Sasuke returned to Sound Village with new purpose.
Shin's information about Danzo's body changed everything. Twelve Sharingan in one location—including Shisui's Mangekyo with Kotoamatsukami. That was too valuable to ignore.
But infiltrating Konoha required preparation. More power. More collected dojutsu. Complete mastery of his current abilities.
"Nine Uchiha survivors remaining on the immediate list," Sasuke said, spreading profiles across the table in the strategy room. Team Taka gathered around. "We're accelerating the timeline. All nine eliminated within three weeks."
"That's aggressive," Karin observed. "Three targets per week?"
"We've already demonstrated we can handle that pace. The techniques are refined. My eyes have adapted to rapid absorption." Sasuke pointed to specific locations on a map. "Target prioritization based on geographic clustering and threat level."
"What changed?" Jugo asked quietly. "We were taking breaks between operations. Now you want rapid deployment."
Sasuke considered lying. Decided against it—partial truth was more believable.
"I acquired intelligence on a significant Sharingan cache. Multiple eyes in one location. But retrieving it requires infiltrating a major village." He met their gazes. "I need to be stronger before attempting that operation. Which means completing the survivor list as quickly as possible."
"Which village?" Suigetsu's grin was eager.
"Classified for now. Operational security." Sasuke pulled out the first profile. "Target Ten: Uchiha Mirai. Two-tomoe Sharingan. Mercenary operating in the Land of Frost. We leave in six hours."
Target Ten: Uchiha Mirai
She was easier than expected.
Mercenary work had made her complacent. Used to fighting normal opponents. Her two-tomoe Sharingan gave her an edge against civilians and low-level shinobi, but against Sasuke's Mangekyo-Byakugan hybrid vision, she was outmatched.
Four-second absorption. Standard elimination protocol. Body burned completely.
Twenty nodes filled now. Ten lavender, ten red. His Mangekyo pattern was exactly half complete.
Integration took eighteen hours. They were already traveling to the next target before he'd fully recovered.
Target Eleven: Uchiha Hideaki
One-tomoe Sharingan. Living as a farmer in neutral territory, trying to escape his bloodline.
"Please," Hideaki begged when Sasuke found him in his fields. "I'm not a shinobi anymore. I just want peace. I have a family—"
"Your family won't remember you had Sharingan." Sasuke's Mangekyo blazed. "They'll just know you died. That's more mercy than most collectors would offer."
Three-second absorption.
But before the lightning blade could form, Hideaki's wife appeared at the farmhouse door. Saw everything. Screamed.
Sasuke's hand moved. Lightning Release. Precise strike. She died before the sound fully left her throat.
Two children emerged from the house, drawn by their mother's scream—
His hands moved on instinct. Two more strikes. Quick. Clean.
Silence fell over the farm.
Sasuke stood over four bodies. Hideaki and his entire family. Dead because they'd seen what he was.
"Necessary," he said aloud to the empty field. "They were witnesses. All of them."
But the words felt hollow.
He burned the farmhouse and all four bodies. By the time anyone investigated, there would be nothing but ash and questions.
Team Taka found him three kilometers away, standing in a forest clearing. His eyes were closed.
"The target?" Karin asked carefully.
"Eliminated. Complications arose." Sasuke opened his eyes—twenty-one nodes filled. "But handled."
Karin's sensory abilities had already scanned the area. She knew there had been multiple deaths. Four chakra signatures that no longer existed.
"Sasuke-kun—"
"We continue. Next target is two days east." His tone was flat. Final. "No discussion."
They continued.
Target Twelve: Uchiha Takara
Three-tomoe Sharingan. Former ANBU. She fought brilliantly—almost as skilled as Yuki had been.
But Sasuke had absorbed ten Sharingan since Yuki. His technique was faster. More refined. His combat ability enhanced by constant fighting.
Ten-second absorption despite her three-tomoe. He was getting better at this.
Standard elimination. Standard burning.
Twenty-two nodes filled.
Target Thirteen: Uchiha Ren
Two-tomoe. Bandit leader with a small gang.
The gang fought to protect him. Fifteen bandits total.
Team Taka killed them all. Systematically. Efficiently. No survivors.
Sasuke absorbed Ren's Sharingan while his dying gang members watched, too wounded to interfere.
