With all the revived people hidden away safely in the chambers of his expanded estate, Kakashi finally had a moment of peace. He had placed multiple layers of detection seals around the perimeter, some of them capable of masking even powerful chakra signatures.
For now, he couldn't risk word getting out about Kushina, Minato, Mikoto, Fugaku, or even Orochimaru. The village wasn't ready yet.
Down in the basement, a vast chamber lit by soft chakra-infused lamps and inscribed with dozens of protective seals, Kakashi stood before his workbench.
Glass containers of blood samples, spare Sharingan sealed in nutrient solution, and specialized surgical tools lined the counters in an orderly fashion. He rolled up his sleeve, brushing his thumb across the glowing red diamond of the Genesis Seal on his left palm.
This was the moment.
He had already used the Genesis Seal to synthesize Katsuyu's senjutsu enzymes, allowing regeneration and chakra recovery. But now, it was time to attempt something far more delicate.
He stared at the vial labeled "Uchiha Sasuke-Prime", filled with preserved blood taken from a sealed sample just a few days earlier. He could have absorbed it anytime.
But Kakashi had an idea, something even greater. He wanted to not only devour Sasuke's bloodline but also attempt to awaken the Sharingan on his own. If he succeeded, he would no longer need a transplant to wield a true Uchiha dojutsu.
But first, the old Sharingan had to go.
He made a hand seal and summoned a small white snake, no longer than his finger. With a whisper, he sent it slithering through the corridors to find Tsunade.
Within minutes, Tsunade entered the basement, wiping her hands on a towel. She looked slightly annoyed, yet curious.
"Calling me with a snake, huh? That's new," she said as she approached, folding her arms beneath her 106 chest.
"I didn't want to alert the others. This isn't something I want to explain yet," Kakashi said, gesturing for her to come closer.
"I want you to remove the Sharingan. Carefully. I'll regenerate my own eye using the Genesis Seal." He continued.
"You're serious?" Tsunade's brows rose in disbelief.
"Dead serious," Kakashi said, offering a rare full smile. "I've already tested the regeneration using minor organs. It's time to see if I can fully break free from relying on Obito's eye."
Tsunade took a moment. She could see no hesitation in his expression, only clarity and control.
"Alright," she said, her voice softer now. "But don't move. If you even twitch the wrong way-"
"I trust you."
Those three words made her pause for a heartbeat before she nodded and stepped into position.
Using chakra-precision tools and Tsunade's flawless control, she removed the Sharingan from his left socket. Though he winced slightly, Kakashi didn't utter a sound.
Blood dripped for only a moment before his flesh began knitting itself back together. Tsunade gently placed the old Sharingan in a nutrient-filled glass container and sealed it tightly.
Then she turned to him and watched in awe.
The socket twitched, muscles and tissue weaving themselves into place. Veins reformed, then the optic nerve, and then, right before her eyes, a new eyeball began to regenerate in the socket. Within minutes, a fully formed eye opened slowly, grey, sharp, and identical to his natural one.
"That's…" Tsunade leaned in. "That's incredible."
"It's perfect. No scarring, no foreign chakra…" Kakashi gave her a slight smile as he looked into a mirror and tested his eyes.
Tsunade was silent for a moment, overwhelmed. She had seen medical ninjutsu at its peak, but this… this was something else.
"Now," Kakashi said, turning to his table. "Let's begin."
He motioned toward the vials of Sasuke's blood and the clean silver basin. Tsunade helped pour every drop into it, filling it halfway with thick, dark red fluid.
Kakashi then reached into a sealed case and withdrew a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan, ones his shadow clone had recovered from Danzo's lab. The eyes were floating in stasis, their gaze hollow.
Placing the Sharingan beside the basin, Kakashi placed his palm over the blood and activated the Genesis Seal. The red diamond began to rotate slowly, emitting a faint hum.
A swirling black vortex opened in his palm, pulling the blood into it. It vanished instantly.
Kakashi shut his eyes.
He felt a rush, not hot or overwhelming like with Bijuu chakra, but cool, flowing, calm. A deep sense of clarity hit him like a wave.
His thoughts sharpened, his senses expanded. He could feel the minute shifts in chakra in the room, hear the tiny crackle of seals on the walls, and smell even the iron in the blood still lingering in the basin.
But more than that, he felt his chakra reserves expand, so close to the threshold of what he called Beginner Super-Kage Level. His mental acuity increased, and his reaction speed became faster.
Then the true surprise came.
A chill spread into his head, deeper than the earlier one, and settled in his brain and eyes. The Genesis Seal pulsed. And then he felt it, a foreign, powerful chakra. It was Sasuke's, yes, but there was another….
Indra.
"It's real…" Kakashi's eyes flew open.
He had devoured the bloodline so thoroughly that even Indra's chakra fragment, the spark that differentiated the average Uchiha from the unique ones, had been assimilated.
"What is it?" Tsunade leaned closer, curious.
"I think… I think I just gained the potential to awaken the Rinnegan. Not now. But eventually." Kakashi's voice trembled with awe.
"You're serious again?" Tsunade blinked.
He simply nodded, a look of wonder on his face.
Then he raised the Genesis Seal toward the pair of preserved Sharingan. The black vortex activated again, pulling them into the seal. This time, the sensation was more intense.
Blood streamed from both his eyes as a sharp pain shot through his skull. Tsunade stepped forward in concern, but Kakashi held up a hand to stop her.
His regenerated left eye and his natural right eye both changed, first to a single tomoe, then a second, and finally, the third. It stabilized in both eyes.
"Both eyes…" Tsunade gasped softly.
Kakashi exhaled. "The Genesis Seal didn't just let me awaken one. It awakened both… and more than that, it stabilized them perfectly. No chakra drain, no rejection."
He looked into the mirror again, both eyes glowing red with three tomoe spinning slowly, synchronously.
He could feel it, his vision was beyond anything he had experienced before. His depth perception, movement tracking, and prediction, all of it was crisp and instinctual.
"It's mine now," he murmured. "Not Obito's. Not a transplant, this is my Sharingan."
"So, when are you planning to surprise everyone with this?" Tsunade approached him with a raised brow and a small smirk.
Kakashi chuckled, wiping away the blood from his face. "Not yet. Let's keep it quiet. For now, the world still thinks I'm just that maskless Copy Ninja. They don't need to know I've taken the first step toward the Sage of Six Paths."
"You're impossible." Tsunade rolled her eyes, but affection was in her voice.
"And you love it."
"Unfortunately," she muttered, smirking as she handed him a towel.
Kakashi leaned back in his chair, staring at his hands. The Genesis Seal still glowed faintly.