Aoba walked over to Sasuke's side without saying a word and sat down next to him.
Sasuke looked at Aoba in surprise. He couldn't understand why his teacher was here.
"A combination of Sharingan, genjutsu, and mental strength. You can think of it as me using a genjutsu to enter your spiritual world," Aoba explained.
"..."
The two of them fell silent again, watching everything unfold in front of them. They couldn't change any of it; they could only watch.
They saw young Sasuke questioning Itachi. They saw Itachi coldly explaining that it was all to test his resolve.
They saw young Sasuke struck down by a genjutsu and lying unconscious on the ground.
Then everything disappeared, and young Sasuke once again burst through the door. Everything started over from the beginning.
Even Aoba, a transmigrator, couldn't help but feel angry as he watched this scene. Calling Itachi an animal would be an insult to animals.
What was happening here, even animals wouldn't do.
"Why am I so weak? Aoba-sensei, I've been training so hard. Why is there still such a huge gap between us?"
Sasuke suddenly spoke, breaking Aoba out of his thoughts.
"This world is often cruel. Good people aren't necessarily strong, and bad people aren't necessarily without talent. Remember what I told you? Itachi is practically the perfect template for a ninja. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu. He has no weaknesses. He's a demon, but he's also a genius. That's the reality you need to accept."
"Then how am I supposed to defeat him? He's already so powerful. How could I possibly catch up to him?"
Aoba finally understood why Sasuke was trapped in his spiritual world and couldn't leave. It was because he doubted himself, that his abilities and his talent he could never defeat Itachi.
"Why do you think you can't defeat him? Do you really believe your talent is inferior to Itachi's?"
"Aoba-sensei, you don't need to comfort me. I've seen the gap between us. My talent simply can't compare to his."
"No, Sasuke. You're only seeing the surface. But since things have come to this point, I suppose I shouldn't hide anything anymore.
Do you know why Itachi had to hurt you this way?"
"For the Sharingan? The Uchiha clan's Sharingan becomes stronger when stimulated by emotional trauma. He wants my eyes."
"That's right. He wants to stimulate you to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. That would exponentially increase the value of your eyes. But there's actually another hidden reason behind all this. Do you know that the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan has a major flaw?"
"What flaw?" Sasuke's attention was drawn by Aoba's words.
"The more you use the Mangekyō, the more your vision deteriorates. Eventually, you go blind."
"…So, Itachi, he…"
"That's right. His Mangekyō was awakened very early on, so his eyesight should already be affected."
"So that's why he wants my eyes?"
"Exactly. There's another secret about the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan. If Mangekyō Sharingan from blood relatives are fused, it can evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. This completely removes the risk of blindness."
"I see. So, he wants to fuse my eyes to achieve the Eternal Mangekyō?"
"That should be it."
"But even so, this doesn't help me defeat him. Am I supposed to wait until he goes blind and then take revenge? No, I want him to watch me kill him. I want him to see it with his own eyes."
"I understand how you feel. But have you ever thought about this, why haven't you awakened the Mangekyō, despite all the trauma and pain you've endured?"
"…," Sasuke fell silent at the question.
"I don't understand either. I'm already in so much pain and anger, but I just can't take that step. I don't know why."
"Don't doubt yourself, Sasuke. I actually have a theory. I believe your body is protecting you."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that awakening the Mangekyō too early could put an enormous strain on your body. When I fought Itachi before, I noticed something.
Although he concealed it almost perfectly, I was still able to detect some subtle issues. Itachi's body has problems."
"Problems? Are you saying he's sick?"
"Yes, I believe he likely suffers from some sort of kekkei genkai disease. Don't forget, I'm the deputy director of Konoha's Research Institute. This is my area of expertise.
Also, as you know, I have a Sharingan myself. I've conducted extensive research on it.
Both Kakashi and I experienced significant strain after transplanting the Sharingan. I had to go to great lengths to resolve this issue.
At first, I thought it was because we weren't members of the Uchiha clan. But later, I realized that wasn't the whole truth. The Sharingan itself is incredibly complex and inherently places a heavy burden on the body.
This burden likely reaches its peak after awakening the Mangekyō. Itachi awakened his Mangekyō too early. No matter how talented he was, his body wasn't fully developed at the time and couldn't possibly withstand the Mangekyō's pressure perfectly."
"So Aoba-sensei thinks that Itachi developed a kekkei genkai disease because of the Mangekyō's strain?"
"Yes, that's my hypothesis. Based on my research and my previous experiences fighting him, I'm about 70-80% confident."
"What does that have to do with my talent?" Sasuke still didn't understand what Aoba was trying to say. As a pure combat type, Sasuke struggled with such abstract concepts.
"Don't you see, Sasuke? Biologically speaking, as humans, we're an incredibly well-evolved species. Every organ in our body exists for a reason. No organism evolves an organ that harms itself.
According to that logic, doesn't the Mangekyō Sharingan violate the principles of biology?"
"..."
Seeing Sasuke's confused expression, Aoba sighed. Talking to someone who's bad at academics is truly exhausting.
"What I mean is that the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan should have a self-protection mechanism.
Ideally, the Mangekyō should awaken only when your body is fully developed, your physical resilience is sufficient, and your mental energy has accumulated to an adequate level. Only then would the Mangekyō Sharingan be perfectly compatible with your body.
But for some reason, you Uchiha have lost this self-protection mechanism."
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Currently on Chapter 174: Minato Namikaze