Crackle, crackle.
The firewood burned, casting a warm light that pushed back the gloom of the cave. But Uchiha Mikoto felt no warmth at all. She sat on the ground, hugging her knees, staring blankly into space without a word.
Beside her, Zangetsu was roasting a fish. He had used a lot of energy and needed to replenish it.
"Eat something," he said softly, blowing on a piece of roasted fish before offering it to her. "It might not taste great, but it will make you feel a bit better."
At his words, Mikoto looked up at him. Staring at his handsome face, now filled with a doting expression, she felt a complex storm of emotions. She remembered everything that had happened since they met. She knew he had killed her comrades. And… he had violated her. She felt she was no longer worthy of being Fugaku's wife, no longer worthy of being Itachi's mother.
There should have been a blood feud between them, a matter of life and death. They should never have been able to sit together so peacefully.
But the reality was, her heart had changed. She felt… a favorable impression toward him.
She should want to kill this boy with every fiber of her being, but instead, she felt an affection that prevented her from acting. The feeling was so confusing it was driving her to the brink of a breakdown. But she couldn't control it.
"Thank you," she whispered, accepting the fish and taking small bites. The warmth of the food filled her with a sense of comfort that felt utterly absurd. But it was happening.
Watching her quietly eat the fish, Zangetsu smiled with satisfaction. He glanced at the bracelet on her wrist and sighed internally again.
Love Without Regrets. The item he had received when he first activated the system.
The reason Mikoto's mind was in such a twisted state, the reason she was acting so unnaturally, was all because of this bracelet. It had sealed off any retreat for her romance progress, locking it so it could not fall below 51%. It forced a mid-level "favorable impression" upon her. This was why they could sit together so peacefully now. Rule-based items like this were terrifyingly powerful.
This item, if used well, could create miracles. It was no wonder it was the only item the system had given him so far.
Initially, he had planned to use it on Tsunade. Even after Mikoto had unexpectedly appeared, he hadn't intended to use it on her. His plan had been to get his reward from her and then either leave her or… send her on her way to the afterlife. After all, letting the wife of the Uchiha clan leader return alive would mean Uchiha Fugaku would hunt him to the ends of the earth.
But plans change. He never expected the reward from Mikoto would be so immense.
According to the system:
0-20% (Stranger): No reward.
21-40% (Acquaintance): Daily intel. Not an immediate power boost.
41-60% (Favorable Impression): Randomly obtain one of the target's abilities.
This was the reward he had gambled for. Even a random ability from a Jonin-level Uchiha would be a significant boost for him. He had coveted her bloodline and her three-tomoe Sharingan. For that possibility, he had risked his life.
And he had won. He had won bigger than he could have ever imagined. The system had given him something that made him believe his luck was truly heaven-defying.
Because the ability he had randomly obtained from Mikoto was her Sharingan.
And it wasn't the three-tomoe Sharingan he had been coveting.
It was the MANGEKYO SHARINGAN!!!!!!
Yes, the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Uchiha Mikoto had awakened it. In that moment when she woke up and found Zangetsu violating her, the combined trauma of her comrades' deaths, the shame, despair, and rage had pushed her over the edge, directly awakening her Mangekyo Sharingan.
And the reward Zangetsu received from their "deep exchange" was precisely that newly awakened Mangekyo Sharingan.
His luck was simply off the charts. It left even him speechless.
It was for this reason that he had decisively used the "Love Without Regrets" bracelet on her, locking in her progress. With the Mangekyo Sharingan awakened, her value to him had become immense.
61-70% (Ambiguous/Intimate): Randomly obtain one of the target's abilities and strengthen it.
71-80% (Couple): Choose and obtain one of the target's abilities and strengthen it.
He needed to reach these tiers, especially the "Couple" tier. The reason was, of course, to obtain the Uchiha clan bloodline from her and to strengthen his new Mangekyo Sharingan. This was now a necessity.
On one hand, the allure of an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was too great.
On the other hand, this great fortune came with a great curse. Without the Uchiha bloodline, his new eyes would consume a massive amount of his chakra, severely hindering him. And overuse of the Mangekyo would eventually lead to blindness.
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