Chapter 179: The World Is Too Small; It Can No Longer Satisfy Me
The Land of Wind, Fire Shadow Village
Hashirama gazed out at the thriving village from the top of a cliff. Strictly speaking, he wasn't alone – he was Edo Tensei in form, while a disembodied soul, Hamura, accompanied him in spirit.
"I've told you many times already," Hamura said sharply, his voice tinged with exasperation. "Going back to the Pure Land now is no different from walking into a den of wolves!"
This Asura reincarnation was as stubborn as a block of wood. Hamura had repeated it hundreds of times: the Pure Land had fallen under someone's control.
All Hashirama had to do was accept his brother's Yang Release and Hamura's Yin Release, and he could smash through his limits, reaching – or even surpassing – the level of the Sage of Six Paths.
Why won't you understand?!
Hashirama's expression was downcast.
"Master Da-Lao-ye," he murmured using a respectful but somewhat odd address, "If the Pure Land's truly in danger, doesn't that mean I need to help them…?"
"Help them?!" Hamura snapped. "Help them fill their bellies, more like!"
Seething with anger, Hamura had to pause to calm down, then sighed heavily.
"I know what you're thinking… I can only tell you this: my brother is keeping Uchiha Madara's soul. And strictly speaking, you should be calling me 'Second Da-Lao-ye.'"
Hashirama's eyes shone, about to ask more when Hamura's face changed drastically.
"They're coming!" he hissed. "Tianshang no hito – the outsiders from beyond!"
---
Konoha. Uchiha Kagami's Estate
Ten-year-old Sasuke, twenty-year-old Shisui, and twenty-six-year-old Uchiha Kagami.
If one didn't know them, they might assume Shisui was the eldest, and it would be hard to tell which of Sasuke or Kagami was older.
"Brother, are you…never going to grow old?" Shisui remarked, somewhat amazed. He recalled seeing Kagami at around ten years old, and from his vantage, Kagami hadn't visibly aged in appearance.
Kagami lifted his teacup calmly. "Were I into silly references, I'd say we Saiyans remain youthful for lengthy periods because of our penchant for battle."
…
Isn't that still referencing something?
Shisui remembered hearing from Kagami's childhood days about so-called "Saiyans." He frequently teased him in training: "A guy like you wouldn't even beat Yamcha" or something like that.
Glancing at Sasuke's puzzled expression, Shisui switched the subject to the matter at hand. "Anyway, you wanted to see Sasuke and me for something, right?"
…
Kagami produced a nutrient solution container, a faint green fluid in which a pair of Sharingan floated.
…
"Wait, these are…"
Not only Sasuke but Shisui as well were taken aback. Even if they didn't know the full backstory, they sensed an unusual aura different from standard three-tomoe eyes – somewhat similar to Genka's incomplete Mangekyō.
"Back then, a few years before you were born, Sasuke," Kagami said, eyes on the swirl of chakra-laden fluid, "they were your father's eyes, which I removed."
!!
Sasuke's pupils shrank, his hands clenched.
Every time he'd asked Mother about Father, she urged him not to inquire. He'd assumed it just pained her to speak of Father. He hadn't pressed the matter again in recent years.
But he always had a certain feeling that he wasn't Mother's only child, that somewhere he might have an older brother or sister…some fleeting memory of being held in small arms.
Everyone knew no Sharingan in the Uchiha clan was ever left unaccounted for. The only ones kept were those willed by a ninja upon death or the clan's formal collection.
"Is Father…dead?" Sasuke asked quietly, voice trembling.
Kagami shook his head. "No. He's always been here in the Uchiha district."
"Then why—!"
Seized by sudden emotion, Sasuke cried out, only to realize it was rude to shout at his teacher.
"Please…tell me the truth."
"…Explaining everything in detail is a hassle. Relax your mind."
Kagami's eyes gleamed scarlet, and Sasuke sank into a crimson illusory realm.
"Part of what you'll see are actual events, part are from what we call the 'original timeline's future.'"
"Sasuke, you're my disciple. I won't hide anything from you 'for your own good.' You have the capacity to judge for yourself, and I'll respect whatever choice you make, even if it pits you against me."
…
In the visions Sasuke beheld:
Fugaku's perspective: losing all authority over clan members, weighed down by the Third Hokage's oppressive rule;
After witnessing a friend's death, awakening his Mangekyō;
Finally having his eyes taken by Kagami.
Then the story switched to Kagami's vantage:
Starting from Sasuke's birth, but in an alternate timeline where Kagami didn't exist;
The Nine-Tails rampage, Shisui's tragic death, Uchiha Itachi awakening Mangekyō;
Itachi, trapped between clan and village, culminating in…
The Night of the Uchiha Massacre.
---
Evening settled, and in that red haze, tears streamed down Sasuke's cheeks as he shut his eyes.
When they reopened, they revealed the Mangekyō Sharingan!
"Brother!" Shisui exclaimed, looking toward Kagami. He'd thought Kagami would do for Sasuke what he'd done for himself, bestowing him a perfect Mangekyō, but apparently not.
Kagami quietly sipped tea. "Sasuke and you aren't the same. He can still walk the local evolutionary path. It might surpass you in time."
"You and I had no road forward, so I opened a new one."
Kagami gazed steadily at Sasuke.
"Sasuke, in this choice between clan and village, I took my stand with the clan. I had enough strength to be the victor – that's all there is to it."
"I don't need you to choose anything. I just feel sorry for you…like you were doomed to Itachi's manipulations."
"I'll keep teaching you for a while, though not for long. If you come to hate me, if you want to change things—wait until I'm gone. If you can defeat Shisui by then, go for it."
Kagami pushed the nutrient jar forward.
"I've arranged for Kabuto to do the transplant."
He turned to watch the setting sun, as if speaking not just to Sasuke but Shisui as well.
"This world is too small to give me any sense of exhilaration."
"If possible," he murmured, "I'd like to see you all again in some other world."
Kagami lowered his gaze, as though staring through the planet's layers at its core.
"I already know you're there…"
---
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