109. Mangekyō Sharingan

Sora and Kakashi stood in the woods, silently gazing at the distant streets of Konoha.

Once, Kakashi had felt a strong sense of honour and belonging to Konoha. But now, all that remained in his heart was resentment.

Suddenly, the mechanical sound of the system echoed in Sora's mind.

[Witness and alter Hatake Kakashi's life trajectory—reward: 20,000 witness points.]

Sora's heart skipped a beat. This was the first time he had received such a large reward.

Previously, he had only accumulated around 6,000 witness points. Witnessing the death of Hatake Sakumo had earned him 5,000 points, bringing his total to nearly 12,000.

Now, with the additional 20,000 points, his total had skyrocketed to 32,000.

To redeem the Mangekyō Sharingan, he only needed 10,000 witness points, thanks to his Uchiha bloodline.

Even after acquiring the Mangekyō Sharingan, he would still have 22,000 witness points remaining.

A wave of excitement surged through Sora. This was the wealthiest he had ever been in terms of witness points.

With this amount, he had much greater flexibility in how he proceeded.

Although redeeming abilities unrelated to himself would require five times the normal cost, making those 22,000 points seem insufficient, he possessed Senju blood as well.

Senju Hashirama's Wood Release was the most formidable in Konoha, earning him the title of God of Shinobi due to his unmatched bloodline ability.

For Sora, awakening the Wood Release bloodline would only require standard redemption points.

This realization made Sora even more confident about his future confrontation with the Nine-Tails.

Suppressing his excitement, Sora turned to Kakashi and said, "Kakashi, let's go. It's time to head home—Kushina will start worrying soon."

With that, Sora and Kakashi walked toward home.

Nighttime

In their home, Uzumaki Kushina looked at Sora with concern.

"Sora, I saw Kakashi earlier—he seemed to be in much better spirits. Did you talk to him?"

Sora smiled. "Don't worry. Kakashi has recovered. There's no need to be concerned anymore."

Kushina let out a relieved sigh. "That's good. By the way, Lord Hokage came to see you today. Did he ask you to go to the battlefield?"

Sora blinked in surprise. "You noticed?"

Kushina pouted. "Sora, do you think I'm stupid? It wasn't hard to figure out. Ever since Lord Sakumo's death, the Land of Grass has been without a strong leader. I've seen many shinobi heading there as reinforcements."

"You're so powerful—there's no way Lord Hokage would let you stay in Konoha while the war rages on. So I figured he must have asked you to support the front lines in the Land of Grass. Am I right?"

Sora chuckled. "Impressive—you guessed correctly. Hokage-sama did summon me and asked me to reinforce the Land of Grass, but I refused. At the time, I wasn't willing to leave Kakashi while he was still struggling with his grief."

"But now that Kakashi has regained himself, there's no longer a reason for me to stay in Konoha. So, I plan to leave for the Land of Grass in two days."

Uzumaki Kushina sighed. "You've been with me for so many days, and now you have to leave again. It feels so lonely whenever you go."

Sora analyzed the situation. "This war could last several years—at least five or six. However, if everything goes smoothly, it may only be two or three. I'll apply to take you with me on this mission."

Kushina's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

Sora gave a serious nod. "Of course. When have I ever lied to you?"

But then, Kushina suddenly sighed. "Sora, when you say 'two or three years,' you're talking about me and the Nine-Tails, aren't you? Don't push yourself too hard."

Sora responded with a confident smile. "Don't worry, Kushina. Right now, I feel more confident than ever."

The Next Day

Sora instructed Kakashi to return to the Hatake clan estate, pack up everything he needed, and prepare to leave for the Land of Grass the following day.

Meanwhile, Sora headed alone to an abandoned Orochimaru base, a place that had long been untouched.

Today, he planned to redeem the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Taking a deep breath, Sora spoke firmly. "System, spend 10,000 witness points in exchange for the Mangekyō Sharingan."

[Exchange complete. The Host can now receive and awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.]

"Awaken!"

The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp, searing pain erupted in Sora's eyes, forcing him to shut them tightly.

The burning sensation was unbearable, and he instinctively pressed his hands against his eyes.

Blood-streaked tears trickled through his fingers.

Yet, despite the excruciating pain, Sora could feel a special chakra surging within his eyes.

He had no idea how much time passed, but eventually, the pain began to subside.

His Three Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly, gradually shifting into a new and unique pattern.

The design took form—a circular outline connected by five blade-like shapes.

Sora, now wielding the Mangekyō Sharingan, felt an overwhelming surge of power.

For a brief moment, he felt unstoppable.

But he quickly suppressed this illusion.

This was the deceptive pull of the Mangekyō Sharingan—it drastically enhanced the abilities of the regular Sharingan, making its user feel invincible. However, blindly believing in that false sense of omnipotence would only lead to arrogance and disaster.

Sora knew his Mangekyō Sharingan had not yet fully evolved.

The special chakra within his eyes was still growing, preparing to manifest a unique Mangekyō ability tailored to his strengths.

For now, he deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan, allowing it to continue evolving naturally.

Letting out a long breath, Sora felt an immense sense of accomplishment.

Once his Mangekyō Sharingan fully awakened and revealed its abilities, he would officially step into the ranks of the strongest shinobi.

After all—

The Mangekyō Sharingan was simply that powerful.

But such power came at a cost.

The more it was used, the faster the user would approach blindness.

There were only two ways to prevent this:

Transplanting the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan by fusing the eyes of a biological sibling. Acquiring the First Hokage's cells would greatly extend his Mangekyō's longevity.

For Sora, awakening the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in the traditional way was impossible.

He had no biological siblings.

Out of curiosity, he checked the system's store to see how many witness points were needed to exchange for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

250,000 witness points.

A staggering fivefold increase.

The system had imposed this limit precisely because he had no siblings, making the conventional method impossible.

As for obtaining the First Hokage's cells, it wouldn't be difficult to acquire them with Orochimaru around.

However, the idea of ending up like Madara Uchiha, with a giant Hashirama face growing on his chest, was utterly disgusting to Qianyu.

That was something he absolutely refused to let happen.

No matter how powerful Senju Hashirama's cells were, Qianyu would never transplant them into his body.

----------------

You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion