Team Taka departed at dawn. The journey to the Land of Hot Water took four days.
During travel, Sasuke was quieter than usual. Focused inward. Preparing himself mentally.
"You okay?" Suigetsu asked on day two. "You've barely said a word."
"I'm preparing."
"For what? The mission brief said it's just one rogue Uchiha. You could handle that in your sleep."
"It's not about the difficulty of the fight." Sasuke stared ahead. "It's about what comes after."
Karin, riding nearby, sensed his chakra. "Your eyes... they feel different. Like they're anticipating something."
"They are."
"The Mangekyo," Jugo said quietly. He'd been silent most of the journey, but he understood. "You're going to try awakening it."
"Not try. I will awaken it."
"That's not how it works," Suigetsu protested. "You can't just decide to evolve your Sharingan."
"Watch me."
They reached the target's location on day four. A small town near the border. The rogue Uchiha—named Ryota according to intelligence—was hiding in the criminal underground. Running a minor protection racket.
"Pathetic," Sasuke observed. "He has the Sharingan and he's using it for petty crime."
"So what's the plan?" Suigetsu asked.
"Simple. I challenge him. Defeat him. Take what I need."
"Take what—oh." Suigetsu's eyes widened. "You're going to take his Sharingan."
"Not transplant. Something better." Sasuke's eyes gleamed. "Just watch."
They found Ryota in a gambling den. Mid-thirties. Looked worn down by life. When he saw Sasuke's Sharingan, his own activated instinctively.
Two tomoe. Weak. Underdeveloped.
"Another Uchiha," Ryota said warily. "What do you want?"
"To test myself." Sasuke activated his three-tomoe Sharingan. "Fight me."
"Why would I—"
"Because if you don't, I'll kill everyone in this building and then kill you anyway."
The room cleared fast. Civilians fled. Even the criminals wanted no part of an Uchiha fight.
Ryota stood slowly. "You're serious."
"Completely."
They fought in the street. It was barely a fight. Ryota had experience, but he was out of practice. Soft. His Sharingan gave him some precognition, but Sasuke's was stronger. Three tomoe versus two.
Sasuke moved through his attacks methodically. Not trying to end it quickly. Studying Ryota's Sharingan. How it moved. How it predicted. How it channeled chakra.
This is what he wanted to take. To absorb. To make permanently his own.
But he couldn't. Not yet. The limitation burned in his mind.
After two minutes, Sasuke had Ryota on the ground. Unconscious. Defeated.
Team Taka watched from nearby. Karin sensed Sasuke's chakra spiking. "Something's happening..."
Sasuke stood over Ryota's body. Looked down at those closed eyes. Behind the lids, two-tomoe Sharingan. Weak. But still—it was power he couldn't have.
His hand reached out. Stopped inches from Ryota's face.
I want these eyes. Not to transplant. To absorb. To make them part of me. To add them to my collection.
But he couldn't. The ability didn't exist yet.
Frustration built. Not anger. Not rage. Just cold, burning frustration.
I am a collector. My entire existence is about taking what belongs to others. I consumed Sasuke Uchiha's life. I took Hashirama's cells. I've copied hundreds of techniques.
But copying isn't enough. It's never enough. I want to OWN these eyes. Make them intrinsic to my being. Every dojutsu in existence—the divine sight that shapes this world.
His Sharingan burned. Actually burned. Pain shot through his eyes.
I stand here, over eyes I want, and I cannot take them. This is my loss. The loss of potential. The loss of what I could become.
The pain intensified. His three tomoe began to spin faster. Faster.
But I know what I am. I know what I want. I am a collector. A thief. A hunter. A being whose very soul is structured around acquiring the divine—the eyes that see truth itself.
The tomoe blurred together.
So give me the power I need. Give me the ability my soul demands. Let me gather all the world's sight into myself. Let me pierce through any defense to claim what should be mine.
Sasuke's eyes erupted with chakra. Blood streamed down his face. He couldn't see. Couldn't focus. Just pain and transformation.
Team Taka rushed forward. "Sasuke!"
But he waved them back with one hand. This was necessary. This was evolution.
I will collect the divine sight. Absorb the eyes of gods. I will hunt down every dojutsu and make them mine. Nothing will protect them from me.
The pain peaked. Then stopped.
Silence.
Sasuke blinked. Vision returned. The world looked different. Sharper. More layered.
He could see chakra in unprecedented detail. But more than that—he could see potential. When he looked at Karin, he didn't just sense her Uzumaki bloodline. When he glanced at her eyes, he could perceive the faint chakra signature that all vision possessed.
When he looked down at Ryota, he could see the Sharingan behind closed eyelids. See the ocular chakra structure that made it work. See how to take it.
Slowly, Sasuke raised his hand to a nearby puddle. Looked at his reflection.
His Sharingan had changed.
The three tomoe were gone. In both eyes, identical patterns had formed—a spiral design converging inward, like a vortex pulling everything toward the center. The pattern symbolized absorption, collection, gathering power into himself.
Both eyes bore the same design, perfectly symmetrical.
Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Sasuke..." Karin breathed. "Your eyes..."
He touched near his left eye. "Takama-ga-hara." Then his right. "Ame-no-Sakahoko."
Two different abilities. Same pattern.
He looked down at Ryota again. This time, he understood. He could feel the potential. The connection forming between his eyes and Ryota's Sharingan.
Now. Test it. Confirm the ability works.
Sasuke's left Mangekyo blazed. He pressed his hand against Ryota's face.
The connection snapped into place. Takama-ga-hara activated instinctively, hungrily. He could feel Ryota's Sharingan—the two-tomoe structure, the ocular chakra that powered it.
Pull.
Ryota's body spasmed. His eyes snapped open—Sharingan blazing red. Then fading. The tomoe disappeared, dissolving as their structure transferred to Sasuke.
Fifteen seconds. The absorption completed.
Ryota's eyes returned to normal black. Empty. Powerless.
He would wake up eventually. Find his Sharingan gone. Tell people about it—
No.
Sasuke's hand moved. Lightning chakra formed into a blade. Precise strike through the heart.
Ryota died without waking. Without knowing. Clean. Efficient.
"Sasuke..." Suigetsu stared. "You just—"
"Eliminated a complication." Sasuke stood, forming hand seals. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
The massive fireball engulfed Ryota's body and the surrounding area. Flames consumed everything—body, blood, evidence. Within thirty seconds, only ash and scorched earth remained.
No body. No witness. No complications.
Sasuke deactivated his Mangekyo. His left eye throbbed—the absorbed Sharingan was already beginning to integrate. But the sensation was distant, manageable.
"Let's go," he said. "The test was successful."
"Test?" Karin's voice was quiet. "You killed him."
"He served his purpose. The Mangekyo awakened. The absorption technique works. Leaving him alive would only create problems." Sasuke started walking. "No witnesses. No survivors. That's the standard going forward."
Team Taka exchanged glances but followed.
They'd just witnessed the birth of something new. Something cold and efficient.
The Dojutsu Hunter.