In the room, Uchiha Yujin had been standing in front of the mirror for more than half an hour.
He wasn't looking at the bloodstained cut near the corner of his eye, left by Yakushi Nonō.
And he certainly wasn't admiring himself.
He was staring into his own eyes.
His gaze no longer held the same calm indifference.
Now, there was a sharpness, a depth that hadn't been there before.
In the center of his pupil, what was once a normal dark iris was now marked by a single crimson tomoe — a comma-shaped mark that gleamed like a jewel embedded in his eye.
This was the single-tomoe Sharingan.
The Uchiha clan's unique kekkei genkai.
A sign that his Sharingan had awakened its first stage.
The tomoe was elegant in its simplicity.
It wasn't just decoration — it was power.
The single-tomoe Sharingan granted Yujin enhanced perception far beyond that of ordinary shinobi.
He could detect the subtlest movements, anticipate an opponent's next action, and even copy basic ninjutsu and taijutsu.
His vision had sharpened.
He could see the flow of chakra in others, giving him a prophetic edge in battle.
Every blink let him feel the chakra particles in the air flickering.
Every focused stare peeled away the surface of reality to show what lay beneath.
To Uchiha Yujin, the world had become clearer.
Details he once overlooked were now vivid.
The faintest chakra fluctuations now stood out like ripples in a pond.
He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and embraced the transformation brought by his new eyes.
Meanwhile, in the restroom behind the kitchen of Twisty Craig's Burger Joint, Marvel Yujin was also staring into the mirror.
[Sharingan (Single Tomoe): Grants members of the Uchiha Clan enhanced motion perception, allowing them to track fast-moving targets with precision. Provides a foundational advantage in battle through anticipation and reflex, and slightly strengthens genjutsu.]
"This eye looks so damn cool!" Marvel Yujin muttered, rubbing his eyelid.
"Think we'll be able to use Amaterasu someday?"
Across the room, Pirate Yujin slurped a fresh bowl of Shiramis soup and shook his head.
"Don't get your hopes up. Mangekyō Sharingan is a long way off."
Gulp gulp.
The sticky, gooey substance slid down his neck and into his stomach. Pirate Yujin continued speaking:
"Naruto Yujin already did a pretty brilliant job. But I can't help bringing up that so-called 'genius' — the one who awakened a single tomoe Sharingan in a fit of rage after witnessing the slaughter of his entire clan. Sasuke."
"That's true!" Marvel Yujin nodded. "I was too greedy! But now I feel like time is moving slower! I can actually see the flight path of a fly! This is amazing!"
"Play with it all you want. In less than a minute, you'll be dizzy," Pirate Yujin warned. "Compared to Japanese anime, the power conversions gained in the American comic world are far inferior to mine."
As soon as he said that, Marvel Yujin suddenly felt the world spinning.
The side effects of the Sharingan kicked in immediately, and he threw up the beef slices he had just stolen.
"Ugh! That's disgusting!"
"That's what happens when you overuse your eyes. Don't activate them unless you have no other choice," Pirate Yujin reminded him.
"Got it."
After finishing with his side account, Pirate Yujin quickly turned to speak with Uchiha Yujin.
"You awakened your eyes much faster than I expected."
Uchiha Yujin stepped away from the mirror.
"Yeah. It probably has something to do with the gene lock."
Pirate Yujin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I also think Itachi plays a role in this. That desperate will to survive when you're on the verge of death — it's not much different from the pain of losing someone important."
"But if that's all there is, then it's still far from enough."
Uchiha Yujin nodded. "Still, at least I've found the key to open the door."
According to incomplete statistics—
The Uchiha clan had about 800 members in total.
Of those, only around seventy had awakened the Sharingan.
And most of them only had a single tomoe.
A 'genius' like Uchiha Yujin, who awakened his Sharingan even before graduating from the ninja academy, was one in a million.
The Uchiha clan treated Sharingan Awakening geniuses like him with special care and high regard.
Just looking at Obito, that dead last, tells you everything.
Before he joined the war, Obito was just an ordinary ninja without his Sharingan awakened.
Yet even then, being a Uchiha gave him countless advantages.
For instance, techniques like the Great Fireball Jutsu—an Uchiha-exclusive ninjutsu—were typically only accessible to civilian children after graduating from the academy.
But any random Uchiha ninja could learn it early.
"Though someone like Itachi probably wouldn't bother paying attention to you, you'd still better be cautious," Pirate Yujin warned. "Who knows if he's memorized your face or not."
"I have no choice but to take a risk. If I don't show some of my strength and get the clan's attention, then ten months from now, I'm still dead meat."
At that moment, Marvel Yujin, who had remained silent for a while, suddenly interjected, "If that's the case, why not just run away from Konoha?"
"Heh... run?" Pirate Yujin scoffed. "Escaping from Konoha? That's just another path to certain death."
Uchiha Yujin patiently explained, "The Sharingan is a Kekkei Genkai that every village in the ninja world covets."
"Unlike other Kekkei Genkai that are harder to study, the Sharingan only needs a simple eye transplant surgery to be used by anyone."
"After the night of the clan's extermination, if the only remaining pairs of Sharingan in the world are..."
"One in Itachi's possession."
"And one in my eye sockets."
"Then guess what kind of fate would await me?"
Marvel Yujin shrank back and muttered, "I'll stop suggesting bad ideas."
Uchiha Yujin shrugged. "It's fine. People raised in happy, safe environments are bound to have a weaker sense of crisis than those of us raised licking blood off blades."
The night passed without incident.
At dawn the next day, Uchiha Yujin rose early.
Today, all students of the Ninja Academy's Exercise Class had an evaluation.
Uchiha Yujin had deliberately arranged to take the assessment in the afternoon.
Because in the morning, he had something very important to do.
An hour later, the head of the Konoha Police Force, the clan leader of the Uchiha, and the father of Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke—Uchiha Fugaku—nodded with a serious expression.
"Genius among geniuses."
Uchiha Fugaku spoke to the lady beside him pouring tea, Uchiha Mikoto, his wife.
"A once-in-a-century prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Our son, Itachi, awakened his Sharingan at the age of eight."
"Most of our clansmen only have the chance to awaken it after they turn ten."
"This kid studied at the Academy for just two years, and at nine years old, he already awakened it."
"Rare. Extremely rare."
After pouring the tea, Uchiha Mikoto handed a cup to Uchiha Yujin.
Uchiha Yujin quickly accepted it with a nod of gratitude. "Thank you, Lady Mikoto."
Though he was polite, Mikoto didn't return the same warmth.
"Awakening early doesn't prove anything. Lord Madara awakened his Sharingan at fifteen, and his achievements, aside from the First Hokage, remain unmatched."
"That may be true," Uchiha Fugaku said with displeasure, "but is it so wrong to give this child a little encouragement?"
"I'm just afraid he'll get carried away," Mikoto muttered with a frown, though her eyes glanced subtly toward the folding screen—behind which her youngest son, Uchiha Sasuke, was quietly eavesdropping.
At that moment, Uchiha Yujin realized why Mikoto was so bitter toward him.
Her own seven-year-old son was of average talent—nowhere near Itachi's level—and she feared he might even be less gifted than a mere civilian orphan.
Uchiha Yujin couldn't help but think of a joke, one he shared silently with the other two "Yujin" from parallel worlds.
"What's she so worried about? Ten months from now, she'll be killed by her precious son, Uchiha Itachi himself. Sasuke, who witnesses the entire massacre, will awaken his Sharingan at seven—and become the youngest in history."
Marvel Yujinjin: "That's... hell."
Pirate Yujinjin: "You're not going to heaven after that."
*********
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