Chapter 161: Awakening
Uchiha Kei nodded slightly as he observed Uchiha Yuu's emotions reaching a boiling point.
This was exactly the state of mind he needed for the next phase of his experiment.
Deliberately telling Uchiha Yuu about the Mangekyō Sharingan was meant to spark his curiosity.
Then, Kei revealed the drugs he had given him and the "tools" he had prepared—deliberately pushing Yuu's emotions further and deeper.
Finally, Kei dropped the most devastating blow: "You must personally kill your own kin."
This sent Yuu's emotions into an explosive frenzy.
To eliminate any doubt about the authenticity of the "tools" and instill a glimmer of hope, Kei even activated his own Mangekyō Sharingan and let Yuu see it with his own eyes.
Under the drug's powerful influence, a seed was swiftly planted deep in Yuu's heart—and it had already begun to sprout.
That seed was hope.
The only way to fight Kei… was with the Mangekyō Sharingan.
This eye that far surpassed the standard three-tomoe Sharingan!
Normal genjutsu couldn't kill Kei. But what about Mangekyō?
This twisted bastard had survived only because of the Mangekyō. If he had it too—could he turn the tables?
Hatred, rage, unwillingness, and the flicker of renewed hope—these emotions crashed together like a violent storm inside Uchiha Yuu.
Whether those emotions had reached the true tipping point yet, Kei didn't know.
But this was infinitely better than the lifeless wreck Yuu had been before!
With a quiet chuckle, Kei walked out of the basement under Yuu's murderous gaze. When he returned, he was dragging a woman behind him.
The moment Uchiha Yuu laid eyes on her, his emotional state hit its peak—even Kei frowned at the sheer intensity of it.
"You deserve to die," Yuu rasped. His voice was hoarse and trembling, and in the darkness of the basement, it sounded like something from the depths of hell.
"I probably do," Kei replied calmly. "But can you kill me?"
With a casual motion, Kei tossed the woman to the ground, then stepped forward and yanked Yuu upright.
He drew a ninja blade and shoved it into Yuu's hand. Then, gripping his wrist tightly, Kei made sure he couldn't drop it. Yuu struggled, but in his crippled state—his limbs having been destroyed by Uchiha Fugaku—he could do nothing.
"The game begins now. Are you ready?" Kei's voice was icy and cold.
"I remember… when I first visited her home, she welcomed me with warmth. Her parents too," Kei said with mock nostalgia.
"But when she found out I intended to use her as leverage against you… she tried to kill herself."
Kei's smile turned cruel.
"No choice. I had to trap her in a genjutsu and make her murder her own parents. Poor girl.
But maybe… dying by your hand is what she truly wishes for?"
"Uchiha Kei!!" Yuu screamed, his body trembling uncontrollably.
But he couldn't break free. His limbs were destroyed. He was completely at Kei's mercy.
"Enjoy it," Kei sneered. "She's only the first. I've got plenty of props lined up.
All thanks to Lord Orochimaru. Without him, I'd never have evaded suspicion so cleanly."
Everyone in the village knew about Orochimaru. Now, that infamy served as the perfect cover for Kei's twisted actions.
In that moment, Uchiha Yuu believed every word.
With Orochimaru's support, Kei's cunning nature, and the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan… who could possibly stop him?
Kei took another step forward, dragging Yuu with him.
And the moment Yuu felt his body being pulled, he realized exactly what was about to happen.
A primal, animalistic roar ripped from his throat.
But it was useless.
Crippled and helpless, he could only be dragged—step by step—toward the woman lying on the ground.
At that moment, he would rather have died.
Hatred flooded his soul. The despair, twisted and toxic, took on a tangible form. Under the influence of the drugs Kei had given him, he felt his mind slipping—unraveling.
"Ahhh!!"
With Kei guiding his hand, the blade in Yuu's grasp plunged into the woman's body.
She screamed in agony and snapped awake.
The second stab followed. Another scream.
Then the third.
The basement echoed with her wailing cries. Yuu's eyes filled with blood-red veins, as though they were about to burst.
With his face twisted in horror and his body splattered in blood, he looked like a demon that had crawled up straight from the depths of hell.
Everyone has a soft spot in their heart—maybe family, maybe love.
And Kei had weaponized it, magnifying it to the extreme.
Despair and hatred now consumed Yuu entirely.
Kei's expression remained blank as he continued to control Yuu, guiding his hand to strike again and again.
Each blow deliberately avoided fatal points.
