Chapter 182: The Butterfly Effect: Mangekyo Sharingan
"Hokage-sama, the envoys delivering the invitations have all returned."
Karin, clad in a black blazer, addressed Izayoi, who was seated on a sofa chair created from Chakra Beads. Her beautiful eyes held a smile as she spoke with feigned respect.
Izayoi didn't notice Karin's expression. He was looking at a scroll and, without raising his head, asked, "How did those guys respond?"
"The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, and the acting Fifth Kazekage, Chiyo, both politely declined, citing their old age. However, they will send the sole candidates for the next Tsuchikage and Kazekage to observe Konoha's Chunin Exams," Karin replied. "The Fifth Mizukage accepted the invitation and will arrive in Konoha before the official start of the Chunin Exams' third round."
"That's not unexpected."
Izayoi finally looked up and asked, "What about the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Rain Village?"
"The Hidden Cloud Village declined the invitation," Karin said with a playful smile. "Because during the second exam, Hanabi killed all their ninjas, the Fourth Raikage felt we were insulting them and was very angry."
"Is the envoy who delivered the invitation alright?"
"No, even if you gave them a hundred guts, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on our envoy." As Karin said this, her posture was incredibly straight.
"It seems those thickheaded brutes finally feel the pain," Izayoi said with a cold laugh.
"Hehe... if they knew the truth, their expressions would be absolutely priceless," Karin chuckled.
After learning that Izayoi was "Ōtsutsuki Toneri," Karin and Shion became incredibly envious of Hinata.
Indeed, a spontaneous romance couldn't compare to a childhood sweetheart's mutual affection and long-standing love.
Just as Hinata was kidnapped on her third birthday, years later, on her birthday, the enemies paid a heavy price.
Karin and Shion had initially believed Margaret's necklace was the best gift Izayoi gave Hinata.
But it turned out the Hidden Cloud Village's destruction was the best birthday present of all.
"What was the Hidden Rain Village's response?" Izayoi asked again.
"The Hidden Rain Village also accepted the invitation. The Akatsuki Leader will come to Konoha to observe the Chunin Exams." Karin's expression finally turned serious. She looked at Izayoi with some concern and asked, "Hokage-sama, are you really going to invite such a powerful individual to Konoha?"
Karin's concern was understandable; super-tier powers were vastly different from the Five Kage.
When Uchiha Madara merely left Konoha, it terrified the village, and the Land of Fire Daimyo even directly pressured Tsunade to abdicate early.
If the Five Kage were to turn against each other in each other's great ninja villages, even a pinnacle Kage like the Third Raikage would be worn down and killed by ten thousand Stone ninjas.
However, if a super-tier power were to engage in battle in one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, it could range from a minor consequence like the Hidden Cloud Village merely losing a village, to a severe one where not only the village would be destroyed but also all its villagers and ninjas killed.
The Valley of the End, the Land of Rain, the Land of Fire Forest... these three battlefields of super-tier powers had not yet returned to their original state and had become permanent scars on the landscape.
To Karin's concern, Izayoi merely smiled faintly. "Don't worry, that clan member of yours is a good fellow; he won't cause trouble."
By having his Wood Clones constantly monitor Nagato and Uchiha Madara in rotation, it was no exaggeration to say that no one in the ninja world understood these two individuals better than Izayoi.
The no longer extreme Nagato and Uchiha Madara, whose Infinite Tsukuyomi plan had been shattered, both had their chuunibyo cured.
Moreover, their ideals were to save the world and create peace. Unless someone obstructed them, they would not resort to killing.
If someone encountered difficulties, they would even offer assistance.
Otherwise, Izayoi wouldn't have kept them alive.
Uchiha Madara, defeated a second time, had long since recovered from his injuries and was now taking Uchiha Obito around the world and through various dimensions, searching for traces of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
Nagato, on the other hand, was using his reputation and strength to restrain the Akatsuki members, and, along with Konan, managed the secluded Hidden Rain Village, ensuring the villagers lived happily.
Under their balancing influence, the great nations had become more restrained, and the smaller nations became more docile. The Five Great Ninja Villages had not received any high-level missions for a long time, only escort-type tasks.
Nagato, awakened from his dream, had come to love this kind of life and wished for such peace to continue indefinitely.
To maintain this peace, Nagato would certainly have no intention of causing trouble.
This was why Izayoi invited him.
"Mhm!"
Thinking of Izayoi's strength and his 'Ōtsutsuki Toneri' alias, Karin nodded confidently.
Screech!
At that moment, the office door was pushed open.
Hinata, still in her white kimono rather than a black blazer, entered with Uchiha Sasuke.
"Hokage-sama, Sasuke-kun is here."
