Chapter 98 – The Eyes That Awakened from Love
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, studying Akira closely. His tone was steady, cautious, acknowledging the reality of the immense threat they faced.
"Even if you have that golden Byakugan—the strongest dōjutsu among the Ōtsutsuki—your power isn't on the same level as theirs," he stated. "Your chakra is strong, yes… maybe even above elite jōnin. But if that enemy truly wants to kill you, they can."
Akira didn't flinch. His face stayed calm, his eyes steady, his voice almost soft—but every word carried an unnerving weight of self-possession.
"Tell me something, Sasuke," he said, shifting the focus entirely. "Have you ever heard of an Uchiha who wields both the Byakugan and the Sharingan—eyes of completely different colors? A Uchiha who didn't awaken his dōjutsu through hatred or by losing someone precious… but through love?"
Sasuke froze. The words struck him harder than the physical shock of the time jump itself. The Uchiha's history was built on loss; the concept of an eye born from pure affection was a fundamental paradox.
Akira continued, his tone still gentle, but the quiet confidence in it made even the air around them feel still.
"And I'm one of the students of the Sannin—Jiraiya himself. With all of that together, do you really think I could exist in any world and not be known by anyone?"
The question struck deep. Sasuke looked away for a moment, his mind turning fast. What Akira said made sense—painfully so.
Back then, when Sasuke had first arrived, he had interrogated Akira, forcing him to deactivate the golden Byakugan. He'd seen it—the blue Sharingan that replaced it. A Sharingan unlike any he had seen before.
That eye didn't carry the killing intent that every Uchiha eye was born from. Instead, it radiated warmth. Protection. It was the kind of gaze that could calm even the chaos inside a shinobi's heart.
Sasuke now understood—even if Akira didn't seek the spotlight, it would always find him. Someone with such a unique, paradoxical power couldn't remain hidden; the world itself would make him known. The fact that Sasuke knew nothing of him was the strongest proof of a parallel timeline.
The Witnesses
Chōza and Shibi were still staring at Akira, sheer shock written on their faces. This was the first time they'd heard that Akira had awakened a Sharingan—and not just any Sharingan, but a mutation unlike anything in the Uchiha history, one they now realized he kept deeply hidden.
Kakashi's eyes softened with quiet recognition. He already knew the truth; Akira had told him in confidence, sharing the secret of his bizarre visual lineage.
Minato, too, wasn't surprised. Jiraiya had told him the details long ago, during his brief time training alongside Fugaku Uchiha—the very day Akira's blue Sharingan had awakened. It was a single, ocean-blue tomoe, beautiful enough to make people stare, and it emanated an aura that instantly relaxed those around him, a stark contrast to the clan's usual bloodlust.
Minato's gaze lingered on Akira now, thoughtful. Even in this strange web of past and future, Akira continued to prove that he was something different—something beyond what the shinobi world had yet to understand. A paradox born not of fate, but of pure will.