Fugaku laughed wildly for a long time before suddenly remembering that Kitazawa was still present.
He immediately stopped laughing, a trace of embarrassment rising in his heart.
After all, he had always maintained a mature and steady image in front of outsiders.
"Kitazawa." Suppressing his excitement, Fugaku spoke in a deep voice, "Thank you for your help."
In truth, he still didn't understand how Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
In the past, every Uchiha Ninja had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan only after witnessing something extremely tragic, under unbearable emotional distress.
Yet Sasuke had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan simply by fighting Naruto.
Such a method was completely unheard of. Most absurd of all, it had actually worked.
Kitazawa, who had proposed this approach, was undoubtedly the greatest contributor.
If it had been left to him, he would probably never have discovered that Sasuke possessed such a path to awakening.
"It's nothing." Kitazawa chuckled lightly. "After all, Sasuke is my student."
"The Mangekyo Sharingan is of immense significance to our Uchiha Clan."
After a brief moment of thought, Fugaku made a promise. "If you ever need anything, you can come to the Uchiha Clan for help."
"I will." Kitazawa didn't stand on ceremony.
Although by now, he no longer truly needed the Uchiha Clan's assistance.
"Has Itachi returned?" Kitazawa asked again.
Hearing this, Sasuke immediately showed an expectant expression.
"He hasn't come back yet. I'll send someone to inform him right now." As he spoke, Fugaku couldn't help but smile again.
In his view, since Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan at the age of eleven, there was a very high chance he could become Hokage in the next generation.
If that happened, it would fulfill the greatest obsession the Uchiha Clan had held ever since joining Konoha Village.
"Come in and talk." Fugaku raised his hand.
Kitazawa nodded and walked into the living room.
"Kitazawa-sama, please have some tea." Uchiha Mikoto brought over a cup of hot tea.
"Thank you." Kitazawa accepted it.
"Sasuke, what was all that shouting about just now?" Mikoto looked at Sasuke with curiosity.
"Mom!" Sasuke said proudly, "I awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!"
"Mangekyo Sharingan?" Mikoto instinctively showed a doubtful expression.
Although she was only an ordinary Jonin, as the wife of the Uchiha Clan head, she naturally knew of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"It's true," Fugaku said with a smile.
"Incredible!" Mikoto couldn't help but exclaim.
Seeing her reaction, Sasuke became even happier.
If he hadn't just suffered a crushing defeat at Kitazawa's hands, he would already be swollen with pride.
"I'm back!" A moment later, Itachi's voice rang out.
He had rushed back from the Hokage Building, so he returned very quickly—less than ten minutes.
"Big brother!" Hearing this, Sasuke immediately ran to the entrance.
"Sasuke?" Itachi asked in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
"I awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!" Sasuke blurted out without hesitation.
"What?" Itachi's pupils contracted.
His first thought was whether fighting Naruto could really awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan. It sounded far too absurd.
Was it because the two of them were close friends? Itachi instinctively fell into deep thought.
For Uchiha Ninja, close friends could indeed play a role in awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.
But that required paying the price of death. He himself had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan only after witnessing Uchiha Shisui's death.
As far as he knew, Shisui had been in a similar situation.
"Congratulations, Sasuke." Itachi reached out, ruffled Sasuke's hair, and said with a smile, "You've already surpassed me."
"Not quite," Sasuke replied with a wide grin.
"Come in and talk." Mikoto walked over and reminded him, "We have a guest."
"It's Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke answered instinctively.
"You should have said so earlier." Itachi's expression changed slightly, and he quickly entered the living room with Uchiha Sasuke.
"Itachi." Kitazawa stood up and said, "I have something to discuss with you."
"Then I'll leave you to it."
Seeing this, Fugaku said, "I'll take Sasuke to the courtyard and teach him some things about the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"I'll go too." Mikoto agreed.
Soon, only Kitazawa and Uchiha Itachi remained in the living room.
"Kitazawa-sama," Itachi spoke first. "Thank you for your help. Without you, Sasuke wouldn't have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan this early."
"Sasuke is still young and doesn't have much ocular power, so try to minimize his use of Mangekyo Sharingan techniques," Kitazawa reminded him.
"I understand." Itachi naturally knew the consequences of overusing Mangekyo Sharingan techniques.
In the original story, he had abused them only because he no longer wished to live.
"But you know Sasuke's personality." Kitazawa shifted the topic. "With his temperament, he definitely won't be able to resist using them."
Itachi felt a sense of helplessness.
He could restrain himself from using Mangekyo Sharingan techniques, but as Kitazawa said, Sasuke would find it very difficult to control himself.
