After completing her mission, Izumi hurried back to the Village with a heavy heart. Her steps quickened, driven by an unease gnawing at her chest—a feeling she couldn't quite place, yet it weighed on her relentlessly. The sky above was thick and gloomy, shrouded in dark clouds that seemed to press down on the world, making the air feel thick and hard to breathe.
As she approached the Uchiha clan grounds, a chill ran down her spine. The usual vibrant energy of the clan—the familiar laughter, the warm greetings—was completely absent. Instead, the people she passed looked at her with cold, calculating eyes, their gazes strange and unfamiliar, as if she were a stranger in her own home.
The lively clan grounds fell into an eerie silence the moment she arrived. Izumi hesitated, uncertain, before taking a cautious step toward an old woman she knew well. She greeted her softly, but the woman merely nodded in acknowledgment and walked away without a word. The others continued to watch Izumi with dispassionate expressions, their usual warmth replaced by frosty distance.
Then, raindrops began to fall, cold and unrelenting, tapping steadily on Izumi's face. Almost immediately, the clan members started packing up, scattering back to their homes, leaving Izumi standing alone in the empty street, the sound of her footsteps swallowed by the intensifying rain.
A rising sense of panic urged her to hurry home.
---
When Izumi reached her house, her heart sank at the sight of the disarray at the entrance. The neatness and order she always associated with her mother's care were gone.
"What happened? Didn't Mother clean up today?" she muttered anxiously.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside, bracing herself for the worst. The cheerful welcome she was used to was nowhere to be found. The house was in chaos—papers scattered, furniture out of place—completely stripped of its usual warmth and tidiness.
Her heart began pounding wildly for reasons she couldn't explain.
She noticed her bedroom door was ajar, and her precious box had fallen to the floor, the lid hanging open as if it had been disturbed.
This box was secured by a protective spell she had set herself. The fact that it had been triggered made her tremble with fear. Her instincts screaming, Izumi crept towards her mother's room and slowly pushed the door open.
A soft creak echoed in the silent house.
Inside, she saw a frail figure lying on the bed—Uchiha Hazuki—her eyes closed as though she had fallen into a deep sleep.
"Mother!" Izumi's voice trembled as she hurried to her bedside and gently shook her.
"What's going on? What's wrong? Don't scare me!" she begged, eyes wide with worry.
Hazuki's body was shockingly thin and fragile, her once-beautiful features now pale and gaunt, completely drained of vitality.
Slowly, Hazuki opened her eyes, but a confused look clouded her gaze.
"Who... who are you?" she whispered weakly.
Izumi's heart broke at the question. "Mother, it's me—Izumi!"
The old woman's eyes suddenly flickered with recognition.
"Oh... Izumi. Yes, Izumi is my daughter." She grasped Izumi's hand with surprising strength, her voice trembling. "If you see my daughter, tell her... tell her that I won't make it. I can't stay with her anymore. She'll have to live alone. She's never been apart from me... I don't know if she can manage on her own."
Tears welled in Izumi's eyes. "Mother, what are you saying? What's wrong with you? Please don't scare me!"
Hazuki's expression faded back into confusion as she slipped once again into a fog of disorientation.
Desperate, Izumi reached out and scanned her mother's body with her Sharingan, analyzing the flow of chakra and energy.
Her heart pounded. "Her chakra is chaotic—her body is deteriorating... This... this looks like poisoning."
"No... this poison has already spread this far?" Panic surged through her veins. "I need to get her to the Hospital—there they have better equipment to treat toxins."
Without hesitation, Izumi began applying Medical Ninjutsu to stabilize her mother, layering her healing with the unique Divine Ink spiritual power she had developed. Slowly, the worst of the physical symptoms eased.
Cradling her mother carefully, Izumi dashed out of the house. Heavy rain poured down, drenching them both instantly.
She scanned the surroundings desperately for shelter or something to shield Hazuki from the rain.
Suddenly, Hazuki stirred, lifting her head slightly despite the torment.
"Izumi!" she called weakly.
Izumi turned quickly, grasping her mother's hand with renewed hope.
"Mother, you're awake! I'm taking you to the Hospital now," she said firmly.
Hazuki shook her head weakly. "No... not the Hospital. They all answer to the Village."
Izumi's eyes widened in shock. "The Village? You mean Konoha's leaders? Why... why are they doing this to you? What's happened?"
Hurriedly, Izumi returned inside, tears streaming down her face as she cradled her mother in her arms.
Hazuki's voice was fragile but resolute. "I was going to give you a gift when you came home—the ninjutsu created by our ancestors, Izanagi and Izanami. But... Izanagi was stolen. Izanami was taken back by the clan leader."
Izumi tightened her grip around her mother's hand. "It's okay, Mother. I understand. It's only ninjutsu. If necessary, I'll create my own. Don't scare me like this!"
Hazuki coughed weakly, the effort exhausting her. "Izumi... the tensions between the Uchiha and the Village grow worse every day. I don't want anything else, only that you survive... my daughter."
"No, Mother. I'll take you to the Hospital. They won't harm you there. And I know Medical Ninjutsu—I can save you. I still have talismans here, powerful ones. I will protect you."
But Hazuki shook her head. "I know my body, Izumi. I've held on just to see you once more. Listen to me... cough... cough..."
Tears blurred Izumi's vision as she placed talismans on her mother's body, hoping to strengthen her fragile life force.
But inside, something was terribly wrong.
Blood and an unfamiliar liquid mixed with the healing energy and spilled from her mother's lips.
"What poison is this? I've never seen anything like it!" Izumi cried in disbelief.
She continued frantically administering medical aid, desperation clawing at her heart.
Hazuki's trembling hand brushed Izumi's face, her voice barely audible. "Izumi... I still worry about you. I never saw you grow up... I never saw you become an adult... cough... cough..." Another mouthful of blood spilled onto the floor.
"Don't say anymore, Mother. I will heal you—I promise," Izumi sobbed, tears streaming freely.
But her mother's chakra weakened rapidly, and the light in her eyes dimmed.
Hazuki's voice grew faint. "Goodbye, Izumi... live well..."
Her hand fell lifelessly to the side.
Izumi sat frozen, staring at her mother's still form, the tears streaming down her face turning into crimson blood tears.
"No! No! No!" she screamed, her anguish tearing through the silence.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder split the sky, followed by a blinding flash of lightning.
A tremendous burst of black spiritual energy erupted from Izumi's entire body, surging toward her eyes.
Her blood tears, crimson moments before, turned to black as they flowed down her cheeks.
Her scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan began to spin and pulse. The tomoe merged and expanded, forming a large, jet-black circle with a pupil at its center.
Surrounding this pupil were eight large black triangles, arranged in a perfect sun-shaped pattern—her Mangekyō Sharingan.
Black spiritual power poured from every pore of her body, the Divine Ink in her veins darkening until it concentrated into her left eye.
As her Mangekyō began to spin, streams of ink-like Divine Ink flowed down from her eye, cascading like tears.
Izumi remained oblivious to this transformation, consumed by grief and the overwhelming surge of power.
---
As her mother's consciousness faded, a faint smile graced Hazuki's lips.
"Indeed... Izumi has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan," she whispered softly.
"This is the last gift I, your mother, can give you. Only I possess the power to awaken it for you. With this, you will have the strength to survive."
Hazuki's thoughts drifted toward her lost love, Izumi's father.
"Will he be proud, seeing that I raised such a daughter? Izumi... live well."
And with those final words, Uchiha Hazuki's spirit slipped away.
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