Sasuke stood on a cliff overlooking a massive lake, his Eternal Mangekyo scanning the waters below.
"There," he said, pointing to a specific section. "The Three-Tails is forty meters down, approximately three hundred meters from shore."
Kisame stepped beside him, Samehada wrapped across his back. The shark-like man grinned, showing rows of pointed teeth. "Your eyes really can see through anything, can't they?"
"Most things." Sasuke's fifty-three node pattern spun lazily. "The Three-Tails has been hiding here for months since its previous jinchuriki died. Pain wants it extracted and sealed."
"Should be a good fight," Kisame said, cracking his knuckles. "Tailed beasts are always fun to—"
"There won't be a fight."
Kisame blinked. "What?"
"Watch."
Sasuke activated his Byakugan—the lavender-blue tint spreading across his entire eye while maintaining the red Sharingan base. He tracked the Three-Tails' exact position, its chakra flow, its movement patterns.
Then he switched back to pure Eternal Mangekyo.
"Come out," Sasuke said calmly.
His eyes blazed—fifty-three nodes glowing with intense power. The pattern was so complex, so overwhelming, that even looking at it felt wrong.
The lake began to churn.
Slowly, inexorably, the Three-Tails surfaced. Not attacking. Not thrashing. Just... rising. Its massive form emerged from the depths, water cascading off its spiked shell.
And its eyes—the beast's eyes were locked onto Sasuke's Mangekyo. Trapped. Controlled.
"What the..." Kisame stared. "You're controlling it? Just like that?"
"Tailed beasts are chakra constructs with animalistic intelligence," Sasuke explained, his voice eerily calm as he maintained eye contact with the massive creature. "The Sharingan has always been able to control them through genjutsu. Madara did it. Obito did it. The stronger the Sharingan, the easier the control."
The Three-Tails walked out of the lake onto the shore, moving like a puppet on strings. Its massive body was completely docile, eyes glazed with the reflection of Sasuke's Mangekyo pattern.
"And your eyes are..." Kisame trailed off.
"Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan enhanced by fifty-three absorbed dojutsu." Sasuke's tone was matter-of-fact. "Controlling one tailed beast without a jinchuriki's resistance is trivial."
He walked forward, approaching the controlled Three-Tails. Up close, the creature was enormous—easily fifteen meters tall. But it didn't move. Didn't resist. Just stood there, completely under Sasuke's control.
"This is actually disappointing," Sasuke muttered. "I expected more resistance. Some challenge."
"Most people would be happy that a mission is easy," Kisame pointed out.
"I'm not most people." Sasuke placed his hand on the Three-Tails' shell, feeling the chakra flowing through it. His analytical mind was already cataloging everything. "Tailed beast chakra structure is fascinating. Pure chakra given form and consciousness. I can see why the Sage of Six Paths created them."
"You're studying it," Kisame observed. "Even now, you're analyzing how it works."
"Always." Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo pulsed. "Knowledge is power. Understanding how tailed beasts function might be useful later."
He stepped back. "We'll transport it to the sealing location like this. Under my control, it'll walk the entire way. No need for containment jutsu."
"That's..." Kisame laughed. "That's actually brilliant. And terrifying. You just enslaved a tailed beast with a glance."
"Not enslaved. Controlled." Sasuke began walking, and the Three-Tails followed obediently behind him like a massive pet. "There's a difference."
"Is there?"
"Enslavement implies permanent ownership. This is temporary domination." Sasuke's draconic pupils gleamed. "Though I suppose the distinction doesn't matter to the Three-Tails."
They began the journey back to the Akatsuki sealing location. The sight was surreal—Sasuke walking casually with a massive tailed beast trudging behind him, completely docile.
Team Taka watched from their observation positions with undisguised shock.
"He just... made it obey," Karin whispered through the communication device. "Sasuke-kun didn't even fight it. Just looked at it."
"That's the Sharingan's ultimate power," Suigetsu replied. "Control over tailed beasts. But I've never seen it work so... easily."
"Because his eyes aren't normal Mangekyo," Jugo said quietly. "They're something beyond that now. Something that shouldn't exist."
During the first night's camp, the Three-Tails remained standing nearby, unmoving, still trapped in Sasuke's genjutsu. Sasuke maintained the control with minimal effort—his Eternal Mangekyo meant no strain, no degradation.