Inside the Hokage's Office, Hinata also changed her address for Izayoi.
"Thank you, Hinata."
Izayoi smiled, then pointed to the sofa, gesturing to Uchiha Sasuke, "Have a seat."
Uchiha Sasuke did not go over and sit down, nor did he immediately ask Izayoi why he had summoned him. Instead, with his arms crossed, he said with a half-smile, half-tease, "Should I also start calling you Hokage-sama now?"
"The address is the same as before, or..."
Izayoi waved his hand with a smile, then suddenly changed his tone, "Just call me Adoptive Father!"
"You bastard, your personality is still so awful!" Uchiha Sasuke gnashed his teeth.
If he couldn't beat Izayoi, he really wanted to give him a good beating.
But remembering that Izayoi still held a large collection of his dark history, Uchiha Sasuke could only quickly calm his emotions and huffed, "Tell me, why did you suddenly call me here?"
Izayoi leaned back in the sofa chair. He took a cup of water from Hinata, took a light sip, and instead of immediately stating the purpose of summoning Uchiha Sasuke, he asked, "How long has it been since your Team 7 last went on a mission?"
"A few months, I think. Why?"
"Do you know why Team 7 hasn't had any missions for so long?"
This time, Izayoi didn't wait for Uchiha Sasuke's answer. He slowly said, "Because your and Naruto's strength have reached Ace-level combatants. If you use Sage Mode, your strength is even greater than Kakashi's. Unless it's an S-rank or super S-rank secret mission, sending three Ace-level combatants on other missions is simply too wasteful."
"Originally, the Fifth Hokage's idea was to dismantle Team 7, just like Team 8, once you became an all-rounder Jonin, to let you fully utilize your value."
"I summoned you here this time to offer you a good position."
At this point, Izayoi's lips curved slightly upwards, and he continued, "As my adopted son, you naturally have to be someone second only to me and above everyone else. So I specifically created the position of Anbu Captain, which can command all Anbu squads. Are you interested?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.
Staring at Izayoi, he asked in disbelief, "Anbu Captain? Are you serious?"
"Of course," Izayoi smiled. "Besides you, no one else can fill this position. I only trust you."
Seeing Izayoi hold him in such high regard, a warm current surged through Uchiha Sasuke's heart.
Various past scenes flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
There were scenes of Izayoi taking him fishing, then teaching him how to barbecue, and later leaving all the fishing and barbecuing work to him.
There were scenes of Izayoi beating him up, then using teasing and mocking to undermine him, only to point out his weaknesses and flaws and offer various highly advanced combat strategies.
There were also scenes of Izayoi repeatedly coming to his rescue, teaching him everything he knew, paving the way for him to grow stronger, and so on...
Ever since his clan's destruction, Uchiha Sasuke's heart had been tightly shut.
Over the years, only two people had entered his heart.
One was Uzumaki Naruto, who shared a similar experience and gave him a sense of familiarity upon sight.
Despite being a mere dead last, Sasuke considered him a rival, always wanting to win against him and force him into submission.
The other was Izayoi, his contemporary, only a little over a month older than him, yet more like a brother than Uchiha Itachi, who had always raised him with better educational methods than even his father or Itachi.
Although he often got steamed and mentally broken by Izayoi's teasing, Uchiha Sasuke's heart was filled with admiration for Izayoi.
This admiration was even stronger than what he felt for Uchiha Itachi when he was a child.
The Uchiha were a proud clan, and a clan that admired strength.
They looked down on ninja clans and opponents weaker than themselves. Only those who defeated them could gain their recognition, admiration, and even their allegiance.
During the thousand years of the Warring States Period, only Senju Hashirama could achieve this.
The arrogant Shinobi no Kami was also the ninja world's number one "Hashirama-fan."
Both being Indra's reincarnations, Uchiha Sasuke's personality was very similar to Uchiha Madara's. Although his tsundere nature prevented him from ever admitting it verbally, he was actually a hidden "Izayoi-fan."
When on missions, he no longer used the Chidori taught by Hatake Kakashi, but frequently used the Storm Release Ougi taught by Izayoi.
Only Izayoi could crack "father-son" jokes with him.
If it were anyone else, Uchiha Sasuke would have exploded in rage.
Now, receiving such high recognition and a significant responsibility from his 'adoptive father,' Uchiha Sasuke, like a son gaining his father's approval, was so excited he felt as if he was about to ignite.
However, on the surface, Uchiha Sasuke merely pouted, saying with an arrogant expression, "Hmph... Since you have no one else to use, I'll be merciful and help you out."
Seeing Uchiha Sasuke's awkward demeanor, Hinata and Karin, who had long understood his personality and character over the years, couldn't help but cover their mouths and giggle.
