The room was dim, lit only by a single lantern set against the far wall. The air smelled faintly of iron and antiseptic. Naruto lay flat on the bed, his hands clenched tightly against the sheets. Shizune hovered over him, her hands glowing with healing chakra as she made the final incisions with steady precision.
Naruto bit back a hiss of pain. Sweat beaded on his brow, rolling into his hairline as Shizune worked.
"Almost done," she said firmly. "Don't move."
In her hands lay a small vial. Suspended inside was a single eye—the Mangekyō Sharingan once belonging to Shisui Uchiha. The three tomoe spun faintly even within death's stillness, as though it resisted the silence of the grave.
Naruto's breath hitched. This… this is it.
Shizune removed the eye and, with practiced hands, began the implantation. Naruto gritted his teeth as a stabbing fire lanced through his skull. The sensation was unbearable—like molten metal flooding into his brain. His world swam in red and black.
"Hold still!" Shizune snapped, chakra glowing brighter as she sealed the connections.
Naruto could no longer tell if the tears streaming down his face were from the pain or his body's desperate rejection of foreign power.
Kurama stirred within him, his voice low and rough. So you finally decided to do it. Foolish, but bold. If you can't master this eye, it'll devour you from the inside.
Naruto gasped as the world seemed to tilt.
The bandages Shizune pressed over his left eye blurred from his vision. Darkness swallowed him whole.
When Naruto's consciousness steadied, he was no longer in the hospital bed.
Instead, he stood in an endless void, a space where light and shadow churned together like storm clouds. His right eye showed him only blackness. But his left—the implanted Mangekyō—blazed with clarity, cutting through the void.
Shapes appeared. Fragments of people. Faces he knew. Sakura's anxious smile. Kakashi's weary gaze. Jiraiya's proud laughter. Then Sasuke, standing apart, his back turned as always.
The visions shifted. He saw chains of chakra binding tailed beasts, their roars echoing across the void. He saw shinobi nations rising and falling like tides. And at the center of it all, a single eye—an infinite ripple, stretching across the heavens.
Naruto staggered. His heart pounded in his chest. "This… this is too much."
Kurama's voice thundered in the void. You've touched the edge of it. Shisui's Mangekyō wasn't meant for human eyes to hold lightly. It commands the mind itself. Kotoamatsukami… the power to bend another's will without them even realizing it.
Naruto clutched his chest, breath ragged. "All this power… if I lose control—"
Then you become worse than the ones you swore to stop, Kurama finished darkly.
The visions flickered and collapsed, plunging him into silence.
When Naruto opened his eyes again, he was back in the hospital bed. His left eye throbbed beneath the bandages, but he could feel it—alive, awake, whispering at the edge of his thoughts.
Shizune leaned over him, relief flooding her face. "You're awake. Don't move too much. The transplant was successful, but your body will need time to adjust."
Naruto exhaled shakily. So this is the path I've chosen.
Far away, under the pall of storm clouds, two brothers stood in the crumbling halls of the Uchiha hideout.
The stone walls cracked with each collision of their chakra.
Sasuke faced his brother with the full fury of years of hatred burning in his eyes. His own Sharingan spun wildly, three tomoe gleaming. "This is it, Itachi! No more games!"
Itachi stood opposite him, expression unreadable, his Mangekyō calm and steady. The faintest cough left his lips, blood flecking his hand as he hid it away in his sleeve.
"You've grown strong, Sasuke," he said evenly. "Stronger than I expected. But hatred alone does not make you invincible."
Sasuke roared, lightning bursting from his body. "Then I'll show you! Kirin!"
He leapt back, chakra surging into the clouds above. The sky crackled, thunder splitting the heavens as a colossal dragon of lightning coiled across the storm.
Itachi's eyes narrowed, Mangekyō spinning. "Susanoo."
A red, spectral warrior erupted around him, shield raised, blade shimmering. The lightning dragon descended with apocalyptic force, striking the Susanoo head-on. The hideout shook as the ground split apart, light consuming everything.
When the dust cleared, Susanoo still stood.
Sasuke collapsed to one knee, chest heaving, his reserves spent. His eyes trembled, blood trailing down his cheek. Damn it… not enough…
Itachi staggered forward, each step labored, but his gaze never wavered.
The two stood amidst the wreckage, bloodied, broken, yet unyielding.
Their battle was not merely for survival—it was the clash of truth and lies, of hatred and sacrifice.
Back in Konoha, Naruto sat alone in the silence of the night, bandages covering his left eye. The weight of the new power throbbed against him like a second heartbeat.
He raised a hand to the bandages, fingers trembling. The memory of the visions lingered—faces, futures, the ripple of that vast eye in the void.
With this… I can protect them. I have to.
Kurama rumbled low in his chest. Or you'll drown in it. Remember this, brat—power without resolve is just another chain.
Naruto's jaw tightened. He looked out the window, where the moon hung heavy and pale above the village.
Somewhere out there, Sasuke was fighting for his own truth.
And Naruto knew, sooner or later, their paths would collide.
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