He might even use them frequently during the Genius Class's practical exams.
"I'll do my best to explain the seriousness of this to him." After thinking for a moment, Itachi spoke.
It would be an enormous loss if eleven-year-old Uchiha Sasuke ruined his future through excessive use of ocular techniques.
"That only treats the symptoms, not the root."
Kitazawa stated his true purpose. "To cure the root, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan is needed."
Itachi froze. Very few people knew about the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan—how did Kitazawa know?
But now was clearly not the time to pursue that question. Nor was it necessary.
"The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan requires transplanting someone else's Mangekyo Sharingan…" Itachi stopped mid-sentence.
Because he had already vaguely guessed Kitazawa's intention.
Konoha currently possessed only three pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan. Uchiha Sasuke's, Uchiha Shisui's, and his own.
Kitazawa clearly didn't mean to persuade him to give his Mangekyo Sharingan to Sasuke.
Even if he agreed, Fugaku and Sasuke would never accept it. Thus, the only possible answer was Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Itachi held one of Shisui's eyes, while Danzo had possessed the other.
After Danzo's death, that Mangekyo Sharingan was most likely in Kitazawa's hands.
After hesitating for a moment, Itachi took out Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan.
In the original story, this Mangekyo Sharingan had actually been prepared for Uchiha Sasuke.
The purpose was to prevent him from defecting from Konoha—or, if he did defect, to ensure he would still protect it.
But now that Sasuke had not defected, there was no longer any need for it.
Kitazawa stared at the glass vial resting in Itachi's palm, surprise flickering across his face.
After all, he hadn't even opened his mouth yet.
But on second thought, it made perfect sense. With Itachi's intelligence, he could naturally infer the true intention.
"Once Sasuke has fully mastered his Mangekyo Sharingan, I'll perform the surgery for him." Kitazawa nodded and accepted the vial.
"Thank you for the trouble, Lord Kitazawa." A subtle weight lifted from Itachi's heart.
With those words spoken, he no longer needed to worry that Kitazawa—or anyone else—might transplant Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan for themselves.
After all, a Mangekyo transplant could cause one's strength to skyrocket. He believed that most people would find it difficult to resist such temptation.
Especially when Shisui's Mangekyo genjutsu was the ultimate technique—Kotoamatsukami.
"Once Sasuke has grasped the Mangekyo Sharingan, he can return to the Academy." Kitazawa paused, then added, "I won't disturb you any further. Until next time."
"Won't you stay for dinner, Lord Kitazawa?" Itachi asked hurriedly.
"The Ninja Academy hasn't closed yet." Kitazawa shook his head, turned, and left.
Itachi personally saw him to the door, then turned back toward Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto.
Both of them wore stunned expressions.
"What is it?" Itachi couldn't help asking.
"Sasuke's dōjutsu… It's incredible." Fugaku sighed as he recovered his composure.
"What dōjutsu?" Itachi's interest was immediately piqued.
"It's like this." Sasuke roughly described the effects of his two ocular techniques.
"That… is a terrifying dōjutsu!" Itachi couldn't help but praise.
Tenjōtōtsuki alone—akin to the Flying Thunder God Technique—was enough to render Uchiha Sasuke virtually untouchable.
Tengan Baizō compensated for his lack of Chakra, allowing an eleven-year-old to possess Elite Jonin–level reserves.
And as Sasuke grew older and his ocular power increased, the boost from Tengan Baizō would only grow stronger.
By comparison, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi felt almost ordinary.
Itachi soon came back to himself, sensing something subtle once more. There was no doubt—both techniques had awakened because of Uzumaki Naruto.
"I think we should invite Naruto for dinner tonight." Itachi made the suggestion.
"Indeed, we should." Fugaku agreed without hesitation.
Sasuke, however, pursed his lips, clearly reluctant. After all, he had been thrashed by Naruto for nearly a year.
Still, since Naruto had helped him unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan this time, Sasuke said nothing more.
---
Kitazawa did not return to the Academy. Instead, he appeared directly within the ANBU Base.
In his hand rested Shisui's pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.
The next second, a line of text appeared before his eyes: [Absorb ocular technique?]
Kitazawa silently assented. Shisui's twin Mangekyo Sharingan trembled.
Two streams of Yin Release power sank into Kitazawa's eyes.
Instantly, information surfaced in his mind—Uchiha Shisui's technique: Kotoamatsukami.
Both the left and right eyes possessed Kotoamatsukami, but their cooldowns and effects differed.
The left eye—the one Uchiha Itachi had taken—in the original story, it required more than ten years to cool down.