"Then I thank you," Izayoi uncharacteristically did not tease Uchiha Sasuke.
Immediately, Izayoi suddenly became serious. "Besides this matter, I summoned you this time to tell you something else... it's about the truth behind the Uchiha clan's massacre."
As his words fell, the lively and warm atmosphere in the Hokage's office instantly became heavy.
Hinata and Karin's smiles vanished; they stood quietly at the side.
Uchiha Sasuke's eyes, due to his shifting emotions, involuntarily transformed into Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Staring at Izayoi, his voice trembled slightly as he asked, "Clan massacre truth... what does that mean?"
"This is a secret I was only qualified to know after becoming Hokage," Izayoi said with a solemn expression. "I've been hesitating whether to tell you these past few days, but after careful consideration, you are a living person; there's no need for you to become a puppet arranged by others."
"So, I'm going to tell you everything I know."
After speaking, Izayoi cast a genjutsu, drawing Uchiha Sasuke and the two girls, Hinata and Karin, into a genjutsu world, where he showed them the full story of the Uchiha clan's downfall.
Due to the Nine-Tails Attack incident, the Uchiha clan was suspected by the higher-ups and forced to move their compound from the central street to near the Naka River, and they were placed under surveillance.
Then came the coup d'état and Uchiha Shisui's death, followed by Uchiha Itachi's double-agent role, and finally, the Night of the Massacre orchestrated by Shimura Danzo, using Uchiha Sasuke as a bargaining chip.
After watching these scenes, Hinata and Karin couldn't help but cover their mouths, their beautiful eyes misty with empathy as they murmured, "Too... too much!"
Uchiha Sasuke, meanwhile, looked dazed, staring blankly at the images.
When he saw Uchiha Itachi, who he believed regarded him as a spare eye, had actually wiped out their clan to protect him, his mind suddenly went bang, as if a string had snapped.
Terrifying Yin Release chakra surged from Uchiha Sasuke's brain, converging in his eyes.
The three black tomoe in his crimson pupils spun like gears, so fast they became mere black blurs.
Crack!
A shattering sound, like glass hitting the ground, suddenly reached Hinata's and Karin's ears.
Then, the genjutsu world before them instantly shattered into pieces.
Terrifying chakra filled the entire Hokage's Office, yet it didn't draw anyone's attention.
Because after Izayoi took office, the Hokage Building became lively, surpassing its previous activity.
However, the topmost Hokage's Office was no longer accessible to just anyone.
Besides Hinata and Karin, his personal secretaries, and the Anbu directly under the Hokage, only those summoned and permitted by Izayoi could enter this top floor, whose internal walls were covered with jutsu formulas.
Unless the chakra was strong enough to break through the barrier, Uchiha Sasuke's aura would not spread outside.
After an unknown amount of time, the three tomoe in Uchiha Sasuke's eyes finally stopped spinning.
Then, Uchiha Sasuke's eyelids lowered, and two lines of bloody tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, a dazzling crimson light burst forth from them.
The three tomoe had vanished, replaced by a black sun composed of six small triangles—this was none other than the Mangekyo Sharingan!
"So... so much dōjutsu power and chakra!"
Sensing Uchiha Sasuke's current chakra with her Kagura Mind's Eye, Karin murmured in shock.
Hinata, whose strength underwent a qualitative change after awakening her Byakugan's exclusive dōjutsu, also felt a powerful pressure from Uchiha Sasuke.
Seeing the pattern of Uchiha Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan, Izayoi felt a surge of surprise.
It wasn't a Six-Pointed Star?
It seemed his actions had caused another butterfly effect.
Since it wasn't a Six-Pointed Star, then Uchiha Sasuke's exclusive dōjutsu definitely wasn't Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi from the original work. So what was his exclusive dōjutsu?
Izayoi was incredibly curious.
At the same time, Izayoi felt that Uchiha Sasuke's pattern seemed somewhat familiar.
It shouldn't be. He had transmigrated so late. When the Uchiha clan was still around, only Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Fugaku, and Uchiha Itachi possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Their patterns weren't sun-like.
How could he possibly find this pattern familiar?
Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Izayoi's mind, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
He seemed to remember!
Izayoi had indeed seen this Mangekyo Sharingan pattern, but not in this life in his previous life!
The first appearance of this pattern wasn't in Shippuden, but in the later era... Boruto: Naruto Next Generations!
The sun-patterned Mangekyo Sharingan belonged to Uchiha Sasuke's daughter... Uchiha Sarada.
Good heavens, the father awakened the daughter's eyes! This butterfly effect is too absurd, isn't it?!
....
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