"A third eye?"
Kabuto paused, then smiled as if the question were merely academic."Why do you ask?"
Sasuke did not answer immediately. His gaze drifted to the specimen tray beside the worktable.
"During dissections," he said, voice even, "I noticed a small cavity above the eye sockets. Mice first. Then fish, reptiles, birds. Mammals too. The structure repeats."
Kabuto listened without interrupting.
"I haven't examined a human body yet," Sasuke continued, "but the pattern is consistent. I doubt humans are an exception."
The explanation was clinical. Detached. Exactly how a medic would frame curiosity.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, interest surfacing behind the lenses. "I see. That's not an unusual conclusion."
He considered his words for a moment. "There have always been theories about a third eye. Monks talk about it the most. Insight. Inner sight. The so-called eye of wisdom."
He waved the idea away lightly. "Religious language. Not very useful."
Sasuke watched him closely.
"From a medical standpoint," Kabuto went on, "it's plausible. Developmental regression, perhaps. An organ that never fully manifests." He smiled faintly. "Personally, I think humans do possess something like it."
Sasuke inclined his head.
Kabuto's answer was close enough to confirmation.
"In the shinobi world," Kabuto added, tone casual, "oddities aren't rare. Extra limbs. Altered skeletons. Even additional eyes. You'll see stranger things if you live long enough."
The words carried a second meaning. Sasuke caught it.
Kabuto studied him more openly now. "You seem especially interested."
"Only as a possibility," Sasuke replied.
Kabuto chuckled. "In that case, I'll lend you something." He reached for a shelf. "Two books. Their authors were ordinary doctors, but their research into the brain and vision was thorough. You might find them useful."
"Thank you," Sasuke said.
They spoke a little longer, then Sasuke prepared to leave.
As he turned, Kabuto asked, almost offhand, "Will you enter this year's Chūnin Exams?"
Sasuke paused. "Those are soon?"
"Early summer."
"I'll follow my sensei's decision," Sasuke replied. "There's no need to decide yet."
Kabuto nodded, satisfied.
That night, the Uchiha compound was silent.
Sasuke retrieved a sealed report from a ninja cat messenger and descended into the basement. He read without haste.
Hōzuki Castle. An island facility near Kusagakure.A prison jointly maintained by multiple nations.Warden: Mui. Son, Muku, presumed deceased.
Sasuke closed the file.
The prison itself meant nothing to him.
What mattered was what lay beneath it.
The Box of Bliss.
A relic said to date back to the Sage of Six Paths. Four faces carved into its surface. Joy. Rage. Sorrow. Pleasure. A device bound by a technique that responded not to chakra alone, but to desire.
Legends claimed it could grant a wish.
Sasuke stood in the dim light, eyes steady.
His goal was clear.
A Mangekyō unlike any recorded.Not in the sockets.
On the forehead.
A third eye.