Chapter 585: Awakened Eyes

: mayiwsk

Twelve-year-old Uchiha Obito was already a moderately accomplished ninja.

He had achieved first place in his grade in the Ninja Academy's practical exams many times.

Upon graduation, he even completed an astonishing S-rank mission as his final act, shocking teachers and students alike.

Less than a year after graduation, he took the Chunin Exams and successfully became a chunin, and due to his excellent performance, he gained some fame in Konohagakure.

During that time, he carried out various dangerous missions, some of which were as thrilling as those of legendary ninjas.

A mission to protect a princess eventually turned into a battle against rebels seeking to betray the kingdom. The only pity was that the princess didn't act like a princess and had a bad temper.

He also investigated a minister of Loulan and discovered his treasonous intentions, protecting another country.

That time, he even encountered something as incredible as time travel, which also let Obito learn some troubling information.

Then, he went with Muyue to the eastern battlefield of the Land of Fire, fighting alongside Muyue against the Kirigakure invaders.

On the battlefield, Obito's great strength further increased his fame; not only was he somewhat known among Konoha ninja, but even many Kirigakure ninja knew of him.

Thanks to his considerable contributions on the battlefield, Obito became a jonin, when he was only ten years old.

Obito also participated in a martial arts tournament that gathered many geniuses of the ninja world. Although he wasn't first and only second, the first-place winner, Nagato, was several years older than him.

Many Konoha ninja and villagers called him Konoha's super genius, and some Uchiha elders said he was the future of the Uchiha clan.

Obito liked being praised, but he never truly took these people to heart.

Because these people only appeared after he became strong; only one person appeared before he became strong, and it was that person who helped him become a genius in everyone's eyes.

Before fourth grade, Obito was known at the Ninja Academy as the 'Uchiha clan's dead last,' a headache for teachers, and a loser looked down upon by some.

Although some of Obito's grades weren't abysmally bad, he couldn't match the other Uchiha's excellent grades; in comparison, the gap became apparent.

Within the Uchiha clan, although no one specifically called Obito the dead last, no peers interacted with him; he lived like an outsider in the Uchiha compound.

Obito actually didn't care much about this. If the Uchiha of his age wouldn't play with him, he didn't want to play with them either; it wasn't like he had no friends to hang out with.

However, Obito was actually not resigned to being the dead last; he had dreams in his heart—he wanted to become Hokage.

How could the Hokage, the leader of the village, be a dead last? No matter how you think about it, it has to be the best ninja.

The turning point came in the first semester of fourth grade.

Obito still remembers every detail of that afternoon, because it was truly the afternoon that changed his life, the start of a dreamlike life.

He was very grateful to Iketani Isamu; if Isamu hadn't asked Muyue to substitute for him, Obito wouldn't have met Muyue, wouldn't have gotten the chance for remedial lessons, and might not have become Muyue's disciple.

Muyue's teaching seemed almost magical. Under Muyue's guidance, Obito not only rapidly improved in strength but also saw his theoretical grades rise steadily, from failing to passing, and eventually to an average level.

And so, Obito left the ranks of the dead last and became a genius.

However, Muyue's help to Obito did not stop there.

When Obito felt discouraged, Muyue would notice immediately and comfort him.

When Obito wanted to participate in the Junior Ninja Tournament to save face, Muyue would create a special training plan for him.

On his birthday, Muyue not only personally forged a kunai for him but also went to other countries to take photos of the scenery he wanted to see.

Obito had many teachers, but he had only one master—Muyue, the Muyue sage who could do anything in Obito's heart.

Yes, in Obito's heart, Muyue was a figure like the Sage of Six Paths; there was nothing he couldn't do.

Otherwise, how could one explain that Muyue, who was clearly just a chunin instructor, had such great strength and could teach a dead last to become a genius? How could one explain that Muyue developed so many incredibly powerful secret techniques at such a young age?

But when Obito saw the blood spurt from Muyue after the blue longsword fell, reality seemed to tell him mercilessly that there was no omnipotent ninja in the world, that Muyue the sage's omnipotence was false, that even Muyue the sage could be killed.

