Amenotejikara?
"Yo. Looks like you really did finish your revenge."
The voice came out of nowhere.
Sasuke turned his head toward the window, already resigned. "Kakashi. You never use the door."
Sure enough, Kakashi was squatting on the windowsill, one hand holding Icha Icha Paradise, the other casually bracing himself as he looked Sasuke over.
He could tell at a glance.
Sasuke's smile had changed. And the air around him no longer felt distant or sharp.
"Heh," Kakashi said softly, then closed his book. "Congratulations, Sasuke."
Sasuke smiled back, then hesitated before speaking again.
"Kakashi… after I killed Itachi, I met the one who caused the Nine-Tails incident."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed instantly.
Sasuke explained everything. The masked man. Itachi's suspicions about his identity. Fujimoto Tōma's judgment.
"So it really wasn't an accident," Kakashi murmured once Sasuke finished.
Minato and Kushina were masters of sealing. The idea that the Nine-Tails had simply slipped free had never fully sat right with him. He'd suspected foul play for years, but never had proof.
Now he did.
Cold light flickered in Kakashi's eye.
The man who killed his teacher and mentor… and now a member of Akatsuki as well.
Old and new debts, stacked together.
"I understand," Kakashi said at last, then turned to leave. There was a new urgency in his step. The enemy ahead was far stronger than he was now.
Sasuke watched him go, a faint sigh escaping his lips.
Kakashi's had it rough too…
The next day, Sasuke was discharged and brought straight to the Hokage's office.
He relayed everything Itachi had told him about the enemies to come.
Tōma listened quietly, then nodded.
"He's right."
Sasuke frowned. "So it's true?"
Hearing it from Tōma carried more weight than hearing it from anyone else.
If even Tōma wasn't enough… then Sasuke definitely wasn't.
He'd thought awakening the Mangekyō put him near the top of the world.
Apparently, he was still far from it.
Itachi's words echoed again in his mind.
If you want to help him… accept my eyes.
Sasuke glanced to the side.
"Nara-kun," he said.
Shikaku Nara immediately understood. "I'll step out," he said, closing the door behind him.
Tōma raised an eyebrow. "Something Shikaku can't hear?"
After a short silence, Sasuke spoke. He explained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and asked Tōma directly for his opinion.
"Eternal Mangekyō, huh," Tōma said calmly. "There's no fundamental difference between it and the normal Mangekyō. And it's not the only way to avoid blindness."
He explained Hashirama cells and their effects.
"So if you don't want Itachi's eyes," Tōma concluded, "a small transplant would solve the problem too."
Sasuke studied him. Tōma hadn't looked surprised at all. If anything, he'd known this already.
Still, Sasuke didn't ask how.
Instead, he weighed the options.
"If you take Itachi's eyes," Tōma continued, "your ocular power will spike immediately. It shortens the growth process. Hashirama cells, on the other hand… might open a completely new path."
He didn't say it outright, but Sasuke understood.
Madara had awakened the Rinnegan that way.
And Sasuke shared Indra's chakra.
Sasuke spoke again. "There's also a third option."
Tōma paused, then nodded. "Both."
"I thought so."
Tōma wasn't worried about Sasuke losing himself like Madara had. Sasuke's eyes were clear now.
"No rush," Tōma added. "You have Itachi's eyes. Decide when you're ready."
Sasuke nodded, then reached into his cloak.
"There's something else. Itachi asked me to give you this."
A crow with a Sharingan eye emerged.
Tōma's expression finally shifted. "That's…"
"Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō," Sasuke said. "Kotoamatsukami."
Sasuke paused. "You already know about it, don't you?"
Tōma nodded. "Danzo's right eye was Shisui's other one."
"So that's why," Sasuke murmured. "You destroyed it immediately."
Tōma accepted the crow without hesitation. "I'll take responsibility for this."
Sasuke then produced a specially crafted kunai and handed it over as well.
"This is?"
"You gave me a Flying Thunder God kunai before," Sasuke said, smiling. "This is my return gift. A Mangekyō kunai."
Tōma's eyes sharpened. "Your ability?"
Sasuke nodded and explained his left eye.
It was similar to Flying Thunder God, but not the same. Instead of moving himself to a marked location, Sasuke could swap positions with an object marked by his ocular power.
At first glance, it almost sounded like Amenotejikara.
But Tōma quickly realized the difference.
This wasn't that power.
Amenotejikara required no marking. This one did.
Still… it was frighteningly close. A lower-grade version, perhaps, but with long-range flexibility.
And the kunai in Tōma's hand was special.
It carried a permanent portion of Sasuke's ocular power. It wouldn't fade.
At his current limit, Sasuke could only create three such items. Maybe six in the future.
Temporary marks were easy. Permanent ones were rare.
Tōma considered for a moment, then carved a Flying Thunder God formula onto the kunai as well.
Sasuke's eyes lit up instantly.
They'd thought of the same thing.
"If we fight side by side," Tōma said lightly, "this could be fun."
"Then I'll leave it with you," Sasuke replied.
Tōma put the kunai away, then looked at Sasuke, who was still staring at him with his three-tomoe Sharingan active.
"…Something else?" Tōma asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "Just wondering if you're really a shadow clone. I can't see a single flaw."
Tōma laughed. "Fair. I forget sometimes too."
Right then, another presence appeared in the office.
The real Fujimoto Tōma stepped in.
He had business with Sasuke.