Divine Power Descends!
Hua Ling died just like that.
She left this world without regret, a gentle smile still resting on her lips as though the pain of the battlefield had never touched her.
Only Kakashi Hatake stood frozen in place, kneeling in the shallow water, her lifeless body held tightly in his arms. He did not move. He did not breathe.
Time itself seemed to congeal around him.
His father, Sakumo Hatake, had taken his own life.
Rin Nohara had died by his own hand.
His teacher, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina were gone.
Now even the woman he had just begun to care for had perished before his eyes.
And Obito Uchiha his last surviving teammate had fallen into darkness.
"Am I… cursed?" Kakashi's fingers trembled.
Everyone close to him met tragedy.
Everyone he reached for was swallowed by fate.
For years he had sealed his heart in concrete cold, impenetrable. It was easier that way. Easier not to feel. Easier not to hope.
Even when he learned that his sensei's son, Naruto Uzumaki, lived alone and ostracized, he kept his distance.
Not because he did not care.
But because he was afraid.
Afraid that misfortune followed him like a shadow.
Afraid Naruto would suffer more if he drew near.
Yet what Kakashi did not realize was that this tidal wave of grief, regret, and fury was stirring something ancient within his transplanted eye.
His three-tomoe Sharingan spun violently.
Faster. Faster.
Until
The pattern shifted.
The tomoe fused and stretched into a windmill-like design.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kakashi stiffened. His breath hitched.
He lowered his head toward the water's surface and saw the reflection clearly the shuriken-shaped pupil staring back at him.
"Impossible…"
The Uchiha clan's forbidden evolution. Awakened through profound emotional trauma.
"I'm not even an Uchiha… can an outsider truly awaken this power?"
There would be no answer.
The Uchiha were nearly extinct.
Itachi was branded a traitor.
Obito was lost in shadow.
And Kakashi knew nothing yet of Uchiha Yi's existence.
But knowledge was not required.
Because the moment the Mangekyō awakened
Its ability engraved itself directly into his mind.
A distortion of space within his field of vision.
A technique that twisted reality itself.
Kamui.
The left eye focused upon a target, compressing and warping space until the victim was torn away into a separate dimension.
A divine power.
A power rivaling space-time ninjutsu itself akin to the Flying Thunder God his teacher once wielded.
"Touching," a deep voice echoed.
Kakashi slowly raised his head.
Standing upon the water's surface, Samehada resting on his shoulder, was Hoshigaki Kisame.
"That woman… reminds me of someone I once killed. She also said strange things before she died." Kisame's shark-like grin widened. "I never did understand what she meant."
He chuckled softly.
That momentary distraction gave Kakashi just enough time to steady his breathing.
"You want answers?" Kakashi's voice was low. Hollow.
"I'll take you to someone who can give them."
He carefully sealed Hua Ling's body into a storage scroll.
Then he stood.
Murder intent flooded the air.
Kisame narrowed his eyes.
"So that woman was affecting you."
The words were casual.
Dismissive.
And they ignited something lethal in Kakashi's chest.
"What do you think she was?" Kakashi's voice broke with rage.
"A tool? A weakness?"
His Mangekyō spun.
"Kamui."
The world seemed to contract toward a single point Kisame's heart.
Space twisted.
Invisible pressure imploded inward.
There was no hand sign. No warning.
Only distortion.
Kisame's chest crumpled inward as if crushed by an unseen god.
For a fraction of a second, he remained standing grinning.
Then
His body burst into water.
A clone.
From a distant ripple across the lake, Kisame emerged, eyes sharp now.
"That was close."
His instincts had saved him.
He had never underestimated an opponent in his life not even the Copy Ninja.
Kisame had survived countless missions through caution alone. He would not foolishly reveal himself after striking. He would not assume victory prematurely.
Unlike Senju Nawaki, who died to explosive tags due to reckless exposure during wartime, Kisame understood patience.
He would bleed Kakashi dry.
Kakashi felt it immediately.
The Mangekyō devoured chakra at an alarming rate.
Unlike an Uchiha, he lacked the natural compatibility to sustain it.
His vision blurred slightly.
His reserves already strained dwindled further.
Kisame, often called the "Tailless Tailed Beast" due to his monstrous chakra, pressed the advantage relentlessly.
Water Release techniques crashed down in waves. Samehada devoured stray chakra. The battlefield became Kisame's ocean.
Kamui was lethal
But it required precision.
And stamina.
Kakashi had neither left in abundance.
After a prolonged clash, exhaustion overtook him.
Kisame disarmed and restrained him once more.
Victory returned to the Akatsuki.
From a distance, another figure observed silently.
Uchiha Yi watched with narrowed eyes.
"Interesting…"
Throughout the battle, Kisame had maintained overwhelming superiority.
Yet at the brink
Kakashi had erupted.
And awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan years ahead of its destined timeline.
In the original course of fate, Kakashi's Mangekyō matured far later after prolonged trauma and battle experience.
But now
Because of Hua Ling's death
The wheel of destiny had shifted.
He had nearly killed Kisame.
If not for that water clone…
The outcome would have rewritten history.
Uchiha Yi exhaled slowly.
The balance of this world was tilting.
The Copy Ninja had obtained divine power.
Kisame had confirmed his caution.
And the currents of fate were no longer predictable.
Until the final moment
The scales would continue to shift.