Land of Fire, Konoha, Year 30
Haruto woke up gradually, his mind still entangled in cobwebs of confusion, his eyes scanning his surroundings.
"Where is this?"
As soon as this question arose in his mind, a flood of memories swept in like a wave, almost knocking him out again.
"Ninja… Konoha… Uchiha… Mitsukage"
Haruto quickly perused the unfamiliar memories in his mind, trying to understand his current situation. He was supposed to be dead. Tenshi no Keiji was a forbidden technique of his zanpakuto much like Ichigo's Mugetsu or the Head Captain's Jokaku Enjo. This technique when used, sacrificed his spiritual body, merging with the light of Mitsukage, becoming an avatar of pure light. In that form, Haruto would have total domination over light itself, creating a catastrophic release of energy and becoming an entity of raw, uncontained spiritual light with attacks that can obliterate enemies at the atomic level.
Of course, while this would have given him the ability to stand on equal footing with Yhwach, the price to be paid was equally powerful. Haruto, once fully merged with the light would lose his human form and consciousness and become a beam of light with no identity and eventually fade into nothingness with his soul absorbed into the light and consumed by it.
Except… that hadn't happened. Something had gone wrong and Haruto was still alive. Haruto desperately shuffled through his memories, his head throbbing with the force of a thousand drums, trying to remember.
He remembered initiating the technique, the final desperate cry of Mitsukage and then nothing.
'Had Mitsukage done this…" Haruto pondered, his thoughts a shamble of images and words, "...and how?"
The screech of a hawk in flight brought him back to the present, turning his attention to the body he now possessed.
According to the memories in his mind, his name is Sogetsu and he is a member of the Uchiha clan of Konoha. Uchiha Sogetsu had just turned ten this year and was in his fourth year at the Ninja Academy.
Unlike what Haruto had thought at first, he had not possessed this body but was born into this body. He could feel the energy coursing through his body, thrumming under his skin, almost begging to be let out.
Only… It was so weak.
'Chakra' he mused. 'An energy born of physical energy and physical energy' Haruto thought, his mind still running through the memories in his head and integrating them. Removing himself from his thoughts, he scanned his body again and scoffed in disgust. He couldn't remember the last time he was so weak.
'Sigh, dying twice wasn't bad enough, but now I have to go through this…'
Haruto - no, Sogetsu - felt speechless. He had already figured out what had happened. He was Sogetsu. After he was reborn into this body, his spiritual energy was too massive and his frail infant body couldn't bear it causing his brain to protect itself by sealing away his memories and discarding most of his spiritual energy to allow his body to accommodate his soul.
It wasn't until yesterday when a caretaker from the clan was showing Sogetsu the Great Fireball Jutsu, the jutsu used as a rite of passage in their clan that the process was completed and his memories were released. So what had felt like just a moment to him, had actually taken ten years.
Sogetsu wanted to cry, he had lost over 99% of his spiritual energy and even the 1% was too dense and vast causing his yin chakra to be out of balance with his yang making him frail and sickly in a clan filled with warriors.
This talent couldn't even be described as poor; it was downright trash.
Well it wasn't all so bad, He'd started from the bottom in Soul Society too with even worse qualifications than this and yet he had made it to the top through hard work, Mitsugetsu and sheer force of will.
But that didn't matter now, in his memories, he would be graduating in a month and most likely be sent to the frontline not long after to serve as cannon fodder in the second shinobi war currently on.
Sogetsu sighed in despair again, to make matters worse, his mental state was very stable and his spiritual energy quite unshakable which meant the normal methods of awakening the Sharingan would not work on him, not to mention that even if it did, with his current physical state, it would probably send him to a wheelchair - just like that foolish god, Nagato - Seriously though, what was the Konoha Academy thinking trying to graduate a ninja of his skills and abilities. He'd probably die of exhaustion first on the way to the frontline.
He wasn't one who gave up easily, a fact even his enemies over the centuries would attest to, but the situation seemed so hopeless and insurmountable that he felt so discouraged.
And then he heard it…
Goodbye partner… Live well… like a whisper on the wind brushing across his heart.
Sogetsu abruptly sat up straight, the negativity in his mind swept away. "Mitsukage?" He called hopefully, "Is that you?"
The only answer he got was the laughter of the children playing in the street, carried far by the wind, the whistle of wings as the flying hawks cut through the skies, screeching in joy in their domain and the realization that he was truly all alone.
Haruto knelt in the stillness, his fingers trembling as they traced his empty palm feeling like he could still feel the hilt of her blade in his hand. Everything around him felt hollow, the air thick with a suffocating silence that seemed to swallow him whole. The reality of her absence weighed heavily in his chest, a darkness seeping into his very bones, consuming every spark of light within him.
He squeezed his eyes shut, a faint shimmer of her laughter echoing in his memory, her words a whisper in the wind: "No matter where you are, or what you do Haruto, You'll always have me."
But now, even those words were a fragile illusion, dissolving like mist. She was gone—sacrificed herself for him. His heart wrenched, a raw ache searing through him, carving a deep fissure in his soul. And then, in a surge of agonizing clarity, he felt it—a visceral, unstoppable shift inside him, as if his very spirit had cracked open.
His eyes snapped open, and the world exploded in a blaze of color and detail. Every shadow sharpened, every movement slowed, and the air itself seemed to tremble. Haruto could see everything: the faintest flicker of chakra that wove through the trees, the tiniest glint of light caught in the dewdrops on the grass, and the residual warmth where Mitsukage's spirit had once been.
The Sharingan…
He could feel it—the power, fierce and overwhelming, pulsing with a depth he'd never imagined. It wasn't merely sight. It was as though his eyes were a conduit, allowing him to perceive every layer of reality with perfect, ruthless precision. He saw chakra as vivid threads and patterns, each strand pulsing with intent, with life. And for the first time, he could feel the clash within himself—his immense spiritual energy clashing with the unnatural balance of his chakra, threatening to tear him apart from within.
A whisper echoed in his mind, soft and steady, barely more than a breath. Haruto…
His heart clenched, recognizing the voice. It was Mitsukage.
As his new vision expanded, he felt something stirring in the recesses of his soul, a hidden presence she'd left behind—a final, selfless gift. A tendril of her power reached out to him, soothing and stabilizing the raging storm inside him, knitting together the fractured balance of Yin and Yang that his own body couldn't sustain alone.
"Haruto, we've always fought against the world, against anyone who dared to come… together," her voice murmured, resonating within him. "But this power… it will be yours to wield. Let me help you find balance, one last time."
The light she'd left began to spread, a radiant, warm presence that harmonized with his own. It wove itself through his being, stabilizing the opposing forces of Yin and Yang, merging his innate spiritual energy with his chakra. The chaotic imbalance that had threatened to cripple him eased, softened, and finally, settled into a calm, sustainable flow.
Haruto's hands stilled, his gaze focusing with renewed clarity. His Sharingan—his vision—now felt like a seamless extension of himself, not a weight to bear but a gift to wield, a reflection of both power and pain. And in that moment, he understood: Mitsukage had given him more than just the balance he needed. She had given him the strength to move forward, to bear the burden of his grief and still rise.
His vision sharpened once more, and he whispered, "Thank you, Mitsukage. I will carry your memory… always."
As he rose to his feet, a newfound strength coursed through him, and with it, the crimson glow of his Sharingan burned bright, a symbol of love, loss, and resolve entwined.