In the study room.
Fugaku sat upright, facing his own son, Itachi, the newly appointed temporary captain of the Anbu's sixth team!
"Itachi, you have grown up…" Fugaku sighed before speaking, his face full of emotion.
Itachi remained unmoved, silently waiting for what was to come.
"This time, there's something I need to tell you." Fugaku's expression gradually turned serious.
"Father, what is?" Itachi felt a vague sense of unease in his heart.
'Why would he wait until I became the temporary captain to tell me? There must be a conspiracy!'
"This matter concerns the Kekkei Genkai of our Uchiha Clan!"
Fugaku said solemnly, "As you know, Sharingan can evolve from one-tomoe to two-tomoe through training, and it can evolve further to the three-tomoe. However, what outsiders don't know is that the three-tomoe… is not the final evolution of the Sharingan!"
"What?" Itachi's pupils shrank at this.
'Three-tomoe is not the end of Sharingan's evolution?'
'How is it possible?!'
Since evolving his Sharingan to the three-tomoe, he had fantasized about taking it further, but no matter how he trained, the three-tomoe remained the same!
"Pay close attention!"
Fugaku knew that actions spoke louder than words, so he closed and reopened his eyes. Then, his dark pupils transformed into crimson three-tomoe Sharingan. After that, he closed and opened his eyes again, and the three tomoe suddenly underwent a strange transformation.
"This is…" Itachi's expression changed.
"This is the Sharingan above three-tomoe, known as… the Mangekyo Sharingan!" Fugaku solemnly said.
By now, his three tomoe had completed their transformation, forming a brand-new pattern!
'Mangekyo Sharingan…' Various emotions overflowed in Itachi's eyes: surprise, shock, longing, and more.
Fugaku is very satisfied with his son's expression, and said with a smile: "Among the entire Uchiha Clan, only Shisui and I have evolved the Sharingan to the Mangekyo!"
'Big Brother Shisui also…'
'I remember now!!'
Suddenly, Itachi's gaze sharpened. He remembered that when he and Shisui helped Sasuke with 'exterminating the clan' Genjutsu two years ago, when Shisui used his Sharingan, he strangely narrowed his eyes. At the time, Itachi didn't think much of it, but now, upon reflection, he felt the chill!
'Could it be that Big Brother Shisui concealed the existence of Mangekyo from me on purpose…' Itachi frowned, feeling unsettled in his heart.
Fugaku seemed to see through his son's thoughts and chuckled: "Are you blaming me and Shisui for not telling you about the Mangekyo earlier?"
'Not only that, I am still wondering why Father told me this now. Of course, what I want to know most is…' Itachi regained his composure, his tone slightly excited as he asked: "Father, please tell me how to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan!"
However, Fugaku shook his head decisively: "I can't tell you."
Because in peace times, if an Uchiha wanted to awaken Mangekyo Sharingan, they can only start with their relatives and loved ones, which Fugaku absolutely didn't want to see happen.
'If it were a time of war, it would be possible to arrange the circumstances, to stage an accident.'
'Oh dear, I'm getting off track…' Fugaku shook off his distractions and said: "Itachi, what I want to tell you now, is the huge flaw of the Mangekyo!"
"Flaw?" Itachi's attention was attracted.
"Once the Mangekyo Sharingan is awakened, its pupil-power becomes fixed. Every time it's used, a portion of that power is lost, and the vision will correspondingly decline, until the pupil-power is exhausted… and both eyes are plunged into darkness!" Fugaku said, "It leads to blindness!"
Itachi's expression changed: 'So that's why Big Brother Shisui wore glasses. It's because his Mangekyo's pupil-power was constantly being consumed… Wait!'
'Big Brother Shisui indeed wore glasses a few years ago, but I haven't seen him wearing glasses recently…'
Itachi's expression turned odd: "Father, about Big Brother Shisui's eyesight…"
"Yes, Shisui has already solved the blindness problem of the Mangekyo Sharingan. "Fugaku said.
"How did he do it? And has Father's flaw of the Mangekyo been solved too? "Itachi asked.
Fugaku shook his head: "This is what I want to tell you."
Itachi's heart trembled, and he said: "Could it be... it's related to the Anbu?"
"Yes, the solution to Mangekyo's blindness is in the hands of Yondaime. I think the Anbu will also have corresponding records about this method, and you…"
Fugaku's eyes gleamed, "And you've just been promoted to the Anbu's Captain. Although it is temporary, your authority is real. Itachi, for the sake of the Uchiha Clan, for me, I'm really counting on you this time! Please make sure to find this method!"
With that said, Fugaku bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle.
"Father…" Itachi's mood is complex.
Suddenly being informed of the existence of the Mangekyo, the flaw of the Mangekyo, and the method to solve that flaw, and this method is within the Anbu.
'If I help Father, it means betraying Yondaime-sama, but if I don't help, I would be ungrateful to Father's upbringing. And there's also Big Brother Shisui. Since he already solved the blindness problem, why didn't he tell Father?'
It's a tangled mess, he's caught between a rock and a hard place!
Itachi furrowed his brow.
"Itachi."
Seeing his son hesitated, Fugaku calmly stood up and said, "Sasuke has evolved his Sharingan to two-tomoe a few years ago. With his talent, it is only a matter of time before he evolved his Sharingan to Mangekyo. So... even if you're not doing it for me, please consider Sasuke."
'Although saying this was somewhat... ahem, uncomfortable, the fact remained. In Itachi's heart, Sasuke's position was far higher than his own father.'
Fugaku sighed inwardly.
At this time, Itachi felt deeply troubled.
He now somewhat understood why Shisui had concealed the existence of the Mangekyo from him, because of its flaw of causing blindness!
So if possible, he would rather Sasuke not know about the Mangekyo's existence, 'But considering Sasuke's talent…'
"I understand." Itachi nodded with an unpleasant expression, thinking to himself: 'Do what I can and leave the rest to fate... Let's start with Big Brother Shisui.'
"Then, I'll leave it to you, Itachi, ganbatte! "Fugaku was very excited, and his lips trembled a little.
If Itachi could really solve the blindness problem of the Mangekyo, then Fugaku would directly ascend to the peak of the Shinobi World!
'At that time, I will help Itachi awaken his Mangekyo, haha, then I would have Mangekyo in my left hand - Shisui's Mangekyo, Mangekyo in my right hand - Itachi's Mangekyo, and I myself would have Mangekyo…'
'The Uchiha clan would become unprecedentedly powerful!'
'And then, after staying in Advisor's position for another five or six years, I would have enough strength, enough prestige, and enough qualifications to compete for the position of the Godaime Hokage!'
'The glory of the Uchiha Clan would be built by me alone!'
Fugaku's chest swelled with excitement!
When he came back to his senses, he found that Itachi had actually left.
'Although this son of mine was outstanding, his mind was sometimes heavy, but fortunately, his feelings for Sasuke were very deep…' Fugaku is very relieved.
…
After leaving his home, Itachi went straight to Shisui's house.
"Big Brother Shisui? Big Brother Shisui…"
Itachi knocked on the door for a while before suddenly realizing that Shisui was currently stationed at the border of the Land of Hot Water and Land of Fire, so how could he possibly be in the village?
Given Itachi's personality, he would never be so dull under normal circumstances. It can be seen how much shock the information of the Mangekyo had brought him!
"Sigh."
Itachi sighed deeply and turned away.