Five-second absorption.
Then he executed Ren and burned all sixteen bodies.
Twenty-three nodes filled.
Karin threw up afterward. The sheer volume of death was affecting her.
"This is what it takes," Sasuke said coldly. "If you can't handle it—"
"I can handle it." Her voice was tight. "I just... how many more?"
"Six more Uchiha survivors. Then we reassess." Sasuke's Mangekyo gleamed. "Every death serves the larger purpose."
"Does it?" Karin met his gaze. "Or are you just collecting power and calling it purpose?"
Sasuke was quiet for a long moment.
"Maybe both. Does it matter?"
She didn't answer.
Target Fourteen: Uchiha Kasumi
One-tomoe. Working as a prostitute in a port city, using minor genjutsu to survive.
She recognized what Sasuke was the moment he walked into her room.
"You're the Dojutsu Hunter," Kasumi said quietly. No fear. Just acceptance. "I've heard the stories. Uchiha survivors disappearing. No bodies. No evidence."
"You heard correctly."
"Will it hurt?" Her voice was steady despite the trembling in her hands.
"Three seconds of absorption. Then quick death." Sasuke activated his Mangekyo. "I'm not cruel. Just efficient."
"That's something, I suppose." She closed her eyes. "Do it."
Three-second absorption.
Lightning blade through the heart.
He burned her body and left money on the counter—payment for her time, as if she'd been just another client.
Twenty-four nodes filled.
Target Fifteen: Uchiha Twins—Daiki and Renji
Both two-tomoe. Brothers who'd survived together, fought together, lived together.
They were prepared when Team Taka found them. Had heard about the Dojutsu Hunter. Set up defenses. Laid traps.
It didn't matter.
Sasuke's Byakugan saw through every trap. His Mangekyo predicted every coordinated attack. His Ame-no-Sakahoko shattered their defensive techniques.
Within five minutes, both were incapacitated.
"Which of us dies first?" Daiki asked, blood leaking from his mouth.
"Both simultaneously." Sasuke activated Takama-ga-hara in both eyes. "I've practiced dual absorption. You'll be the first test of true simultaneous collection."
He pressed one hand to each brother's face.
Both Mangekyo blazed at once.
The absorption was intense. Two Sharingan transferring simultaneously. His technique had to split focus, process both ocular structures at once.
Eight seconds. Longer than solo absorption, but faster than doing them sequentially.
Both brothers' eyes faded to black at the exact same moment.
"Efficient," Renji whispered. "At least we died together."
Lightning blade formed in both hands. Twin strikes. Twin deaths.
Fire Release burned both bodies.
Twenty-six nodes filled. His Mangekyo pattern was now significantly more filled than empty. The red nodes were becoming dominant over the lavender ones.
Target Sixteen: Uchiha Natsuki
Three-tomoe. Former jonin. Incredibly skilled.
She almost escaped. Almost.
Team Taka had to pursue for two days. Finally cornered her in a canyon with no exit.
"You've killed so many of us," Natsuki said, Sharingan spinning desperately as she assessed escape routes. "The clan is almost extinct because of you."
"The clan was already extinct. Itachi handled that." Sasuke's voice was empty. "I'm just collecting what remains."
"You're destroying our legacy! Every Sharingan you steal is—"
"Not stolen. Preserved." Sasuke's Mangekyo blazed. "Your eyes will live on. In me. Contributing to something greater than any individual Uchiha."
"What could possibly be greater than—"
"Survival. When the Otsutsuki come, someone needs to be strong enough to stand against them. Your sacrifice enables that."
"The Otsutsuki?" Natsuki's expression shifted to confusion. "What are you—"
Sasuke moved. She was fast, but exhausted from two days of pursuit. His Chidori caught her in the shoulder. Chakra network disrupted.
Eleven-second absorption. Her three-tomoe Sharingan was potent—well-developed through decades of use.
Lightning blade. Quick death.
Fire Release. Complete destruction.
Twenty-seven nodes filled.
Target Seventeen: Uchiha Hikaru
Two-tomoe. Teenager. Maybe sixteen years old.
He'd been an Academy student during the massacre. Survived only because he'd been on a training trip with his genin team.
