"Kaito, we... survived."
Uchiha Yo looked at herself, then at Kaito. After confirming they were both safe and sound, she couldn't help but reveal a smile of relief.
But she couldn't quite keep smiling.
Noticing something unusual, Uchiha Yo's brow furrowed slightly. Her gaze fixed on Kaito's eyes, and she couldn't help but ask, "Kaito... your Sharingan, why is it only awakened in the 'left eye'?!"
Even though Uchiha Yo hadn't awakened the Sharingan herself, as an Uchiha, she knew that no one in the clan had ever awakened it in just a single eye.
The Sharingan always awakened in pairs.
"Well..."
Kaito raised his hand, gently touching his eye socket. A dim crimson luster flowed within his left eye.
The Sharingan is the eye that reflects the heart, and everyone's awakening is different. The most intense emotion deep within the soul is the source of its power.
The left eye required "Killing," while the right eye naturally required...
No rush. Take it slow. Open the eyes one by one.
"Don't worry about the details."
Kaito smiled slightly, making Uchiha Yo feel a sense of warmth.
However, that smile had a different meaning in Uchiha Yo's eyes.
She assumed that Kaito was so grief-stricken by the death of their instructor that he awakened his Sharingan, and that the smile was merely a brave front.
She immediately comforted him: "The ninja world is cruel. Even a Jonin... can fall at any moment..."
Little did Uchiha Yo know that the instructor had actually been backstabbed by Kaito. No one would imagine that Kaito, who usually obeyed every order and seemed the perfect successor to the Will of Fire, hid such malice in his bones.
As the old saying goes: "There are children who are children, and there are children who are... devils."
Kaito was the latter.
"Yeah, thank you, Yo... Let's regroup with Tekka." Kaito nodded, pretending to accept her comfort.
"Why are you suddenly so serious..."
Faced with Kaito's solemn attitude, Uchiha Yo glanced away, feeling somewhat flustered.
There was a deeper reason: Kaito's appearance.
To be precise, "handsome" might not even be the right word to describe him.
As Kaito turned and walked away, Uchiha Yo stared at his back, sighing internally: What a... beautiful guy.
...
Several kilometers away, an Uchiha youth with a mole on his forehead was anxiously waiting for his teammates.
The earth-shattering explosion was confirmed by the Queen of Roran, Sara, who sensed the Dragon Vein being blown sky-high.
The foundation of Roran's existence had vanished into thin air.
From now on... where would the people of Roran go?
Soon, two figures appeared on the horizon.
Through the shimmering heat of the desert, the two ran rapidly from the devastated ruins of Roran.
"Kaito! Yo!"
The usually silent Uchiha Tekka couldn't help but wave and shout. Nothing was more heartening than the survival of his kin.
When the three met and shared the news, Uchiha Tekka was stunned.
His shock at the sudden death of their instructor was no less than Uchiha Yo's.
"The mission is complete. So... until we meet again."
Kaito looked at Sara, the heroine of the movie, nodded to her, and led Uchiha Tekka and Uchiha Yo away.
As for the future of the Roran survivors, it wasn't his concern.
After all, Sara was just a minor character.
The same applied to his two teammates.
Uchiha Yo's background was ordinary, just a common member of the clan.
Uchiha Tekka had a bit more of a role; in the original story, he was the short-haired one among the three who questioned others after Shisui's death.
Regardless, focusing on the major players was the way to go.
As they ran, Kaito's mind digested the vast memories of his observations.
Each observation was like living an entire lifetime.
This meant he could extract the "knowledge" gained from every potential branch.
Knowledge is often power.
By integrating this vast knowledge, he could choose the optimal path for this life.
This included his path to strength.
Kaito finalized his progression: Lightning Release as the primary focus, with Fire Release as support.
Among the five attributes, Wind Release is often called the most destructive—a traditional view, and a fallacy.
Everything has a limit, and cognition is bound by one's perspective.
When the horizon broadens, one realizes that among the five basic attributes, Lightning Release is the strongest path.
Unlike simple wind, the lightning attribute offers infinite possibilities.
For example, electromagnetism, electromagnetic fields... various miraculous functions that other ninja in this world have failed to achieve.
Furthermore, with lightning as a foundation, one could eventually master the "electromagnetic force," one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, far surpassing the understanding of people in this world.
A powerful electromagnetic force could create and manipulate gravity and repulsion, granting direct access to two of the universe's fundamental forces.
Of course, the road was long, and haste makes waste. Becoming strong... required a step-by-step approach.
Crackle.
Kaito's pace quickened.
Faint electric currents began to surge within his body.
Integrating countless pieces of knowledge, Kaito took his first step.
C-Rank: Lightning Release Chakra Flow!
This was a technique Kaito had envisioned before but could never achieve due to the limits of his talent.
A person might have a brilliant mind but be locked behind inferior talent. No matter how good the idea, the execution would always fall short.
This is why some spend their lives only learning C-rank or B-rank techniques, unable to reach A-rank or S-rank.
The superficial answer is chakra control, but the true answer is the "ceiling of one's talent."
By awakening the Sharingan, Kaito's own talent had grown, raising that ceiling. Things he could not do before were now becoming possible.
His Lightning Release was now advancing toward C-rank, increasing in power.
This leap in rank also brought enhanced control. With his body being reconstructed by the Sharingan's feedback, Kaito could now precisely control the lightning stimulation of his nerves, binding it entirely within the neural layer.
Kaito called this technique: C-Rank: Lightning Reflex!
Compared to before, the technique had become superior and more powerful.
Dust floating in the air, flying insects—their movements were starting to become clear. Even without activating the Sharingan, these things were no longer a nuisance to his naked eyes.
As darkness fell, the trio, having left Roran and entered the Land of Fire, continued to race across the earth.
The faint Lightning Release currents continued to circulate within Kaito, strengthening his nerves bit by bit. The transformation... was ongoing!