Chapter 51: The Blooming of a Sakura Flower
The silence on the training ground was comfortable, broken only by the rustling leaves. It was then that Shinra turned to Mikoto, his expression turning uncharacteristically serious.
"Mikoto," he began, his voice calm but intent. "Do you want to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
His question hung in the air, immediately drawing the full attention of both Kushina and Tsunade.
"Awaken the Mangekyo? You have a method?" Tsunade strode over, looking at him with a mix of skepticism and curiosity.
"Of course I have a method," Shinra said, a hint of his usual pride returning to his tone. "If I had a spare pair of Sharingan, I could probably even awaken it for you."
"Shinra," Mikoto interjected, her voice laced with concern. "Didn't you say that using the Mangekyo Sharingan gradually leads to blindness?" Her worry wasn't for the loss of power, but for the simple, terrifying prospect of no longer being able to see his face.
"Don't worry. I've found a solution for that," Shinra reassured her with a confident smile.
"Pfft! Hahaha!" Tsunade burst out laughing, shaking her head. "The Mangekyo leads to blindness? Where did you hear that ridiculous piece of fake news? It's hilarious!"
She turned to Mikoto. "Who told you it causes blindness?"
"Mikoto said Shinra did. Isn't it true?" Kushina asked, looking between them.
"Of course it's not!" Tsunade said, still chuckling. "Uchiha Madara himself awakened the Mangekyo, and I never heard a single story about him going blind. Shinra, you must have read some bogus scroll somewhere." She reached out and ruffled his hair condescendingly.
Shinra pushed her hand away, annoyed, and carefully smoothed his hair back into place. A man's hair is his pride, he thought.
"Mikoto, let's just ignore him," Tsunade said, turning to the Uchiha girl. "He thinks he knows everything, but he's just spouting nonsense. Don't listen to him. Even the Uchiha clan themselves don't fully understand how to awaken it. How could he know?" She was convinced Shinra had picked up some wild theory from a book and was now dangerously overconfident.
Shinra felt a wave of frustration. I'm the one who's ignorant? It's you who doesn't understand the truth!
"Sister Tsunade," Mikoto said, her voice soft but firm as she shook her head. "I believe in Shinra." Her eyes, when they met Shinra's, were filled with unwavering trust.
A triumphant grin spread across Shinra's face. He looked at Tsunade with a victorious gleam in his eye. "See? Mikoto still believes me."
"Ugh, that smug look of yours makes me want to punch it right off your face," Tsunade grumbled, grinding her teeth.
"Just... don't hurt Mikoto," she finally relented with a sigh.
"Don't worry. I would never let Mikoto get hurt," Shinra replied, though a flicker of guilt passed through him. What he was about to do would hurt her, deeply, if only for a moment. He could only hope Mikoto, in her gentle nature, wouldn't hold it against him later.
He pulled a kunai from his weapon pouch and placed it firmly in Mikoto's hand.
Mikoto looked at the cold steel in her palm, then up at him, her expression puzzled.
"Mikoto," Shinra said, his voice dropping to a near whisper, "the way to awaken the Mangekyo is actually—"
In a movement too fast for the eye to follow, Shinra's hand closed over Mikoto's, guiding the kunai he had just given her. With a sickening, wet thud, he drove the blade deep into his own chest.
Mikoto stared, her mind refusing to process what her eyes were seeing. Her face was a mask of stunned, horrified disbelief.
"Shinra... I... I..." she stammered, her voice a broken whisper. Painful, horrified tears welled in her eyes, and her Sharingan activated subconsciously, the three tomoe spinning wildly.
The sight of the blood on her hands, the feel of Shinra's weight slumping into her arms, the terrifying sensation of his body growing cold—it was too much. Her world shattered.
"Shinra! I don't want you to die!" she screamed, her voice raw with agony.
In her absolute despair, the three tomoe in her eyes swirled and bled together, morphing into a new, intricate pattern. A beautiful, devastating sakura flower now bloomed in each of her scarlet eyes—the Mangekyo Sharingan.
But Mikoto didn't notice the change. All she saw was the life fading from the boy she loved.
"Shinra, please, this has to be a joke! I don't want the Mangekyo! Just live! Please, just live!" she begged, her face contorted in grief. Looking down at the blood-stained kunai still in her hand, she saw no reason to go on without him. With a cry of despair, she reversed her grip and drove the blade toward her own heart.
Just before it could pierce her skin, a strong, warm hand closed around her wrist, stopping the blow.
Mikoto looked down, her tear-filled eyes widening in shock and dawning hope. Shinra, who lay limp in her arms just a second before, was now looking up at her, his hand firmly on her wrist.
"Mikoto," he said, his voice clear and strong. "The genjutsu is over."
As he spoke, the world around them seemed to crack and shatter like glass. The gruesome scene dissolved, the weight and coldness vanished, and they were back on the sunny training ground. Shinra stood before her, completely unharmed.
Mikoto stared at him, then rushed forward, crashing into his arms and holding him as if he might disappear.
"Shinra, tell me... is this real? Is this a dream?" she pleaded, her voice trembling as she searched his face.
The illusion had been so perfectly, horrifyingly real. She desperately needed to know that the nightmare was over.
"Of course, this is real," Shinra said, holding her tightly, his heart aching at her distress. "What you just experienced was the dream, the nightmare. Now that you're awake, all you have to face is a better tomorrow." He hated that he had to put her through such trauma, but it was the only guaranteed method he knew.
Mikoto was different from other Uchiha. Her gentle and kind heart made it harder to trigger the profound emotional shock needed to awaken the Mangekyo. He had to use a powerful genjutsu to make her experience that loss, to stimulate the evolution through simulated pain.
"What's wrong, Mikoto? You awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan! Shouldn't you be happy?" Kushina asked, walking over with a confused frown.
From her and Tsunade's perspective, Shinra had simply walked up to Mikoto, whispered something, and then Mikoto's eyes had instantly transformed into the Mangekyo before she burst into tears and collapsed into his arms. The entire event was baffling to them.
"You... you actually did it?" Tsunade breathed, her voice full of stunned disbelief. "You really helped her awaken it?"
Her expression then turned deadly serious. "Shinra, this must never leave this training ground. If it gets out, it won't just be the Uchiha clan after you. Every power in Konoha who doesn't want the Uchiha to have that kind of power will see you as a threat to be eliminated or a tool to be controlled."
Shinra simply smiled. He appreciated Tsunade's concern, but he was no longer the boy who had to hide. His current strength meant he didn't need to fear trouble; he was confident he could handle anyone who came knocking.
"I'm sorry, Mikoto," he whispered again, looking down at the girl still trembling in his arms.
"What in the world just happened? She awakened it in an instant! Is the Mangekyo Sharingan really that cheap?!" Tsunade couldn't help but complain, trying to break the heavy tension.
"Her eyes are so beautiful," Kushina murmured, her focus entirely aesthetic. "They look like blooming sakura flowers."
"Just... don't ever do that again," Mikoto whispered into his chest, her grip on his shirt tightening. "I was so scared. Truly, truly terrified."
"I promise," Shinra vowed, his voice firm. "I will never make you experience that again."
"Tsk. Look at you two, so sweet it's almost sickening. I'm getting jealous over here," Tsunade remarked, though a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of longing passed through her eyes.
Kushina puffed out her cheeks in a slight pout. Even though she had accepted sharing a future with Mikoto, she couldn't help the pang of jealousy at their profound connection.
Finally, Mikoto's tears subsided. But the experience in the illusion had left a deep mark. She kept a firm hold on Shinra's hand, unwilling to let go, as if afraid he would vanish the moment she released him.