During the meeting, Izuna had quietly assessed the power within his new body. He discovered he had already awakened the Uchiha clan's ultimate power: the Mangekyo Sharingan.
In the original story, Uchiha Obito had tricked Sasuke into believing Madara and Izuna had obtained it by killing their best friends. But the truth was likely that they awakened it after witnessing the death of their father, Uchiha Tajima, just as Obito and Kakashi had after witnessing Rin's death.
Madara's face froze. "Izuna, you mean you have it, too?"
Izuna closed his eyes. When he opened them a second later, the three tomoe in his pupils had spun into a three-pronged shape.
Madara also closed his eyes. When he reopened them, his normal three-tomoe Sharingan had transformed into a special pattern with a long, curved-comma design.
Both were Mangekyo Sharingan!
"What is this new Sharingan...?" Madara murmured, covering his eyes in confusion.
"I suspect it's a new form of Sharingan that evolves from the three-tomoe stage after witnessing the death of a close relative. The Mangekyo Sharingan," Izuna explained.
"Mangekyo Sharingan? Did you name it? The name fits." Madara nodded thoughtfully.
"Let's spend tonight learning about the Mangekyo Sharingan," Izuna proposed. "Tomorrow, we can discuss how to deal with the pursuing Senju."
Madara pondered for a moment, then nodded. They parted ways and returned to their respective tents.
[Player: Uchiha Izuna
Level: Kage-level
Chakra Natures: Fire, Wind, Lightning
Kekkai Genkai: Mangekyo Sharingan]
*What in the...* A translucent panel floating in his mind's eye made Izuna pause in surprise for a couple of seconds.
Seeing the word "Player" at the top sent him down a memory lane. He had been playing a Naruto online game, fell asleep on his keyboard, and woke up in this world.
*Could this golden finger be related to the game I was playing?*
[Wind Release: Pressure Damage (Learned, B-rank Wind Style) →
Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane (A-rank Wind Style, 54 Skill Points required)
Wind Release: Wind Killing Formation (A-rank Wind Style, 50 Skill Points required)
Wind Release: Rasengan (A-rank Wind Style, 66 Skill Points required)]
[Lightning Release: Earth Runner (Learned, C-rank Lightning Style) →
Lightning Release: Earth Explosion Flow (B-rank Lightning Style, 26 Skill Points required)
Lightning Release: Emotion Wave (B-rank Lightning Style, 22 Skill Points required)
Lightning Release: Raging Thunder Tiger (B-rank Lightning Style, 26 Skill Points required)]
Izuna blinked and quickly checked, finding something akin to a game's skill tree in his mind. Every jutsu he knew was marked: Wind Release: Pressure Damage (Learned), Lightning Release: Earth Runner (Learned), Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation (Learned)...
After each learned ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu, there was an unlocked, higher-level technique. Just like in the game, they required Skill Points to unlock.
In the Warring States period, the number of jutsu wasn't as vast as it would be in the later era of Konoha, where they filled an entire scroll of sealing. Each ninja clan possessed a relatively limited number of techniques. The major clans like the Uchiha, Senju, and Sarutobi naturally had more, but even the Uchiha only possessed S-rank jutsu in their specialty, Fire Release. They had almost no A-rank jutsu for the other four elements.
Suddenly, Izuna thought of something important. He called up the skill tree again and clicked on the "Kekkai Genkai" section.
Sure enough, it was listed there:
[Sharingan (Learned) → Mangekyo Sharingan (Learned) → Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (Locked, 300 Skill Points required, Condition: Blood of a close relative)
Evolvable: Rinnegan (Locked, ??? Skill Points required, ??? Conditions required)]
...
*This way, I can overcome the drawbacks of the Mangekyo, can't I?*
Seeing this, Izuna breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Although he had, strictly speaking, just met Uchiha Madara, he could feel the deep brotherly bond resonating from this body. He didn't want to end up in a life-or-death struggle with Madara over eyes.
Setting aside the Mangekyo's drawbacks for now, Izuna decided to deal with those other jutsu.
Besides the Fire Release common to all Uchiha, he also possessed Wind and Lightning natures. Because of this, the Water and Earth Release skill trees were grayed out and inactive. He probably wouldn't be able to awaken them unless he got the Rinnegan and its seven natures.
As much as he wanted the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the glaring "300" Skill Points required, compared to the pathetic "80" he currently possessed—displayed in the bottom right of the screen—forced him to give up. The eighty points seemed to be the leftover premium currency from his gaming days...
If this were a time of peace, he wouldn't mind slowly accumulating Skill Points. But this was wartime, and the Senju were about to kick down their door!
In the end, Izuna chose the A-rank Wind Release: Rasengan. It was currently the most cost-effective jutsu he could unlock.
Instantly, he felt a warm current flow through him. He had mastered a new jutsu unknown to the Uchiha clan, perhaps even to this entire era.
After he learned Wind Release: Rasengan, the skill tree immediately updated:
[Wind Release: Rasengan (Learned) →
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken (Locked, S-rank Wind Style, 100 Skill Points required, Condition: Sage Chakra (required for throwing))]
At that moment, it occurred to Izuna that he could create scrolls of these jutsu for other Uchiha to learn. For example, Uchiha Madara's chakra natures seemed to be Fire, Lightning, and Water. A Lightning Release technique might be better suited for him.
But with the Senju situation at a stalemate—or rather, with the Uchiha at a disadvantage—he had to put those thoughts aside. First, they had to escape the threat of an imminent Senju attack.
He spent the rest of the night studying his new jutsu and the Mangekyo Sharingan.
The next morning, more than ten of the Uchiha's top ninja, including Izuna and Madara, gathered in the main tent.
"Today, we must decide who will form the rearguard," a middle-aged ninja from Uchiha Tajima's generation said gravely.
"I think... the wounded should do it. Our clan's strength is severely depleted. We should protect the clansmen who are still intact."
"How can you say that? Those men fought and bled for our clan! Are you suggesting we send them to their deaths?"
"We must consider the entire clan now. If we have no other choice, we must make such a sacrifice."
"Sacrifice is inevitable. If it comes to it... using Izanagi might turn the tables, but in that case..."
The leadership split into two factions. One group argued for sacrificing the wounded, some of whom might not be salvageable anyway. They would fight to the death, even using the forbidden jutsu Izanagi to hold off the Senju.
The other group believed an elite unit should cover the retreat, allowing the wounded to be evacuated as quickly as possible.