Seven Days Later
A soft breeze brushed across Akira's face.
His eyelids trembled… then slowly opened.
White ceiling.
Quiet room.
The faint smell of medical herbs.
Akira blinked twice.
He was in a hospital bed.
The room was empty—
—except for a familiar black raven perched on the table, happily pecking pieces of fruit from a small bowl.
When the raven sensed his awakening, it lifted one wing dramatically—almost like a greeting—and gave a single sharp caw.
Akira let out a short laugh.
"Good morning, Yatagarasu."
His body felt light. No pain, no stiffness.
He pulled the blanket slightly and checked his torso, arms, legs—
completely uninjured.
In fact, it felt like he had simply taken a long, refreshing nap.
A really long nap.
"…Feels like I dreamed for a whole week," he muttered.
Then the memory hit him—
the Genjutsu mirror world, Kakashi's Kamui, the space distortion,
the crushing sensation of death closing in—
—and everything went black after that.
Akira exhaled slowly.
"System… I don't remember anything after Kakashi attacked me. Is that normal?"
A familiar digital chime rang in his mind.
---
[Yes. Your memory blackout is normal.]
[Reason 1: That was your first real life-and-death battle—not a simulation.
The emotional intensity and near-death state triggered your Mangekyō Sharingan awakening.]
[Reason 2: After awakening, your body acted purely on instinct.
You fired both Mangekyō abilities, without control.
The strain was beyond what your current body can handle, leading to immediate unconsciousness.]
---
Akira nodded slowly.
"…Makes sense. I guess I overdid it."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Alright then… how is everyone else? Kakashi? Jiraiya? Tsunade? My clan head?"
A short pause.
Then the system's voice returned:
[You should see it yourself.]
Akira frowned in confusion—
but nodded.
"Fine. Let's check."
He sat up straight and brought his hands into a simple seal.
Water Style: Mirror Surface Jutsu.
A thin sheet of water rose from the bowl beside the raven, floating upward like liquid glass.
It rippled—
then settled into a perfect reflective surface.
Akira stared into it.
His eyes shifted—
One tomoe.
Two tomoe.
Three tomoe.
—and then the pattern twisted, reshaped, and bloomed into the full form of his Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Mangekyō Sharingan has a whirling, tri-spiral design, where three thick black blades twist inward like a rotating vortex.
Each blade ends in a sharp curved tip, giving the pattern a sense of constant motion.
The red background glows intensely behind the black spirals, enhancing the illusion of spinning.
Akira stared into the water mirror as his Mangekyō Sharingan fully formed, the red glow reflecting back at him with an unfamiliar intensity. The pattern was new… dangerous… alive.
---
He focused on his left eye, And the system message came.
Kūkai no Kago — Cage of Empty Space
Space-Time Dōjutsu.
Akira blinked.
"A… space-freezing ability?"
He concentrated, and a faint ripple trembled around his left eye, as if the air itself responded.
The system spoke softly:
"When activated, this eye creates a perfectly sealed spherical zone of frozen space. Inside that field:
— Time slows to one-thousandth its normal speed.
— Chakra cannot circulate.
— Ninjutsu becomes immobile.
— Movement is impossible.
Only awareness remains."
Akira swallowed.
"An absolute stasis field… so that's my left-eye Mangekyō."
He exhaled slowly, trying to calm the excitement and fear mixing in his chest.
---
Akira shifted his gaze to his right eye.
Instantly, new information surfaced in his vision.
Ashihara no Michi — Path of a Thousand Steps
Space–Time Ninjutsu.
The system continued its explanation, but this time the description felt far more complex.
"This dōjutsu pulls multiple versions of you from micro–future timelines into the present,"
the system said.
"Each copy is real. Each has its own chakra, its own movement, and its own attack."
Akira's heartbeat slowed.
So this isn't afterimages…
This isn't clones…
This is me from the future, fighting beside me.
The system elaborated:
"When the jutsu activates, your current self becomes the anchor point.
From that moment onward, the ability can pull you from 10.0001 seconds, 10.0005 seconds, 10.0006 seconds… up to 10.1000 seconds ahead in the future—creating multiple 'future Akiras' beside you."
Akira swallowed.
Real future selves. Real attacks. Real intent.
The system added:
"In theory, the Mangekyō can summon up to one thousand future-selves at once…
but that is impossible for your current body.
Even twenty-six fractured your chakra pathways."
Akira exhaled.
So that's why I collapsed…
The system concluded:
"Each future self can perform a different action—strike, cast ninjutsu, use genjutsu, or defend.
After the time-window closes, they disappear, their timelines restored."
Akira looked at his reflection again.
Left eye: freezes space, slows time.
Right eye: borrows the future to overwhelm the present.
No wonder I nearly died using both at once…
Two Mangekyō abilities so absurdly dangerous that even he felt a chill staring at his own reflection.
"…Yeah," he muttered, blinking the glowing text away. "This is… a bit much."
He turned toward the exit. Yatagarasu, sensing his intention, hopped lightly from the bedpost to his shoulder. The raven let out a soft kraah, nuzzling into Akira's cheek as if checking that he was truly alright.
"I'm fine," Akira whispered, scratching the crow's head. "Let's go."
He slid open the door and stepped into the corridor.
A nurse who had been walking past froze for a moment, then her face lit up with relief.
"Akira-sama! You're awake! Hokage-sama instructed that you should visit her office as soon as you regained consciousness."
Akira bowed lightly. "Thank you for taking care of me."
The nurse flushed a little and waved her hands. "N-no, it's our duty! Please take it easy!"
Akira gave a small smile and left the hospital. The moment he stepped outside, fresh air hit his face—and the memories of the previous battle sharpened in his mind.
But before going to the Hokage… there was one stop he had to make.
---
When he opened the door of his home, he barely had time to remove his footwear before a blur rushed at him.
"Akira!!!"
Nanao Uchiha, Akira's mother crashed into him with a hug so fierce he lost his balance for half a step. She squeezed him like she was trying to convince herself he wasn't an illusion.
"You—you scared all of us half to death!" she cried, her voice trembling. "How can you come home smiling like nothing happened?!"
Akira patted her back awkwardly, Yatagarasu perched on his shoulder like a confused decorative accessory.
"I'm really fine, Mom. See? Alive, breathing, everything attached."
She held onto him for another ten minutes straight, lecturing, crying, hugging, lecturing again—before finally releasing him only after he gently said:
"Mom… I have to go see the Hokage."
"…Fine," she sniffed. "But take a proper bath first! And wear clean clothes! You're not meeting Hokage-sama looking like you crawled out of a battlefield!"
Akira just smiled helplessly.
---
After a hot bath, fresh clothes, and a final goodbye to the overprotective Uchiha mother, Akira headed straight toward the Hokage building.
The environment was calmer today, the village functioning normally again. Some people whispered upon seeing him—curiosity, awe, worry. Akira ignored them and climbed the stairs.
He stopped before the Hokage's office door.
Knock. Knock.
"Enter," came Tsunade's calm voice from inside.
Akira slid the door open and stepped in.
---