The right eye clearly did not require that long.
Originally, Danzo had first used it to control Mifune, then considered using Kotoamatsukami against Uchiha Sasuke.
Although an accident prevented that plan, the short cooldown had been implied.
Now that Kitazawa possessed Kotoamatsukami, both points were confirmed.
The left eye's Kotoamatsukami had an extremely long cooldown—ten years under normal conditions.
But its effect was heaven-defying.
It could silently alter a target's will. Even a Mangekyo Sharingan user would be unable to detect it.
Moreover, the left-eye Kotoamatsukami could not be perceived by the Byakugan.
The right eye's version, however, could. It could be detected by the Byakugan.
Its advantage lay in its short cooldown—normally half a year.
But Kitazawa was different.
In the original, transplanting Hashirama cells allowed Mangekyo techniques to be used frequently—Uchiha Obito was the prime example.
Kitazawa hadn't transplanted such cells, but he carried Senju blood.
While it couldn't compare to Senju Hashirama's, using Mangekyo techniques a few extra times posed no harm.
Later, once he obtained Ōtsutsuki blood and the same lineage as Hashirama, he would be able to use them without restraint.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin. Kotoamatsukami wasn't suited for direct combat; its true strength lay in manipulation and division.
But Konoha no longer had a second Danzo to serve as a suitable target.
That meant he would have to look toward the other four villages.
Judging from the original, the right eye's Kotoamatsukami could only be detected by the Byakugan.
Of course, other countermeasures couldn't be ruled out.
If he truly wanted to control someone and stir chaos, the left eye's Kotoamatsukami was far more covert and reliable.
But who should he choose? After thinking it over, Kitazawa realized there was no pressing need.
After all, his current strength already spoke loudly enough.
Forget it. He would decide later—there would be a use for it someday.
Kitazawa shifted his attention back to Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan in his hand.
He sensed it carefully. The ocular power was still intact.
Kitazawa nodded. Just as he'd expected, he had absorbed only the technique.
The Mangekyo Sharingan itself still existed and could be transplanted into another person.
But if it were transplanted into Sasuke, would it successfully evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?
In the original story, only Uchiha Madara and Sasuke had awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Both had transplanted a sibling's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Shisui were both Uchiha—their bloodlines were related, though not as closely as brothers.
He would have to try first. If it failed, Kitazawa still had another option.
He could have Orochimaru clone them.
Kitazawa put away Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan and headed toward the Ninja Academy.
With Sasuke absent, the Genius Class training continued without disruption.
After observing for a while, Kitazawa found a quiet spot and began studying the Mangekyo Sharingan on his own.
Aside from dōjutsu, the Mangekyo Sharingan possessed another terrifying ability—Susanoo.
Susanoo came in many forms, with countless applications. It was an extraordinarily versatile power.
---
The sun set.
Just as Kitazawa was preparing to leave the Academy, he suddenly stopped.
"Kitazawa." Expressionless, Konan stepped in front of him.
"Welcome back." Kitazawa chuckled softly.
"Mm." Konan nodded, then stared at him without blinking.
"Is something wrong?" Kitazawa raised an eyebrow.
"No," Konan replied coolly.
"School's about to end, and you just got back—go rest first." Kitazawa reached out, pinched her cheek, and said lightly.
Konan pressed her lips together. She wanted to say something, but didn't know how to put it into words.
"Mm." She answered softly and turned to leave.
Kitazawa watched her go, his expression thoughtful.
Something about Konan felt off, yet he couldn't tell what had happened. All he could do was keep an eye on her later.
Shaking his head, Kitazawa activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and returned home.
He appeared in the living room to find Kurenai lying on the sofa, exhaustion clearly written across her face.
"Did the recruiting go badly?" Kitazawa stepped forward and placed a hand on her forehead.
Chakra flowed in, soothing her fatigue.
"Pretty smoothly." Kurenai looked at him. "I just didn't expect setting up a film division to be this troublesome."
"It's an entire department—of course it can't be settled with just a few words." Kitazawa withdrew his hand, sat beside her, and said calmly.
"True." Kurenai continued, "I reckon I'll need half a month to finish everything. Then I'll head to the Land of Snow."
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded. "Let me know when the time comes."
Kurenai sat up, lifted one leg, and straddled his lap.
"Tsunade-sensei and the others will be back any minute." Kitazawa reminded her.
"What are you thinking?" Kurenai rolled her eyes. "I'd never do that sort of thing in the living room!"
"Then what are you doing?" Kitazawa asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Nothing." Kurenai leaned down, kissed him lightly, and said, "Alright, I'll go cook."
