Naruto: Fatherhood Made me Invincible

The idea that awakening the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan required a transplant between brothers was a notion Kagami found suspect. Only two pairs of brothers in recorded history had ever achieved this. It was hardly a definitive sample size. Kagami suspected it was more likely a misleading detail left by Black Zetsu on the Uchiha stone tablet. After all, the Sage of Six Paths himself had advanced directly from a three-tomoe Sharingan to the Rinnegan without any eye-swapping with his brother.

Kagami believed the essence of the Sharingan's evolution lay in the improvement of raw ocular power. Just as the Byakugan needed to absorb the power of other Byakugan to evolve into the Tenseigan, he felt that absorbing the power of another pair of Mangekyō would allow his own to evolve. Another possibility was that in the past, without advanced medical knowledge, transplanting eyes between non-relatives would lead to rejection. Close relatives, with similar blood types, would have had a higher success rate, leading to the belief that only a transplant between brothers could awaken the Eternal Mangekyō.

But regardless of the reason, the core principle was the same: the advancement of the Sharingan was a matter of increasing ocular power. And for that, he would not pass up the opportunity to take Itachi's Mangekyō.

Before he finished the thought, Kagami's figure transformed into a streak of blue lightning, a ghost breaking free from the underworld, silently tearing through the air. In less than the blink of an eye, he was upon Itachi. It was his own creation, the Thunder Instant Body Technique, a jutsu that fused the Body Flicker Technique with Lightning Release. It required no hand seals, and its speed was dozens of times faster than a normal Body Flicker. His own physical strength, amplified tenfold by the power of Sukuna, combined with his cursed energy reinforcement and reverse cursed technique for healing, allowed him to push the technique to its absolute limit, moving at two hundred times the speed of a normal shushin.

Itachi's pupils contracted, his Mangekyō spinning wildly, trying to track the sudden threat. But even his all-seeing eyes were powerless. Kagami's movements transcended the limits of sight, as if time itself had stopped. Kagami's arm shot out, his fingertips glowing with a dark, chilling light. A flicker of astonishment and unwillingness crossed Itachi's face. He tried to retreat, but his body had no time to react. In that instant, Kagami's fingers gently touched Itachi's eye sockets. There was no struggle, no sound. Itachi's Sharingan were simply plucked out.

"Ngh!" Itachi's body trembled with pain, but he clenched his teeth, refusing to make a sound. His eyes were now empty, deep sockets that had lost their former light. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the shock that seized his heart. He had been prepared, yet it had been useless. Kagami's speed was so overwhelming that even his Mangekyō couldn't track it. He was completely powerless.

The others around them were equally stunned. Without the Mangekyō, they hadn't seen Kagami move at all. One moment he was standing there, the next, Itachi's eyes were in his hand. Konan, who knew Itachi's strength well, was even more shocked. Even Nagato had to exert himself to defeat Itachi. But before Kagami, Itachi had been defeated in an instant. But then she remembered the terrible, landscape-altering battle between Kagami and Madara, and it all seemed very reasonable.

Kagami glanced at Itachi indifferently, then slowly withdrew his hand. The Sharingan, still glowing with a strange light, spun slowly in his palm. "This is a small price for your sins. You will pay the rest slowly."

Itachi said nothing, simply covering his bleeding eyes. He knew he had no right to ask for forgiveness, and now he had no way to resist. Kagami snorted, then sealed Itachi's Sharingan in a scroll. He hadn't yet discovered a way to directly absorb the ocular power without a lengthy transplant process. And he was about to face the Sage of Six Paths. He needed his own Mangekyō, and the trump card hidden within it, for that battle.

After sealing the eyes, he looked at Itachi again. "Where is Shisui's Sharingan? Hand it over as well."

After a moment of silence, Itachi sighed helplessly. He raised his hands, and with a slight movement of his fingertips, a black crow with a Sharingan for an eye suddenly appeared from the void. It circled once, then landed in Itachi's palm before dissolving into a black shadow, leaving only Shisui's eye behind. Itachi wasn't sure if Kotoamatsukami would even work on Kagami, so he didn't try any tricks.

Kagami took Shisui's eye and sealed it as well. He had discovered that his own soul was incredibly powerful, and after continuously absorbing natural energy, it had grown even stronger. He was now confident that even if he stood still and allowed Itachi to use Kotoamatsukami, his will could not be rewritten.

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