"Senpai, these are the Sharingan research materials that Lord Hokage asked me to deliver. Also, there are three Three-Tomoe Sharingan here, sent along with them."
Inside a hidden experimental base, an Anbu shinobi from Konoha spoke to another Anbu inside.
"So, the Old Man sent these, huh..."
Anbu in the base took the research files and the three Sharingan, which were suspended in nutrient solution in test tubes. Gazing at the three Three-Tomoe Sharingan, which exuded an unsettling aura, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke's eyes flickered with a strange light. He asked curiously, "Where did the Old Man get these Sharingan from?"
Anbu from the village thought for a moment. He figured that telling this man some information wouldn't be an issue, given that he was the Hokage's eldest son, an Anbu senior, and one of the Hokage's right-hand men.
He answered in a low voice, "From Danzo Shimura, of Root."
"Ah, Danzo..." Sarutobi Shin'nosuke understood. "I knew it. The Old Man is so conflicted; he's clearly interested in many things, but he always feels that as Hokage, he shouldn't be involved in those kinds of activities. He wouldn't stoop to stealing Sharingan from the Uchiha clan himself."
"The only one in the village capable of doing something like this is probably 'Danzo Shimura,' the Darkness of Konoha, the leader of Root."
Sarutobi Shin'nosuke shook his head, speaking without reservation. "Still... he's just the Old Man's half-baked 'black glove,' you could say. All the dirty work the Old Man doesn't want to do himself, he tacitly allows Danzo to handle."
Anbu shinobi from the village dared not speak.
"Tell him this: we'll do our best to thoroughly understand these Sharingan research materials."
"Yes, Senpai."
Anbu shinobi from the village walked out of the secret base. He looked back at the unremarkable dense forest behind him, reaching out to lightly touch the air. A ripple appeared in the air.
"What masterful genjutsu. As expected of the Hokage's eldest son."
He shook his head, clearing his mind, and was about to head back to Konoha when...
He suddenly heard a very abrupt meow.
"Meow~"
Anbu shinobi frowned, his gaze quickly snapping to the direction of the cat's meow.
—What a fat cat!
That was his first thought.
The next instant!
A sharp whoosh sounded from the side, startling Anbu shinobi into a sudden crouch. Three shuriken grazed past his face; one of them severed the cord of his mask, forcing him to reveal a young face.
"Enemy?!"
The moment he swiftly drew his ninja blade, his vision was consumed by two crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"Uchiha..."
Anbu shinobi's pupils constricted. Almost instinctively, he tried to avert his gaze, not wanting to meet the Sharingan directly.
Thud!!!
A searing pain in his chest made Anbu shinobi instinctively look down. He realized that his own ninja blade had never left its sheath; the sound of a blade being drawn had been the other person's. And a ninja blade had, at that very moment, pierced his heart.
It was a genjutsu!
[Ding! You have successfully killed a "Red-Named" villain! Your chakra has received a slight boost! Congratulations! You have successfully dropped: "Konoha-Style Kenjutsu" EXP Book x10!]
"That's the fourth one," Akainu Uchiha said, pulling out his ninja blade, his voice echoing eerily. "Rookie, you've missed four opportunities in a row. Your shuriken throwing technique needs to go back to the academy."
"I-I'm so sorry, Senpai..." Izumi emerged from behind him.
She was filled with guilt, yet also trembling as she looked at Anbu shinobi collapsing to the ground. This was the fourth Anbu Akainu-senpai had killed tonight. The previous three were Anbu shinobi who had been on lookout duty outside.
Watching Anbu shinobi's chest gurgle with gushing blood, seeing his young face, now devoid of life and not much older than her own, Izumi felt a moment of confusion. "Senpai... are they truly all evil people?"
"Yes."
Akainu Uchiha flicked the blood from his ninja blade. He gazed at the "dense forest" ahead. In front of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, any profound genjutsu seemed like a clumsy display.
Izumi didn't know where she found the courage, but she actually asked Akainu-senpai, "Senpai... how do you determine if someone is evil?"
Akainu Uchiha replied, "A heart as clear as a mirror."
Izumi paused, bewildered.
Akainu Uchiha walked directly towards a large tree ahead. Half of his body seemed to merge into the tree, and his voice reached Izumi's ears: "I have a special ability; my eyes can see the 'evil' in all living beings. The basis for this special ability to distinguish good from evil is my own heart and actions, as clear as a mirror. It's based on my own worldview and morals to identify sin."
Izumi's beautiful eyes widened. This... could it be the power of the Sharingan?
"Rookie. Do you think a shinobi who, to protect their family, has no choice but to take up arms, go to the battlefield, and even kill many people—are they considered evil in the eyes of these Sharingan?"
As Akainu Uchiha posed the question, his body had fully entered the forest genjutsu.
Izumi hurriedly followed him, pursing her lips, and softly replied, "Senpai, I don't think so."
"You're right, they are not."
Akainu Uchiha said calmly, "Its judgment standard is the same as my own good-and-evil standard before I awakened this ability. A person should make their ability stem from themselves, not let themselves be defined by their ability. Otherwise, [Justice] would become a wolf in sheep's clothing."
The moment Akainu Uchiha's words fell, the scene before him changed drastically.
A secret base, not small in scale, appeared before him. The air was filled with the smell of various strange chemicals. Faintly, there seemed to be a hint of blood.
"Who are you?!" A sudden cry of alarm came from in front of Akainu Uchiha.
He saw...
A Konoha shinobi looked at them in shock. Especially when he saw Akainu Uchiha's crimson Sharingan, the man was so startled his breathing hitched for a few seconds.
[Inuzuka Maki—Anbu Secret Research Base Scientist, participated in seventeen human experiments over the years, was one of Orochimaru's many assistants, directly or indirectly killed eleven war orphans. Sin Level: Red Name!]
"I remember you."
Akainu Uchiha's eerie voice was like that of a Shinigami emerging from the underworld. He stepped closer, one foot after another, and said, "Several years ago, when the Third Hokage raided the Sannin Orochimaru's human experimentation lab, I was there. What a coincidence, I saw you then."
"It seems the Third Hokage didn't uphold his promise to me to secretly execute you people. Instead, he protected you, keeping you here to be used for your skills."
"...It's you? The Lava Release user?!" Inuzuka Maki's distant memories exploded in his mind like cannon fire.
His eyes widened, his face filled with horror.