But each one tore flesh, each one brought excruciating pain to the woman.
In truth, Kei had already instructed the Uchiha clan's inner circle to completely erase the woman's consciousness using certain forbidden techniques.
What remained in that woman's body now was nothing more than the basic instincts of a living organism.
In truth, she was already dead—at least in any meaningful sense.
What's more, her true identity was that of a Kirigakure spy.
Her infiltration into Konoha had not been insignificant—several Leaf shinobi had died because of the intelligence she had gathered.
So when it came to killing her, Uchiha Kei felt no real resistance.
He'd grown up on the battlefield of the Shinobi World Wars. Even if his psychological tolerance wasn't the strongest, he had long since abandoned silly things like sympathy—especially toward enemies.
But still—to torture someone like this, slowly, until they died—that went too far.
Not because Kei couldn't do it; Uchiha Yuu was already living proof that he could.
But because he simply didn't want to.
Humans are contradictory creatures—Kei was no exception.
He had his own moral boundaries.
He no longer cared about what was right or wrong when dealing with enemies.
He cared only about results.
One cut after another—the woman's body was covered in wounds, her blood splattered all over Uchiha Yuu.
He didn't even know what was real anymore.
Under Kei's powerful drugs, Yuu was already deep in hallucinations.
He couldn't distinguish the state of his supposed "beloved"—he only heard her terrifying, agonized screams and watched her body convulse from the pain.
The screams grew hoarse… then weak.
Yuu's resistance, however, only intensified.
He shrieked, wailed, howled in rage—his eyes bloodshot, with veins bulging grotesquely.
But still… he couldn't stop his hand.
The knife in his grip thrust forward once again.
This time, Kei no longer guided the strike.
The blade drove straight into the woman's left chest.
Her scream ended abruptly.
Even Kei felt a twinge of discomfort.
In that moment, he couldn't help but feel a strange respect for Morino Ibiki.
That man had endured such grotesque scenes for years, and his mind hadn't broken.
Now that was truly terrifying.
Taking a deep breath, Kei released his control over Yuu.
The man's wailing stopped the moment the woman died.
Kei frowned slightly. He was concerned.
If Yuu's heart had gone dark—snuffed out like a dying flame—then this entire operation would become complicated.
And Kei himself couldn't take any more.
So, he decided to switch to a different "tool."
Looking at Yuu collapsed on the floor, Kei crouched beside him.
He pulled the blade free, then grabbed Yuu's jaw and lifted his head.
"That's all it took to break you?" Kei said, his voice calm but chilling.
"Don't shut down now. This is only the beginning.
If this is all you can handle… then I'm truly disappointed."
"…How did you awaken it?"
Suddenly, Yuu spoke.
His eyes were tightly shut, but his voice—low, hoarse, and icy—was like something out of a nightmare.
"Your parents are alive. You have no siblings. No lover, either.
So tell me… what gave you this power?"
Kei stared at him in silence. Then he smirked.
"Why don't you guess?"
But even as he spoke, Kei's eyes narrowed.
He felt it—a strange chakra stirring within Yuu.
"Was it your teammates?" Yuu continued, his voice colder than ice.
"Your teammates died, one after another…
And you're the one who survived.
Did they die to protect you?
Pathetic.
That they would give their lives to create… a monster like you."
Kei's smile faltered.
Yuu's voice cut into him with the chill of steel.
And the chakra inside him grew stranger—more powerful.
Kei felt uneasy, but also… elated.
This could mean one thing:
It was working.
His plan was succeeding.
Still, excitement didn't dull Kei's caution.
He had no idea what exactly was going on inside Yuu's mind.
Different traumas gave birth to different desires—
And those desires shaped the unique powers of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Suddenly, the strange chakra inside Yuu stilled.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Inside his sockets, three tomoe spun rapidly—then began to connect.
In just one second, a new pattern emerged:
A triangular, flower-like symbol began to spin slowly—
The Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened.
Finally… after intense stimulation, unbearable hatred, and the effects of the drug—Uchiha Yuu had reached the threshold.
But before Kei could fully savor the success—
A terrifying surge of chakra erupted from Yuu's eyes.
A single line of blood tears dripped down from the corners.
Kei's expression changed instantly.
He flickered back with the Body Flicker Technique without hesitation.
In that moment—
A golden cloak of chakra burst forth from Yuu's body.
It materialized into the shape of a massive fist—
And smashed violently toward the spot where Kei had just been standing.
"Die, Uchiha Kei!!"