Kisame stared at the controlled beast. "You know, I've worked with Itachi for years. He could use Tsukuyomi to torture people's minds, Amaterasu to burn anything. But even he never demonstrated this level of casual control over a tailed beast."
"Itachi's Mangekyo was powerful," Sasuke said, not looking away from the fire. "But it was standard. Two unique abilities, strong genjutsu capability. Mine is... different."
"Because of all those eyes you absorbed."
"Yes. Each absorbed Sharingan contributes its power to my pattern. Fifty-three dojutsu working in concert create something unprecedented." Sasuke finally looked at Kisame. "This is why I collected them. Not just for power's sake. But to create something that surpasses what any individual Sharingan could achieve."
"And now you can control tailed beasts without breaking a sweat." Kisame's grin was sharp. "Pain is going to be very interested in this capability."
"Let him be interested." Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo spun slowly. "I'm not his subordinate. I'm a partner who happens to be useful."
"You killed Itachi and Pain still accepted you back."
"Because refusing me would cost more than accepting me." Sasuke stood, walking toward the controlled Three-Tails. He placed his hand on its shell again, feeling the chakra. "I provide value. That's all that matters to Akatsuki."
He activated his Byakugan briefly, examining the Three-Tails' internal chakra structure with both visual powers simultaneously.
"You're still studying it," Kisame observed.
"I want to understand how tailed beast chakra differs from normal chakra. The density, the structure, the way it regenerates." Sasuke's voice carried genuine curiosity. "If I ever need to fight a jinchuriki at full power, this knowledge will be invaluable."
"Always thinking ahead."
"Always." Sasuke deactivated his Byakugan. "The Three-Tails is pure chakra given consciousness through the Sage of Six Paths' creation jutsu. Understanding that process might help me understand other Six Paths techniques."
Kisame was quiet for a moment. Then: "Why'd you really kill Itachi? And don't give me the 'I needed his eyes' answer. There's more to it."
Sasuke turned, his draconic pupils gleaming in the firelight.
"His eyes," he repeated. "I needed them for Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Everything else—revenge, justice, truth—was irrelevant. He had something I wanted. So I took it."
"No guilt?"
"None."
"What about the truth? About the massacre being Konoha's order?"
Sasuke's expression didn't change. "I discovered it through research. Old ROOT documents. Danzo's connection to the Uchiha elimination."
A lie delivered perfectly.
"And you still killed him? Your brother who sacrificed everything?"
"He had the eyes I needed. His sacrifice, his reasons, his pain—none of that changed the fact that his Mangekyo was the key to my evolution." Sasuke's voice was completely devoid of emotion. "I would have taken them regardless of the truth."
Kisame studied him for a long moment. "You really are a monster, aren't you?"
"Yes." No hesitation. No shame. "And I'm perfectly comfortable with what I am."
The controlled Three-Tails stood silent in the background, a living testament to Sasuke's words.
Three days later, they arrived at the sealing location—a cave system where Pain and the other Akatsuki members waited.
Pain's Rinnegan eyes widened slightly when he saw the docile Three-Tails following Sasuke like a trained animal.
"You... controlled it?" Pain's voice carried surprise.
"The Sharingan's most famous ability," Sasuke replied calmly. "Controlling tailed beasts through genjutsu. Did you expect me to struggle with one that has no jinchuriki to resist?"
"Most Mangekyo users can't maintain that level of control," Pain said. "Even Itachi would have needed to—"
"I'm not Itachi." Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo blazed. "My eyes are beyond standard Mangekyo. The Three-Tails never stood a chance."
Pain was silent, clearly recalculating Sasuke's threat level.
"Begin the sealing," he finally said.
The Akatsuki members took their positions. Sasuke released his control over the Three-Tails just long enough for them to bind it with sealing chakra.
As the extraction began, Sasuke watched intently. His eyes recorded every detail of the process—how they extracted tailed beast chakra, how they sealed it, how the Gedo Statue absorbed it.
Knowledge. Always gathering knowledge.
Because one day, he might need to extract a tailed beast himself.
Or absorb one entirely.
The thought made his draconic pupils gleam with interest.