"Impossible!" Obito immediately rejected this conclusion.

"Muyue the sage is omnipotent and cannot die..."

"What is truly false is this world!"

Large droplets of tears continuously fell from Obito's blood-red three-tomoe Sharingan, like a never-drying spring in a myth, dripping without stopping.

Suddenly, Obito could no longer sense the people around him. Muyue disappeared, Kakashi and Shisui disappeared, the enemies disappeared; he could sense nothing, as if he were alone on some desolate land.

At this moment, Obito felt a burning sensation in his eye sockets. Was it because of tears? Why was he crying? Muyue the Immortal was not dead!

Obito's chakra began circulating uncontrollably in his eyes, and his perception gradually returned. Muyue's body appeared, Kakashi and the others also appeared, and the black-robed Uchiha appeared too.

Obito looked up at the black-robed Uchiha, who happened to be looking back at him.

"As expected of the one I chose." Madara Uchiha looked at the magatama pattern in Obito's blood-red pupils, which had transformed into a shuriken pattern, and nodded inwardly.

The Mangekyō Sharingan is not something just anyone can awaken. Even among Mangekyō, there are differences in dojutsu power.

The reason Madara Uchiha chose Obito was because he saw Obito's rich emotions. Once such intense emotions fell into darkness, they would grant him dojutsu power far beyond ordinary people.

Just as Obito awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and his presence grew powerful, another powerful presence rose from a different direction.

Madara Uchiha turned his head slightly to look. It was his backup target, Shisui Uchiha, whose Sharingan had also changed.

To prevent unexpected incidents, Madara Uchiha had more than one target. Besides Obito, who had rich emotions, the talented Shisui was also part of his plan.

His original plan was that if something went wrong with Obito and it couldn't proceed, he would switch to Shisui. He never expected that both would become Muyue's disciples.

"Teacher Muyue..." Shisui stared blankly at Muyue's lifeless body, blood tears flowing from his eyes. He could not accept this outcome.

Shisui generally did not use the word 'most,' because it signified absolute primacy, being too sharp and direct.

But if Shisui had to describe Muyue's place in his heart, his only answer would be that Muyue was the most important person to him, bar none.

Shisui was now ten years old, but he had already spent four years with Muyue. It could be said that nearly half of his life had been spent under Muyue's guidance.

His parents had died very early. Shisui only knew their appearance from photos. He did not know what their voices sounded like, and could only learn about their character and deeds from what others said.

For Shisui, his only true relative was his uncle, who occasionally came to take care of him.

But his uncle had his own family and also had duties as a ninja, so he couldn't look after Shisui much. Shisui understood this and only felt gratitude toward his uncle.

Before meeting Muyue, Shisui was alone most of the time.

He trained alone, studied alone, and lived alone.

After meeting Muyue, everything changed.

After school, which was supposed to be rest time, Muyue was willing to spare some of that time to teach him.

From then on, his time alone became less.

Even when he didn't want to study the useless courses at the Ninja Academy, Muyue would arrange a Shadow Clone to guide him, instead of assigning tasks and leaving him to train alone.

October 19th of the year he turned six was the most unforgettable day in Shisui's life.

October 19th was Shisui's birthday.

Because Muyue was very busy at that time—both with work at the Ninja Academy and with their training—Shisui didn't tell Muyue about his birthday.

"A birthday is just the day you were born. It's not that special, and it doesn't need much celebration," Shisui consoled himself at the time.

Of course, it was only consolation. In truth, Shisui really wanted to spend his birthday with Muyue, his considerate teacher.

However, Shisui didn't like causing trouble for others. Muyue was already so good to him, so Shisui didn't want to trouble him even more.

So Shisui could only swallow the bitterness and silently go home alone after training.

Back then, he even envied Obito, because Obito never overthought things; he would naturally tell Muyue his birthday and invite him to celebrate together.

Just when Shisui was most downcast, a miracle happened.

Although he had not told Muyue his birth date, Muyue found out through some means and had set up a decoration at his home in advance, giving him a huge surprise.

