Chapter 246: Talent

Chapter 246: Chapter 246: Talent

Even with Hyuga Kagami’s discerning eye, it was difficult to determine who possessed greater talent between Shisui and Itachi.

If the age at which they awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan was used as the standard for comparison, Shisui had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan at around eleven years old.

In the original timeline, Itachi had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan somewhere around the age of twelve or thirteen.

Judging from this alone, Shisui seemed to have a slight edge over Itachi.

However, Shisui was older than Itachi and had lived through more of the wartime period. The hardships and emotional trauma he had experienced far exceeded those of Itachi, who had only stepped onto the battlefield near the very end of the war.

So, to be fair, when it came to their talent for awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, the two should be considered roughly equal.

As for Sasuke, when he was eleven or twelve years old, he had only just graduated from the Ninja Academy, and his Sharingan possessed just a single tomoe.

And even that Sharingan had only awakened after the trauma of the Uchiha Clan Massacre—losing his parents and clansmen overnight, while the older brother he loved most betrayed both the clan and the village.

Without such an overwhelming emotional shock, whether Sasuke could have even awakened the Sharingan by the age of eleven or twelve was uncertain.

"But Itachi’s body..."

The moment Kagami thought about the illness Itachi would suffer from in the future, doubts surfaced in his mind.

In the original timeline, by the time Itachi fought his final battle against Sasuke, his illness had already reached its terminal stages.

Yet at the time, he was only in his early twenties.

Even if his Mangekyo Sharingan was already approaching blindness from prolonged use, that alone shouldn’t have left him terminally ill and on the verge of death.

So Kagami couldn’t determine whether Itachi suffered from some kind of difficult-to-treat Kekkei Genkai-related illness like Kimimaro, or whether the immense burden he carried had caused years of pent-up stress to manifest as some other disease.

If Itachi really did suffer from a Kekkei Genkai-related illness, then his cells clearly wouldn’t be suitable for cloning the Fire Release clone.

"Forget it. I’ll test whether Shisui’s cells are compatible with mine first."

After weighing his options, Kagami ultimately chose Shisui.

Although the brothers Itachi and Sasuke were also excellent candidates, choosing either of them came with potential risks of one kind or another. With Shisui available as an option whose talent was no worse than either brother’s, Kagami had absolutely no reason to take those risks.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

The forces that had participated in the operation to hunt down Kamigami gradually returned to the village, bringing back all kinds of news about the operation with them. Once again, Kamigami became the hottest topic of conversation throughout the village.

And after Shisui’s great Susanoo battle against Kamigami’s Homura at Birdsong Cliff, the rumors claiming that Shisui himself was Homura naturally collapsed on their own.

After regaining his freedom, the very first thing Shisui did was hurry straight to Kagami’s home.

"Oh, Shisui! Come in!"

Shisui was both Kagami’s fellow ANBU member and a frequent visitor to his home, so Rei warmly welcomed him into the courtyard.

Kagami wasn’t surprised to see Shisui arrive. He merely gave him a slight nod.

Rei, however, immediately turned into a curious child and asked, "Shisui, I heard you fought Kamigami’s Homura again this time. Is he really as powerful as the rumors say?"

Shisui awkwardly glanced at Kagami before nodding.

"Uh... he... he really is pretty strong."

A worried look immediately appeared on Rei’s face. Turning toward Kagami, she said, "Kagami, why don’t we ask the Clan Head for help? Maybe he can speak to the Hokage and convince him not to let Team 11 handle the investigation into Kamigami anymore. That group is just too dangerous!"

Kagami remained completely composed and gave a dismissive snort.

"Hmph. They’re nothing more than a bunch of bounty ninja, yet they have the nerve to call themselves ’Kamigami.’ Absolutely ridiculous. Shisui and I only fell into their trap last time. If I run into them again, I’ll make sure they regret it!"

"You’re always trying to act tough!"

After scolding Kagami, Rei stood up and bowed deeply to Shisui.

"Shisui, there’s something I’d like to ask of you!"

Shisui hurried forward and helped Rei straighten up. "Rei-senpai, just tell me what it is. If it’s something I can do, I definitely won’t refuse!"

Biting her lip, Rei said, "Everyone knows that with the Mangekyo Sharingan, you’re no longer an ordinary ninja. You’re also far stronger than Kagami. So I want to ask you... when you’re out on missions together, please look after Kagami!"

Shisui scratched his head and turned toward Kagami with an utterly awkward expression.

Seeing that Shisui wasn’t answering, Rei asked worriedly, "Shisui, is my request putting you in a difficult position?"

"But... Senpai, he... I..."

After stumbling over his words for a while, Shisui finally sighed and gave a helpless smile.

"Rei-senpai, don’t worry. I’ll definitely take good care of Kagami-senpai."

Having enjoyed Shisui’s awkwardness long enough, Kagami smiled and said to Rei, "All right. No matter how strong Kamigami is, could they possibly be stronger than Konoha? Stop worrying so much. Shisui and I have some official business to discuss, so you should head back for now."

Rei said, "Mm. You two take your time talking. I was just about to go buy some ingredients anyway. I’ll come back tonight and cook a big feast for you!"

Shisui hurriedly replied politely, "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Senpai!"

Rei smiled. "All right, I’m off!"

Once Rei had left, Shisui could no longer suppress his curiosity and hurriedly asked Kagami, "Senpai, what exactly was going on with that pair of Mangekyo Sharingan you had before?"

Kagami didn’t answer.

Instead, he took out a storage scroll and lightly pressed his hand against it.

Poof...

With a soft sound, a cloud of white smoke burst forth.

When the smoke dispersed, two small nutrient tanks had appeared on the table in front of Shisui.

Floating inside each nutrient tank was a pair of Sharingan.

At the moment, however, all four Sharingan were in their three-tomoe state rather than their Mangekyo Sharingan state.

Shisui stared at them in surprise. "These are...!?"

Kagami calmly explained, "These two pairs of Sharingan belonged to Uchiha Hideki and Uchiha Ryota."

Hearing that they were Hideki and Ryota’s Sharingan, Shisui’s expression dimmed slightly.

However, he also understood that the brothers Hideki and Ryota had been doomed to die regardless. There was nothing particularly objectionable about Kagami taking their Sharingan afterward.

At that moment, Kagami leisurely added, "Both of these pairs of Sharingan are Mangekyo Sharingan."

"What!?"

Shisui shot to his feet with a whoosh, staring incredulously at the two small nutrient tanks on the table.

"How... how is that possible?"

Kagami pointed toward one of the tanks. "This pair of Mangekyo Sharingan belonged to Uchiha Ryota. When I fought you before, these were the Mangekyo Sharingan I was using!"

Shisui moved closer to the two nutrient tanks and carefully examined the two pairs of Sharingan inside.

As he studied them, he asked, "Senpai, how did Hideki and Ryota awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"