"I'm just a kid," Hikaru said, backing away. His Sharingan—barely developed—spun frantically. "I haven't done anything. I'm not a threat."
"You're an Uchiha with Sharingan. That makes you valuable." Sasuke advanced slowly. "Nothing personal."
"I'll join you! I'll help you hunt! Just don't—" Hikaru's voice cracked. "Please. I don't want to die."
Sasuke paused.
A sixteen-year-old. Terrified. Begging for his life.
He's a child. Younger than I was—than Sasuke was—at the Valley of the End.
Does that matter?
"If I spare you, you become a witness. A security risk. You'll tell someone what I'm doing. The technique will become known." Sasuke's voice was clinical, pushing down something that might have been guilt. "I can't allow that."
"I won't tell anyone! I swear! I'll—"
"I don't trust oaths." Sasuke's Mangekyo activated. "Kneel."
Hikaru knelt, tears streaming down his face.
Four-second absorption.
The teenager's Sharingan faded. He collapsed, sobbing.
"Thank you for not fighting." Sasuke's lightning blade formed. "It made this quicker."
Strike through the heart. Hikaru died still crying.
Fire Release burned the body.
Twenty-eight nodes filled.
Sasuke stood over the ashes for a long moment.
I just killed a child. For his eyes.
Is this what I've become? A child-killer?
The Otsutsuki are coming. He would have died anyway when they arrived. At least this way, his eyes serve a purpose.
The justification felt thin.
But he turned away and continued walking.
Target Eighteen: Uchiha Akira
The final survivor on the immediate list.
Three-tomoe. Former ANBU. Incredibly dangerous.
Akira had heard about the Dojutsu Hunter. Prepared extensively. Set up a fortified compound with traps, defenses, and contingency plans.
"Come and take them!" Akira shouted when Team Taka arrived. His Sharingan blazed. "I'm ready for you!"
The battle lasted thirty minutes.
Akira used every trick he knew. Explosive tags. Wire traps. Fire Release techniques. Genjutsu layered within genjutsu. He was experienced, skilled, and fighting for his life.
But Sasuke had absorbed seventeen Sharingan. His technique was perfected. His combat ability honed through constant fighting. His Byakugan-Mangekyo fusion saw through every deception.
Eventually, Akira fell. Exhausted. Wounded. Defeated.
"You're a monster," Akira gasped as Sasuke approached. "Killing your own clan. Stealing our eyes. You're worse than Itachi."
"Itachi killed for Konoha's peace. I kill for the world's survival." Sasuke's Mangekyo activated. "We're not the same."
"Does that help you sleep at night?"
"I don't need help sleeping. I know exactly what I am." Sasuke pressed his hand to Akira's face. "A collector. A thief. A monster. I've accepted all of it."
Twelve-second absorption. Akira's three-tomoe Sharingan was incredibly developed—decades of combat experience reflected in the ocular chakra.
Lightning blade. Quick death.
Fire Release. Complete destruction.
Twenty-nine nodes filled.
Sasuke stood alone in the burning compound, feeling his Mangekyo evolve. The pattern was now dominated by red nodes—eighteen Sharingan absorbed total, with the ten Byakugan providing foundational structure.
"It's done," he said quietly.
Team Taka emerged from the perimeter where they'd been maintaining watch.
"All eighteen survivors eliminated?" Suigetsu asked.
"Yes. The immediate collection is complete." Sasuke deactivated his Mangekyo. Both eyes throbbed—absorbing eighteen Sharingan in three weeks had pushed him to his limits. "Now we prepare for the next phase."
"Danzo's cache?" Karin asked quietly.
"Yes. Infiltrating Konoha. Retrieving twelve more Sharingan—including Shisui's Mangekyo." Sasuke started walking toward their extraction point. "But not yet. My eyes need time to fully integrate these eighteen absorptions. We rest. We train. We prepare."
"How long?" Jugo asked.
"One month. Then we plan the Konoha infiltration in detail." Sasuke's hybrid eyes gleamed in the fading light. "After that... Itachi. For Eternal Mangekyo."
They traveled in silence back toward Sound Village.
Behind them, Akira's compound burned—the last Uchiha survivor's final resting place.
The Dojutsu Hunter's collection accelerated toward its ultimate goal.