At that time, Shisui really felt that Muyue was the embodiment of his fantasies. Otherwise, how could he hit precisely on his innermost desires and fulfill his needs?

The surprises didn't end there. Muyue learned to craft ninja tools—not for some special need of a strong person, but to prepare a gift for him. He even injured his hand in the process.

Shisui, who rarely shed tears, nearly broke down crying that time.

Shisui often heard people say how great a father's or mother's love is, but he had never experienced it, so he didn't truly understand.

After receiving Muyue's gift, Shisui suddenly understood what those people meant.

Muyue was not his father, but his care for Shisui was no less than the fatherly love others spoke of.

From then on, Shisui actually regarded Muyue as a kind of father figure.

"No way, Teacher Muyue can still be saved—that secret medicine, yes, the secret medicine!" Shisui recalled the secret medicine Muyue had given them, and quickly took a black pill from his ninja tool pouch.

Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan stared fixedly at Uchiha Madara, erupted chakra, used the Body Flicker Technique to reach Muyue's side, swiftly shoved the black pill into Muyue's mouth, then helped pull the Wood Style branches out of Muyue.

Uchiha Madara did not stop Shisui; he just watched coldly.

His Sharingan could see clearly: Muyue was already dead, thoroughly dead. In this world, there was no secret medicine that could bring the dead back to life—at most, it could restore a little stamina or chakra.

With Shisui's help, the black medicinal pill traveled down Muyue's throat and into his body.

The restorative secret medicine took effect quickly. Muyue's body visibly recovered; his wounds healed at an astonishing speed, leaving not even a scar behind.

Before long, he looked as if he had never been injured—except that he did not wake up.

"Wasted effort. He is dead." Uchiha Madara shook his head and spoke calmly, using a voice-changing technique.

Shisui's actions could only make Muyue's corpse look a bit better; there was no other use.

"Teacher Muyue is not dead! He's just tired and hasn't woken up yet!" Shisui glared at the black-robed Uchiha with his blood-red Mangekyō, as if trying to etch everything about him into his mind.

He would definitely find a way to revive Muyue.

Since Naruto Uzumaki and the others could travel through time, there was no reason he couldn't.

Even if he might get lost in some timeline, he had to save Muyue.

Shisui not only wanted to revive Muyue, he also planned to take revenge on the black-robed Uchiha who had killed him.

"Rather than deceiving yourself, you should find a way to resurrect him."

Uchiha Madara withdrew his gaze, burst out chakra, and upgraded his Susanoo into a twenty-meter-tall blue giant as he walked toward Rin Nohara.

The backup plan had major changes besides killing Muyue, who was obstructing the plan.

However, Rin Nohara was still a very crucial figure.

If Rin Nohara did not die, Obito would never completely fall into darkness.

Of course, Uchiha Madara did not intend to kill Rin Nohara here. Doing so would only make Obito hate him—the black-robed mysterious man—even more, with no other effect. He merely wanted to take Rin away.

Rin Nohara's death had to be twisted enough to make Obito realize that this world was cursed, beyond saving, and that only by creating a new world could everything be redeemed.

"Die!"

The hatred in Obito's heart toward the black-robed Uchiha reached its peak, and he instinctively concentrated a massive amount of chakra into his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Just as Uchiha Madara controlled Susanoo to reach out a giant hand toward the injured and fallen Rin Nohara, the space where Susanoo stood suddenly warped.

"Hm?" Uchiha Madara, quick to react, leapt away.

In the next moment, the distortion expanded, and half of the tall, mighty blue giant vanished into thin air, as if erased.

"Is this his Mangekyō ability? Looks impressive." Uchiha Madara watched the Susanoo that had instantly lost half its body, an expression of interest on his face.

Mangekyō Sharingan have many abilities. Some people share the same ones, but most are different. The ability Obito had just displayed was among the stronger ones Madara had seen.

Shisui set down Muyue's body and launched an attack at Uchiha Madara. By now, he had accumulated enough chakra in his Sharingan.