Developing jutsu!Akira Sato often sought advice from Minato Namikaze on this topic.
After obtaining the advanced materials from the Uchiha clan archives, his understanding of chakra and jutsu now far surpassed that of most other ninjas.Clear Mind Pills — truly the best!With those, he didn't have to worry about struggling to learn anymore.
Armed with this wealth of jutsu knowledge, plus Minato's guidance, Akira naturally could start developing his own signature jutsu.Remember, future Kakashi developed the A-rank Chidori at age twelve and later even the S-rank Raikiri.As a time-traveler with cheat-like "money powers," why should Akira be any worse?
Beyond knowledge, creativity was the real key to inventing jutsu.And in this area, Akira might not say everyone in the ninja world was garbage, but he certainly stood far above most.Not to mention, he had Minato himself backing him.
Let's not forget, the Rasengan — Naruto's future ace move — was also developed by Minato, showing just how brilliant he was at jutsu creation.So, the jutsu Akira had long been planning was finally moving up on his to-do list.
Feeling pleased, Akira returned to the Uchiha compound.
But the moment he stepped inside, he noticed something was off.The atmosphere was strange.
The Uchiha he passed on the way gave him complicated, uneasy looks.With that weird tension hanging over him, Akira made his way home.
As soon as he entered his courtyard, he nearly bumped straight into Uchiha Fugaku, who was approaching with several others.
"Akira-kun, if you need help with anything, come find me anytime," Fugaku said as he passed by, before leaving.
"…??"Akira genuinely wanted to shout, "Stop talking in riddles, damn it!"
He headed into the clan meeting hall.
And the first thing he saw was her — lying flat on the tatami mat, dressed only in a thin white robe, her figure looking delicate and fragile.
Uchiha Mei.
Her face was pale, like fine porcelain that could shatter at a touch.Most striking of all were the bandages wrapped around her eyes.
Crap.
For a ninja, even losing a hand still left you a ninja.But if you went blind, no matter how you sliced it, you were no longer fit to be a shinobi.And for an Uchiha, losing your eyes was a blow far beyond what any other clan could understand.Everyone knew — the Uchiha's greatest pride was their Sharingan.
If something happened to their eyes, the psychological blow was devastating.
The room was filled with a deathly silence.That suffocating aura hung over Mei's body.
Aside from her, only six senior jonin from the Uchiha main house were present.Among them, the only woman, Uchiha Shizuka, sat kneeling on the floor, eyes filled with heartache and worry as she watched over Mei.
Standing protectively in front of the others was Uchiha Shota — unusually burly for an Uchiha — his eyes now blood-red, with three black tomoe spinning in each.
A fully awakened three-tomoe Sharingan!
That state meant he was ready to attack at any moment.
"…!"Akira's pupils contracted slightly.
He hadn't expected Mei to be hurt.
Until now, her confidence and commanding presence had made it easy to believe she could handle anything.But suddenly, he remembered — in his mind, he'd long tagged her as the "rich, beautiful, powerful, yet tragically doomed" character.Maybe in the original timeline, she'd never even appeared because this happened.
Blinded, perhaps she eventually "took her own life."Of course she'd never have shown up later.
He wondered uneasily whether his actions might have indirectly caused this outcome.
Because of the medical potions he'd introduced, Akira had gained some fame among both the Uchiha and the village leadership.And as his fiancée, Mei naturally benefited from that as well.
So maybe someone like Danzo, eager to keep her from rising too far, had struck early.Though Mei was strong — a special jonin — against the forces of Root, she wouldn't have stood a chance.
After all, she wasn't the protagonist.She didn't have protagonist plot armor.
They probably didn't kill her outright only because of Uchiha clan politics.After all, injuring someone and killing them were two very different things.
"Akira, from here on, you'll take care of Mei," Uchiha Shizuka said when she saw him come in.Then she and Shota moved to stand protectively in front of Uchiha Shu, shielding him from sight.
"We're leaving!"Uchiha Shu frowned but led the others out, with Shota and Shizuka following.
From here on, it was a power struggle inside the Uchiha main house.
Before, they'd been stable only because Mei stood as their designated "heir apparent."But now that Mei was blind, there was no way she could hold that position.
Even the current clan head would have to step down if he went blind.A leader didn't need to be the strongest fighter, but they had to at least be able to fight — otherwise, how could they survive assassination attempts and hold the clan's authority?
As for why Shizuka left Mei in Akira's care?Because the two were bound together.
Akira's protection under the Uchiha banner was entirely thanks to his engagement to Mei.If something happened to her, that protection would vanish.
So from every angle, the best person to care for Mei was her fiancé.
For Shizuka and Shota, as senior jonin of the main house, their top priority now was stabilizing the internal power balance — hence why they'd hurried off.
At this point, no one was going to come after Mei.She was no longer a threat.
After the others left, Akira knelt beside his fiancée to examine her condition.
It was bad.
Her eyes had been completely destroyed — not even medical ninjutsu could heal them.
"Just a coincidence?"But Akira couldn't help thinking this was all a bit too coincidental.
The healing potion he'd been developing had just reached the human testing phase — and now, here was the perfect "test subject" dropped right into his lap.
With the base healing agent and the regenerative traits he'd extracted from those special lizards, the combined potion theoretically had a "limb regeneration" effect.But how effective would it be on a human?How much would be needed?Without testing, he didn't dare use it recklessly on his fiancée.
Looking at Mei's lifeless, puppet-like figure, Akira finally spoke.
"Do you want to be healed?"
After all, she was his "golden ticket."If anything happened to her, it would be a disaster for him.No matter what, he had to save her.
Akira didn't want to end up watching his fiancée take her own life from despair — by then, it would be too late.Better to give her a little hope first.
But even hearing his words, Mei gave no reaction.
Of course not.Her injuries had already been secretly treated by several top experts, all of whom concluded there was "no saving her."
As for finding Tsunade, the top healer in the land?She'd left the village long ago, after the deaths of her brother and lover — no one could locate her.
So hearing a newly graduated genin say something like this, Mei naturally didn't respond.
"Come on!"Seeing this, Akira knew words alone weren't enough.He forcefully pulled her up.
If this were the old Mei — the proud and domineering Mei — she would've immediately kicked him across the room for daring to act like this.
But now, she just let herself be dragged like a lifeless doll.That showed just how much the blindness had crushed her spirit.
Soon, the two of them arrived in Akira's underground laboratory.
And there, the miracle began to unfold.
(To be continued)