it.
His Mangekyō pulsed, deeper now, denser, more profound. His spatial awareness grew sharper. Shukujitsu, his space-bending technique, reacted immediately to Kamui's influence.
He reached out instinctively, and touched the edge of Obito's dimension. He could now enter and exit it at will, without needing an external eye. No Kamui mark required.
He could teleport through his own will, and bend space like folded paper.
His chakra, already massive, had increased slightly, refined further by the Uchiha essence. His body had absorbed it perfectly, thanks to the Genesis Seal's balance protocols.
"You have Shukujitsu… and Kamui…? My god." The clone was gaping.
Kakashi stood quietly.
He opened his left eye.
The vortex-like Mangekyō spun once, and a spatial distortion appeared in the air. Not a portal. A compression.
Then it folded closed.
He opened his right eye.
The Eternal Mangekyō shimmered, red as fire.
And within it… lay the dormant potential of the most powerful genjutsu ever conceived.
"It's done." Kakashi exhaled slowly.
"I've never witnessed anything so flawless." The clone bowed slightly.
Kakashi turned and walked slowly to the lab's reinforced wall.
"I will use this power to end the war before it starts," he murmured. "Obito wants the Ten Tails. Madara wants domination. But I… I want peace."
The clone nodded in quiet admiration. "And with your power, perhaps that peace is possible."
Kakashi turned back, eyes glowing faintly in the dim lab light.
"We start preparations today."