After she headed into the kitchen, the door opened again.
Tsunade, Shizune, and Uzumaki Rina walked in together. They all worked at the Hokage Building and often returned home at the same time.
"Where's Kurenai?" Tsunade reached the sofa and flopped down onto it.
The movement caused her hips to sway, outlining a full, enticing curve. Her clothes were pressed flat against her figure.
"She's in the kitchen." Kitazawa's eyelid twitched slightly, though his expression remained calm.
"Then we'll go help," Shizune said, heading into the kitchen with Uzumaki Rina.
Most of the time, it was those two, along with Kurenai, who handled the cooking.
"Tsunade-sensei." After a brief pause, Kitazawa walked over to her.
Tsunade sat up and stretched her arms.
Seeing this, Kitazawa buried his head straight into her bosom. The soft sensation instantly put him at ease.
"I wanted you to hug me." Tsunade shook her head helplessly and cradled his head.
"Sasuke awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan today," Kitazawa spoke while looking at the fair skin before him.
"How is that possible?" Tsunade showed genuine surprise. "He's only eleven."
"Naruto's only eleven, too," Kitazawa replied with a smile.
"That's truly astonishing talent." Tsunade sighed in admiration.
"No matter what, it's a good thing." Kitazawa shifted slightly, pressing his cheek against her.
"Mm." Tsunade suddenly seemed to recall something and smiled. "When you become Hokage, choosing a successor will be troublesome."
In terms of strength, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Yakumo, and others all qualified. Yet there was only one Hokage—and they were all of the same generation.
"It's too early to talk about that." Kitazawa retorted. "I haven't even become Hokage yet."
"If you want it, you can take office tomorrow," Tsunade replied immediately.
Kitazawa couldn't be bothered to argue and lightly ground his teeth.
Tsunade's body stiffened, and she instinctively glanced left and right. Fortunately, only the two of them were in the living room.
"Sit properly!" Tsunade pushed him away.
Kitazawa chuckled and sat beside her.
Tsunade looked down, confirmed there were no teeth marks, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
She turned toward Kitazawa and said with feigned anger, "I'll deal with you tonight!"
---
Meanwhile, at the Kazekage Building in Sunagakure.
Rasa glanced at the clock on the wall, stood up, and prepared to leave. He had already worked overtime for nearly three hours.
There was no choice—Sunagakure had been extremely busy lately.
First, the water business needed to generate profits.
Second, they had to maintain a delicate war balance with Amegakure.
Rasa now understood what a "war fortune" truly was, which was why he hadn't expanded the conflict further.
Just then, urgent knocking sounded on the door.
"Come in." Rasa sat back down.
"Kazekage-sama!" Baki entered hurriedly. "All the Ninja of Amegakure have withdrawn!"
"What do you mean, withdrawn?" Rasa immediately stood up.
"They've all retreated back to the Land of Rain," Baki answered.
The war between Amegakure and Sunagakure had erupted over the water trade, with the battlefield located in the deserts of the Land of Wind.
Now that Amegakure had pulled out of the Land of Wind, it meant abandoning the water business entirely.
"Why?" Rasa frowned deeply.
From his perspective, Amegakure had no reason to give up such massive profits.
"I don't know." Baki shook his head.
Rasa rubbed his temples and paced back and forth. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand why Amegakure had withdrawn.
"To be safe, send a unit to the border of the Land of Wind." Rasa finally issued the order.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama." Baki bowed slightly and left.
---
The next day arrived.
Two figures appeared at the quiet main gate of Sunagakure— Sasori and Uchiha Obito under the alias Tobi.
Originally, it should have been Sasori and Deidara. But Deidara had returned to Iwagakure, so Obito took his place.
In the original timeline, Obito only joined after Sasori's death. Now, due to Kitazawa's butterfly effect, he had joined early.
His plan was simple: capture the first eight Tailed Beasts as quickly as possible, then return to Konoha and settle the score with Kitazawa.
After all, Kitazawa—and Kakashi—had once severed one of his arms.
Just like in the original, Sasori used the Puppetry Technique to control Yura, allowing them to infiltrate Sunagakure without resistance.
They soon located Gaara, and a fierce battle erupted.
At this point, Gaara was not yet as overwhelmingly powerful as he would later become.
Rasa arrived quickly—but it was useless.
He was severely injured. If not for the Sunagakure Ninja risking their lives to save him, he would have died on the spot.
That afternoon, news spread across the Ninja World—Gaara had been captured.
Rasa had been gravely wounded.
The Akatsuki Organization had officially stepped onto the stage.