"Even with your minuscule capacity, an eye like this could awaken. Is it really so strange that I should possess it?" Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Douhuan, your mindset is far too dangerous. For the village's sake... I'm sorry!" Upon seeing the Mangekyo Sharingan in Uchiha Douhuan's eyes, Uchiha Shisui dared not hesitate any longer. He unleashed the Kotoamatsukami from his left eye—a technique originally prepared for Uchiha Fugaku, meant to permanently alter a person's thoughts—directly at him.
Yet, the very next instant, a sharp, piercing agony tore through both of Shisui's eyes, plunging him instantly into eternal darkness.
"Since I already knew the power of your dojutsu, how could I possibly fail to guard against it?" Uchiha Douhuan's voice sounded beside Shisui, who was now shrouded in darkness.
"How... how did you do it?" Shisui asked with difficulty, covering his empty eye sockets with one hand.
"My dojutsu is named 'Shu'u' [Momentary]." Taking advantage of the fact that Uchiha Shisui had not yet fully adjusted to the darkness, Uchiha Douhuan disarmed him, sealed his chakra, and explained at the same time: "It allows me to perceive countless possibilities within a single split second and choose the most correct path among them. You using your dojutsu on me, and me dodging it to turn the tables and kill you—that was simply one of those possibilities."
"How did you know about my dojutsu?" Though he was no longer in any condition to fight, Shisui still tried to gather as much intelligence as he could.
Uchiha Douhuan played with the pair of Mangekyo Sharingan in his hand as he replied, "I told you, my eyes can see a future that is invisible to the likes of you."
"A prophetic dojutsu?" Shisui smiled bitterly. "It seems everything I've done has been within your control, doesn't it?"
Uchiha Douhuan did not answer Shisui's question. Instead, he spoke as if to himself, "Clan records describe the Mangekyo as the mirror of the soul, but I prefer to call it the Eye of Answers. Every ancestor of our clan who possessed these eyes has faced an interrogation from deep within their own heart, and the dojutsu born within these eyes is their answer."
"Since you keep harping on about capacity, then I'd like to know: when faced with the interrogation of both clan and village, why was your answer to manipulate the wills of others? Could it be that you, too, believe the conflict between the clan and the village is fundamentally irreconcilable under normal circumstances?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
Faced with Uchiha Douhuan's soul-piercing question, Uchiha Shisui fell silent. Douhuan was right. It was precisely because he could see no future between the village and his clansmen that self-abandonment, combined with the underlying brutality inherent to a shinobi hidden deep in his heart, had caused him to awaken such an almost shameless dojutsu.
"Such an arrogant answer indeed," Uchiha Douhuan said indifferently. "The bloodline of the clan bestowed power upon you, yet you sought to use it against your own kin."
"What do you plan to do with my eyes?" Shisui asked, gritting his teeth. "Are you going to control the Third Hokage? Your scheme will never succeed. Even if you manage to control the Third, everyone else in the village will not stand by and watch an Uchiha coup. The power of the village cannot be withstood by a single clan alone. You will push the Uchiha into the abyss."
"Still so arrogant, Brother Shisui." Uchiha Douhuan chuckled softly as he undid Uchiha Shisui's restraints. "Do you still refuse to admit that my capacity surpasses yours even now? Control Sarutobi Hiruzen directly? That is merely the lowest form of utility for these eyes."
With that, Uchiha Douhuan pulled a test tube from inside his robe and tossed it toward Uchiha Shisui.
Though he could no longer see, a shinobi's sharp perception allowed Uchiha Shisui to easily catch what was thrown at him. "What is this?"
"A pair of Tomoe Sharingan I dug out from the clan's shrine," Uchiha Douhuan said. "Go."
"You're not going to kill me?" Shisui asked in surprise.
Uchiha Douhuan gave a light chuckle. "Kill you? Why would I kill you?"
Uchiha Douhuan patted Shisui on the shoulder. "Go. Go tell Sarutobi Hiruzen about the power of your eyes. And then, use those eyes from our ancestors to bear witness to the new future I am about to carve out."
Without looking back, Uchiha Douhuan turned and strode out of the Forest of Death.
Upon returning to his residence on the edge of the Uchiha clan grounds, Uchiha Douhuan summoned his ninja hawk, mounted the two Mangekyo Sharingan onto it, and then dispelled the summoning.
"Kotoamatsukami is in hand. My plan can truly begin now." Uchiha Douhuan walked over to the window, gazing out at the night scene. In the distance, the Hidden Leaf Village was brightly lit, forming a stark contrast with the profound silence enveloping the Uchiha compound.
Ever since a magical truck had run him over and brought him to this world fourteen years ago, Uchiha Douhuan had always felt profoundly out of place in this morbid world. After all, to this shinobi world, even the most malicious capitalism was far too advanced.
In his past life, Uchiha Douhuan had been nothing more than an ordinary corporate drone whose only hobby in his spare time was studying historical five-act plays. Never did he expect that upon arriving in this world, his deceased parents would bestow upon him such a loyal name.
Because of this damn world, Uchiha Douhuan had been forced to learn lethal arts starting at the age of nine, before being hoodwinked by the Will of Fire onto the battlefield. Fortunately, the bloodline carried within this body granted him the talent to survive. Amidst life-and-death crises, he had even awakened the ultimate power of his clan—the Mangekyo Sharingan—and barely managed to live until the end of the war.
However, Uchiha Douhuan knew all too well that surviving the battlefield was not the end. The Annihilation Night, looming just a few years away, was a crisis he had to confront.
Yet the Uchiha clan meetings, mired in endless and meaningless bickering, offered no answers. Thus, Uchiha Douhuan knew that if he wanted to change the future, he could only rely on himself.
Acquiring Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was merely the first step in his grand plan.
Although he harbored other motives, Uchiha Douhuan's assessment of Shisui today was entirely his genuine opinion: arrogant, foolish, and naive. Possessing a formidable trump card like Kotoamatsukami, Shisui had nonetheless ended up meeting a tragic death in the original timeline. Clearly, all he needed to do was boldly display the power of his eyes to become the Damocles sword hanging over the heads of both the Konoha leadership and the Uchiha clan, yet he had chosen the most foolish path possible.
[Fortunately, it belongs to me now.]
Standing by the window, Uchiha Douhuan smiled faintly and looked toward the Hokage Monument. The four stone faces were dim and obscure in the darkness. Uchiha Douhuan fixed his gaze on the third face.
[Then, greatest Hokage in history, what will you do?]