Uchiha Kei was about to call out to Rokuro—but then froze in shock.
The single tomoe in his eyes had morphed into two. For a brief moment, it even seemed on the verge of evolving further, but for some reason—perhaps a lack of chakra, perhaps something else—it stopped at two tomoe and went no further.
"So my bloodline really is impure after all…"
As the owner of the eyes, Rokuro could sense the change immediately.
Each tomoe that appeared sharpened his vision and his ability to perceive chakra. He didn't need anyone else to point it out.
Unless, of course, it was like in the original story—when Sasuke awakened his Sharingan only to faint right after, never realizing what had happened to his eyes.
"Rokuro, you did it! You went straight to two tomoe—and for a moment, it even looked like it would reach three! I bet it won't take long before you complete it!"
Kei jumped to her feet, her hands clenched in excitement, overcome by the feeling of witnessing history.
Rokuro, however, simply raised his hand, gesturing for her to calm down.
"It didn't evolve this time, and it won't for a while. That's something determined by bloodline."
"Bloodline?"
"That's right. My mother isn't a member of the Uchiha clan. Strictly speaking, that makes me only half Uchiha. My blood isn't as pure as those born from two Uchiha parents."
"Because of that, both the awakening and the evolution of the Sharingan are harder for me. For someone with a pure bloodline like you, Kei, the difficulty's much lower. If you don't believe me, why don't you give it a try?"
"Sure, sure! Let's try it!"
Rokuro took out a fresh chakra paper and wrote down the same molecular-style formula from earlier—the one he now called the Uchiha Chakra Formula.
Following the same steps, he pressed the seal-bearing paper against Kei's forehead and instructed her to channel chakra through it for conversion.
Kei obeyed.
Soon, her single tomoe spun and became two—but before she could push further, her body gave out. She collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air, her face pale as snow, consciousness fading.
"Rokuro… I feel so tired… My chakra's almost gone…"
Rokuro quickly carried her to the bed.
"See the difference now? My chakra reserves and physical endurance are far greater than yours. Yet both of us reached two tomoe. That means your evolution rate is much higher than mine. That's the difference bloodline makes. Understand?"
By the time he finished, Kei had already fallen asleep.
Rokuro tucked her in gently, then picked up the Uchiha Chakra formula, studying it for a long while.
"So it really worked. Looks like the Second Hokage wasn't lying to Sasuke—the key to awakening the Sharingan really is a special type of chakra. But bloodline remains crucial. Judging from this, my potential probably caps at the three-tomoe stage. The Mangekyō might be out of reach for someone like me. All the more reason to study medical ninjutsu."
He let out a long breath.
"Still, with this chakra analyzer, I don't have to worry about the Rinnegan problem anymore. Whether it's Indra or Asura—as long as their chakra truly exists—I'll be able to decode it."
"For now, I need to keep training my body with Lightning Release Chakra Mode. The stronger my body, the sooner I can reach the three-tomoe stage. Once I do, combining it with the Lightning Armor and Flying Thunder God Technique… maybe I'll finally be able to take on 'Big Brother Itachi' and that traitor Obito."
Time passed.
The turbulent fifty-first year of Konoha came and went.
Now, it was Year 52.
In Rokuro's memory, that year was marked by one major event—the exposure of Orochimaru's live-human experimentation. Declared a rogue ninja, he fled the village, and soon after began accelerating his abduction of test subjects.
Because of that, many of Orochimaru's former subordinates were placed under investigation by the Anbu. One of the most notable among them was Mitarashi Anko.
Rokuro had interacted with her several times—she was, nominally, his senior—but for some reason, every time their eyes met, he always sensed a faint hostility.
"So that's what they call a father complex, huh? Heh… pathetic. That woman has no idea that, to Orochimaru, she's nothing more than a disposable pawn. Not even qualified to be a spare vessel for Living Corpse Reincarnation. Truly pitiful."
By now, Rokuro's Sharingan remained at two tomoe.
Even though his chakra reserves had reached the level of a Chūnin, he still couldn't evolve it further—yet another reminder of his impure bloodline. If his goal were just to reach three tomoe, that would be fine. But to awaken the Mangekyō, he'd need a way to purify his Uchiha lineage.
At Konoha's main gate, still guarded by the Police Force, Rokuro stood waiting with a pack slung over his shoulder and his forehead protector gleaming in the sunlight.
Before long, Mitarashi Anko strolled over, reporting her departure to the guards before walking up to him.
"Anko-senpai, you're thirty-seven minutes late. Care to explain?"
Rokuro glanced at his watch as he started walking.
"Hmph, I had a stomachache, alright?"
Rokuro turned his head slightly, eyeing her sour expression.
"A ninja getting stomach trouble before a mission? You're really making Orochimaru-sensei proud."
"What was that? You wanna fight?"
The moment he mentioned Orochimaru, Anko's temper flared. She jumped to her feet, kunai already drawn.
Rokuro ignored her, leaping into the trees and switching into travel mode.
Anko followed, keeping pace as she complained.
"If it weren't for this stupid mission with you, I'd be learning from Orochimaru-sensei right now! You just had to take a bandit-hunting job at such a critical time!"
Rokuro turned his head slightly.
"You just gave away your teacher's current status that easily? You're not some infiltrator, are you?"
"I—!"
Anko faltered, words caught in her throat. Rokuro looked away.
"Honestly, without you around, maybe Orochimaru-sensei's research would progress even faster. Don't you think you're overestimating your own importance?"
"You jerk! You've got a filthy mouth! I'll rip it right off your face!"
Anko lunged forward, kunai in hand. Rokuro parried, the two of them trading blows mid-leap as they sped through the forest.
After ten minutes, Anko was gasping for air, drenched in sweat, while Rokuro's breathing remained calm and even.
"H-how…? You're just a recent academy graduate!"
"Anko-senpai, I graduated half a year ago. My opponent during the final exam was a Chūnin from the Akimichi clan."
Then, as if realizing something, Rokuro gave her a look of feigned curiosity.
"By the way, you've been Orochimaru's disciple for years now, right? Yet your strength's barely at Chūnin level. Have you even been trying? Makes you wonder what Orochimaru-sensei saw in you. Guess even one of the Legendary Sannin can make mistakes, huh?"