Naruto: The Fifth Hokage [2]

Chapter 2: Uchiha Makoto (2/2)

"Does it surprise you that I awakened these eyes? Your narrow vision fails to grasp the possibilities." Uchiha Makoto's voice was calm, yet carried an unmistakable edge.

Shisui's expression darkened. "Makoto, your thoughts are too dangerous. For the sake of the village, I have no choice!"

He could not hesitate any longer. Shisui's left eye spun rapidly—the Kotoamatsukami he had originally prepared for Uchiha Fugaku was now aimed at Makoto, intending to rewrite his will permanently.

But in the next instant, searing pain shot through him. Darkness swallowed his world.

A voice whispered beside him, laced with quiet amusement. "Since I knew the nature of your Dojutsu, did you really think I wouldn't be prepared?"

Shisui clutched at the empty socket where his left eye had been, his voice strained. "How... did you do it?"

"My Mangekyō Sharingan's Dojutsu," Makoto's tone was almost conversational as he sealed Shisui's chakra, ensuring he could no longer resist. "It allows me to see countless possibilities in an instant and choose the optimal path. You used Kotoamatsukami, but in one possibility, I dodged and killed you. In another, I countered before you could act. You see, to me, the future is just another variable to control."

Shisui gritted his teeth. "How do you know about my Dojutsu?"

Makoto chuckled. "My vision reaches where yours never could." He held up the freshly obtained Mangekyō Sharingan, letting the moonlight reflect in its depths.

Shisui exhaled sharply, the weight of reality settling upon him. "A prophetic Dojutsu… So everything I've done was within your expectations?"

Ignoring the question, Makoto continued, "The clan calls the Mangekyō Sharingan the eyes that reflect the souls but I see them as something more—the eyes of answer. Those who awaken them do so after confronting unbearable truths, and the abilities born from them reflect their response to that suffering."

He looked down at Shisui, his voice unwavering. "You speak of righteousness, yet when faced with the clan's unrest, your answer was to strip others of their free will. You claim to seek peace, yet you chose an ability that dominates. Wasn't it because, deep down, you too believed reconciliation was impossible?"

Shisui fell silent. Makoto's words struck deep, forcing him to acknowledge a painful reality. His Mangekyō Sharingan had manifested not from hope, but from despair—a last resort when he saw no future for either his clan or the village.

Makoto scoffed. "How arrogant." He turned the eye over in his fingers, studying it. "The bloodline of the Uchiha granted you power, and yet you intended to wield it against your own kin."

Shisui steadied his breath. "What are you going to do with my eyes? Control the Third Hokage? If so, you're a fool. Even if you succeed, the village won't stand by and watch. You'll drag the Uchiha into destruction."

Makoto smirked. "Still so self-righteous, Shisui?" He crouched beside him and placed a small test tube in his hands. "Take a look."

Shisui hesitated, then ran his fingers over the tube. Though he could no longer see, his trained senses recognized its contents immediately. "Sharingan?"

Makoto nodded. "A pair of three-tomoe eyes from the clan's shrine. They're yours now."

Shisui stiffened. "You're… letting me go?"

Makoto's expression remained unreadable. "Why would I kill you?" He patted Shisui's shoulder, then stood. "Go on. Tell Sarutobi Hiruzen about my eyes. Then use your new ones to witness the future I will create."

Without another word, Makoto turned and vanished into the darkness, leaving Shisui alone in the quiet forest.

---

Back at his residence on the outskirts of the Uchiha district, Makoto summoned his Ninja Hawk, carefully secured the two Mangekyō Sharingan, and released the summon. As the bird disappeared into a puff of smoke, a smirk played at his lips.

"With Kotoamatsukami in my grasp, the real plan begins."

He moved to the window, gazing over Konoha. The village lights shimmered in the distance, contrasting starkly with the stillness of the Uchiha compound.

It had been fourteen years since he was transported to this world, thrown into it by an unexpected accident—an all-too-familiar truck. In his past life, he had been just an ordinary office worker with a passing interest in theoretical physics.

Who would have thought that knowledge would become irrelevant in this war-ridden world?

Born into the Uchiha clan, he had no choice but to adapt. By age nine, he was already on the battlefield, forced to kill for survival. The blood in his veins had granted him extraordinary talent, and amidst the chaos of war, he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

He survived, but he knew survival alone wasn't enough.

The Uchiha's fate was sealed in history—a massacre that would come in just a few short years. If he wanted to change that future, he couldn't rely on the clan's endless, fruitless debates.

He had to act.

Acquiring Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was only the first step.

Makoto chuckled, recalling the naïve idealism that had led to Shisui's downfall. A man who possessed such an overwhelming power yet never dared to use it properly.

Instead of becoming an unseen blade poised over the heads of the village leaders, he had chosen to die for an unattainable peace. A tragic waste.

"Fortunately… that power belongs to me now."

His gaze shifted toward the Hokage Monument, the stone faces of Konoha's past leaders carved into the cliffside. The third face stood out in particular—the so-called most powerful Hokage in history, the man who had shaped the village's current course.

Makoto's smirk deepened.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen… what will you do now?"